The GRANteD project has analysed data from various case studies and datasets to investigate whether gender disparities in grant application behaviour do exist and whether grant assessments disadvantage women or men.
Firstly, the case studies include a variety of different career grants, explanatory factors, and analytical approaches, but in terms of gender bias the results indicate a trend towards more neutral results. In contrast, the analysis of gender bias in the doctorate thesis cum laude award in the Netherlands demonstrates that males have a significant advantage over women in this extremely selective acknowledgment of receiving a PhD thesis that is evaluated through a controlled process but without formalised criteria. According to the Dutch career study, which was carried out in the GRANteD project, women leave the scientific system more frequently and sooner than men do, and they become full professors later and less frequently than men do which implies that gender prejudice in the hiring processes are still prevalent.
Secondly, in terms of the application activity of female and male researchers, the results of a survey among German researchers indicate more equal results. Women applicants seem to submit the same amount of research proposals if accounted for differences in terms of position and scientific fields. These results also imply that, when it comes to grant applications, there doesn't appear to be a gender difference in self-confidence, risk avoidance and avoiding competitive situations.
Thirdly, there are also hardly any gender disparities among grant applicants when it comes to engagement in academic housework, past performance or feelings of belonging to research groups as would have been expected from the literature on gender disparities among research staff (D7.1). The main gender differences are related to the engagement in care responsibilities and in career support received from a mentor where female applicants report less support than their male colleagues.
Fourthly, these findings suggest that policies or other actions undertaken in the various investigated grants and in the science system have been successful in equalizing the chances of women and men. For instance in some cases explicit policies focussing on gender equal outcomes of the assessment processes were implemented which clearly contributed to these gender equal results. The GRANteD project has investigated the wide set of gender bias related risk factors and how to address them with specific gender equality policies. Nevertheless, it remains to be evaluated in detail how these policies and instruments have affected the grant assessment result like panel scores or grant decisions.
Fifthly, the conflict between the creation of policies and their implementation in practice is demonstrated by the qualitative case studies. In terms of policy implementation, the interviews and observations indicate that panellists and other participants are not always following the newly implemented rules and procedures as they do not see benefits or as they do not possess the necessary knowledge and awareness.
Although there are some hints that the situation is improving, there is also clear evidence that mechanisms like gender stereotyping are still influencing assessment processes to the disadvantages of women. Therefore, it is necessary to continue efforts to monitor the applications and grant selection processes in terms of application and success rates of gender and controlling for relevant evaluation criteria and to relate these results to procedural, organizational, and policy changes.
The results of the GRANteD project are available in public deliverables as well as in scholarly open access publications on the GRANteD website. The presentations of the final GRANteD stakeholder conference can be watched also on the website and the presented slides can be downloaded there:
https://www.granted-project.eu/conference-recording/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie) The main conclusions and policy implications are summarized in two policy briefs:
https://www.granted-project.eu/policy-briefs/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)
