Promoting diversity

Faculty of Computer Science adopts FI Gender Equality Plan (Part 1)

The FI Gender Equality Plan was created based on the outputs and recommendations of the gender audit, which FI implemented from April to September 2024 together with external experts from the Gender Information Centre NORA with methodological support from the MU Rector's Office.

The development of the FI Gender Audit and the FI Gender Equality Plan is part of the current Faculty HR Award Action Plan (HRS4R). The same was the case for the 1st Gender Audit and Plan in 2021. The FI Gender Audit covers the following key areas:

• Organizational objectives and institutional arrangements for gender equality policy,
• the organisation's culture and workplace relations,
• the gender dimension in research,
• HR and payroll policies,
• wellbeing and work-life balance.

The six-month audit process consisted of several quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis:

• Analysis of public and internal university and faculty documents, websites and social media. MU and FI networks,
• processing and analysis of statistical data,
• online questionnaire survey,
• 4 face-to-face focus groups,
• face-to-face and online individual interviews with male and female FI employees who expressed interest in the questionnaire survey.

The Faculty of Informatics adopted the FI Gender Equality Plan (Part 2)

The audit found that FI systematically and actively promotes gender equality and diversity. It has incorporated the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination at the faculty level. In 2024, the focus was on developing the process of adaptation of new employees, and the evaluation of non-academic male and female employees was introduced. FI also offers a wide range of arrangements for caring male and female staff, helping to reconcile work and personal/family life. Sub-topics for improvement or development have also been identified. A team of external experts has proposed more than 30 measures covering 7 areas:

• Transforming organisational culture,
• work/parenting/life balance,
• recruitment and selection and functional progression,
• gender balance in leadership positions,
• measures against sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence,
• the gender dimension in research and innovation,
• studies and student population.

Suggested measures include, for example, the creation of mentoring programmes to support women's career development, awareness raising and training on the gender dimension in research, gender-based violence or gender-sensitive language, raising awareness of remuneration, benefits, complaints or anti-discrimination law, and the collection and evaluation of gender-segregated data. The implementation of these measures will be subject to regular annual evaluation and review.

We thank all participants in the gender audit for their participation. We greatly appreciate your feedback, your opinions and shared experiences. To share your suggestions for positive change at FI, please email pers@fi.muni.cz.

8th National Conference on Gender and Science

We would like to inform you about an exciting opportunity to participate in the 8th National Conference on Gender and Science, which will take place on 10 September 2024 in Prague at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The theme of this year's conference is "Social Security: From Challenge to Action" and will focus on issues of security and dignity in academic settings, with an emphasis on the prevention of gender-based violence.

The conference is intended for all those interested in gender equality and improving conditions in scientific and academic institutions. It offers a wide range of discussions, workshops and networking activities to share best practices and solutions for a safer and more inclusive work environment.

The conference will be held in person in Prague with the option of online participation for those unable to be physically present. For more information about the program and registration, please visit the official conference website.

Gender Summit Virtual Conference (GS24)

The Gender Summit Virtual Conference (GS24) will take place on 22 and 23 May 2024. The Gender Summit was established in 2011 as a result of the EU-funded genSET project to create a platform dedicated to gender issues in the environment of scientific institutions.

This year's event will feature approximately 70 international experts who will present the latest research findings and analytical approaches to gender issues that will help the scientific community reflect on the negative impacts of social inequality on the quality of research. In addition, the event will offer a space to discuss measures that help integrate gender policy into scientific practice. The virtual conference will be followed by an in-person meeting on 19 November 2024 in Ottawa, Canada.

A detailed agenda for the virtual conference is available HERE. Participation is free to register HERE.

Gender Sensitive Communication Workshop

On April 10, 2024, staff from the Human Resources Department, the Office of Studies, the Office of Doctoral and International Studies, and the Office of External Relations and Partnerships participated in an online workshop on "Gender Sensitive Communication". The workshop was led by NKC gender and science lecturers.

The workshop was primarily aimed at imparting tips on how to incorporate gender-sensitive communication into regular internal communication, faculty regulations and documents, communication towards students and on social media.

NKC Gender and Science's handbook entitled "How to Gender Sensitive Communication in an Institution" can be downloaded HERE.

