Complexities of gender mainstreaming in higher education capacity development programmes. Nuffic report

Transcription

1 Complexities of gender mainstreaming in higher education capacity development programmes Nuffic report

2 Colophon Nuffic, 2012 Authors: Miriam Langeveld, Carin Vijfhuizen, Mtinkheni Gondwe Graphic design: Elma Leidekker Photography: Printing: Roel Burgler, Arenda Oomen, Iwan Fauzi, Erik Jansen, Carin Vijfhuizen, Miriam Langeveld, Ad Boeren, IStock, Jupiterimages Prints&Proms, Rotterdam

3 Contents About the authors 3 Preface 5 1. Introduction 7 2. Gender mainstreaming in Nuffic s capacity building programmes Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP): lessons learned Factors hindering women from applying for a scholarship Nuffic strategies for achieving gender balance Achieving gender-specific targets Gender-sensitive study content NPT and NICHE: lessons learned The importance of political commitment Mainstreaming gender in the programme cycle The identification phase 20 An approach for gender mainstreaming 20 Challenges faced in mainstreaming gender The articulation phase 22 An approach for gender mainstreaming 22 Challenges faced in mainstreaming gender Matching demand and supply: tender evaluation 29 An approach for gender mainstreaming 29 Challenges faced in mainstreaming gender Implementation and project management 30 An approach for gender mainstreaming 30 Challenges faced in mainstreaming gender Monitoring and evaluation 35 An approach for gender mainstreaming 35 Challenges faced in mainstreaming gender Accountability and commitment to gender mainstreaming The effect of perceptions, attitudes and a critical mass Accountability mechanisms: challenges Are we closing the gender gap? References 43 Annex A: Phases in the NPT/NICHE programme cycle and gender input 44

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5 About the authors Miriam Langeveld is a gender specialist by profession. She holds an MSc in Biology. She has worked in West Africa for over seven years as a senior gender advisor in Rural Development. Since 2004 she has been working for the Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education (Nuffic), where she is responsible for capacity development projects in Ethiopia. As a member of Nuffic s gender taskforce, she designed and implemented policies to integrate gender in the Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE) in 23 countries. Carin Vijfhuizen is a rural development and gender specialist by profession, holding a PhD in Rural Development Sociology. She has worked at African universities in various countries for twelve years and in the Middle East for two years. Since 2007 she has been working for Nuffic where she is responsible for capacity development projects in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. As member of Nuffic s gender taskforce, she designed and implemented policies to integrate gender in the NICHE programme in 23 countries. Mtinkheni Gondwe is the editor of this report. She is Senior Policy Officer in the Expertise Department of Nuffic. She holds a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Groningen and an MSc in the same field from the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa). At Nuffic she specialises in policy research on higher education in developing countries. For example, she has conducted studies on the role of professional and vocational education for development and the opportunities for universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands to be involved in capacity building and development cooperation. She is currently researching the state of internationalisation of higher education in developing countries (trends and issues). 3

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7 Preface The Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education (Nuffic) manages and implements capacity development programmes in post-secondary education (e.g. fellowship programmes and projects) in partner countries. The organisation also supports and promotes the internationalisation of higher education in the Netherlands. All this is done on behalf of national and international public and private sponsors. Many of the capacity development programmes managed by Nuffic have explicit genderrelated specifications and targets (defined by the sponsors) to ensure that women and men equally benefit from the interventions. Many sponsors find that development programmes should contribute to the Millennium Development Goals. However, experience has shown that mainstreaming gender in the programmes is very challenging. In this paper we analyse Nuffic s efforts to ensure the inclusion of women and their interests in its programmes. Examples are provided from practice, indicating the successes achieved and factors that hamper or facilitate gender mainstreaming. These examples are drawn from experiences gained in three key programmes managed by Nuffic on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs: the Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP, 160 million in 61 countries), the Netherlands Programme for Institutional Strengthening of Post-secondary Education and Training (NPT, 228 million, 175 projects in 15 countries) and the Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE, 104 million, 78 projects in 23 countries). Each of these programmes has a lifespan of four years and an additional four-year phase out period. Altogether, these programmes have provided a wealth of experience in gender mainstreaming. 5 The current document was originally presented by the authors at the Women s Worlds Conference in Canada in In its current form it serves as a report on lessons learned to inspire others who manage capacity building programmes in higher education in developing countries. We discuss: what the gender equality objectives and requirements are for NFP, NPT and NICHE; how Nuffic interpreted these and translated them in the programmes; the challenges that Nuffic has experienced in mainstreaming gender in the three programmes; how Nuffic has dealt with these challenges; and where there is room for improvement (tips/do s and don ts). For each of these programmes, an analysis is made from the perspective of the most important stakeholders in the programmes (Nuffic as programme manager; the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs as programme owner; Northern and Southern project implementers; and, in the case of NFP, the fellows). The lessons learned from these programmes are also relevant for and applicable to cooperation programmes outside the education sector.

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9 1. Introduction In the capacity building programmes managed by Nuffic, support is given to organisations dealing with post-secondary education: universities, technical and vocational education and training institutions, ministerial departments and regulatory agencies. Capacity can be developed in a variety of sectors (e.g. water, agriculture, health). Many of these programmes have explicit gender-related specifications and targets (defined by the sponsor) to ensure that women and men equally benefit from the interventions. However, in the period between 2003 and 2007, Nuffic observed that its programmes had not sufficiently integrated gender issues. As a result, in many cases mainly men benefited from the interventions and in most projects the specific needs and interests of women were hardly considered. Nuffic felt that more insight was needed into the factors which promote or hamper gender mainstreaming in the programmes. Such knowledge would help to refine the programme management, regarding gender mainstreaming. Therefore, an external review of the NFP and NPT programmes was commissioned, with Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Vietnam and Yemen as focus countries (Nuffic, 2008). The review concluded that there was weak commitment, knowledge and individual capacity at all levels and by all actors: the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nuffic, Dutch organisations who provide the technical expertise in projects and the recipient organisations in the South. 7 The findings and recommendations of the review led to the establishment of an internal taskforce for gender mainstreaming within Nuffic. The taskforce develops strategies and tools for gender mainstreaming in the programmes and facilitates workshops for project implementers to raise awareness and commitment to gender mainstreaming. The knowledge we built up on gender mainstreaming has strongly influenced the development of a gender equality strategy within the NICHE programme, which followed NPT in In the following sections we concentrate on experiences with gender mainstreaming in three of Nuffic s major capacity building programmes: the NFP, the NPT and NICHE. We particularly focus on how gender was mainstreamed in the various phases of the programmes and what we learned from this as an organisation. Factors that facilitate(d) gender mainstreaming as well as challenges are identified and illustrated with real examples. Lessons learned and suggestions for improvement are also presented.

