D3.3 Report on GEP Monitoring Survey + Webcrawl Result

Following the introduction of the eligibility criteria in 2022, which stipulates that research organisations and higher education institutions must have a gender equality plan (GEP) (European Commission 2021b, 12–13), the monitoring of GEPs became a pivotal concern. At present, there is no reliable tool available to monitor GEPs. The present study on the monitoring of GEPs comprises the development of indicators and their application in two different methodological approaches: non-reactive (web scraping and automated text analysis) and reactive (Europe-wide online survey).

This report presents the results gathered by both approaches, focusing on the requirements related to the eligibility criterion. In addition to results on the prevalence of GEPs, we present results on publication, dedicated resources, data collection and monitoring, awarenessraising/training as process-related and four areas of activities (work-life balance, gender equality in recruitment and career progression, integration of the gender dimension, measures against gender-based violence) as content-related requirements (European Commission 2021b, 12–13).

The sample for both methodological approaches comprises nearly 7,000 research-performing and research-funding organisations in all European member states and six associated countries. Following the removal of incomplete data, the survey was sent out to 4,571 organisations and web scraping was conducted for around 2000 more cases. The field period of the European-wide online survey has been in the summer of 2024.