Østfold University of Applied Sciences is an organization built on trust, equality and academic pride, with a student and working environment where participation, equality, well-being and mutual respect are safeguarded. All activities are characterized by high quality, curiosity and cooperation.
Our studies help to make our students reflective and socially engaged. Openness, diversity, ethical awareness and knowledge sharing characterize all of OUAS' activities.
Based on our core values, we emphasize:
- open processes, good communication and active dialogue between management and employees on the operation and development of the organization
- that individual efforts and initiative are met with a positive response
- that collegial interaction is characterized by mutual respect and tolerance
- high demands on competence, effort and results
- good professional and collegial support, and good opportunities for further development
- openness and security in restructuring processes
All employees must do their best to realize these values in their daily work. These are values that are binding internally at OUAS, as well as externally. Employees and external partners must feel that the values are lived up to (taken from OUAS' personnel policy).
Legal basis
The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender, pregnancy, maternity or adoption leave, caring responsibilities, ethnicity, religion, beliefs, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age or combinations of these grounds. Ethnicity includes national origin, descent, skin color and language. If a person is treated less favorably than another person because of their gender, they may be subject to gender discrimination. The law applies in all areas of society except in private relationships and internal relationships in religious communities.
Although no one should be discriminated against on the basis of gender, positive discrimination may be permitted. An employer may prefer to employ an employee of one gender if it promotes equality. It is then a prerequisite that the person hired is equally or almost equally qualified as the competitor of the opposite sex. In addition, the special treatment must contribute to correcting an unequal gender distribution. For example, a workplace with a predominance of male engineers is allowed to give preference to a female engineer.
The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Act and the Universities and University Colleges Act require public authorities to work actively, purposefully and in a planned manner to promote gender equality (the Activity and Reporting Duty). The use of positive discrimination and other measures to promote gender equality are also described in OUAS' adaptation agreement to the Basic Agreement.
Responsibilities
The Working Environment Committee (AMU) at Østfold University of Applied Sciences is responsible for following up gender equality and diversity work at OUAS.
Through its personnel policy, Østfold University of Applied Sciences shall promote gender equality. Managers at all levels and members of employment councils and committees have a particular responsibility to ensure that the intentions of the gender equality work are followed up. OUAS' measures concerning competence development measures, gender-neutral criteria for determining salaries and quotas in relation to the underrepresented gender are formulated in OUAS' Action Plan for Gender Equality and Diversity, cf. section 31 of the Basic Agreement.
Current situation
Reporting on gender equality, inclusion and diversity is part (appendix) of the annual report and is available on OUAS website
Organizational culture and work-life balance
| Objective | Actions/Measures | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Equal gender distribution among academic staff, including researchers with an immigrant background and descendants of immigrants | Hiring female academic staff with an immigrant background | Leadership/Management |
Organizational culture
Equal division of labor between genders and structural barriers | Managers must ensure that female and male employees are treated equally in the distribution of work tasks within research and teaching | Leadership/Management |
| Raise awareness, especially among women, that they are the ones who are mainly at home - change | Leadership/Management | |
| Gendered professional cultures | Be aware when hiring and recruiting and any under-representation of either gender - Role models | Leadership/Management |
| Work-life balance goals | Mapping via ARK every 3 years - follow-up with possible measures - Follow up on overtime | Leadership/Management |
Gender balance in management
| Objective | Actions/Measures | Responsibility |
| The status of gender equality is reported in the annual report to AMU and then the Board of Directors | HR section | |
| Establish a meeting/meeting point with a topic on ongoing activities related to equality, diversity and inclusion at the faculty's HSE committee twice a year | Dean | |
| Annual revision of the measures from the action plan | AMU (Working Environment Committee) | |
| Training and competence building | Organize inspirational lectures for students and employees where mutual respect for gender is in focus | AMU(Working Environment Committee)/Dean |
| Diversity and gender equality will be integrated into management training and recruitment | HR | |
| Highlighting that OUAS is an organization that promotes real equality regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, religion, beliefs, age and sexual orientation. | When marketing OUAS' activities, there must be a balanced gender distribution at the stand, in text and images. The diversity perspective shall be made visible. | Marketing and communication section |
| will offer Norwegian courses for students and employees who do not speak Norwegian | HR section and managers | |
| will offer Norwegian courses for students and employees who do not speak Norwegian. | Marketing and communication section | |
| Increase the number of social events held in English (more international students/staff coming) | Faculty and department management | |
| Gender balance at all levels of the organization | There shall be a balanced gender distribution (40/60) in all councils, committees and working groups at institutional and departmental level. | Dean/HR |
| The research groups shall strive for gender balance | Research group leaders | |
| Teaching and teaching materials shall, as far as possible and where necessary, be universally accessible | Dean |
Gender balance in recruitment and career development
| Objective | Actions/Measures | Responsibility |
| Focus on gender balance in the recruitment process | Where one gender is clearly underrepresented in an academic environment, it must be clearly stated in the job advertisement that the position is to be filled by someone from the underrepresented employee group. | Recruitment board/committee/project manager |
| In study programmes where one gender is underrepresented, recruitment must be adapted to attract students of the underrepresented gender. | Vice dean for education | |
| Where two candidates are considered almost equal, moderate quotas are applied to the underrepresented employee group. | Employment council/committee | |
| Both genders must be represented in the interview group in expert committees | Employment council/committee/management | |
| Support for career development for employees | Facilitate that both genders are assigned work tasks that provide skills development, are meritorious and count towards promotion. | Management across all units |
| Equal pay for equal work | When setting salaries, it must be ensured that equal pay is practiced based on current criteria for salary placement | Management/HR |
Integrating a gender perspective in research
| Objective | Actions/Measures | Responsibility |
| All academic staff and PhD candidates at receive training on gender perspectives in research projects | Gender perspectives will be part of the annual application writing course for academic staff | Research administration |
| Gender perspectives as a topic at the meeting in the PhD forum | Head of PhD Forum and research administration | |
| Gender perspectives in research projects at | It is ensured that each application for externally funded research projects took into account gender perspectives in research | Vice Dean of Research and Research Administration |
| Skills development on gender perspectives for 's research administration | Research advisors must participate in available courses and training | Director of Research and Research Administration |
Measures against gender-based violence and sexual harassment
| Objective | Actions/Measures | Responsibility |
| Control and monitoring of incidents of unwanted sexual attention and sexual harassment | Revision of current guidelines for measures against sexual harassment | HR/managers |
| Monitoring of cases, statistics and creation of problem-solving measures | AMU (Working Environment Committee) | |
| Information to staff and students about procedures in case of sexual harassment | OUAS must have clear procedures for handling and preventing sexual harassment | AMU (Working Environment Committee) /HR/management |