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11 2. Gender mainstreaming in Nuffic s capacity building programmes This chapter discusses Nuffic s effort to foster inclusion of women and their interests in the capacity building programmes it manages. The focus is on the programme cycle and programme management tools. Real-life examples are used for illustration. Experiences are drawn from three key programmes: the Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP), the Netherlands Programme for Institutional Strengthening of Postsecondary Education and Training (NPT) and the Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE). All these programmes are financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and have been implemented since Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP): lessons learned The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) aim to raise the quantity and quality of highly educated personnel in public, private and non-governmental sectors in 61 developing countries. Scholarships are awarded to mid-career professionals (employees) to follow master s, PhD, short courses or refresher courses in the Netherlands Factors hindering women in applying for a scholarship One of the policy requirements within NFP is that 50% of the fellowships have to be allocated to women. However, achieving this target in practice is not always easy due to various factors. Firstly, there are relatively few women who apply for a scholarship. Data from 61 countries over a 7-year period show that only 29% of the NFP fellowship applicants were women (Table 1). Table 1: Fellowship applications from women and men in the period. Fellowship applications modality female % male % total All countries master s 7, , ,856 All countries PhD ,312 All countries short courses 9, , ,768 total 16, , ,936

12 Various factors may be involved: 10 In some countries, there is a low number of women in the pool of eligible applicants. This is partly due to a low labour involvement rate of women in eligible organisations. NFP scholarship information is primarily provided online (e.g. information on eligibility criteria, application procedures and the specific courses offered by Dutch universities for which a fellowship can be obtained). Since recently, the scholarship application procedure is also primarily digital. When the digital application process was initially introduced, the Nuffic gender taskforce expected that this would have consequences on the number of women who end up applying for a scholarship, arguing that women in the workplace might have less access to internet facilities (and therefore limited access to information on fellowship opportunities) as compared to men. Preliminary results of an analysis of the first year s data shows no significant change in the number of applications by women when compared to the previous, paper-based application system. One of the requirements for NFP applications (2009) is that applicants must have an employment record of at least two years. This may be easier to achieve for men than for women, especially in situations or societies where the number of women joining the formal labour market, or obtaining a tertiary degree, has only recently started to increase. The eligibility requirement of a two-year employment record has recently been extended to three years by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Nuffic expects that this could hinder applications from women even more. Therefore, it plans to monitor the effect of this change on the number female applicants. In some countries, it is claimed that women have a lower academic performance level (including low English proficiency) or lower self-esteem than men. Low academic performance can influence the quality of proposals which need to be submitted when applying for a scholarship. Low self-esteem and compliance with the traditional gender-related roles can also temper women s ambition to study abroad. Due to gender discrimination, women may have more difficulty obtaining support from their employers to apply for a fellowship (employer s support is a requirement for an NFP fellowship). The majority of NFP study programmes have to be undertaken in the Netherlands. However, socio-cultural factors (including family and religious pressures) may inhibit women to go abroad for long periods of time. When this threshold is too high, women may refrain from applying for a scholarship.

13 Nuffic strategies for achieving gender balance Unfortunately, Nuffic is not always in a position to influence factors that hinder women from applying for a scholarship, since most of these factors are socio-cultural and inherent to the society within which the potential candidates live. However, we do our best to achieve gender balance in various ways as described in the following subsections Achieving gender-specific targets As explained earlier, one of the policy requirements within NFP is that 50% of the fellowships have to be allocated to women. However, achieving this target in practice has not always been possible due to too few applications from women (see Table 1). To correct for these imbalances, Nuffic recently adjusted its selection process (affirmative action) so that eventually 50% of the fellowships are awarded to women (see Table 2).

14 Table 2: Fellowships awarded to women and men in the period. Fellowship awards Modality Female % Male % Total All countries Master 2,199 (425) 45 (50) 2,659 (428) 55 (50) 4,858 (853) All countries PhD 123 (36) 52 (55) 113 (29) 48 (45) 236 (65) All countries Short Courses 3,417 (704) 47 (53) 3,783 (625) 53 (47) 7,200 (1,329) Total 5,739 (1,165) 47 (52) 6,555 (1,082) 53 (48) 12,294 (2,247) * the numbers outside the brackets are valid for while those in brackets are valid for 2010 only. 12 However, it should be mentioned here that achieving the 50% target is only possible at the programme level. At the country level, some differences may still exist and targets may not always be reached. For instance, in Latin America, significantly more scholarships are awarded to women than to men, since most of the applications received from these countries are from women (Nuffic, 2008). On the other hand, in Ethiopia, female applications and awards are relatively low when compared to applications from men (Figure 1). A solution to this would be to develop country-specific strategies for countries where systematically too few applications from women are received. These strategies would have to focus on removing obstacles that hinder women from applying for a scholarship. Avoiding gender discrimination by male employers may, for example, require removing the necessity for a recommendation from an employer. Increasing the number of female applicants may require removing the three-year work experience requirement for women so that also those who have just completed their bachelor s degree and entered employment are also eligible. These women are often younger and often do not yet have families and children. Therefore their mobility is high and they have less restrictions from studying abroad. They are more likely to apply for a scholarship. Women with some work experience (i.e. the current focus group of NFP) are generally older and in a phase where they have young families. Commitment to family can be an obstacle to participation in study-abroad programmes. For this group, in-region study scholarships would be more suitable as they would allow the women to stay in the vicinity of their children while studying. More active and widespread publicising of N FP opportunities to women by Dutch embassies would also make a difference in female participation. In francophone countries, women could also be offered the extra opportunity to attend a short English language proficiency course to raise their confidence and prepare them for study in English when in the Netherlands.

