Employment, Career Development & Mobilities
Employment opportunities, career progression and mobilities for Young Researchers and Innovators (YRIs) are complex issues that require a multidimensional approach. Through workshops, focus groups, and a training school, the WG1 will seek to gather best practices of measures for YRIs- and gender-sensitive recruitment and evaluation procedures in RPOs and RFOs. It will also assess measures taken to enhance working conditions and career progression, addressing, among other things, the assignment of administrative and less valued tasks in the professional sphere to female YRIs, as well as their main domestic responsibilities.
The WG1 will examine efforts taken to tackle horizontal segregation across disciplinary fields, while simultaneously ensuring that female YRIs have adequate transferable skills and receive guidance to integrate in other sectors through an interdisciplinary approach. This may be especially relevant amongst the tech start-up milieu, which itself is a priority under the Horizon Europe Framework Programme.
Finally, the group will address the gendered obstacles encountered amidst the requirement for mobility for YRIs, including mobility along geographical, disciplinary and intersectoral axes.
Training Schools
Krakow 2022
The Intersectionality, Research, and Action International Summer School (IRAISS), 12-15 July 2022
The Intersectionality, Research, and Action International Summer School (IRAISS) organized together with WG5: Intersectionality, held from 12–15 July 2022 at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland brought together early-career and mid-level researchers, faculty members, practitioners, community organizers,and activists to deepen knowledge, foster collaboration, and advance the practice of intersectional approaches in academia and beyond. At its core, IRAISS was conceived to provide a space where intersectionality could be studied not only as a theoretical framework but also as a practical methodology for driving social change. By blending scholarly rigor with activist insight, the program aimed to equip participants with tools to critically analyze inequalities and to act on them through research, teaching, and community engagement. The four-day summer school offered a mix of lectures, seminars, interactive workshops, and peer mentorship sessions. Leading international scholars guided discussions on the latest theoretical and methodological developments in intersectional research, while practitioners and activists shared grounded perspectives from their work in diverse contexts. One of the hallmarks of IRAISS was its emphasis on dialogue and co-creation. Participants not only learned from experts but also engaged in “fireside chat” mentorship and collaborative exercises designed to spark new research ideas and partnerships. By balancing theory and praxis, the program encouraged participants to reimagine how intersectional approaches could be mobilized to address real-world challenges.
The detailed description of IRAISS can be found in the section presenting the activities in WG5.
Bilbao 2024
The VOICES Summer Training 2024 (8–11 July, University of Deusto, Bilbao) convened 65 participants from across Europe to strengthen inclusive mentoring for early-career researchers and women in academia. Led by María López Belloso with Marta Warat and Ola Thomson, and chaired by Anne-Sophie Godfroy, the programme combined keynotes, hands-on workshops, and peer exchange to move from principles to practice.
Plenary contributions from Liudvika Leišytė, Stacy Johnson, Xavier Ronald Eekhout Chicharro, Nataliya Rohr-Udilova, and May Morris examined mentoring rationales, reverse mentoring, intersectoral approaches, and programme design and impact, offering a multi-level view of what effective mentoring entails in higher education and research ecosystems.
Interactive sessions—facilitated by, among others, Alice Matimba, Colette Guillopé, Liudvika Leišytė, Ekaterina Masetkina, Laura Cortada, Magdalena Zadkowska, and Temi Lawal—provided practical tools for mentors, mentees, and programme implementers, while a roundtable addressed institutional responsibilities for inclusive mentoring and sponsorship. Beyond the classroom, participants joined a feminist guided tour of Bilbao that connected mentoring values with the city’s social history; both the Summer School and this visit received media coverage, amplifying the event’s reach.
The closing day focused on consolidation: mentees’ and mentors’ voices informed a co-created “Mentoring Decalogue” and a mapping exercise for VOICES to coordinate next steps and collaborations across the network.
Workshops
WG1 met at the University of Deusto in Bilbao to advance two strands of work: the systematic literature review (SLR) on gendered precarity in academia and the design of the 2024 VOICES Training School on mentoring. Participants included Marta Warat, Ana Ferreira, Thais França, Carolina Bolesta, María López Belloso, Ola Thomson, and Irene García Muñoz, with Deusto guests (María Silvestre Cabrera, Barbara Rossi/IRPO, and Marta Calvo/GEO).
