The EquaStream project is about gender bias at universities in the Baltic Sea region. It will focus on methods and tools to eliminate structural bias.
EquaStream states that gender bias still exists in academia and other workplaces. Women and men do not have equal career opportunities. EquaStream argues, for instance, that academia tends to promote researchers in male-dominated technical areas. Universities often lack knowledge on how gender equality can be used as strategic tools in research and innovation. Accordning to EquaStream they also lack guidelines to encourage gender-aware strategies and decision-making processes. The project suggests that it is necessary to increase understanding about gender bias at universities, and also to establish a norm-critical learning process through personal reflection and discussion.
EquaStream brings together an already existing partnership of organisations that have progressed differently in regard to gender equality work and internationalization. The project will primarily enable bench-marking and knowledge-sharing between the partners. Each partner will address the topics by testing a set of gender-mainstreaming tools. The Genovate Toolkit is a handbook for integrating gender equality and diversity in research and innovation. The Richer Business tool is a digital tool that is used to identify and remove barriers to create an inclusive workplace culture.