15 In cultures where religion does not allow women to travel alone without (male) accompaniment, in-region study scholarships could also help. These women have a better chance of being allowed to study if they stay within a region with similar socio-cultural beliefs. Not acknowledging the cultural constraints of some societies and responding to these accordingly can only lead to a sustained low number of applications from females from these cultures. For countries that are in the top five of NFP fellowship recipients, yet with low female participation (e.g. Ethiopia and Ghana), the strategy could involve setting quotas for males and females. If the female quotas are not used up they would be forfeited but would also not go towards covering applications from males. This would encourage employers to nominate females as well, so as not to waste the study opportunities. 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Total Fellowship Applications (Ethiopia): Figure 1: The ratio of male-to-female fellowship applications and awards. Ethiopia is historically in the top three recipients of NFP scholarships and budget. Yet female participation from this country is very low. 13 Master PhD Short Courses Total female male Total Fellowship Awards (Ethiopia): % 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Master PhD Short Courses Total female male

16 Gender-sensitive study content An effort is also made to include information about gender-related content in the study programmes for which a scholarship can be obtained. Fellowship applicants can select from approximately 676 study programmes and courses at Dutch higher education institutions. The education providers indicate the level and type of gender-related content in their programmes according to four categories: the subject is gender oriented; the course contains compulsory components on gender issues; modules on gender issues can be chosen (not compulsory); or the course does not have a gender orientation. 14 Table 3 shows that of the courses offered in 2011, 22% (n=149) included compulsory gender-related elements; 19% (n=129) offered non-compulsory gender-related modules and 59% (n=398) did not include a gender orientation. This means that in the majority of courses on the NFP course list, a clear gender orientation is lacking. To make up for the lack of gender orientation in study content, Nuffic could consider organising one-day plenary workshops about gender equality for all NFP fellows in the Netherlands. This workshop could be organised annually and be led by gender experts commissioned by Nuffic on behalf of the programme. The workshop content would focus on gender issues and mainstreaming strategies in the countries/regions of origin of the participants or in their work environment at home. Table 3: Gender orientation of NFP courses in the 2011 course list. NFP Course list 2011 Degree Courses Non-degree Courses Total Subject is gender oriented Contains compulsory modules dealing with gender Gender-oriented modules are available Subject is not gender oriented Total All the strategies recommended in this section would lead to structural and sustainable culture changes with regard to gender equality and allow proper achievement of the gender targets within NFP.

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18 In NICHE and NFP organisations, leadership positions are largely occupied by men. What effect does this have on consideration of the interests of men and women in an equal way? 2.2 NPT and NICHE: lessons learned 16 The NICHE programme ( ) is the successor of the NPT programme ( ) which is currently phasing out. Most NPT and NICHE projects have a number of activities in common: staff training (MSc/PhD/managerial development); curriculum development; research; and investments supporting these three components. In NICHE there is a stronger focus on the link of the activities with the labour market/ employability, gender equality, learning organisations and donor harmonisation. In the following sections, we discuss if and how gender was mainstreamed in the two programmes, including lessons learned The importance of political commitment The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has an explicit gender policy for international development cooperation (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2011). Nuffic knows the importance of this ministrerial policy and of explicitly embedding gender requirements in the programmes that it designs and commissions out to third parties. When gender requirements are not embedded, there is a risk that attention for gender equality can evaporate during implementation of the programmes. For example, in NPT, the ministry did not explicitly set requirements for gender mainstreaming in the programme. Consequently, Nuffic did not take special measures to mainstream gender in the projects. As a result, most NPT projects were gender-blind as a review concluded (Nuffic, 2008). Therefore, it is important that the donor explicitly articulates gender equality requirements for its programmes, designning accountability mechanisms and holding implementers accountable. The weak focus on gender equality within NPT is partly explained by some political developments in the Dutch government during the establishment of the NPT programme. In the 1990s,

19 achieving gender equality was a priority cross-cutting theme in Dutch development cooperation policy. However, in the early 2000s it became less prioritised by arguing that gender objectives were already embedded in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). By the time the NICHE programme was set up, under new political leadership, gender equality had once again become a pronounced government priority. Today, commitment is strong and reflected in the recent international gender policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MinBuza, 2011). For the NICHE programme, the ministry explicitly formulated a gender equality requirement. In addition, Nuffic and the ministry held meetings on definitions and implementation issues. Consequently, Nuffic made a conscious effort to mainstream gender in the programme, and responded by: establishing an internal taskforce on gender mainstreaming, with resources; establishing an accountability system for individual staff (Programme Administrators, PAs). During the annual job performance evaluations, PAs must report on how they dealt with gender mainstreaming in their work. The job performance evaluation forms explicitly integrate this point. providing support in the form of highly-skilled policy staff for maintaining gender perspectives in the instruments; carrying out internal evaluations (ongoing monitoring and adjustment); developing internal and external capacity on gender mainstreaming (seminars stimulating dialogue between NICHE stakeholders and allowing mutual learning from best practices, Nuffic 2010, 2011). supporting gender task force networking so that the task force stays in touch with relevant gender organisations and gender programmes, and to raise attention for Nuffic s efforts on gender mainstreaming in complex programmes. For example, Nuffic was represented in the On track with gender platform (NDRP 1 ) and the platform on the Netherlands Action Plan II on the UN Peace and Security Resolution 1325 (NAP 1325-II 2 ). organising a conference for African NICHE project implementers for joint learning on gender and labour market issues On Track with Gender Trajectory is an initiative of the Centre for International Development Issues Nijmegen (Radboud University Nijmegen), Hivos, Oxfam Novib and the Gender Division of the Ministry for Development Cooperation. It is financed and supported by the Development Policy Review Network (DPRN) as one of the three-year DPRN processes aiming at intersectoral cooperation and policy review. 2 On 31 October 2000, the Security Council of the UN adopted the Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. In the Netherlands the second National Action Plan (NAP II ) has been developed and was signed by a large and diverse number of Dutch organisations: the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Education, Culture and Science. Furthermore, four knowledge institutions and 30 civil society organisations participate. This diversity and commitment to the NAP is unique in the world. Nuffic is a signatory party to the NAP-II.

