The Plan was born just over two years ago and during this period several actions have been carried out and concrete commitments have materialized focused on achieving equality between women and men.
The Gender Equality Plan (GEP) of the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), promoted by the European project Horizon 2020, Leading Towards Sustainable Gender Equality Plans in research performing organisations (LeTSGEPs), has been implemented for over two years now. Consequently, it become crucial to assess the factors contributing to its success during the development and implementation of the GEP while acknowledging and appreciating the efforts invested.
The fact of having equality plans in research centres is mandatory, as required by Spanish laws, but also by European guidelines. However, many times these plans are formally approved without there being a real commitment to their implementation, which makes them ineffective. This commitment is manifested, for example, by specific budget allocation and having people dedicated to ensuring the GEP’s implementation. This instrument aimed at achieving equality between women and men must be translated into concrete actions and commitments.
In this regard, the Horizon Europe Guidance on Gender Equality Plans not only emphasizes the necessity of having a GEP as an eligibility criterion to access funding but also establish mandatory requirements that every GEP must have, such as an assigned budget, among others. The ICM-CSIC, has fulfilled this mandate, and although there is always work to be done and room for improvement, the balance of the implementation of the GEP in these first two years is quite favourable.
Success factors in the GEP development
The key success factors that have contributed to the development of the ICM-CSIC’s GEP include, firstly, the voluntary work of a group of people committed to equality in science. Thus, the ICM-CSIC has an equality plan which gathers the various efforts made in recent years by the Equality and Diversity Task Force (EDTF) of the ICM-CSIC. This scenario has provided the proper conditions for the design and implementation of the ICM-CSIC Equality Plan, which has now materialized thanks to this part of the staff that understands that adopting gender equality as a cross-cutting principle in the centre is an absolute added value. This paradigm shift in mindset not only fosters more inclusive workspaces and promotes overall well-being within the organisation, but also has an impact on the quality of this, and, therefore, ultimately contributing on scientific excellence.
Secondly, it is essential to highlight the pivotal role of the LeTSGEPs project, which facilitated the involvement of gender equality policies experts at ICM-CSIC. This aspect holds significant importance as many research centres do not have this qualified resource and their equality committees - most of them highly feminized - are burdened with hours of volunteer work to carry out actions in favour of equality that, although commendable, are not taken into account for their professional promotion. It is what we have once referred to as "academic housekeeping" or "non-promotable tasks". The way to avoid this is to have experts who lead these actions, which qualifies the work done and lightens the voluntary work of the EDTF, since the non-promotable tasks for some people may be promotable for others, as they are part of their job description.
Lastly, it would be important to highlight the commitment and proactivity that the Management of the centre has had in the development of the GEP. This is exemplified, among others, in the gender balance of the management team, the creation of a Vice-Directorate for Equality and the inclusion of gender experts in the executive committees. All these actions undoubtedly demonstrate a political will to mainstream the gender perspective in the institute's actions. Likewise, the fact of assigning a specific budget to execute the GEP, beyond the one granted by the LeTSGEPs project, is also an action to be highlighted because proves that our GEP is not an ornamental element that is only visible when it comes to applying for a call, but it has a real effectiveness.
However, alongside the success factors, there are limitations that invite reflection. In this sense, it is relevant to emphasize that the collective efforts of the equality and diversity group are often invisible and their work is not usually considered for promotion in their professional career, which should be rethought and questioned. On the other hand, and linked to the above, the sustainability of the GEP cannot depend only on a European project or the voluntary work of committed people, but that being an institutional instrument its continuity should depend on internal funding. This would help to reinforce the commitment to establish the principle of equality at the structural level at the centre.
Nevertheless, the ICM has taken crucial initial steps towards this commitment. In this sense, the centre has shown willingness to materialize words in tangible actions that help all people to live real equality, based on the approval of a dynamic and effective Gender Equality Plan. Undoubtedly, there is still much work ahead, but the journey has only just begun.