=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2300/Paper60
|storemode=property
|title=Using the Crowdsourcing Online-Platform as IT Tool for Gender Equality Plan Development
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2300/Paper60.pdf
|volume=Vol-2300
|authors=Ganna Plekhanova,Olena Plokha
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/acit4/PlekhanovaP18
}}
==Using the Crowdsourcing Online-Platform as IT Tool for Gender Equality Plan Development==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2300/Paper60.pdf
250
Using the Crowdsourcing Online-Platform as
IT Tool for Gender Equality Plan Development
Ganna Plekhanova1, Olena Plokha2
Information Systems Department, S. Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics, UKRAINE, Kharkiv, 9-A Nauky avenue, email:
Ganna.Plekhanova@hneu.net1, Olena.Plokha@hneu.net2
Abstract: The paper is devoted to summarizing the voluntarily have the opportunity to speak on issues related to
experience of using the crowdsourcing online-platform as the gender perspective. The main purpose of the gender audit
an IT tool to support the gender audit process and is to facilitate training, increase employee awareness and
Gender Equality Plan development at universities on the integrate gender perspectives into policy and current
example of Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University activities of the organization.
of Economics (KhNUE). The paper considers the stages Consider the experience of conducting a gender audit of
of the platform development, the strategy of attracting the university in general and the IT faculty in particular on
users, the results of the platform operation at KhNUE. the example of the Kharkov National Economic University
Keywords: crowdsourcing online-platform, gender named after Semen Kuznets.
audit, gender equality, Gender Equality Plan. At KhNUE gender audit was conducted with the financial
and methodological support of the European Union (EU) as
I. INTRODUCTION an integral part of the EQUAL-IST project " Gender Equality
Plans for Information Sciences and Technology Research
Gender equality policy today has become one of the most
Institutions" [3] funded by the EU within the framework of
important trends in the development of the European higher
the HORIZON2020 program.
education system. The issue of gender equality, that is, the
The main objective of the three-year EQUAL-IST project
parity of participation of both men and women in education,
is to implement structural changes to increase gender
research, career development, university management and
equality and positive changes in three main areas: first, in the
decision-making, is an important strategic task for modern
processes of internal university management, including in
European Universities, since ensuring gender equality in all
personnel management processes, and secondly, in the
spheres of social relations is one of the most important
processes of research design and delivery, thirdly, in the
priorities of the development of the European Union (EU)
process of learning and interaction with students and in
[1], [2]. Ukraine, proclaiming a course on European
internal communications.
integration, should make the best efforts to overcome the
The methodology of gender audit used in the project was
problem of gender discrimination and develop real
based on the International Labor Organization (ILO)
mechanisms and tools for implementation of the gender
methodology [4], but was substantially adapted to the needs
equality strategy. Ukraine has ratified a number of
of IT faculties of universities. It should be noted that the
international conventions on gender issues and has
experience of adapting the ILO methodology to the needs of
undertaken to guarantee equal rights and opportunities for
universities is not new for Ukraine, such work was carried
women and men. That is why the issues of gender
out by the Network of Gender Centers of the universities of
monitoring, analysis and audit are becoming more and more
Ukraine, and the experience of adapting the methodology to
relevant for Ukrainian educational institutions. This led to
the needs of IT departments is innovative not only for
the choice of the topic of this study, which aims to
Ukraine, but also for Europe.
summarize the experience of using the online platform as an
During the gender audit work was carried out in three
IT tool for the gender audit process support at higher
main areas: firstly, personal interviews with university staff,
education institutions in general and at IT departments, in
and secondly, seminars with students, faculty members,
particular.
representatives and heads of functional units (4 seminars in
II. CROWDSOURCING PLATFORM AS A TOOL FOR total). The third stage of work was related to the quantitative
SUPPORTING THE GENDER AUDIT PROCESS analysis of indicators of gender parity. In addition, a survey
was conducted among participants of seminars. Main
The gender audit is a powerful and effective tool for purpose of it was to identify gender inequalities and
forming a gender-sensitive environment at the university. discrimination. All these measures allowed not only to
The gender audit, based on the principle of active identify problems with the implementation of equal
participation, is a modern monitoring tool for advancing opportunities for women and men, but also to identify the
gender equality policies, where not only quantitative but also slots for their solution.