20 All these actions have led to better visibility of gender equality in NICHE projects and throughout the NICHE process (Figure 2). Figure 2: The NICHE process The Ministry of Foreign Affairs determines the countries where NPT and NICHE are implemented. Nuffic, the Dutch Embassies and the national authorities determine the focus of the programme (i.e. sectors and themes). Eligible institutions are identified by a variety of stakeholders in the eligible countries. Nuffic invites the selected organisations to submit a project outline. This can be done with the help of a local consultant. Once approved, project outlines are published as a call for tenders. 18 Dutch institutions for higher learning and/or firms may submit a bidding document for the project, which is evaluated by a Tender Evaluation Committee (TEC). This TEC consists of three members, one representing the requesting organisation in the South, one independent TEC chairperson and a representative from Nuffic. Bids are avaluated acoording to a list of criteria, including the expertise of the project director, he project coordinator and other experts. After the TEC recommendation to Nuffic, Nuffic issues a subsidy grant award. Projects are implemented by the Southern and Northern organisations, who are jointly responsible for the achievement of objectives. During the implementation phase, Nuffic s role is project and country programme monitoring & evaluation and it facilitates learning between projects. NICHE has three specific gender objectives and associated outcomes: Objectives 1. Decreasing gender discrepancies in the post-secondary higher education system; 2. Engendering NICHE country projects, by analysing international, national and sector policies on women. The specific capacity building needs in higher education, to address the different needs of women and men, are identified by involving women and gender stakeholders and actors 3. Addressing the gender dimensions of the capacity building activities at all levels of NICHE projects.

21 Outcomes 1. Post-secondary education and training in NICHE countries responds to the development needs of the country and is gender sensitive 2. Gender awareness is institutionalised in the operations of post-secondary higher education. 3. Programme outlines, sector plans and project outlines have gender-specific objectives, outputs, outcomes and measurable and verifiable indicators Mainstreaming gender in the programme cycle The programme cycle for NPT and NICHE includes the following steps (in the case of projects > 200,000, which is the majority of projects): Annex A gives an overview of this programme cycle, indicating which stakeholders are involved and where gender stakeholders should be involved to ensure that women s interests are represented in the programme and maintained. In the following sections, and for each phase of the programme cycle, we discuss how gender was mainstreamed in both NPT and NICHE and which lessons were learned. This will show that the large number of stakeholders, their individual commitment and level of expertise make gender mainstreaming during the different phases of the programme cycle very challenging. 19

22 The identification phase An approach for gender mainstreaming In NPT gender mainstreaming was not systematically addressed in the identification phase, since it was not a requirement in this programme and individual commitment to comply with national policy was limited. The opposite is true for NICHE, where priority is given to gender mainstreaming right from the beginning. During the identification phase gender-specific programme objectives, outcomes and indicators are formulated at country level and sector levels (documented in country programme outlines and sector plans of implementation. These are the points of reference for the projects to be developed. In each country, the programme administrator, in collaboration with the Dutch embassy, decides on the approach. In Ethiopia for example, the information was extracted from policy documents and from discussions with the Ministry of Women s Affairs, the State Minister for Higher Education and gender organisations. The programme outlines refer to the national gender policy and gender policy for education while implementation plans refer to the gender policy of a specific sector (e.g. agriculture, water).

23 Challenges faced in mainstreaming gender Challenges observed include: accessing clear and coherent gender policy and analytical information from three levels of analysis: the national level, the education sector level/the line sector level and the organisational level (see Figure 3); Negotiating with authorities about the inclusion of specific gender institutions for building gender expertise in the subject areas of the country programmes. In some cases, it is argued that the NICHE programme is not a gender programme and therefore gender-specific organisations are not eligible for NICHE. However, we can argue that for sustainability, creating more national gender expertise is an asset and that excluding it is a missed opportunity. the commitment level of embassy staff (MinBuZa, 2007); identifying and including gender organisations and high level gender experts; Nuffic staff s capacity to be creative in the analytical phase and to think out-of-the-box; time pressure and (lack of) availability or accessibility of information. What should be done? Include gender policy and analytical information from the national level, the education sector level/the line sector level and the organisational level (Figure 3), in programme outlines); Involve more gender organisations and experts right from the start; increase capacity of Nuffic staff on gender analysis. 21

24 The articulation phase An approach for gender mainstreaming In Table 4 we present an example of how the gender focus at country and sector levels identified in the identification phase can be maintained at the operational level (i.e. the project level): during the articulation phase. Selected organisations are requested to comply with the NICHE programme objectives. Before developing the project outline, they complete an organisational analysis (profile document). In this document as well as in the outline, there is a separate section on gender. In the project outline the country objectives, outcomes and indicators are listed. Projects need to make a contribution to achieving these. Nuffic programme administrators and consultants need to translate the specific objectives, expected outcomes and indicators defined at the sector level into specific objectives, indicators and expected outputs at the project level. As such, a good link is created between the three levels (i.e. country, sector and project levels). 22 Table 4 serves as an example for gender mainstreaming in the programme (as related to the NICHE programme objectives mentioned earlier), sectors and projects. It also provides an accountability framework. It is essential that Nuffic programme administrators and NICHE consultants always keep the three levels in mind, so they do not lose the gender focus. The table does not include the monitoring and evaluation level.

