CSGE – Center on Gender Studies and Education

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Country: Italy
National Context: Download
Region: Emilia Romagna
Name of Organisation: Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna CSGE –Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Educazione – Department of Education)
Main implementing organisation: Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Educazione
Line of Business: Main faculties: political Science, law, economics, literature, Physic, Mathematics.
Start Date: 2009-04-05
End Date: Still Ongoing
 AllWomen
Number of Employees 6173 50.58 %
Employees in R&D 3129 36.31 %
Number of Employees in Top Positions 90 34.44 %
Students 81459 56.23 %
Transferability of the initiativeProgramme is considered to be transferable to another context
Type of initiative referring to strategic objectivesstructural
awareness
gender in research
Type of initiative, located on the stage of career progression of women scientistsQualification (Higher Education)

Objectives of the Initiative

Short/long term objectives:

Which barriers in the career stages of females does the initiative address?

Cultural stereotypes in the media, gender prejudice in everyday life, cultural and hierarchical discrimination in education and labour market.

Demonstrable success of the initiative

The Centre has gained high consideration in the region and has been a major partner in public seminars, meetings and conferences covering the general area of gender equality. It also has been involved in developing research and funding projects at the local level to maximize women's rights and female participation in the labour market.

The centre after one year of activity cover now all its objectives through different activities (see question 27). The success can be showed by 2 indicators:

  1. high level speakers participating to the events: professors, researchers, academics or related to other research centers, experts, writers;
  2. number of participants in the initiatives:

a) Lunch-seminar: about 40-50 per meeting (audience is composed of teachers, researchers, graduate students, postdocs, and occasionally students in specific course);

b) Cineforum: about 20-25 per projection (audience of students, teachers, citizenship).

Motives for launching initiative

The Centre has been founded by a group of researchers and lecturers who are experts involved in the interdisciplinary research on gender and education (sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, teachers, historians, philosophers and other staff experts).

Equal opportunity measures in the organisation before the initiative

Before the start of the initiative, the University provided individual courses and research on gender-related topics.

Target group(s) of the initiative

Direct target:

Indirect target:

Implementation of the initiative

The Centre has a Scientific and an Organizing Committee. All decisions are made democratically. The staff includes 18 members (17 women, 1 man) and the initiative is conducted in a collective manner.

The Centre collaborates with professors, scientists and researchers of the Department including different disciplines, Education, Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, History, Philosophy and Physical and Natural Sciences.

The initiative is being implemented firstly through the realization of a website (http://www.csge.unibo.it/), afterwards thanks to meetings and seminars, and an intense “field work” with local actors.
The Dipartimento in Scienze dell’Educazione (University Department) has been the major financier so far. Staff members are nonetheless involved in fundraising for future CSGE initiatives.
Very important initiatives are mainly themed events and study days to celebrate important dates like March 8 and Nov. 25. The aim is to disseminate the results of studies and research to the public in general to have an immediate impact on the territory.
Scheduled activities are:

1) I mercoledì del CSGE - lunch seminars

Every last Wednesday of the month, the CSGE organized a research lunch seminar that is free and open to all interested in gender issues and education.

Teachers, experts and researchers in gender studies are invited to present the most innovative areas of research. Male and female students, teachers, researchers and scientists are invited and actively involved in the final discussion.

2) Movie forums

The main feature is the vision of gender related movies commented by one or more experts followed by a broad discussion of depth, usually very interesting and fruitful.

3) Ongoing research

Two year interdisciplinary research project on “GENDER PROCESS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE: ISSUES AND EDUCATIONAL POTENTIAL”, followed by specific dissemination actions. For instance events have been organized for the women’s day (8th March ) and on the day that remembers violence against women (25 November).

4) CSGE Awards for graduation thesis

Open competition to reward the best thesis on gender issues.

Factors of success

Levels of participation from specialists and the general public are high. The main events are organized in cooperation with other local organizations, very good connection with the local context.

Obstacles, barriers to implementation

Lack of budget and fundraising

Lessons Learned

Networking and communication between researchers in different disciplines is very important to highlight the crosscutting aspect of gender in research. Departments and Faculties should improve their engagement in that.

Benefit for the organisation

The initiative has been implemented in the frame of the general gender strategy promoted by the Equal Opportunities Committee of the University. Moreover the implementing organization had the opportunity to coordinate with the AdDU (Association of Academic Women) and other universities and educational organizations working in gender & research. All that fostered promoted links among departments and local context.

Sustainability of the initiative

Public seminars and researches will continue. They have already been planned.

Transferability

Systematic Approach

The initiative is embedded in a wider strategy to promote equal opportunities in the university promoted by the Center where gender balance in academic sector is one of the major objective. Web site is very clear and rich in information. Moreover there are strong links with the Equal opportunity committee of the university as well as strong cooperation.

Innovation

CSGE is very innovative in the way they try to promote gender perspective of the educational process to the local public trying to disseminate its cross cutting feature and to link it with the international context. CSGE tries to reach a wide range of public with different and very innovative initiatives.

Monitoring / Evaluation

Not yet planned

Summary: This initiative is good practice because...

5 out 5 criteria have been fulfilled. The centre is quite new but already very active and it seems to have a strong impact on the national context.

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