Exploring gender equality in Irish higher education: Qualitative case-study research into the response to, and process of, Athena SWAN

[left to right] Dr Monica O’Mullane, Dr Mariana Szapuová, Professor Fiona Mackay, Dr Charoula Tzanakou, Professor Carol Linehan and Dr Caitríona Ní Laoire at the GendeResearchIreland Symposium Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk- Exploring gender equality in Irish higher education held in UCC, 22^nd November 2022

Project Overview and Aims

GendeResearchIreland (2018-2022) was a four-year fellowship research project hosted by ISS21. The fellowship was led and carried out by Dr Monica O’Mullane, funded by the EC Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship programme. GendeResearchIreland explored the embedding of gender equality in Irish higher education through qualitative research on the Athena SWAN Charter. The Charter was launched in the UK in 2005 and coordinated by Advance HE. Athena SWAN was introduced to the Irish higher education sector in 2015, coordinated in the Republic of Ireland by the Higher Education Authority (HEA). It is a gender equality programme which seeks to promote good practice in recruiting, retaining and promoting women in science and research.  It has been designated a central role in addressing gender inequalities in Irish higher education, as recommended in The Report of the Expert Group: HEA National Review of Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) (2016: 17) (Expert Group Report) “as a useful tool in assisting institutions in changing their organisational culture.” The Expert Group Report recommended that Athena SWAN award attainment is a requirement for research funding eligibility; HEIs in Ireland could potentially lose access to research funding if they do not achieve the awards in a set timeframe.

Within this context, GendeResearchIreland examined the change processes instigated by the Athena SWAN Charter programme in three cases, i.e. three Irish universities. The project sought to understand the role, position and perception of Athena SWAN within Irish higher education. The research looked in particular at how Athena SWAN was being adopted and utilised in higher education, how institutions were responding to the change process implied in the initiative, and why the processes of Athena SWAN varied in different contexts. Dr O’Mullane worked with Dr Caitríona Ní Laoire as mentor. Both Dr O’Mullane and Dr Ní Laoire worked together previously as team leads of the Slovak (Trnava University) and Irish (UCC) teams, respectively,  on the multi-country EC FP7 funded GENOVATE (Transforming Organisational Culture for Gender Equality in Research and Innovation) project. GENOVATE was led by Professor Uduak Archibong, who continues to collaborate with Dr O’Mullane on her current project, HIA-IM.

A symposium, entitled Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk- Exploring gender equality in Irish higher education, took place in UCC on 14^th November 2022 to mark the completion of the GendeResearchIreland project. This event, led by Dr O’Mullane, brought together experts, practitioners and activists interested in the topic of embedding gender equality in higher education institutions. Invited speakers to the event included President of UCC, John O’Halloran, Professor Nuala Finnegan (UCC), Dr Caitríona Ní Laoire (UCC), Professor Fiona Mackay (University of Edinburgh), Dr Mariana Szapuová (Comenius University, Bratislava) and Dr Charoula Tzanakou (Oxford Brookes University).

Since completing the project in 2022, Dr O’Mullane has been invited to share findings from the project at a number of events and meetings, including International Women’s Day events in University of Galway (2023) and UCC (2024), and presenting to the national Athena SWAN Committee (November 2023). Dr O’Mullane was also asked to present at general meetings of the College of Business and Law (March 2023) and School of Applied Social Studies (April 2024) in UCC.

Photos from some project events are found below, as well as the graphic harvest created by Hazel Hurley at the GendeResearchIreland Symposium held in UCC, 22^nd November 2022, seen here below. This graphic harvest is free to use as part of any group work carried out on embedding gender equality in higher education, as a prompt for conversations and dialogue. If you would like the PDF version of the graphic harvest, please email Dr O’Mullane directly.

Graphic Harvest created by Hazel Hurley at the at the GendeResearchIreland Symposium held in UCC, 22^nd November 2022

