The issue of the gender gap in research is widely recognized. Despite the general increase in the educational level of women around the world and their higher participation and achievements in tertiary education, the research world still shows a pronounced under-representation of women, particularly in the so-called hard sciences and in leadership positions. Many more girls and young women are enrolled in and complete university studies, but there remains a large gender gap with regard to doctoral studies, which tends to widen in the post-doc phase (UNESCO-IESALC, 2021). The gendered nature of academic work and higher education institutions, leads to occupational segregation on the basis of gender that has major consequences on equal opportunities (Górska et al., 2021; Roberto et al., 2020; Roos and Gatta, 2009). Yet, gender equality in research is essential not only for fairness, but because it could help address current and future deficits in skilled labour within the EU. In this framework, the aim of the course is twofold. First, it aims at raising awareness and increasing general sensitivity, understanding and knowledge about gender (in)equality in research. The second purpose is to equip students with the basic tools for designing research projects by avoiding gender biases.

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- Gender (in)equality in research: Facts and Figures. This module is dedicated to providing a general overview of the gender gap phenomenon in academia, with particular attention to the STEM field. The most relevant data and statistics on female participation in research compared to recent years will be presented, with attention to the European and national plan. Attention will be paid to the different aspects of the gender gap, from vertical segregation and glass ceiling to phenomena such as the leaky pipeline and the other invisible barriers that women in research have to face. Finally, the manifestation of the phenomenon inside the Polytechnic will also be illustrated. - The social and cultural origins of Gender (in)equality This part of the course aims at introducing students the origins of gender inequality in academia from different perspectives. The first aims to explain the concept of gender from a socio-cultural perspective, analyzing the role of communication and media in structuring gender stereotypes. The second perspective delve into the connection of mythological thinking in the everyday life of the modern world, in particular, the archaic origins of gender stereotypes. It will explain how binary oppositions and stereotype threat are related, as well as how stereotype resistance occurs, and how it is possible to replace a negative stereotype with new beliefs. The third perspective aims to introduce students to the phenomenon of epistemic injustice to illustrare how we can mitigate this form of discrimination. Epistemic injustice is an injustice that arises when a hearer expresses unfair judgments about the credibility of a speaker (or a group of individuals) as knower, and is devoted to explain why this form of injustice is linked to mechanisms (sometimes unconscious) that make we fail to recognize women as trustworthy competent. - Gender Equality Strategies and Policies This module is dedicated to the illustration of the main policies and strategies implemented at different institutional levels to reduce the participatory gender gap in academia and promote a transversal gender dimension to the research fields. In particular, attention will be paid to actions at European, national and related to the Politecnico di Torino, highlighting which are the main tools to combat gender inequalities and the monitoring mechanisms for their implementation. In particular, universities policies can foster gender equality in research, both through mentoring actions that enable students to move beyond the cultural stereotypes in achieving their aspirations, rebalancing student population in STEM subjects; and by fostering the creation of an inclusive university environment, through organizing specific formation on inclusiveness in leadership, recruitment, language, etc. as well as awareness-raising events on harassment prevention; up to focusing on a more accurate evaluation of the research activity of faculty and researchers, which is respectful of the diverse contributions of each person. Politecnico di Torino will be used as a reference case study. - How to design your research to avoid a gender bias (practical module): This part of the course will be dedicated to illustrating strategies and methodological approaches that allow taking into account the gender dimension in research, with a transversal approach to several disciplinary fields. In particular, the course will present various techniques to avoid the presence of discriminatory biases within research projects, accompanied by practical exercises, also following any guidelines and best practices promoted at European and national level.

On site

Team project work development

P.D.2-2 - September

- 23/10/2023 from 14.30 to 16.30 - classroom 5N - 24/10/2023 from 14.30 to 17.30 - classroom 21A - 27/10/2023 from 14.30 to 17.30 - classroom 17 - 30/10/2023 from 15.30 to 17.30 - classroom 11B