25 Table 4: Maintaining a gender focus at the country, sector and project levels requires linking objectives between the levels: Programme outline country level Plan of implementation sector level Project outline Project level The capacity of post-secondary education and training institutes to deliver quality, gender sensitive, education and training, or to do relevant research is strengthened. Gender discrepancies in the postsecondary higher education system have decreased in terms of access and retention of students, and teaching and management positions of staff. The relevant leadership and staff of the selected organisations are more aware of gender issues. Selected organisations have a gender specific curriculum, more women in their teaching and management positions and enhanced academic performances of female students. More women will have graduated from post-secondary education also in non- traditional disciplines, such as technical studies. The research agendas of participating faculties in NICHE demonstrate sufficient attention for gender dimensions in the respective fields. Gender analysis performed. Gender policy developed and implemented (at various levels). Resources allocated by requesting organisation for mainstreaming gender. Improved career opportunities for female staff of the organisation. Gender sensitive curricula / training developed. Attitudes and skills of staff to address gender issues improved. Research incorporating gender issues. Gender research undertaken. Female staff have access to leadership training. Gender balance in staff of organisation improved. Female participation in project management increased. Female participation in project activities increased. 23 Although complex, gender mainstreaming can be successfully achieved in a structural and sustainable way by linking the programme outline, implementation plan and

26 project objectives and by linking these objectives to existing gender policies at various levels. This approach provides a solid accountability structure, through which we can demonstrate that the selected projects contribute to higher level policy goals and to gender equality in the given country. Challenges faced in mainstreaming gender 1. Maintaining a gender focus in projects has proven to be complex because it demands analysis of gender policy at three different levels: the national level, the education sector level/the line sector level and the organisational level (Figure 3): One difficulty observed is that the different policies are not always consistent or complementary where it comes to details. Figure 3: Four levels of gender policy analysis. National poverty reduction policy 24 Education sector policy Education sector gender policy National gender policy Line sector gender policy Line sector policy Identification Organisation gender policy Articulation Organisational policy 2. Before developing an outline, the requesting organisation completes an organisational profile document, including a number of gender questions. We observe that the information is not always complete, coherent and may even contain errors, probably because the requesting organisation wants to give socially desired answers. Time pressure for publication of tenders makes programme administrators accept the information. Furthermore, the format of the questionnaire (yes/no answers, see table 5) does not provide insight into root problems, challenges, and so on. In part, this is corrected in the outline with additional gender questions.

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28 Table 5 Gender information from the profile document. Nuffic requests participating organisations to provide this information in the organisational profile document. Gender sensitiveness of the organisation Please indicate your organisation s position and actions in terms of gender issues: Yes No Does the organisation have a gender policy statement? Does the organisation have a gender policy/strategy/action plan? Has the organisation conducted gender analyses? Is there a balanced representation of men and women in senior management? 26 Is there a balanced representation of men and women at all levels of staffing? Does the organisation have clear procedures for integrating gender concerns into curricula, research agendas and projects? Are sex-disaggregated data frequently collected in the organisation, and in/ for its service areas (teaching, research, community outreach)? 3. The quality and completeness of the gender-specific information depend on the commitment and knowledge level of the requesting organisation in the South, the consultant (if relevant) and the Nuffic programme administrator. Nuffic has experienced that women and gender experts are usually excluded from the design phase of a project. To solve this, Nuffic can allocate a gender expert to assist the requesting organisation in articulating the project, but here too the requesting organisation must be committed to seek the advice of the expert, which is not always the case. Nuffic assesses the project outlines for gender inclusion, but the commitment and capacity of the Dutch provider, the requesting organisation and the programme administrators is not always sufficient to keep focus, as the following example shows:

29 Example of a problem faced during the articulation phase During the formulation of a water project in South Africa, the gender section and gender objective in the project outline were not included. The result: a project without a gender focus (=gender blind). During the inception phase the Nuffic programme administrator advised on how to integrate gender into the project. The Dutch provider included a number of gender indicators in the text, but forgot to mention them as outputs in the log frame, and consequently there was no link to a budget. When Nuffic pointed this out, the providers included gender concerns in the log frame and the associated budget implications. Next, they indicated that a local third party in South Africa would implement the gender activities. However, in the terms of reference of the third party, gender mainstreaming was again not included. This points to the need to closely monitor the implementation of gender activities at all levels. 4. Nuffic can contract local consultants for sectoral studies and project articulation. We observed that:»» it is difficult to find consultants who combine specific sector expertise with gender expertise. At the level of project articulation, it is even more difficult to find consultants who combine sector and labour market knowledge, organisational development expertise and gender mainstreaming knowledge. In this phase of project outline formulation, women are not systematically included. The majority of project outlines are developed by men, who often struggle with gender analysis and inclusion.»» in many cases, consultants are selected for their sector-expertise rather than for their gender expertise;»» gender dimensions might be not well articulated in the terms of reference, or are presented as crafted-on or stand alone dimensions;»» the profile document and separate gender sections may contribute to separate gender activities (stand alone). 27 The above experiences illustrate that gender expertise may not be guaranteed in the design stage of a project. Practice has shown that even when a gender expert is included in the design team there is no guarantee that gender will be well addressed. What should be done? Success can only be achieved if those others (mostly men) who are involved at the design stage, are willing to listen to the gender expert and are willing to include the suggested gender dimensions. Nuffic should make the inclusion of women/gender experts in the design stage of the projects mandatory.