qualitative indicators play a significant role. The peculiarity In order to receive more information from different
of such an audit is that self-assessment and democratic sources in one place it was reasonable to use on-line
involvement is used, when all interested employees
ACIT 2018, June 1-3, 2018, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
251
collaboration platform. As a collaborative workspace for Basic features for external users: register on the platform;
gathering opinions of the different people from different comment on the problem; comment on ideas.
countries within the Horizon 2020 EQUAL-IST project was At the stage of designing the platform, the project team
suggested to develop and use crowdsourcing on-line generated a list of functional requirements for the platform,
platform CrowdEquality [5]. which became the basis of the development process of the IT
CrowdEquality is an interconnected environment in which product. Since the platform is actually a tool for ensuring the
all the participants in dispersed locations can access and development of gender equality plans, at different stages of
interact with each other just as inside a single entity. The the platform's operation, its functionality has changed:
environment is supported by electronic communications and ideation phase - April 2017; reviewing phase - May 2017;
groupware, which enable participants to overcome space and voting phase - June 2017; development of gender equality
time differentials. policy.
The main goal of development of the crowdsourcing At the initial stages of the platform it was possible to put
platform is to collect ideas and triggering discussions about problems and ideas to overcome them. Then at the "voting"
promising initiatives for promoting gender equality and stage these functions were blocked, instead, users had the
diversity and improving work-family balance in research opportunity to vote for the best ideas. At the stage of
institutions. CrowdEquality strives to be an inclusive developing a gender equality policy (the final stage), users
community that empowers men and women all over the could use the accumulated data (problems, ideas, the number
world to freely discuss the issues of gender equality in of votes for each idea), but all other platform features were
research institutions. CrowdEquality is designed to connect not available.
academic and non-academic staff members working at After the platform was created and launched, the key task
research institutions, policy makers, gender experts, was to engage users (external and internal) to visit the
members of relevant Non-Governmental Organisations platform in order to gather information about gender issues
(NGOs) and national/international networks, as well as all in a particular institution.
individuals interested in the design and implementation of In order to involve external experts KhNUE team
Gender Equality Plans (GEPs). conducted the following activities:
presentation of the project and the platform at a meeting
III. CATEGORIES OF USERS OF THE PLATFORM of the University's Academic Council;
The crowdsourcing online platform was used as an IT tool presentation of the platform at workshops;
to support the gender audit process and ensure gender parity. presentation of the platform at the meeting of the
This collaborative platform, developed and implemented by Information Systems Department and faculty meetings;
the EQUAL-IST project consortium, is the first European promotion through the personal contacts;
online platform that collects problems in achieving gender presentation of the platform for students at the meetings
equality at universities, ideas for overcoming them and of student groups and during breaks between classes;
creating conditions for discussion. Platform users are able to: promotion through the internal mailing lists;
become acquainted with the problems of achieving gender promotion through the university's web-resources (web-
equality existing at universities in European countries; site and social media).
express their own vision of gender inequality in various In order to involve external experts the following activities
fields at universities; were conducted:
share thoughts and influence the internal policies of presentation of the platform at several scientific
universities and research institutions in Europe. conferences;
When developing the platform, the following categories of presentation at the meeting of Kharkiv branch of All-
users were implemented: internal users (representatives / Ukrainian Network of Gender Education Centers and
representatives of the university community - those used to promotion through the mailing list of this network;
register the address in the university domain); external users presentation at the meeting of Kharkiv Platform “Culture
(experts / experts on gender issues); guest (unregistered of Equality”;
user); platform administrator; administrator from the presentation of the platform in the frame of TV interview
university. about gender equality perspectives in Ukraine.
