The European conferences on gender equality in higher education have since 1998 brought regularly together hundreds of gender equality practitioners, researchers and administrators from Europe and beyond. The conferences provide an international forum to discuss and exchange information and experiences and share research results on the changes and challenges related to gender in academia, gender equality promotion and interventions in higher education and research institutions.
The first European conference on gender equality in higher education was organized in Finland by the University of Helsinki in 1998, and since then the conferences have traveled across Europe: to Zürich (2000), Genoa (2003), Oxford (2005), Berlin (2007), Stockholm (2009), Bergen (2012), Vienna (2014) and now in Paris 2016.
What has kept these European gatherings going is a network created in 1999 as a result of the first conference: the European Network on Gender Equality in Higher Education. This network keeps connected by an email list eq-uni (see separate link on how to join) with over 500 members from over 30 countries. Each conference is organized by a local organizing group, consisting of one or several universities and other stakeholders, and advised by previous organizers and the European network. Where the next conference is going to take place is discussed collectively during the conference on the basis of offers from interested future host universities.
