Rachel Palmen

• PhD
• Senior Researcher at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Through exploring the links between policy, evaluation, and gender, using a gender-transformative lens, this article sheds light on policy and evaluation processes of gender equality programmes, such as the political nature of evaluation and power configurations, involving resistance in the change process. Two case studies of gender equality progra...

The introduction provides a general reflection on a Community of Practice (CoP) approach to institutional change for a greater gender equality in research and innovation (R&I) and higher education (HE) with a focus on policy and practice. First, we present the evidence regarding gender equality in R&I and HE in Europe, as well as briefly describe t...

Bringing together the latest research among various communities of practice (disciplinary and place based, as well as thematically organised), this volume reflects upon the knowledge, experience and practice gained through taking a unique community of practice approach to fostering gender equality in the sectors of research and innovation, and high...

it is open access > https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/978-1-80262-119-820221010/full/html Universities are large, complex and highly hierarchical organisations with deeply engrained gendered values, norms and practices. This chapter reflects on the experiences of two universities in initiating structural change towards gender equ...

This chapter discusses the relevance of a community of practice (CoP) for a reflexive gender equality policy and reflects on the different approaches taken within TARGET. It is based on the literature on CoPs and structural change as well as on experiences in transferring this approach to the context of implementing gender equality plans (GEPs) wit...

Gender-based violence and sexual harassment (GBVH) by and towards academics and students has been under-theorised at an organisational level in higher education institutions (HEIs). The methodology involves a critical review of the literature on GBVH and organizational responses to it, locating it in the context of an analysis of organizational pow...

Evaluation cultures and evaluation capacity building vary greatly across the European Union. Western European countries, such as Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, have been termed as leading countries in the evaluation as they have built up well-established evaluation cultures and carry out systematic evaluations of programmes and institutions....

Higher education and research and innovation in Europe continue to suffer from an indefensible waste of female talent and gender inequality. The European Commission recommends that these organizations adopt gender equality plans (GEPs) and other initiatives for institutional change. However, the levels of readiness, expertise, and experience with s...

Despite the fact that the topic of “women in research and innovation” has been on the agenda for decades and numerous measures have been implemented at both national and supranational levels to improve gender equality in research and innovation systems, it is still unclear which measures and under which conditions these measures are most effective....

Gender equality and gender mainstreaming in research is one of the six European Research Area (ERA) priorities. Integrating the gender dimension in research content and teaching is one of its three objectives. It is arguably the objective where least progress has been made. In this article we contribute to the evidence base by applying the EFFORTI...

Despite decades of efforts to achieve gender equality in research and innovation (R&I), all EU member states still face remarkable difficulties in driving forward the development of their innovation system while at the same time improving gender equality by using all the available research potential. In this paper we focus on the development of the...

Program designers at local project level usually design interventions under conditions of scarce resources and bounded rationality lacking sufficient information about the process and impact mechanisms of the complex social programs they design and implement. This paper proposes a model for pragmatic ex ante evaluation using an innovative conceptua...

This article analyses the facilitating and hindering factors that have affected the implementation of gender equality interventions in research and innovation in Europe. It applies the evaluation framework developed in the EFFORTI project that recognizes the complexity of evaluating gender equality interventions in R&I, the importance of factoring...

This article provides an overview of the theoretical assumptions, methods, and key results from the Evaluation Framework for Promoting Gender Equality in Research and Innovation (EFFORTI) project, which was funded by the European Commission. The purpose of EFFORTI was to analyse the impact of interventions to promote gender equality in research and...

This study aims to map existing Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) in the public and private sectors in the EU Member States, as far as data are available. It aims to analyse how GEPs have both impacted and are impacting the economic situation of women in the EU, analyses national legislation and collective agreements in connection with GEPs, analyses th...

This study aims to map existing Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) in the public and private sectors in the EU Member States, as far as data are available. It aims to analyse how GEPs have both impacted and are impacting the economic situation of women in the EU, analyses national legislation and collective agreements in connection with GEPs, analyses th...

There is evidence of skills shortages in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields in spite of high unemployment rates in many Member States. This document, prepared by Policy Department A at the request of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, intends to provide an up-to-date overview of the labour market situation in S...

The influence of parents and teachers in the decisions made by adolescents regarding study options has not been widely documented in Spain. The main aim of this qualitative study consisted of analyzing the opinions of parents and secondary school teachers about their role in the different academic and professional choices boys and girls make. Seven...

The following article summarizes the meta-analysis of policies towards gender equality in science and research across Europe spanning the years 1980 to 2008. Observed overarching trends in the research literature are summarized, including the impact of higher education restructuring on gender equality in science and research and measures for advanc...

The presence and position of women workin in ICT companies in Spain has untill now been unchartered territory. This working paper is based on a research Project looking at women’s participation and position int he ICT Sector in Spain. Empirical research consisted of both quantitative and qualitative analysis including a survey to 327 companies (48%...

The governance of risk has become an increasingly 'hot subject' as recent technological controversies have ignited significant levels of public alarm in a wide range of diverse arenas in distinct geographical locations. Recent controversies have led to the very questioning of more traditional forms of risk management as technical and scientific exp...

This paper examines the case of mobile telephone infrastructure as an example of a contemporary risk defined by a lack of scientific evidence and consensus as regards potential or future harm. This uncertainty has led to recourse to the precautionary principle at the European, national, regional and local level of EMF risk management. Local risk go...

The conceptualization of risk as objective, subjective, real or perceived has huge implications for its management as regards policy and governance. The sociological literature concerned with the science, technology and risks associated with electromagnetic fields (EMF) can be broadly divided into two main bodies of literature. The Social Amplifica...

This article examines the empirical research looking at girls' and boys' relationship to ICT in the UK secondary school context. The empirical evidence base is discussed in terms of differences in access, use and experience, attitudes, confidence and self-efficacy, motivation and attainment. This paper highlights the competing UK policy agendas ope...

In recent decades, the movement of people is greater given the intensification of economic activities and the improvement of ICT. The mobility of scientists plays a double role in strengthening professional careers and improving R&D and innovation systems. In the ICT sector, labour supply in skilled jobs is much wider, and although women are much l...