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31 Matching demand and supply: tender evaluation An approach for gender mainstreaming In NPT, the tender evaluation criteria made very little reference to gender mainstreaming. In NICHE, attention is paid to gender mainstreaming when evaluating project proposals from the North. Once a project has been formulated by the South, it is put up for tender in the Netherlands. Dutch organisations send in the bids for their contribution to the projects and these are evaluated by a Tender Evaluation Committee (TEC). In NICHE, evaluation of gender mainstreaming in the bid is conducted on the basis of four criteria: Are gender equality issues relevant for the project identified and elaborated in the proposal (beyond the outline)? Are gender equality issues systematically integrated in the log frame and indicators? Is the proposal clear on how gender issues and objectives will be anchored in the management, implementation and monitoring of the project? Are gender experts involved in the project? When scoring the bids, gender mainstreaming takes up 7 of the 150 points to be gained, which is 4.7%. After the evaluations are completed, Nuffic sends a grant letter to the selected Dutch and southern partners. The grant letter may contain genderspecific conditions or recommendations, if gender mainstreaming is weakly addressed in the bid. 29 Challenges faced in mainstreaming gender Nuffic included gender mainstreaming as a separate gender objective in the logical framework in the project outline, since this appears to be the main instrument to which bidders respond when allocating resources (expert inputs and budget). However, having a separate gender mainstreaming objective appears to be no guarantee for mainstreaming gender at the individual, organisational and institutional levels. We notice that the institutional level is absent in all cases. Bids often propose stand-alone activities 3 (for example a gender awareness workshop) and the indicators often have a strong focus on numbers and less on other dimensions 3 Stand-alone activities are often based on an assumption that these contribute to gender equality. They are often not based on a proper analysis of the relevant situation and context. They do not always include the people who ultimately can make a difference; there is no follow up and no indicator to measure change after training and the activities are executed in isolation from other events and the organisational context. As such, they have a limited impact.

32 of gender equality. Bids often lack activities related to organisational analysis and strategy development that cover all dimensions of organisations (staff, management systems and structures). In the worst cases, they do not cover gender aspects in curricula and research, which are the core business of universities. To enhance the chances of winning the tender, Dutch project teams are now keen to employ gender experts while previously the experts had to negotiate and bargain to be included in projects. A remaining problem is that the experts are often employed after the project has been designed and not right from the start of the process. If the design has flaws or if no policy analysis was done to mainstream gender and only stand-alone activities are proposed, it becomes difficult for the gender expert to truly mainstream gender at the three levels (country, sector, project) at a later stage. When gender experts are included, there is often no gender quality control mechanism between the gender expert, the project management team and the other technical experts. As a result, gender related activities are conducted in isolation of other technical work and project management. 30 What should be done? Bidders must describe how gender responsibilities are included in the project management team and in the pool of experts. The role of the gender expert should also be that of an advisor to the other project experts if they do not have adequate gender competencies. Nuffic should explicitly request that CVs indicate expertise on gender (for project directors, coordinators and the other project experts) Implementation and project management In NPT, even when gender was mentioned in the outline as a cross-cutting issue, bidders did not follow it up during implementation. The lack of a sound gender analysis and absence of a gender objective in the project s logical framework were provided as reasons to exclude gender from the bid. As a result, Dutch providers disregarded national gender policies in the Netherlands and in the partner countries and did not give attention to the existing gender inequalities. For NICHE, the implementation phase involves two sub-phases: inception and implementation. We discuss the role of project management in maintaining a gender focus in this phase. An approach for gender mainstreaming The first three months after the grant award is called the inception phase. During this period, the Southern and Northern partners have three months to get acquainted with each other, to discuss the project approach and strategy, refine the indicators, and

33 decide on the Tender Evaluation Committee conditions and recommendations. They finalise the joint revised inception document and submit it to Nuffic for an assessment and final approval. This work is mostly done by the project coordinators on the Northern ans Southern sides. 31 On the basis of the description of the strategy in the inception report, Nuffic programme administrators discuss with people responsible for the project how they will monitor gender integration in all project activities. Challenges faced in mainstreaming gender 1. Inception phase: it is important that gender expertise is involved in this stage. Ideally, analyses to be done in the implementation phase must be identified for all project components. If this is not done, too few resources will be allocated for gender mainstreaming in the implementation phase. In general, the gender focus in the NICHE revised project documents is largely quantitative and there is little information about approaches and qualitative change processes.

34 Example of a problem faced during the inception phase In an inception report for an agricultural project in South Africa, the partners proposed a gender audit at three universities, indicating that each university had a gender policy. Unfortunately, they did not mention how they would link the audit outcomes with the universities gender policies and with the national and sectoral gender policies in rural development or agriculture. The partners developed a good monitoring framework but did not ask for specific gender data via that framework, which was a lost opportunity for establishing baseline data and gender-disaggregated data. Furthermore, gender was badly reflected in the result areas of the logical framework, as only a few explicit gender indicators were mentioned. How was this resolved? After a meeting with the responsible Nuffic programme administrator about the inception report, the two gender specialists in the project mainstreamed gender in their monitoring and evaluation framework and in the result areas of the logical framework. They also adjusted the text throughout the document. How to avoid this in the future? Bidders should ensure gender expertise in the design stages and inception phases of projects. 32 This example shows that gender specialists were not involved in designing the project and during inception missions.

35 2. Project management: In most of the NPT and NICHE countries, as well as in the Netherlands, the institutions selected for an NPT/NICHE project are managed by men, and there are only few female staff available to take up project management positions. Where there are women available, they are often not selected for these functions, except for South Africa where more than 50% of the projects are managed by women. See examples from Ethiopia and South Africa in the following box. Example of problems faced in project management Ethiopia In sixteen NPT projects in Ethiopia, the Dutch side was initially represented by one female and fifteen male directors and in later projects by four female and twelve male coordinators. On the Ethiopian side, all directors and coordinators were male, although in 2011 one project nominated a female coordinator. None of the projects were designed with deliberate attempts to seek views and expertise of women or gender experts. How was this resolved? It was not resolved, despite requests, as often there is a belief that there are no women qualified for project management in the organisations. What should be done: Nuffic should set gender quota for project management teams in the rules and regulations. Southern partners should nominate women and use the project to make them qualified. 33 South Africa In South Africa, the same picture emerges, namely with all (100%) of the Dutch project managers being male, 80% of South African NPT project managers being male and 20% female. In NICHE, the project managers on the Dutch side are all male (100%), but in South Africa 50% of the project managers are female. How was this resolved? The 100% male project management on the Dutch side was not resolved, because there are no gender specific regulations. What should be done: Nuffic should set gender quota for project management teams in the rules and regulations. Dutch partners should nominate women in project teams. The question arises to what extent we can expect that the male project managers are able to incorporate the gender dimensions in their projects. Given that men and women s world views often differ, inclusion of women could help to articulate the practical and strategic needs of women necessary to achieve an equitable society.

