Despite progress, women remain underrepresented in senior academic roles. The EU is providing enhanced guidance to Gender Equality Plans and proposes new actions to close persistent gaps.
Even if some progress has been made in recent years (see SwissCore article), women continue to be underrepresented in academia, especially when it comes to senior academic and decision-making positions. This situation is linked to several persistent barriers, including the gender pay gap, work-life balance, unconscious bias, gender-based violence, limited access to mentorship, and unequal access to resources.
In this context, on 10 February 2026, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science once again provided the opportunity to reflect on ways to support women in research and to reduce the barriers entering and progressing within academia. The day also serves as a reminder that structural change requires sustained policy action alongside cultural change within institutions on the global, European, but also national levels.
Gender equality continues to be one of the European Union’s core values and a long-standing priority of the European Research Area. This commitment is reflected in the two European Research Area Policy Agendas. Under the first agenda, there was already an ERA Action on Gender, which will continue under the second agenda as an ERA Structural Policy on Gender. It is primarily implemented through the work of the persisting ERA Forum subgroup on inclusive gender equality, with an intersectional approach and a new emphasis on implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
In the first Policy Agenda, a main focus was on Gender Equality Plans (GEPs), which have been introduced as a mandatory eligibility requirement for funding under Horizon Europe for all higher education institutions, research organisations and public bodies in European Union Member States and Associated Countries. GEPs act as drivers for institutional change as they raise awareness at European, national, and institutional levels. They have to address areas such as work-life balance and organisational culture; gender equality in recruitment and career progression; integration of the gender dimension into research and teaching content; and measures against gender based violence, including sexual harassment.
The Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027 again foresees several actions to support the concrete implementation of GEPs. These include calls focusing on inclusive GEP implementation, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms as well as a project dedicated to policy coordination and the development of principles for gender budgeting and expenditure tracking. In addition, a procurement for a Gender Equality Competence Facility is planned.
To facilitate the implementation of GEPs, and in response to challenges raised especially during the preparation of the new Work Programme and discussions on the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10), the European Commission has recently updated its guidance on Gender Equality Plans. The updated guidance is complemented by a new practical guidance on how to prepare for ex‑post checks, providing additional clarity on the GEP eligibility criterion and enhancing compliance.
In addition to the publication of the She Figures Report in 2024, the European Commission published, at the end of 2025, a report on promoting gender equality and institutional changes through EU‑funded research. It provides an in‑depth analysis of 23 EU‑funded projects, highlighting effective tools, practices, and results that contribute to greater gender equality in research and innovation, while also identifying remaining structural and cultural challenges.
Finally, in the second quarter of 2026, the European Commission plans to adopt a new Action for women in research, innovation, and startups. This initiative aims to address persistent gender gaps and to promote diversity, equality, and inclusiveness across the European Research Area.