Most Significant Change: Closing the Gender Gap in Research

In this paper we elaborate on the most significant changes reported on at the end of a four-year long European gender equality change project. During these four years more than 20 change agents actively worked to implement gender equality action plans in seven different research institutions. During the final months of the project, monitoring data was collected from these change agents, and from stakeholders and beneficiaries from the project, regarding their experiences of the most significant changes in their institutions. The stories about most significant change was collected by means of a questionnaire/interview guide that asked the participants to reflect over, and share, the most significant change during the project from both a personal and an institutional perspective. The personal stories submitted were categorized into three different types of changes: changes in knowledge/awareness, changes in behaviour and changes in daily lives. In addition, stories about three different types of institutional changes were also collected: changes in culture, changes in practices/policies and changes in structures/management. Some of the changes described involved increased influence in the decision-making processes, the realisation of a new, gender equal, salary system, gender budgeting, improved gender balance in boards and committees, gender networks and improved communications. The paper explains in detail how the change stories were collected and argues for the importance of collecting such stories to understand how the implementation of action plans can contribute to the closing of the gender gap in academia.