36 34 In many countries a significant increase of female graduates is observed. The question is, to what extent are they represented in higher positions in the labour market? A proactive approach is needed for the selection of female project managers or directors, both in the North and the South. In Ethiopia, the potential for including women in project management is hampered by the fact that there are hardly any women in senior positions in NICHE organisations (in NPT and NICHE there are only two women in the project management teams). In countries where women are represented in senior positions, Nuffic programme administrators could promote women in project management teams. Tender evaluation guidelines could also be revised and include criteria on the gender expertise of the project management team. Project outlines could also mention the importance of gender expertise in project management teams. 3. Implementation: In Ethiopia, although the NICHE projects have numeric indicators for women to benefit from training opportunities offered by the project, the limited number of female staff members may influence the target. Unless there is an effort to recruit more women the targets may not be achieved. In cases where there are few women in the pool, project teams are advised to design activities that enhance the pool for the future. Likewise, integrating gender dimensions in curriculum and research may be more or less successful when there is a good involvement of women. In addition, project teams are invited to look into factors that influence women s availability to participate in project activities. Often there are restrictions in social spheres too that influence their participation: household responsibilities, childcare facilities, support from the families and so on.

37 What should be done? More active involvement of gender experts during the inception phase increases the success for gender inclusion. There should be proactive engagement to include women to take up leadership roles in project management teams. Nuffic should set quota for gender division of project management roles. Nuffic should adjust the rules and regulations to enforce the quota. Tender evaluation guidelines could also be revised and include criteria on the gender expertise of the project management team. Project implementers should: 1. consciously align to national policy and include gender experts/partners; 2. encourage and monitor gender conscious attitude of (male) experts and staff during implementation; 3. design accountability mechanisms for experts involved in project activities Monitoring and evaluation An approach for gender mainstreaming The fifth and final stage of the project cycle is the monitoring of the projects and programmes. In NPT no gender indicators were included. For NICHE, Nuffic has developed an annual reporting format in which gender mainstreaming is monitored in all the specific result areas of education and training; research; investment, management, staff input and labour market. Gender itself is also a result area, with a number of indicators (see Table 4, project level). 35 Challenges faced in mainstreaming gender 1. The gender mainstreaming indicators developed by Nuffic make gender mainstreaming in projects more visible and also contribute to achieving gender equality. Project implementers can select a number of these indicators and include them in their logical framework. However, so far we have observed that projects tend to select easy indicators (e.g. the number of female and male staff trained), without verifying the baseline and without proposing a strategy for achieving the indicators if the baseline situation is not known. Furthermore, it is easier to achieve gender balanced results from projects in some countries than in others. For example, in South Africa we observed that 17 (57%) of the 30 individuals who obtained an MSc through projects were women. Of the 17 PhD students, 7 were female (41%). These figures are in contrast with, for example, those for Ethiopia, where projects trained 103 individuals at the MSc level, of which only 7 were women (7%). Of the 9 individuals trained at the PhD level only 1 was a woman (11%). In Ethiopia, olny one NPT project developed a gender strategy, and only some of the research proposals integrate gender dimensions.

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39 What should be done? The profile document should be adjusted to make gender baseline data from the organisation easily accessible and more coherent. Implementers should deliver accurate gender baseline data in the revised project document. Implementers should consider the importance of the coherence of the gender indicators (together they are a measure for gender mainstreaming). Implementers should stick to quota or increase the pool of eligible women. Nuffic should monitor the respect for quota and other gender indicators Accountability and commitment to gender mainstreaming The effect of perceptions, attitudes and a critical mass Gender-related perceptions both reflect and influence the individual, organisational or institutional level of commitment to gender mainstreaming. The following are observed perceptions (citations) from some providers: Examples of perceptions of project partners on gender mainstreaming Gender objectives are not in the project outline, so there is nothing we can do. Nuffic should undertake the gender analysis. Gender mainstreaming is the hobby of individual programme administrators. Gender equality is not relevant for this project. Gender inequality is not an issue in our university, but it is in others. Seeking to achieve gender equality is inconsistent with demand drivenness requirements and is not economically viable. 37 The lack of commitment and enthusiasm in these statements is obvious. This can sabotage gender mainstreaming if not addressed. As such, Nuffic s gender taskforce decided to address these perceptions through workshops and training. In 2010, the taskforce organised a gender seminar for Dutch project implementers. At this seminar, two opposing views emerged with regard to integrating gender perspectives in projects. The first view was that there is a moral obligation to contribute to development for all while the opposing view was that integrating gender in projects conflicts with the ideology of demand-drivenness and economic viability of projects (Nuffic, 2010). When people who have these two opposing views meet, it is difficult to engage in a constructive dialogue. This can particularly be a problem in NICHE projects, mainly characterised by short-term missions not allowing for building trust and quality time needed to discuss culturally sensitive issues. In addition, there is often no time scheduled for gender analysis activities with like-minded people. In South Africa, for