Systematic Literature Review — SLR
The group confirmed authorship sensitivities (notably Spanish assessment practices that undervalue multi-authored outputs) and agreed to accommodate contributions (e.g., potential paper splits and clear acknowledgements). An August call at the Journal of Gender Studies was noted, pending timeline clarity. The review protocol was stress-tested: databases (Google Scholar, EBSCO, Scopus, Web of Science), peer-reviewed journals only, and exclusions (non-English; non-articles; pre-2000 to end-2022; outside academia; not addressing precarity; no explicit gender/intersectional focus). The team iteratively refined the search—dropping “neoliberal,” trialling “intersection*” on/off, adding “higher education,” and removing non-binary and contract-type terms that distorted returns—settling on: Precari AND (gender OR women OR female OR intersection*) AND (academ* OR scien* OR “higher education” OR research OR university).* Parallel searches were run to compare yields. References were imported to a shared Zotero library; each abstract receives two independent reviews, logged in an Excel tracker (to be set up by Ana Ferreira).
Designing a training school on mentoring
Building on lessons from the 2023 Poland school (budget limits, no fees for participants, reimbursement rules, hybrid complexity), Deusto outlined two hosting formats. A wider-group meeting (online) confirmed SLR inclusion/exclusion criteria, onboarded new volunteers, and retained “precariousness” as a deliberate political term. Mapping of mentoring initiatives (first stage) identified ~45 programmes (mainly university/NGO-led), with limited intersectional reach and a prevailing deficit lens; stage two will conduct deep dives and produce recommendations, a toolkit, and training artefacts. A parallel subgroup on gender-balance in career progression is synthesising ~30 reports, moving from age-based to career-stage (R1–R4) categorisation.
From Inspiration to Empowered Careers: Mentoring Programmes in Higher Education
Gdańsk, 6 June 2025 and online
As a continuation of the VOICES Training School on inclusive mentoring, the University of Gdańsk hosted a full-day workshop bringing together researchers, practitioners, and change-makers to exchange tools, practices, and forward-looking ideas for more inclusive academic environments.
The program combined inspiring presentations, interactive learning, and creative engagement, including a T-shirt exhibition of the 10 Principles of Mentoring developed by the VOICES community.
The workshop was divided into three sessions:
“You shall not perish! Lessons learnt from MINDtheGEPs project”
Moderator: Dr Magdalena Żadkowska
This session explored the challenges faced by researchers navigating parenthood, caregiving, and intersecting inequalities. Drawing on studies from Polish and Italian universities, speakers shared strategies to address “invisible dropout” in academia and presented good practices already piloted at the Jagiellonian University and University of Gdańsk. Findings contribute to the forthcoming volume Gender (In)equality in Research and Science: A Multilevel Analysis across Europe (Edward Elgar, 2025).
“Learning Both Ways: Reverse Mentoring in Practice”
Trainer: Dr Alice Matimba
An interactive workshop introduced reverse mentoring as an inclusive model that challenges hierarchies and fosters mutual learning. Participants gained practical insights into implementation, while Dr Matimba shared her expertise in genomics research, training, and global mentoring initiatives.
“Mentoring in Practice: Lessons from Polish Universities and the VOICES Principles”
Moderator: Marta Warat
This roundtable created an open platform to reflect on mentoring experiences in Polish universities. Invited guests: dr hab. Karolina Krasuska, prof. UW (University of Warsaw), dr Beata Karpińska-Musiał, prof. UG (University of Gdańsk) and Ekaterina Masetkina (HHU Dusseldorf, EUMENT-NET) presented mentoring models, highlighting successes and barriers, while participants engaged in collective dialogue on how mentoring can advance equity, institutional change, and supportive academic careers.
The workshop gathered more than 30 participants from different institutions in Europe who joined either in person or online.
Short-Term Scientific Missions
Mentoring Programme collaboration visit with EUMENT-NET to Constanta Maritime University
Dates: August 31-September 04, 2024
Location: Constanta Maritime University, Romania
Organizers: Ekaterina Masetkina (chair of EUMENT-NET, Head of Selma Meyer Mentoring, Universität Düsseldorf; Dr. Cristina Dragomir Constanta Maritime University)
Dr Ola Thomson was invited by Ekaterina Masetkina (Chair of EUMENT-NET) to attend an international mentoring event in Romania to explore collaboration between VOICES WG1 and EUMENT-NET. The visit aimed to strengthen ties, support the VOICES Mentoring Mapping project, and initiate planning for a joint mentoring conference in Germany in 2025. All objectives were met and exceeded, with additional benefits including the dissemination of VOICES outputs and strategic networking with Kateřina Svičková (European Commission, DG Research & Innovation), who expressed interest in supporting future VOICES events and reviewing its policy recommendations. Mentoring is recognised within GEPs, positioning VOICES and EUMENT-NET as expert voices. The event also initiated funding discussions for the 2025 conference to maximise impact across networks (point 4).