Courses Monitoring and Evaluation of the Gender Equality Plan, Gender Equality in the Institution and Gender Equality Plans I and II

Want to learn more about gender equality? The National Contact Centre - Gender and Science of the Institute of Sociology of the CAS offers courses on gender equality, which are designed as e-learning, publicly available training for interested women and men from universities and research organisations in the Czech Republic. These courses are designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of gender equality plans and aim to provide an overall overview of the topic of gender equality.

You can register for the courses HERE.

From April 2024, it is possible to enrol in the new mini-course Monitoring and Evaluation of the Gender Equality Plan. The course focuses on monitoring and evaluation of gender equality plans. It introduces in detail the objectives of monitoring and evaluation, the basic concepts that the field of monitoring and evaluation works with, as well as the manual "How to monitor and evaluate gender equality plans" and specific tools for monitoring and evaluation.

The course "Effective Communication in International / Intercultural Teams

A short course on "Effective Communication within International / Intercultural Teams" will take place from 24 November 2023 to 26 November 2023.

Do you want to learn tips on how to work effectively in an international team, how to manage time management or remote communication? Sign up for a free three-day course organised by the MU Language Learning Centre.

The course is available for MU employees and PhD students who are also employees. Try out exercises and scenarios from practice together with foreign lecturers. The course must be registered for via the CJV website and is conducted in English. Preliminary program and link from the registration can be found HERE.

Webinar on the gender dimension in research

Invitation: On 4 October 2023, the NCC will host a webinar on the gender dimension in research. The online workshop by Professor Stefanie Lemke from BOKU Vienna, entitled Integrating gender in food systems research - concepts, approaches and experiences from the field, is part of the NKC's educational activities on gender and science focusing on the gender dimension in science. The workshop is intended for the professional public and will be held in English.

More information and registration for the webinar can be found HERE.

European Diversity Month

Promoting diversity and creating inclusive workplaces is a long-term challenge. The European Diversity Month is in May and a number of activities take place during the month, such as the International Conference - European Diversity Day 2023: Building Bridges - Diversity, Sustainability and Partnership or the European Commission's Launch Conference with the participation of European Commissioner Helena Dalli - 28 April 2023.

For inspiration, ideas and themes for the European Diversity Month celebrations, you may find the concise and clear Guide, which can be downloaded below in English and English HERE.

Minerva Informatics Equality Reward - Best Practices in Supporting Women

The Minerva Informatics Equality Award recognises outstanding European initiatives and best practices supporting women's careers in informatics research and education. The aim is to recognise successful initiatives with a measurable impact on women's careers at all stages. These initiatives can serve as examples of best practice and be adopted by other institutions. Until 2022, the award was given in a 3-year cycle, focusing on a different career stage each year. Projects from previous years can be found HERE.

Starting in 2023, the focus is on any stage of career advancement for women in computer science research and education. Best practices are compiled in this Informatics Europe BROCHURE.

Workshop Respect to the Attic I.

On 14 November 2024, the workshop Respect to the Ground I will be held as an introductory workshop on the topic of sexual harassment.

The goal of this hands-on, interactive workshop is to provide male and female employees with information and tools that form the prevention component of addressing sexual harassment, bullying, and violence on campus. Participants will learn what constitutes sexual harassment and violence by both male and female university employees and students. They will also learn what to do if they have witnessed problematic behavior, how to deal with victims and perpetrators, and who to contact for help. They will try out model situations and learn practical information from the Czech Republic and abroad.

The application form can be found on the CERPEK website.

Workshop Respect to the soil II.

On December 2, 2024, the Respect to the Ground II workshop will be held, which is a follow-up workshop on the topic of sexual harassment.

The goal of this hands-on, interactive workshop is to provide information and tools to female and male university employees that form the prevention component of addressing sexual harassment, hazing, and violence on campus. The workshop is designed for individuals who have already attended the initial Respect to Campus I workshop. We will put the topic of gender-based violence and sexual harassment in a broader context and connect it to the related topics of intersectionality, physical and psychological violence, economic and financial violence, sexual and cyber violence. We will deepen our knowledge of the bystander or bystander effect and practice how to talk to a victim of harassment in a practical exercise. Real-life stories from a university setting will give us the opportunity to recognize less obvious forms of gender-based harassment, and we will also talk about the most common myths about victim blaming and secondary victimization.

The application form can be found on the CERPEK website.