Last year we released a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) focused on advancing gender equality in all COST activities, with a specific focus on the COST Actions. The idea was to encourage COST Actions to incorporate a gender dimension in their activities and provide suggestions on how to advance gender equality in what they do.
One of the main recommendations we issued was for COST Actions to develop their own Gender Equality Plan as a way of guiding all network activities in this area: outlining the state-of-play, setting KPIs, identifying best practice and challenges. To support COST Actions, COST also developed a customisable template for the creation of a GEP.
10 tips for your Gender Equality Plan
To further support Actions in writing their GEP we have gathered best practice and tips from our research networks that have been very proactive in the field. These were presented at the COST Connect on Gender Equality Plans in COST Actions on 13 May 2025 in Brussels.
Enis - PROFEEDBACK - COSMIC WISPers - VOICES - PhoBioS
1. Consider equality by design. This concept involves developing policies and practices that perpetuate equality within the COST Action. For example: provide top-up grants to cover childcare costs for participants apply for their mobility grants; ensure that every Working Group has two co-leaders (representing different genders, one from an ITC country and from elsewhere, one an experience researcher and one a Young Research or Innovator); ensure gender balance in grant distribution; go outside the gender binary in administration and processes.
2. Develop an intersectional approach to gender equality. Integrating intersectionality reinforces that gender equality is a matter of social justice and social inclusion. It is high desirable to ensure more inclusive research as by limiting bias we improve quality and it’s good for epistemic pluralism, the idea that in science we should pursue multiple theories to explain a given phenomenon.
3. Consider inclusion vs equality. When looking at the wider field, is gender balance within reach or achieved and as such is it feasible to consider that the Action could achieve gender balance in its networking activities? Is the field heavily and traditionally men or women dominated? Is it better for your Action to commit to inclusion rather than equity? In turn would it be better to consider wording such as “encourage” and “support” vs “ensure” and “achieve”.
4. Establish ‘gender equality matters’ as a recurrent agenda item in Management Committee, Working Group or full Action meetings. This can be used to update participants on the current state-of-play, highlight upcoming measures, and discuss the topic with a wider audience to ensure gender mainstreaming.
5. Use gender inclusive language in all internal and external communications. This helps all feel welcome within the network and ensures that stereotypes are not accidentally reinforced in Action communications.
6. Build a respectful supportive and equitable environment for all Action members. If awareness or understanding is low consider Action-wide trainings on gender bias, gender mainstreaming, gendered innovation, or gender based violence in order to foster these environments. Are there other soft skills trainings that could be offered to create an inclusive culture?
7. Use milestone days to raise awareness and provoke discussion. Use International Day of Women and Girls in Science, International Women’s Day, and Pride Month as hooks for communication campaigns. If your Action is approaching this more broadly and considers Diversity, Equity and Inclusion then many more milestone days could apply.
8. Consider a gender dimension for Action events. Is providing a hybrid option for events possible to ensure those who cannot travel can still participate remotely? Can gender equality of speakers be achieved or additional efforts made to include voices of the under represented gender?
9. Define SMART objectives and responsibilities. Be realistic with your goals and define strategic priorities for the four year span of the Action. Identify the best possible actions to meet your objectives, and don’t waste time opening doors already opened. Identify who is involved in the delivery of the activities to ensure accountability.
10. Questionnaires and surveys are useful tools to establish the state of play and understand issues that might not be visible at the surface. A state-of-play analysis is a minimum but you have to look behind the numbers to understand perceptions, blockages, and motivations. Recommended tools and resources include the GEAM Manual (Gender Equlity Audit and Monitoring) and the GEAR tool for gender equality in academia and research to deploy questionnaires that generate high-quality data.
Further information
A note to readers: these best practices and tips are coming from the COST Action perspective, bottom-up research networks where networking, collaboration, and interdisciplinary exchange are promoted. The funding a COST Action receives covers the expenses of networking activities rather than research (funding events, Short-term Scientific Missions, Training Schools, communication activities, attendance at interesting international conferences, and virtual networking) which is different from other research projects or organisational requirements but many of the best practice examples are still applicable to other projects and organisations.
Discover examples of COST Action gender and inclusion plans:
ENIS Gender Inclusion Action Plan
LeverAge: Action Inclusiveness Plan
COSMIC WISPers Gender Balance Plan
Read our related news ‘Achieving gender equality in COST’s research networks‘.