Participatory Gender Audit (PGA) for Organizational Assessments

1. GENIS-L@B • WP2: Organisational assessments

2. What is a Participatory Gender Audit (PGA) • It is a social assessment based on an analytical and participatory methodology, • that helps organizations improve their performance in relation to gender equality

3. The aim of the PGA in GENIS-L@B • To “map” the organization from a gender perspective • To highlight the cultural and structural causes of inequalities • To use the diagnostic stage as a first step to gain commitment to structural change

4. ASSUMPTIONS • Correlation between gender inequality and structural discrimination: biased policies, rules, practices, structures, division of labour • Stereotypes cause/reinforce discrimination • Discrimination should be addressed through structural and cultural change: mainstreaming

5. ASSUMPTIONS • Sustainable change must happen from within, based on: • qualitative self-assessment • based on experiential learning • from individuals to organizations • Top level commitment is a sine-qua-non

6. FOCUS • Three structural dimensions: • Organizational culture and stereotypes • Human Resource Management and gender • Financing mechanisms and gender budgeting

7. GENDER STEREOTYPES • Gender stereotypes are: • Among the first stereotypes that humans develop (as early as age two). • A form of non conscious and automatic social knowledge. • Gender stereotypes are descriptive but also highly prescriptive. • Gender stereotypes produce (and are produced by) gender roles in society. • Roles are the interfaces between the individual and the social organizations, therefore the focus should be on the gender roles stereotypes in each organization.

8. GENDER STEREOTYPES • In gender stereotypes, men and women “categories” are complementary in way that is unlike most other stereotypes contrasting social categories (European vs. other ethnic groups). Warning benevolent sexism! • Recent studies suggest that prevalent gender stereotypes are linked to the perceptions of legitimacy of the social system as a whole. • A recent meta-analysis study has shown that science stereotypes reinforce gender stereotypes and vice-versa. • There are double standards in the evaluation of competence and of excellence.

9. Trying to change stereotypes • Breaking the reciprocal influence of gender stereotypes, social gender roles and science stereotypes • Promoting the awareness of this problem and counter-stereotypical thoughts • Having as reference the characteristics and needs of post academic science (felxibility, diplomacy, curiosity, motivation and dedication) • Evaluating violations of gender stereotypes and their consequences

10. HRM and gender • To what extent does the organization translate its gender equality commitment in human resource management policies, rules, practices and working arrangements? • To what extent does the organization meet the different work-life conciliation needs of its staff, women and men? • Are there structural obstacles to women’s scientific careers and if so, how can they be overcome?

11. Financial dimensions and gender budgeting • “Gender budgeting is an application of gender mainstreaming in the budgetary process. It means a gender-based assessment of budgets, By incorporating a gender perspective at all levels of the budgetary process and by restructuring revenues and expenditures in order to promote gender equality” • (Council of Europe and the European Union)

12. Financial dimensions: Gender Budgeting • Gender budgeting includes: • evaluation, • development and (re)organisation, • improvement of the budgetary process, to incorporate a gender equality perspective in all sectors, at all levels and stages, by all actors involved in it.

13. Gender budgeting • Generally, economic resources are allocated disregarding the impacts they may have on gender equality, even if allocations are not gender-neutral. • The Gender Budgeting allows to implement a gender sensible perspective into the budgetary policies by assessing the gender effects of the allocation of economic resources and to design the restructuring of allocations to achieve gender-equality.

14. Gender budgeting • The application of Gender Budgeting in Scientific Organisations will enrich the tools these organisations apply for planning and evaluating their Scientific Strategies, in a gender perspective. • Gender Budgeting will also allow for the re-organisation and new developments of Scientific Strategies, as it is able to increase the transparency in the allocation of resources and in the decision-making processes that lies behind it. • So that the overall efficiency of the scientific organisation will be improved.

15. Gender budgeting The contribution to tailored action plans In GENIS LAB we will investigate and assess the process of allocation and management of financial resources in your organisations in a gender perspective in order to support you in the identification of the elements of this process that need to be modified in order to produce a gender structural change.

16. Gender budgets in GENIS LAB • Who funds scientific research centers? (Public or Private funds) • Which criteria influence the allocation of funds? • Is gender included in this criteria? How? • When the funds get to the research center who decides how to allocate them internally? • Is this a prerogative of a specific Body? How many women are present in this Body • The financial process is perceived as a “Technical” process by people in the organization or everyone feels involved?

17. Gender budgets in GENIS LAB • In GENIS LAB we will investigate the process of allocation and management of financial resources in order to evaluate it in a gender perspective. • In the definition of tailored action plans each partner will identify which elements of this process need to be modified in order to produce a structural change.

18. WHAT WILL THIS OVERALL PROCESS BRING? • A shared understanding of • how the organization is doing in terms of gender equality • the cultural and structural obstacles to gender equality • possible ways to institutionalize good practices and strategies to overcome these obstacles • Improved organizational learning on gender equality

19. KEY STEPS • Symptoms • Who does what? where? how? who decides? who benefits? (carrier paths, resource allocation, perceptions and needs analysis) • Diagnosis • Policies and rules: equality? mainstream? • Culture: values or stereotypes? • Practices, resources and structures : what do they reflect? Which impacts? • Therapy: the LABS • introduce change in structures • building on strengths • “quick gains” and long-term vision

20. THE ACTORS • Within the Organization • In a Department of apprx 100 people: • An internal Project Team (2-4 people) • Everyone consulted on-line • Reference group of 30-40 for interviews and worksops • External partners: ITC/ILO, FGB and Donne e Scienza: technical support and PGA facilitation teams (2-4 people from ITC and FGB)Other partners for exchange of good practices in LABs

21. THE PROCESS • Preliminary data collection and analysis (2-3 weeks) • Desk review of key documents • On-line questionnaire to all staff • Field visit (5 days) • Individual interviews • Focus groups/workshops (half day) • Feedback • Report • Follow-up: Action plans

22. THE PRODUCT : REPORT • Challenges and opportunities in the three focus areas • Human resource management and gender • Organizational culture and stereotypes • Financial dimensions and gender budgeting • Recommendations for performance improvement and follow-up actions in the Gender Laboratories (WP 3)

23. WHAT IS REQUIRED FROM YOU • An internal Project Team including • Management • HR service • Equal Opportunity committee • Staff representative • ….

24. WHAT IS REQUIRED FROM YOU • Active engagement in/championing the process • Facilitation of contacts and communication with your colleagues • Help with dissemination of on-line survey • Collection of data and documents • Recruitment and selection of Reference Group • Organization of field visit of PGA Team: Interviews and Focus groups

25. WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING TOGETHER • WP2 Gender-based organisational assessments Lead Partner • Gender and non-Discrimination Programme International Training Centre of the ILOb.magri@itcilo.orggcu@itcilo.org • Technical support on gender-budgeting: Fondazione G. Brodolini • Technical support on gender stereotypes: Associazione Donna e Scienza • 31 January 2011