Do YOU think Gender+ SMART?
At Wageningen University and Research (WUR) we value a diverse and inclusive working and learning environment for all students and employees and we strive towards gender+ equality in our institution and impact. Gender+ not only stands for acknowledging gender bias and gender inequalities, but also how this intersects with ethnicity, age, wealth status, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
Themes
Gender+ SMART Research
Thinking Gender+ SMART at WUR also means considering gender+ as content of your research (impact), beyond who is doing the research. This is relevant for every discipline and is known to enhance the scientific quality and impact of research. WUR supports Gender+ SMART research. For instance, gender+ sensitive research addresses possible bias.
An example is to ask several gender+ questions to uncover our bias, stereotyping, what is taken for granted, for instance for the pictures:
- Who programmed the drone and how did this affect the design and functioning of the drone?
- Who was included to assess its effectiveness and its friendliness for users?
- Is the woman in the other picture enabled to make use of the drone? Perhaps her daughter?
- Will she possibly be replaced by the drone? How does the application of drones affect her and her family’s livelihood and well-being?
- Have researchers considered alternative options against developing a drone to support women like her?
A Gender+ SMART WUR for a better work/life balance
Thinking Gender+ SMART at WUR also means acknowledging there is a time for work and a time to ‘live’. The competitive academic environment pressures employees to deliver timely and to meet high standards no matter of taking more working hours than contracted for. It is known that it takes more time and effort to meet standards at work when belonging to a minority group. Especially women are expected to be available 24/7 for care labour in their families.
WUR supports a Gender+ SMART work/life balance by fostering working conditions and a WUR culture from a holistic work-life perspective. This implies:
- an open discussion on work load in relation to contracted hours
- promoting to respect off-work hours and take up leave regularly
- support in redistributions of care work
- flexibility and support regarding working from home-office
- flexible differentiated support by life cycle specifics (parental period, midlife crisis, menopauze, care for aging parents, retirement)
WUR aims to achieve this gender+ equality with support of the Gender-SMART project and the Diversity and Inclusion team of WUR.
With this campaign in 2022 we invite everyone at WUR to join in sharing what is Gender+ SMART in our research, education, recruitment, career promotion and our work and study environment.
Want to join?
- Have a conversation with fellow colleagues or students about your understanding of a Gender+ SMART WUR.
- Become a member of the Diversity & Inclusion group on Intranet.
- Send your ideas about a Gender+ SMART WUR to Gender.SMART@wur.nl.
So do YOU think Gender+ SMART? We do!
