Higher education institutions (HEIs) around the world, as well as being important institutions for promoting gender equality, continue to reproduce discriminatory gender norms which exist in wider society. As a result, gender inequality can be replicated within higher education systems leaving women experiencing a range of discriminatory practices, according to a new report commissioned by the British Council.

The report also shows the huge potential higher education has to influence wider society. According to the report’s author, Dr Helen Mott, ‘the creation of HEIs and systems where norms for gender equality are practised and modelled [can be amongst] the most powerful tools available to society for accelerating progress towards the equality and empowerment of women and girls everywhere’.

Achieving gender equality within higher education, and breaking down the barriers for women, requires fundamental change and concerted efforts from higher education institutions, policy makers and others involved in the sector. Below are some of the areas flagged in the report which require urgent attention:

The prevention of violence against women (VAW) is highlighted as the essential condition to achieve gender equality. The statistics in the report show that violence against women and girls in higher education is prevalent around the world.

According to the report, it is essential that HEIs become more accountable, and adopt measures to prevent and respond to gender violence – for example by collecting data on VAW prevalence and adopting an institution-wide approach to tackling gender violence. Those measures should be complemented by activities that promote gender equality messages.

Addressing the under-representation of women in leadership positions is another major challenge highlighted in the report. Higher education leadership remains culturally identified with masculinity and senior academic roles, research roles and governance roles are disproportionately held by men.

Practices for recruitment and promotion that tend to reinforce the idea that leadership is associated with masculinity should therefore be challenge – and inclusive leadership advanced and rewarded instead, says the author. Good practice models which challenge patterns of impediment to women’s equal leadership in HE – such as the Athena Swan Framework – are illustrated in the report.  ‘Leadership and mentoring programmes for women in HE’, also points out Dr Mott ‘are important for women who are breaking the mould and helping to change social norms.’

Some subject areas, particularly science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) remain particularly male-dominated. Dr Mott found that while STEM in higher education receives significant attention, it is also the field with the most global and persistent issues of ‘under-representation and marginalisation of women and the systematic under-valuing of women’s work’. The evidence also suggests that the gender bias in favour of men in academic research is particularly acute in these fields.

Tackling subject segregation, particularly in STEM, is therefore advisable according to the research. Actions recommended include inspiring more women to enrol in STEM subjects through the promotion of diverse female role models and retaining female talent in teaching and research roles. Action plans and frameworks designed by research councils and HE advisory bodies – such as the UKRI Gender Equality Statement Guidance – are referenced in the report as useful resources to incorporate gender equality considerations into research projects and help advance the careers of women in STEM.

Finally, the research underlines the importance of asserting the centrality of equality and inclusion to the definition of quality and excellence in HE. The research shows that the definitions of “Quality” and “Excellence” in the areas of curriculum content, pedagogy, programming, candidate selection or policy are not underpinned by gender equality standards. For instance, ‘Curriculum content’ says the author ‘often constructs men and boys as the default subject, and the default holder of knowledge.’ Because these areas often remain unchallenged, HEIs continue to reinforce gender inequalities.

The report highlights the need to take account of gender equality in curriculum and pedagogy and incorporates a number of toolkits and resources – such as the Gender Responsive Pedagogy Framework developed under the SPHEIR-supported project Transforming Employability for Social Change in East Africa (TESCEA) – to assist with incorporating gender equality considerations.

The report draws data and information from more than 300 sources and includes a rich collection of case studies from both within and outside the British Council offering accessible inspiration for effective ways to address gender inequalities in HE.

Launch event

The report will be launched on 10 March 2022.  We will be hosting a digital launch event from 12.30 to 1.30pm (UK time) — join us to hear the headlines from the report, followed by a panel discussion with higher education leaders from around the world.

We aim to draw out lessons on how the sector can work collectively to address the challenges of gender inequality both in the UK and around the world. Confirmed speakers include:

• Maddalaine Ansell. Director – Education, British Council 
• Alicia Herbert, OBE. Director of the Education, Gender and Equality Directorate (EdGE), Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office 
• Dr Pratibha Jolly. Principal Investigator, GATI: Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions, Department of Science and Technology – India 
• Dr Helen Mott. Research consultant
• Professor Ramneek Ahluwalia. CEO – Higher Health, South Africa.

Please book your place now. When you register, please feel free to share a question to put to the panel.

Want to learn more about the work we are doing to help higher education institutions to narrow the gender gap?  Find out four ways we are doing just that in this article.