Gender Equality in Academia: Comparative Perspectives From Feminist Institutionalism

New Institutionalism (NI) explores how institutional rules, norms, and cultures constrain the choices and actions of individuals when they are part of an institution. Feminist Institutionalism (FI) applies NI through a gendered lens, starting from the premise that institutions are highly gendered, and considers how they constrain and/or enable gendered change. In their approach to institutional analysis and understanding of underlying mechanisms, NI and FI share common assumptions and concerns, such as institutional creation, continuity and change, structure and agency, and power. At a European level, the EU through its Research and Development programme, Horizon 2020, considers gender as a cross-cutting issue to be mainstreamed. Specific EU initiatives to support Research Performing Organisations (RPO) in implementing gender equality strategies seek to removing those barriers that generate gender discrimination in scientific careers. There are dedicated calls, targeted at research performing and financing organisations, to implement gender equality plans. RPOs promote gender equality and diversity through initiatives coordinated at national level. This study compares two of these initiatives: the Athena SWAN Charter in Ireland and the Italian "Comitati Unici di Garanzia" (CUG). It uses a qualitative exploratory approach, based on desk research, drawing upon scholarly research and grey literature in Ireland (and UK) and Italy. The paper examines the impact of these gender equality strategies and their implications for institutions across the EU.