For internal users, the platform provides the following
basic functionality:
IV. RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE PLATFORM
register on the platform; AT KHNUE
to place information on the existing problems in the field As a result of the gender audit and the use of the
of gender equality at the university; crowdsourcing online- platform, the main problems in the
express their ideas on overcoming gender equality issues; field of gender parity were identified and ranked as in the
get acquainted with other proposed problems and ideas, KhNUE and at other universities of the EQUAL-IST project
comment on them; consortium (Table 1). In addition, more than 30 ideas have
express your preferences for the most addictive ideas by been collected to overcome the problems found at KhNUE.
pushing "Like"; vote for best ideas (available only at the
voting stage).
ACIT 2018, June 1-3, 2018, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
252
TABLE 1. RANKING OF PROBLEMS IN THE FIELD OF pressing problems that require urgent solutions as well as
GENDER PARITY AT KHNUE resources. Much more staff and students were concerned
about “Work-life” balance problem, especially those who
Challenges Rank of the had young children and those who worked or studied at the
challenge second shift.
“Work-life balance” problem 1 The gender audit and the use of the crowdsourcing
No opportunities for students and 2 platform allowed, among other things, to identify problems
academic staff who became parents that were not related to gender in themselves, but caused
“Glass ceiling” problem (men are mainly 3 problems in team relationships (for example, work-life
at the decision-making level, women - at balance problems), to change the perceptions of gender
the operational level) equality, to become aware of this subject matter In the future,
Lack of resources – no budget for gender 4 this will create the effect of the chain reaction, when the
issues, no personnel, no committee acquired knowledge, representations are transmitted to those
responsible for gender equality communicating with the carrier of such information.
Lack of gender culture and tolerance 4 In addition, gender audit, as an effective tool for
The gender issue is consequently not a 5 improving socially-oriented policies, and the crowd-sourcing
part of any decision making process platform as a powerful and modern IT tool, will enhance the
No courses on gender issues 5 attractiveness of the university as an employer and as a place
Absence of the Gender Education Center 6 for learning, since advancing gender equality policies is,
at the University among other things, imaginative component.
No gender expertise of teaching 7 Thus, the crowdsourcing platform and gender audit at the
materials university proved to be an effective means for performing a
Low share of girls at computer sciences 7 number of important tasks: assessment, monitoring,
and boys at economy sciences; Very low communication, gender sensitive work methods, and
number of initiatives to attract girls to education. Analysis of the ideas and comments placed on the
computer sciences and boys – to crowdsourcing platform, the results of the electronic voting
economy sciences of the university communities allowed project team to
develop the Gender Equality Plan for KhNUE for 2017 –
The concentration of women in certain 8
2019 (Table 2).
women's sectors of employment,
The actions envisaged by this plan are extended to two
primarily in the humanities and
levels of intervention: University level or level of
economic departments
Information Systems Department.
Gender stereotypes and lack of 8
awareness about gender equality issues TABLE 2. GENDER EQUALITY PLAN FOR KHNUE
Gender insensitive communications; 8 Challenge 1: “Work-life balance” problem and lack of
Gender-sensitive language adaptation is facilities for the balance support
at the start phase Goal 1: Improve work-life balance of staff and students
At the stage of the gender equality policy development, the Аction 1 Implement provisions for ensuring priority
best ideas proposed on the platform were used by universities when drawing up the schedule of classes for
in developing gender equality plans. All ideas were divided academic staff having young children,
into four categories according to the sections of the GEPs: children with disabilities, large families, for
HR and Management Processes; Research Design and pregnant women
Delivery; Teaching and Student Services; Institutional Аction 2 Carry out research on determining the need
Communication. and resources for opening a children's room
As a result of the audit and the crowdsourcing online- on campus
platform it was found that, with a commitment to the Аction 3 Implement provisions for ensuring
principles of gender equality in general, the staff and teleworking for academic staff having young
students did not have a clear understanding of gender children, children with disabilities, large
concepts and an integrated gender approach. Gender is still families, for pregnant women
considered an additional, not a basic concept. It is necessary Аction 4 Promote a culture of equal family
to make the gender approach "visual", "concrete", "clear" responsibilities among students and staff
