EQUAL-IST · Project

Ready-Made Gender Equality Plans and Tools for IT Research Organizations

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Imagine you run an IT department at a university and notice that women are drastically underrepresented — few female professors, fewer female students enrolling, and policies that don't account for work-life balance. EQUAL-IST helped 7 universities across Europe figure out exactly where the gaps are and then co-designed concrete action plans to fix them. They even built an online platform where staff could collaboratively shape these plans, rather than having them imposed top-down. The result is a reusable toolkit any research institution can pick up to diagnose and address gender imbalances in tech fields.

By the numbers

Research institutions supported with Gender Equality Plans

Countries represented in the consortium

Levels of intervention (HR, research design, student services)

Total project deliverables produced

Consortium partners

The business problem

What needed solving

Universities and research institutions in IT fields face severe gender imbalances — few women in senior positions, low female student enrollment, and HR policies blind to gender-specific barriers. Since 2022, having a Gender Equality Plan is mandatory for EU research funding eligibility, yet many institutions lack the expertise or tools to create effective plans. Building a GEP from scratch is slow, expensive, and often meets internal resistance when imposed top-down.

The solution

What was built

A crowdsourcing platform for collaborative GEP development, field-tested Gender Equality Action Plans implemented at 7 institutions, and 27 deliverables including assessment tools, implementation toolkits, and guidelines covering HR practices, research design, and student services.

Audience

Who needs this

Universities and polytechnics with IT/engineering departments needing Gender Equality PlansResearch funding organizations reviewing institutional complianceHR and diversity consulting firms serving the higher education sectorEdTech companies building institutional compliance and policy toolsNational research councils implementing gender mainstreaming requirements

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Higher Education & Research Administration

any

Target: Universities and research institutions with IT/engineering departments

If you are a university dealing with low female enrollment and retention in technology programs — this project developed tested Gender Equality Action Plans across 7 institutions in 8 countries, plus a crowdsourcing platform that lets your staff co-design policies rather than imposing top-down mandates. The toolkits cover HR practices, research design, and student services.

HR Technology & Diversity Consulting

SME

Target: Diversity and inclusion consulting firms or HR tech companies

If you are a consulting firm helping organizations meet gender equality requirements — this project produced field-tested methodologies, toolkits, and guidelines validated across 7 research institutions. The crowdsourcing platform approach for collaborative policy design could be adapted into your service offering for clients in technology sectors.

EdTech & Institutional Software

SME

Target: Software companies building tools for academic institutions

If you are an EdTech company looking to expand into institutional compliance tools — this project built a crowdsourcing platform for collaborative development of Gender Equality Plans. With 27 deliverables including assessment frameworks and implementation guidelines, the platform concept could be productized for the growing market of EU institutions now required to have gender equality plans.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to implement these gender equality tools at our institution?

The project was a Coordination and Support Action, so the outputs — toolkits, guidelines, and methodologies — are publicly available. Implementation costs would depend on your institution's size and starting point. The crowdsourcing platform concept would need adaptation for your specific context.

Can this scale beyond the 7 original institutions?

The project was explicitly designed for transferability, with dissemination through the EURAXESS network targeting IST research institutions and research funding organizations across Europe. The toolkits and guidelines were built to be reusable by any institution in the IT/IS research sector.

What about IP and licensing for the platform and toolkits?

Based on available project data, the crowdsourcing platform was described as either a self-developed solution or an adapted existing solution. As a publicly funded CSA project, the toolkits and guidelines are likely openly available. Specific licensing terms would need to be confirmed with the coordinator VILABS.

Is there regulatory pressure making this relevant now?

Yes. Since 2022, having a Gender Equality Plan is a mandatory eligibility criterion for Horizon Europe funding. Any institution applying for EU research funding must now have a GEP in place, making EQUAL-IST's ready-made tools and tested methodologies directly relevant.

How long does implementation take?

The project ran for 3 years (2016-2019) across 7 institutions, covering assessment, design, and implementation phases. Based on available project data, the participatory co-design approach using the crowdsourcing platform was intended to accelerate the process compared to top-down policy development.

What concrete tools were actually produced?

The project delivered 27 outputs including a crowdsourcing platform for collaborative GEP development, assessment methodologies for diagnosing gender gaps, and implementation toolkits covering 3 levels: HR practices and management, research design, and student services and communication.

Consortium

Who built it

The consortium of 9 partners across 8 countries (Germany, Greece, Finland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Portugal, Ukraine) is overwhelmingly academic — 8 universities and just 1 industry partner (VILABS, a Greek SME serving as coordinator). The 11% industry ratio reflects the project's nature as a policy-support action rather than a commercial venture. The geographic spread from Northern to Southern and Central Europe plus Ukraine ensures the toolkits were tested across diverse institutional cultures and regulatory environments, which strengthens their transferability.

VILABS OECoordinator · EL
UNIVERSIDADE DO MINHOparticipant · PT
UNIVERSITAET MUENSTERparticipant · DE
UNIVERSITA CA' FOSCARI VENEZIAparticipant · IT
KAUNO TECHNOLOGIJOS UNIVERSITETASparticipant · LT
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MODENA E REGGIO EMILIAparticipant · IT
TURUN YLIOPISTOparticipant · FI

How to reach the team

VILABS OE is a Greek SME — search for VILABS gender equality or EQUAL-IST project coordinator for contact details

Order a report on this consortium See VILABS OE profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to implement a Gender Equality Plan at your institution using tested EU methodologies? SciTransfer can connect you with the EQUAL-IST team and help adapt their toolkit to your context.

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