In photo: Images from the Documentary Exhibition “UAIC- A place for Women in Science” (23 June-11 July 2014). (Source: Archive of the UAIC-STAGES Project).

The role of communication in the structural changes

It is well known that the efficient communication has a crucial role in the organizational changes. Therefore a project whose aim is, finally, to produce such structural transformations in order to achieve gender equality in science must try to use o good knowledge of the communication processes and methods and to apply them in proactive communication strategies. Consequently, designing and continuously updating the strategies for internal and external communication and dissemination is an important part of these project activities at the UAIC.

Communication is involved in all strategic areas of this project: in the actions aiming to promote women friendly environment, in the actions dedicated to increase the awareness about women-science relationships and in the actions projected to promote women’s leadership in the practice of the research, the management of the research, in scientific communication and in the innovative social processes based on science and technology. All these action fields suppose information, documentation, promotion, knowledge production, dissemination, networking, training, transfer of knowledge, experience exchanges, negotiating changes, challenging the stereotypes, changing behaviors, reconfiguration of communicative relationships, sustaining public relations.

Strategic communication matrix

Specifically, within the framework of the STAGES project, the following communicative actions are integrated in the strategic communication matrix:

• Informing about the STAGES project activities and events at the UAIC;
• Documenting on the main issues of the gender equality in science;
• Promoting events and personalities that illustrate scientific performances of women in academics and research from the UAIC in order to increase their public visibility;
• Disseminating the information recorded within the framework of the project implementation process as well as the research results presented in scientific papers and communications;
• Networking the members of the UAIC Network of Women in Academic and Research;
• Producing training, transfer of knowledge, experience exchanges in training sessions, workshops, courses and seminars;
• Promoting interactive communication using various media for communications and addressing messages to different target-publics in order to know the demands of the beneficiaries and to respond to their feedback;
• Recording the press mentions (news, articles, interviews) related to the activities and events organized by the STAGES project at the UAIC;
• Negotiating changes, challenging the stereotypes, changing behaviors, reconfiguration of communicative relationships in the organizational environment aiming to promote gender equal opportunities in science;
• Sustaining public relations activities (i.e., PR campaigns), for increasing the social awareness concerning both the role of women in science and of science in society.