Journal of Gender Studies has just published a new article that presents evidence from an evaluation study of the transnational network of Communities of Practice (CoPs) supported through the H2020 ACT project to promote gender equality and improve the implementation of Gender Equality Plans in higher education, research funding and research performing organizations. The article is co-authored by GenTIC researcher Rachel Palmén and other members of the ACT project team, including Aleksandra Thomson, Sybille Reidl, Sarah Barnard, Sarah Beranek, Andrew Dainty and Tarek M. Hasan.

 

Drawing on the experiences of the transnational and multi-institutional network of ACT communities of practice (CoPs), the authors describe how the CoP approach supported individuals who leveraged CoP membership to respond to challenges in promoting gender equality initiatives. Findings also show that CoPs’ heterogeneity did raise some difficulties in relation to the divergence of members’ contexts and geopolitical idiosyncrasies, and that this should be considered when designing CoPs that transcend national and institutional boundaries.

 

The full article is available for open access at this link.