Achieving gender equality in higher education: The TARGETED-MPI Project

Achieving gender equality in higher education: The TARGETED-MPI Project

The kick-off meeting of the Horizon-2020-funded project Transparent and Resilient Gender Equality through Integrated Monitoring Planning and Implementation (TARGETED-MPI) (Ηorizon2020-SwafS-09-2018-2019), which is coordinated by the Athens University of Economics and Business, was held on October 1-2, 2020. The other project partners are Lancaster University (United Kingdom), Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden), Vrije Universiteit Brussel/Solvay Business School (Belgium), American University of Beirut/Suliman S. Olayan School of Business (Lebanon) and Brunel University London (United Kingdom).

The objective of the project is to promote a culture of Gender Equality among the participating Higher Education Institutions through the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Gender Equality Plans (GEPs).

The project will implement a participatory and action-based research approach as well as an end-to-end stakeholder engagement strategy. The project’s research methodology includes interviews, workshops and focus groups, as well as data collection for the development of indicators for measuring and monitoring Gender Equality.

Important elements of the project are the dissemination and adoption of the project’s research results by the broader academic community and the development of organizational structures for the continuous monitoring and improvement Gender Equality in the partner Higher Education Institutions. To this aim, the project will establish a Network of Gender Equality Observatories. The implementation of the GEPs in the partner organisations is expected to improve Gender Equality in academic careers, promote a gender-balanced representation in academic decision-making bodies, and foster the inclusion of gender considerations in research and innovation content.

The research team of AUEB is composed of Associate Professor Eleni Apospori, who is the Scientific Responsible of the TARGETED-MPI project, Professor Nancy Pouloudi, Assistant Professor Irene Nikandrou and researchers Dr Mariangela Trompeta, Dr Christos Tsanos, Dr Ioannis Holezas and Stathis Katopodis. The project started on September 1, 2020 and has a duration of 4 years.