Keynote speech held by Lucy Ferguson (Yellow Window) during the 4th WiS Symposium organised by the Can Ruti Women in Science Working Group (WiS) on 11 February 2022.
3. Presenter and Authors
Lucy Ferguson,
Yellow Window
(presenter and co-author)
Lucy Fe
Lut Mergaert, Yellow
Window (co-author)
4. Questions for self-reflection throughout the
presentation
➔What kinds of resistances to structural change for
gender equality have you experienced?
➔How do you currently deal with resistances?
➔How could you deal with resistances differently?
➔What role do resistances play in the structural
change process?
5. Quotation for Discussion
“We should celebrate as a success cases where the
status quo has to start to work hard to reproduce
itself and has to invest resources and energy in
resisting gender change. The need for visible
resistance to positive change is a success. It is
evidence of the chipping away of patriarchy; it might
be chipping away really slowly, but it is changing.”
(Fiona Mackay, quoted in Aruna Rao, Joanne Sandler,
David Kelleher, Carol Miller, Gender at Work: Theory and
Practice for 21st Century Organizations, Routledge 2016)
6. Do you agree with this
quotation?
Please answer in the
chat
9. Background to Resistances Toolkit
● Collaborative efforts – SUPERA, GE Academy,
Gender-SMART and GEARING-Roles
● Three in-person and two online workshops
● SUPERA project webinar which followed up on
the resistances toolkits developed
10. Outcomes of participation in resistances
workshops
● Participants reframed their thinking by
acknowledging that resistances are a normal and
necessary part of change.
● Resistances something which can be managed
● Encouraged to be subversive and strategic
11. Content of Toolkit and Presentation
● PART 1 - Categorising and theorising resistances
● PART 2 - Common guidelines for dealing with
resistances
● PART 3 - Resistances Action Plan
13. Why?
● Specifically about gender equality, or other issues
altogether?
● Limited resources – both human and financial
resources
● Conflicting interests and priorities for funding
● Growth of the discrimination/diversity agenda
14. Why?
● Lack of capability
● Gender blindness
● Gender fatigue
● Assumptions regarding what is behind
resistances may at times be arbitrary
16. How? Active or explicit resistances
● Hostility, sexist humour, devaluation and disparaging
women’s accomplishments or professional commitment,
interrupting, denial of access to resources, etc.
● “Essentialist” discourses about gender inequalities
● Depoliticising and marginalising gender inequality
arguments and data as a matter of contrasting opinions,
rather than “facts”.
17. How? Passive or implicit resistances
● Negative body language, foot dragging, inertia,
chilly climate, making the procedures more
difficult, giving less attention, uncomfortable social
atmosphere
● Giving less access to institutional resources,
discomfort, inappropriate treatment, providing
mere lip-service support but nothing else, etc.
19. Who?
● Individual resistances come from a single
person, more often from men, although not
exclusively.
● A group resistance emerges from a collection of
individuals
● Institutional resistances are more difficult to
address, as they tend to be a product of
institutional culture or an institution’s legal or
administrative procedures.
20. Who?
● The superficial or preliminary manifestation of
resistances may be seen differently as the
project develops.
● It should be noted that in some workshops,
participants found it more difficult to identify
institutional resistances compared to
individual
21. Can you identify any of
these forms of resistances in
your context?
Do you find this a useful
categorisation?
23. Caring for the “core team”
Lack of recognition of “academic care work”.
While core teams of change agents work hard to
implement GEPs, this is often not acknowledged
in any formal manner or reflected in workloads or
promotion opportunities.
24. Caring for the core team
Demotivation, exhaustion and burnout
The work is hard and the battles are fierce, as
well as expectations around presenting gender
equality in a “friendly, non-threatening manner”
Sometimes, structural change is being promoted
by one person or small group
25. Four Ss (for us)
➔Success – celebrate small wins to help motivation
➔Sanity – use energies where they can have most
impact
➔Self-care – look after each other’s well-being
➔Sustainability – bear in mind this is a long-term
process
26. APR
Within the ‘For Us’ approach, participants developed
the Anticipate – Prepare – Rehearse strategy.
Rehearsal involves practising arguments and
counter-arguments and learning to communicate
politically - for example, use of role plays has been
particularly useful.
27. Role Play Scenarios
Can you think of a specific example of a
scenario which you often face that could be
helped with the use of role play with your
team?
Please share an example in the chat
32. Stage 1 – Identify Resistances
Identify a resistance
Categorise the resistance
Acknowledge alternative reactions to this
resistance
Identify the techniques and strategies
required to deal with this resistance
33. Stage 2 – Prioritise
How easy/difficult is each example of
resistance to address?
How important is this example of resistance toto
the overall implementation of the gender
equality plan?
Prioritise which resistances are to be addressed
and in what order
34. Stage 3 – Follow up Session
How has the toolkit been applied?
Share initiatives and actions undertaken
to address the resistances prioritised
Identify persistent and emerging
resistances
35. Stage 4 – Revision of Action Plans
Revise Action Plans, taking into account the feedback
from peers
Share initiatives and actions undertaken to
address the resistances prioritised
Identify persistent and emerging resistances
Action Plans become living documents which respond
to the changing circumstances of institutions