Thanks to observers, committees gave more money to women

There was something peculiar about the discussions when research grants were being awarded, according to the committee chair. Something did not feel right. Then the Swedish Research Council began sending observers to the meetings.

“It all began in 2008. The chair of one of the Swedish Research Council’s grant allocation committees experienced something happening in the room that was hard to put a finger on, but the chair knew it had to do with gender, at least in part,” explains Lisbeth Söderqvist.

She is a senior analyst in the Department of Research Policy at the Swedish Research Council.

“As a result, the committee chair asked a colleague from the personnel department at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg to attend the committee meetings as an observer.”

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