The Persistence of Gender Struggles in Nordic Research and Innovation

Abstract

Despite being renowned for their gender equality, the Nordic countries continue to suffer from persistent inequalities including in research and innovation (R&I) as an employment field. Drawing on interviews conducted between 2017 and 2020 with women and men working in R&I inside and outside of the academy, and on Charles Tilly’s (1998) conceptualisations of durable inequalities, the authors find that specific and cumulative gendered disadvantages accompany women’s R&I careers at each of the four researcher career stages (doctoral student, postdoc, researcher/lecturer, full professor), in particular through unquestioned informal everyday practices.

Keywords

• durable inequality
• gender inequality
• researcher career stages
• research and innovation
• informal practices
• Nordic countries