Co-creating Gender Equality in Czech Academia: External and Internal Factors

In the Czech Republic, gender equality in public higher education and research has been championed for over twenty years by the Centre for Gender and Science at the Czech Academy of Sciences. Nevertheless, concrete policies and measures have been slow in coming and they have always required protracted negotiations with the relevant stakeholders at the national level. In the past two years, the situation has changed significantly due to both external and internal circumstances. Externally, the introduction of gender equality plans as an eligibility criterion in Horizon Europe has had a major impact at the level of higher education and research institutions, creating demand for capacity-building support from the Centre as well as new opportunities for the work of institutional change agents. Internally, student initiatives and mobilisations have started addressing the issue of gender-based violence in higher education and research, making power a central issue. This essay will consider these two developments in the wider context of work at the national level to advance gender equality in higher education and research. It will examine the productive ways in which diverse types of stakeholders can be mobilised to push for change. In conclusion, it will emphasise the need to address issues of care (including self-care) in order to support gender equality efforts.