Registration
Registration for this event is will open soon.
Call for Contributions
We are pleased to disseminate the call to the 2nd “Gender Equality, Diversity and Sustainability in Higher Education” conference to be held on Monday, 24th August 2026 at the University of Aberdeen. The aim of this conference is to equip us with the knowledge on projects related to gender equality and diversity in Higher Education (HE) produced by academic authors and researchers, as well as non-academic practitioners. We welcome contributions towards shifting our understanding and advancing method, theory and application across and within disciplines.
This conference will be open to academics and practitioners interested in gender equality and diversity in the context of the HE sector, in general, and Business Schools, in particular. Gender equality and diversity is inherently an interdisciplinary issue because it intersects with numerous societal, economic and cultural aspects and requires insights and innovative solutions from a wide range of academic disciplines, including arts and humanities, as well as science and technology and practical fields. Therefore, this conference will involve academics in different areas of the business school (e.g. accounting, finance, economics and management) AND other disciplines (e.g. schools of education, social sciences and law, as well as STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine). The conference will also be of interest to HE practitioners and/or administrative members of staff involved with accreditations, rankings and awards for business schools and the HE sector in general, as these can have a key influence on diversity actions.
The idea is to bring together academics and practitioners to discuss solutions to the gender equality and diversity in HE. In particular, we intend to provide an environment to advance our knowledge on how regulators, accreditation/funding bodies and HE institutions can be more responsible and engaging with matters, such as gender equality and diversity considerations in leave, pay, promotions, career progression and leadership, as well as in women’s wellbeing. We welcome participation and inputs from interdisciplinary research and reflections that have an impact on HE and offer long-term alternative solutions.
Submission
Submissions are in the format of a short report. We welcome short reports with different levels of development, from an initial/proposal stage to the final stage. Submissions should include:
- Short report of your research (e.g. 500 – 1000 words);
- ‘why’ you do research, ‘why’ it matters in a bigger ‘wide world’ context;
- ‘who’ you are engaging with (or would like to engage with) and/or ‘who’ your research is benefiting;
- ‘how’ your research is making (or can make) a difference and its significance (whether it is meaningful or beneficial, and how) to interested groups (diversity of relevant individuals, wide demographic, systems or organisations and/or geographic reach).
Submissions will be selected according to the quality of the work. The focus of the conference is the HE sector, but we also welcome contributions addressing gender equality, diversity and sustainability more broadly.
Submission timeline
- Please submit no later than 20th July 2026.
- Submissions must be made via email: gedconference@abdn.ac.uk
- Notification of acceptance by 27th July 2026.
Examples of Topics of Interest
- Athena SWAN and Advance HE initiatives on gender equality and diversity
- The impact of accreditations, awards and rankings on gender equality and diversity
- Promoting gender equality and diversity in funding applications
- Gender pay gap and pension gap
- Maternity leave, paternity leave, childcare and carrying responsibilities
- Intersectionality in HE
- Identity at work in HE
- Women in leadership
- Career progression and promotion processes
- Inequalities in HE (e.g. women's accessibility to HE, STEMM and other areas)
- Gender equality and diversity in the curriculum
- Issues on research integrity (e.g. citations and first authorship)
- Gender and sustainability
- Refugees in HE
- Wellbeing in HE
Location Information
The conference will be held in The Sir Duncan Rice Library, Bedford Road, University of Aberdeen, AB24 3AA
About the University of Aberdeen
The home of the University of Aberdeen is in Old Aberdeen, which is one of the most beautiful and historic urban areas in Scotland, with buildings dating back to the 15th Century. Founded in 1495 by William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, the University of Aberdeen is Scotland's third oldest and the UK's fifth oldest university. Established to serve the north-east of Scotland, today our university is a global presence in higher education. A dual focus on our region and the wider world is as important to us today as it was five centuries ago.
Indeed, over five centuries Aberdeen has consistently increased its programme offerings and student recruitment, which now stands at over 15,000. Teaching at the University of Aberdeen is organised across 12 schools which encompass a broad range of disciplines. Multidisciplinary research centres and institutes bring together experts at the cutting-edge of their fields to work with colleagues across the UK and beyond. The University is committed to four key areas; inclusivity, interdisciplinary, international and sustainability, which guide our present work and future direction.
Acknowledgement: We are grateful for the funding we have received from the Centre for Governance, Accountability and Sustainability (GAS) at the University of Aberdeen, to support this conference.