and "integrated". Аction 5 Create and support section on the University
In this sense, a particularly important is an information website (and / or Intranet) with information
campaign aimed at the promotion of gender equality. on gender equality issues, work-life balance
The most often expressed opinion is that staff members and rights, provisions and regulations
students do not feel the problem of gender inequality at the Challenge 2: “Glass ceiling” problem (vertical
University or do not consider gender imbalance an important segregation)
problem requiring special measures to address. Very popular Goal 2: Encourage the achievement of gender equality
was the opinion among users that the University has more (vertical principle) through information and awareness
ACIT 2018, June 1-3, 2018, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
253
raising activities assessment of teaching materials
Аction 6 Conduct seminars and round tables on Challenge 7: Gender imbalance among students of
gender equality for administrative staff computer sciences and economy sciences
Аction 7. Make recruitment procedures and selection Goal 9: Improve gender balance among students of
criteria transparent computer and economy sciences
Challenge 3: Concentration of female staff in certain Аction 16 Conduct awareness raising events to spread
women's sectors of employment (horizontal information about women in IT industry and
segregation) women's career opportunities in IT
Goal 3: Encourage the achievement of gender equality Аction 17 Establish special nominations for women /
(horizontal principle) through information and female teams in existing IT championships
awareness raising activities and competitions
Аction 8 Conduct information and awareness raising Аction 18 Perform pilot anti-discriminatory expert
activities on gender equality issues for staff assessment of marketing and advertising
Challenge 4: Lack of gender equality machineries materials for IT Bachelor's and Master's
Goal 4: Ensure sustainability of GEP’s actions by programs
establishing gender equality machineries Challenge 8: Gender insensitive communications
Аction 9 Establish a Commission on Gender Equality Goal 10: Raise awareness about the value of gender
Issues and develop mechanisms for its sensitive / gender neutral communication
functioning Аction 19 Provide language and visual support for
Challenge 4: Lack of gender equality machineries gender equality in the media content of the
Goal 5: Ensure sustainability of GEP’s actions by University
including gender equality goals and measures in the
University strategic documents III. CONCLUSION
Аction 10 Ensure the support of certain provisions of The further work of the EQUAL-IST project team will be
European Charter for Researchers by related to the implementation of GEP and the dissemination
university staff of experience among other universities. The issues and ideas
Аction 11 Propose and implement changes to existing proposed on the platform will continue to serve as a basis for
Collective Agreement of University developing gender equality plans for universities and for
Administration and Trade Union Committee disseminating the best practices of European higher
in order to insure the implementation of GEP education institutions.
Challenge 5: Gender issue is not in focus in decision-
making process ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Goal 6: Make decision-making bodies informed and This research was conducted in the frame of the EQUAL-
committed to the principles of gender equality IST project that has received funding from the European
Аction 12 Collect, analyse and publish gender Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
disaggregated statistics of the University under grant agreement No 710549. Unit EU.5. – Science
Challenge 6: Lack of gender culture and awareness with and for society.
about gender equality issues
Goal 7: Raise awareness about gender equality issues,
REFERENCES
develop gender culture of academic staff and students [1] Strategic engagement for gender equality 2016-2019,
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activities on gender equality issues for equality/document/files/strategic_engagement_en.pdf
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Аction 14 Develop and disseminate printed and 2015, http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-
electronic awareness raising materials on equality/files/documents/strategy_equality_women_men_
gender equality en.pdf.
Challenge 6: Lack of gender culture and awareness [3] EQUAL-IST project, https://equal-ist.eu/overview
about gender equality issues [4] A manual for gender audit facilitators: The ILO
Challenge 6: Lack of gender culture and awareness participatory gender audit methodology, 2nd Edition,
about gender equality issues http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---
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materials [5] CrowdEquality - the Idea Crowdsourcing Platform for
Аction 15 Perform pilot anti-discriminatory expert Promoting Gender Equality and Diversity,
www.crowdequality.eu
ACIT 2018, June 1-3, 2018, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic