EQUALITY GUIdE - KU Leuven

Chapter 4 ! Scientific communication 191
3.3. Focus group sessions
The 12 female researchers of the University of Antwerp mapped the information and
training needs that they had experienced in the fields of gender and communication.
Based on that, they elaborated the training content.
This phase consisted of five meetings of three hours each. The meetings were held
during lunch on request of the participants so that the researchers did not lose any
working time. The moderator (the project researcher) presided the meeting while an
assistant gave support.
Each meeting was preceded by a preparation to elaborate a scenario (see Tool Annex)
in which the following topics were taken into consideration:
1. the aim of the meeting;
2. the programme of the meeting with time indications;
3. a text to introduce the topic and the meeting;
4. the necessary materials such as copies, post-its, scrap paper, etc.;
5. the appointments with guest speakers.
Each time, an invitation was sent to the participants with the programme, the date, the
room and the hour of the meeting. An assistant took care of taking notes, ordering
sandwiches and coffee, writing and sending the report, and ensuring the audiovisual
materials. The participants filled in an evaluation form at the end of each meeting (see
Tool Annex). Afterwards there was a discussion between moderator and assistant, and
a follow-up of tasks by e-mail. The report of each meeting was put on blackboard.
3.3.1. Meeting 1: Brainstorming about gender and communication
The aim of this first meeting was to list all opinions, attitudes, experiences, expertise,
expectations and ideas with respect to gender problems at the university and in the
field of communication to create a tool for career advancement (see Tool Annex).
Before exploring the gender and communication topics, some time was spent on getting
to know each other. Everyone filled in a personal information and criteria questionnaire
(see Tool Annex). Afterwards, they briefly discussed this information with
their neighbour, and then this neighbour told the whole group what she learnt about
the person sitting next to her (maximum 2 minutes per person) so everyone knew who
the other people in the group were. The project researcher who presided the meeting
and the assistant also participated in this round.
Then the participants had to answer the following questions:
1. Concerning gender: what are the gender problems female academics face according
to you? How do you experience these problems? Do you have suggestions for a
guest speaker?
2. Concerning communication: can communication be a tool for the successful advancement
of female academics? Which aspects are therefore important and need