Co-organised Conference
International Expert Exchange – Inclusive Research Cultures Through Mentorship
Date: May 26–27, 2025
Location: Heinrich Heine University (HHU), Düsseldorf, Germany
Organizers: Dr Ola Thomson (COST Action VOICES), Ekaterina Masetkina MA, Michaela Gindl MA, Dr Dagmar Höppel, Dr Evelyne Rusdea (EUMENT-NET)
The International Expert Exchange, co-hosted by EUMENT-NET and COST Action VOICES, convened at HHU Düsseldorf to explore the role of mentorship in fostering inclusive and transformative research cultures. The event was held at HHU, a university recognized for its interdisciplinary research excellence and the SelmaMeyerMentoring programme, a leading initiative in academic mentoring. The programme brought together over 60 participants, including mentorship programme managers, researchers, personal development officers, and institutional stakeholders from across Europe. The event aimed to bridge practitioner experience with academic research to advance inclusive mentoring practices and resulted in key outcomes: strengthened cross-sector and interdisciplinary networks among mentoring professionals; shared evidence-based practices and challenges in implementing inclusive mentoring; and highlighted the potential of mentorship to drive institutional change and support gender equality.
Mentoring Mapping
The aim of this activity was to identify and analyse mentoring programmes across Europe and internationally. The exercise focused on understanding how these programmes address gender and other intersecting forms of disadvantage in academic and professional contexts. Recognising the situated nature of inequality, WG1 members drew on their local, linguistic, and institutional expertise to map mentoring schemes embedded in both formal and informal structures. The scope included programmes across academia, industry, NGOs, and hybrid spaces. The mapping yielded data on 86 mentoring programmes from 18 countries, along with 7 international initiatives. While not intended to be representative, the exercise captured a wide spectrum of mentoring practices and surfaced critical gaps.
Systematic Literature Review
The WG1 review maps peer-reviewed scholarship (2000–Sept 2023) on how precarity shapes women scholars’ academic and life trajectories, with explicit attention to intersectional dimensions. Its specific aims are to delimit the field, identify recurrent issues, and characterise how crises (individual, institutional, societal) intensify gendered precarity. A preliminary conceptual matrix organises evidence across three domains—career, work–life balance, and health and well-being—and three levels of analysis (micro, meso, macro).
Methodologically, the team restricted the corpus to English-language, peer-reviewed empirical and theoretical articles that explicitly address gendered precarity (or compare women/men) in neoliberal academia, including studies with an intersectional approach. Editorials, non-peer-reviewed items, reviews, theses, books, and studies lacking explicit relevance were excluded. Searches were run in Web of Science and Scopus using a pre-tested string (“Precarity* AND (gender OR women OR female OR intersection*) AND (academ* OR scien* OR ‘higher education’ OR research OR university)”), complemented by backward and forward citation tracking. Screening and full-text assessment were conducted in pairs, with disagreements resolved through discussion; records were managed in Zotero and extraction captured in a structured sheet.
Coverage to date is substantial: initial queries yielded ~1,000+ WoS and ~400+ Scopus hits (topic/title-abstract-keyword). After title/abstract screening, ~70 papers were retained in the first round, ~136–137 added via backward citation, and a forward pass screened ~6,005 additional abstracts. Each included paper is double-coded against first-level categories (object, variables, objectives, methods/techniques, population, country, sample, theory, intersectional approach type, discipline, journal, keywords, authors). The team notes challenges typical of large multi-site reviews—ambitious scope, uneven resourcing, harmonising inclusion criteria and concepts, database access differences, and time constraints—while outlining next steps: complete forward extraction, aggregate all rounds, reconcile discrepancies, draft structure, and prepare the manuscript for journal submission.
Good practices related to gender equality and career progression
The aim of this activity was to identify and analysed promising practices supporting gender equality and career progression in academia and research. This task focused on mapping initiatives from across different European states, drawing attention to institutional strategies and policy measures. This task allowed to collect promising practices but also stimulated critical reflection on how these measures could be adapted and implemented in various contexts.
Publications
Thomson, A., López Belloso, M., Warat, M., and Damala, A. (in press). ‘Towards gender equality in research and academia: conceptualising and practising inclusive mentorship through community building, co-creation and art-based methods’, Journal Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, DOI: 10.1108/EDI-12-2024-0619 (peer reviewed; COST Action funding acknowledged)
Thomson, A., López Belloso, M., Beqiri, T., Rotter, A., Guillopé, C., Schomakers, J., Szlavi, A., Kalaj, E. H., Bostenaru Dan, M., Demir Korkmaz, F., Grinevica, L., ONDER-OZDEMIR, N., Berisha Dranqolli, V., EROL, E., & PEHLİVAN, N. N. (2025). Mentoring programmes for women in research and academia in Europe [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17175658 (data set; COST Action funding acknowledged)