European-U.S. Comparison of Research Career Paths: Implications for Gender Equality

Universities in both the U.S. and Norway (and elsewhere in Europe) are concerned to increase gender-balance in their faculties. This talk will focus on two salient issues regarding the organization of researchers in these two countries as related to gender-balance issues. The first of these is the tenure-track. Although there are many non-tenure track academic positions in higher education in the U.S., the tenure-track is nonetheless seen as the standard or ideal career path for those headed towards full-time employment in positions with considerable research resources. In Norway, the tenure-track does not currently exist. However, prominent voices in the higher education sector and in some political parties advocate introducing the tenure-track, and some advocates specifically claim that such a move will eventually increase the number of women in full professorships. The discussion in this presentation explores the implications of relevant cultural and legal differences between the U.S. and Norway, and relates those to the status of this discussion in the two countries. The second issue to be discussed involves the role of leadership in both the advancement of science and the advancement of women in science. Different practices will again be highlighted and implications of those differences for achieving greater gender-balance will be discussed.