Based on this review of the evidence, the committee suggested a series of measures, some of which are related to identified knowledge gaps. There is a need for a national registry that compiles individual process data from preschool and primary school. Research-based surveys of reading, mathematical skills, and the social development of all children should be carried out as well as national tests of reading, mathematics, and writing in specific age groups. The principle of early and adapted intervention is important in the schools, while the principle of a flexible age for starting school needs to be studied in more detail. There is also a gender imbalance in higher education institutions. Therefore, NordForsk supports the Nordic Centre for Research on Gender Equality in Research and Innovation (NORDICORE)176 at the Institute for Social Research in Norway, 177 which seeks to generate knowledge to further advance gender balance and diversity in research and innovation. The argument for the investment in NORDICORE is that the future of the Nordic knowledge economy depends on the ability to encourage the most highly qualified men and women to excel in research and research-based innovation. The project aims to accomplish five inter-related major objectives: (i) To assess the impact of equality policies already implemented in Nordic academic institutions; (ii) To identify barriers both internal to research organisations and external to them which impede gender equality and inclusion, and suggest ways to overcome these barriers; (iii) To understand challenges to gender equality in research and innovation within the larger labour market contexts in the Nordic countries; (iv) To bring words to action by engaging stakeholders at all stages of the research; and (v) To encourage knowledge exchange among national and international experts, researchers, students, policymakers, stakeholders, managers, equality workers, and other interested parties.
School: a setting for both gender and human bodies The school is one of the largest sectors of the labour market. The main conclusion in a research overview commissioned by the Swedish Work Environment Authority 178 is that organisational and https://www.nordforsk.org/en/programmes-and-projects/projects/nordic-centre-for-research-ongender-equality-in-research-and-innovation-nordicore 177 https://www.samfunnsforskning.no/core/nordicore/english/index.html 178 Sverke, M., Falkenberg, H., Kecklund, G., Magnusson Hanson, L., & Lindfors, P. (2016). Kvinnors och mäns arbetsvillkor – betydelsen av organisatoriska faktorer och psykosocial arbetsmiljö för arbets- och hälsorelaterade utfall [Working life for women and men – importance of organisational factors and psychosocial working environment for work-related and health-related outcomes]. Stockholm: Arbetsmiljöverket, Kunskapssammanställning 2016:2 176
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