40 example, the government and education organisations are more progressive regarding gender equality than Dutch project implementing organisations realise. Perceptions among Nuffic s own staff are also critical for successfully mainstreaming gender in the capacity building programmes that Nuffic manages. Not only the Dutch implementers have had to be encouraged to modify their attitude towards gender mainstreaming. An attitude transformation has also been necessary for Nuffic programme administrators. In the period, the Nuffic team responsible for NPT was comprised of two women among ten men. Although gender was not an explicit objective in the NPT programme, the female staff noted pronounced gender inequality in the project results and decided to initiate a dialogue on the effect of the absence of gender in the NPT projects. One of the staff members experienced stigmatisation when underlining the poor gender results. It was not until more female staff joined the programme, that critical mass was created in support of gender mainstreaming. These female staff members successfully advocated a review of the situation, to be better prepared for new programmes such as NICHE in which women are more in the centre of attention Accountability mechanisms: challenges 1. Technical expertise is often provided through short missions. The project directors are responsible for ensuring quality and making sure that all objectives are achieved. Mainstreaming gender in all project outputs requires that all technical assistants integrate aspects of gender equality in their expertise and work. In practice we often observe that:»» Gender is often the sole responsibility of the gender expert;»» The gender expert s CV is last on the list;»» There is no time allocated for gender advice to other experts in the implementation team;»» Technical assistants do not always integrate gender aspects in their activities;»» Terms of references of experts and other consultants are not systematically gender specific;»» There is no clear mention of the responsibility and capacity of project directors to ensure that all technical assistants do their part in promoting gender equality. In nearly all projects, the project management teams do not assume explicit responsibility for ensuring that experts pay attention to gender equality in their field of expertise. This has a negative effect on the achievement of gender equality objectives of the projects and the programme. Project teams and Nuffic programme administrators could

41 be more aware of this mechanism and address this in the project management and monitoring. 2. Embedding gender equality objectives in project plans (on paper) does not guarantee implementation of the actions that mainstream gender in the project. We observed that, if not specifically guided by Nuffic, Northern implementers are often hesitant to allocate time and money to gender related expertise. This is particularly true for those who subscribe to the view that integrating gender in projects conflicts with the ideology of demand drivenness and economic viability of projects. The aim is to encourage Northern implementers to be more responsible and accountable for developing rescue operations when gender equality results threaten to being derailed. Nuffic keeps learning. It has tried to design programme management tools in such a way that a proper accountability system is in place. However, there is still room for improvement. In December 2011, Nuffic introduced an analytical framework allowing for more integrated reflection and action planning for mainstreaming cross-cutting issues in organisations and projects. This framework is a useful tool that will facilitate selfassessment of organisations. It will facilitate the discussion on mainstreaming within the organisation but also between the organisation and other stakeholders. However, it is also clear that tools alone cannot bring the necessary attention for gender. It is the personal commitment of people that is needed for success. 39 What should be done? Taking time to engage can bring some new insights: some Dutch gender experts and female employees of Dutch institutions have confirmed this by indicating that we can learn from them (from Southern partners). A critical mass of women as well as gender equality experts and advocates is needed in the programmes, at all levels and in all phases of the programme to ensure that the needs and interests of women are not neglected but are embedded in the programme activities, outputs and outcomes. Every committed person can be an agent of change and is able to contribute positively to this process. Nuffic plans to continue to address and discuss perceptions through training and workshops.

42 3. Are we closing the gender gap? As an organisation implementing government programmes, Nuffic has an obligation to contribute to closing the gender gap, within the context of the Millennium Development Goals. This article shows how Nuffic programmes have been adjusted accordingly. It also shows how we mainstream gender to achieve gender equality in complex capacity development programmes. Nuffic has found a number of key factors that shape the success of gender mainstreaming. These include: a favourable policy context with clear gender guidelines; a critical mass of women to advocate policy implementation and gender equality; commitment of all stakeholders involved, including leadership; commitment of decision makers ( organisations and project staff) to prioritise and allocate sufficient resources for gender mainstreaming; knowledge and attitudes (expertise); choice of partner organisations; adequate tools and instruments for gender inclusion in programmes. 40 Although we believe that we have made good progress in comparison to previous programmes such as NPT, the question remains whether this is enough for closing the gender gap. In the case of NFP, the programme does not contribute to closing the gender gap in tertiary education (as proposed in the Millennium Development Goals) in all NFP countries, because the gender target of achieving 50% female participants is not sufficient to bring about real change in the gap. To elaborate, this target means that still half of the training opportunities go to men. To make clear progress, you would need to give more than 50% of the scholarships to women (in most of the countries). In some countries (e.g. Vietnam and Colombia) where more NFP scholarships are awarded to women than to men, the gap in tertiary education has been closed. However, the extent to which this has resulted in a balanced representation in the labour market and in leadership positions is not satisfactory as yet. The gap is not closed. Other interventions beyond the scope of NFP would be needed to address these imbalances. In the case of NICHE, we have learned that the large variety of stakeholders in the design and implementation of the programme complicates gender mainstreaming, since multiple levels of analysis and action (individual, organisational and institutional), and multiple aspects and many interests have to be considered. Because of this complexity there is a risk that factors that favour gender mainstreaming may not be accomplished in their totality. However, we have systematically discussed several strategies which may reduce these risks, thereby allowing NICHE to contribute to closing the gender gap in future.

43 In view of the NICHE programme objectives presentated earlier, and in comparison to NPT, we conclude that Nuffic and partners have made a significant step forward in mainstreaming gender in the programmes. However, this paper also shows what still needs to be done in which areas to be able to speak of a truly engendered programme. In relation to the intended NICHE outcomes, this paper shows the programme adjustments that have been made related to gender mainstreaming. All projects now incorporate gender objectives and are aligned to national policies. It also shows that efforts are made to mainstream gender, but there are not yet enough results (based on the existing gender indicators) to assess this. The way forward 1. We need to collect gender-disaggregated data. Nuffic must establish a database containing gender-disaggregated statistics and information for both scholarshipbased and project-based capacity building programmes. These data will be used to inform internal and external policies related to gender equality and to refine programme design, rules and regulations. 2. Ultimately the lessons learned from this article, will be used as input to refine the gender strategies in Nuffic s capacity building programmes. 3. Ongoing dialogue and capacity development of the partners in the programmes is important, but explicit and specific conditions will be necessary to make a difference. The key factors above need to be translated into conditions in order to book more progress in closing the gender gap. 41