Project Outputs & Events

• O’Mullane, M. and Ní Laoire, C. (forthcoming), ‘Through the Lens of Critical Actors: Embedding gender equality in Irish universities through the Athena SWAN Ireland Charter, in (eds) McIlrath, L., Maher, H., Connolly, M. and Leeson, L. Transforming Gender Equality and Inclusion Within Higher Education in Ireland. London & New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• O’Mullane, M. (2023) ‘What do the narratives tell us? Exploring the implementation of the Athena SWAN Ireland Charter’, Frontiers in Sociology. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366884225_What_do_the_narratives_tell_us_Exploring_the_implementation_of_the_Athena_SWAN_Ireland_Charter
• GendeResearchIreland video- (2022) Project Learnings and Insights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yF_IAs5fek
• Website launched www.monicaomullane.com in 2021 which showcases both the work of Dr O’Mullane’s MSCA project, GendeResearchIreland, and broader research interests.
• Published RTE Brainstorm articles: COVID-19 and HIA; Cork as a Healthy City, and All you need to know about Marie Curie
• Steering group member of WHO designated Cork Healthy Cities since 2018 and co-editor of a book celebrating the work of Cork Healthy Cities work with Denise Cahill, Coordinator of Cork Healthy Cities. The book was co-funded by ISS21, with Cork Healthy Cities and Cork City Libraries. The book is for sale for €20 in Waterstones Cork and in lowercase bookshop, UCC.
• O’Mullane, M. (2021), ‘Exploring the Institutional Response to a Gender Equality Programme (Athena SWAN) in Irish Higher Education,’ Stream # 40 Gender and Power in Higher Education. Gender, Work and Organization Virtual Conference, Kent, UK. 2^nd July.
• O’Mullane, M. (2021) ‘Exploring the discourses of actors working to institutionalise the Athena SWAN Charter in the academy’, as part of the panel ‘The Caring University,’ Sociological Association of Ireland Annual Virtual Conference. 7^th May.
• Public engagement workshops delivered to secondary school students: St Colmans Fermoy (2022) and St Als Cork City (2019) and Scoil Mhuire Ballingeary County Cork (2019). At the workshops Dr O’Mullane openly discussed and shared on the benefits of the research study being done as part of GendeResearchIreland, and research careers generally, and to bring knowledge and expertise on the topic of gender equality in higher education to the public, in this case, secondary school students and school environment. The aim of the workshops was also to illustrate the importance of maximising diversity in research and science, to the benefit of the field.
• O’Mullane, M. (2021) ‘Developing a theoretical framework for exploring the institutional responses to the Athena SWAN Charter in higher education institutions (HEIs)- A feminist institutionalist perspective,’ Irish Journal of Sociology, Online First https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0791603521995372
• O’Mullane, M. (2021), ‘Maintaining, Challenging or Disrupting the Status Quo? Exploring the Institutional Response to a Gender Equality Programme (Athena SWAN) in one Irish University’, Gender Equality Certification: Lessons Learnt and Future Developments, Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice, Oxford Brookes University, 25th February 2021.
• 'Why are There More Men in Senior Management?' presented as part of the Pint of Science Ireland Festival, Cork, 21st May 2019. In this presentation, Dr O’Mullane discussed her research and talked about her own career journey. Pint of Science is a global initiative which bring researchers into communities to talk about their research to a largely lay audience.
• In November 2019 Dr O’Mullane, on behalf of GendeResearchIreland, invited Professor Uduak Archibong to speak with the UCC community on the topic of Institutionalising Gender Equality.  Dr O’Mullane also shared some initial reflections from her own research on Athena SWAN. Photo below of Dr O’Mullane and Professor Archibong.
• GendeResearchIreland was showcased at Cork Discovers 2019, along with other ISS21-hosted research projects.  Cork Discovers is part of European Researchers’ Night, which ran across 27 countries on the night of Friday, September 27.
• O’Mullane, M. (2018) ‘Implementing a European gender equality project in a Slovak university: A personal perspective,’ ISS21 Seminar to the UCC Community, 17^th December.

Project Funding and Duration:

This project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No.750408.

Contact: 

For information on the project, please contact Dr. Monica O'Mullane, m.omullane@ucc.ie 

[left to right] Dr Monica O'Mullane and Professor Uduak Archibong and at the Institutionalising Gender Equality Seminar, UCC, 15th November 2019.

[left to right] Dr Monica O’Mullane and Professor Nuala Finnegan, at the GendeResearchIreland Symposium Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk- Exploring gender equality in Irish higher education held in UCC, 22^nd November 2022

President of UCC, Professor John O’Halloran, opening the GendeResearchIreland Symposium Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk- Exploring gender equality in Irish higher education held in UCC, 22^nd November 2022 held in UCC.

[left to right] Hazel Hurley, creator of the event’s awesome graphic harvest! Monica O’Mullane and Denise Cahill, at the GendeResearchIreland Symposium Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk- Exploring gender equality in Irish higher education held in UCC, 22^nd November 2022.