Meet Health’s Gender Equality Committee
In early 2022, the faculty management team at Health appointed a gender equality committee. Since then, the Committee has formed working groups, selected their focus areas, and set specific targets for their work. Meet the members here, and read about what they are working on right now
Composition of the committee
Health’s Gender Equality Committee consists of a total of 13 members:
- Dean Anne-Mette Hvas, chair
Each of the five department heads has appointed one member from their departments:
- Associate Professor Felicity Mae Davis, Department of Biomedicine:
- Professor Henning Grønbæk, Department of Clinical Medicine
- Head of Secretariat Anni Mandrup Høeg, Department of Forensic Medicine
- Associate Professor Ask Vest Christiansen, Department of Public Health
- Postdoc Anne Birkeholm Jensen, Department of Dentistry and Oral Health
Director of Administration Lasse Munk Madsen has appointed one representative from the technical and administrative staff:
- Mads Hedelund, Head of Education, Health Studies
Two student representatives have been appointed from among the members of Health’s student forum:
- Medical student Maria Charlotte Konge Theilgaard
- Medical student Frederikke Bach Larsen
Two members have been appointed by the Dean because of their special insight into and interest in the topic:
- Postdoc Kristine Raaby Gammelgaard, Department of Biomedicine
- Clinical Professor Ida Vogel, Department of Clinical Medicine
Finally, the two Health representatives on AU’s Committee for Diversity and Equality are also members of the Faculty’s Gender Equality Committee:
- Department Head Siri Beier Jensen, Department of Dentistry and Oral Health
- Professor Ebbe Bødtkjer, Department of Biomedicine
When the thirteen appointed members of Health’s Gender Equality Committee met for the first time in the spring of 2022, there was a lively discussion about both their goals and their methods. They were, however, in rapid agreement on one point: It is time for action.
“It’s important to me that the Committee becomes a body that actually creates change. We still need room for discussion, but what is interesting is finding out how we to move forward in action,” says Dean Anne-Mette Hvas, who is chair of the Committee.
Four sub-committees to ensure progress
By the end of the Committee’s second meeting, the members formed four smaller sub-committees, each of which is responsible for planning and implementing specific activities within the four focus areas in AU’s Action Plan for Gender Equality: recruitment, career development, management and workplace culture.
Each sub-committee is already working on at least one activity and on proposals for one long-term activity up to 2025.
The Sub-Committee for Recruitment is working long-term on a draft of the guidelines for the composition and further professionalization of search committees.
The Sub-committee is also working in the shorter term to highlight positive role models for early career researchers at the faculty, and to address the challenges that may be associated with finding a good work-life balance when you want to make a career in the world of research.
The Subcommittee on Career Development will, amongst other things, illuminate and inform people about the pathway to a research career at Health – both when following “the beaten trail”, and the alternative roads. The Subcommittee on Career Development also works with both existing and new models for career guidance and mentor schemes at the faculty.
The Sub-Committee for Management is involved in a long-term task with inclusive management, which supports AU’s overall action plan for gender equality. Amongst other things, the Sub-committee will continue its work to promote equality and transparency in the working conditions at the workplace – e.g. concerning contract types, distribution of resources and seats on committees and boards.
The Sub-Committee for Workplace Culture works with the importance of networks, both formal and informal. In addition, the Sub-committee formulate a statement of intent defining goals for and approaches to the task of creating a change in culture.
Additionally, Health’s Gender Equality Committee will also address the high degree of inequality in the under-prioritisation of women’s health in research, partly to include women more frequently as test subjects to ensure development of medicine and medical equipment is also targeted women, and partly to ensure data for men and women are presented separately to uncover potential differences. The advisory board will contribute by advising, qualifying and inspiring both the strategic efforts of the committee and the faculty management and concrete initiatives in the field based on the practical experience and theoretical knowledge of the advisory board members.
You can follow the work of the Gender Equality Committee at this website(only in Danish for the time being), and reach out to the committee’s contact person, Hanne Johansen, if you have input for the committee’s work.
Contact
Advisor Hanne Johansen
Aarhus University, Health - Dean’s Office
Mobile: +45 6126 9808
E-mail: hannejohansen@au.dk