GAINS is an informal research environment that welcomes all interested researchers and practitioners. The group's inception was a natural development that began as informal discussions among researchers in the same field.
– For us, the important thing is that our work is useful. GAINS emerged organically because there were people doing the same things and a good opportunity for exchange. GAINS strives to not just be a research group but a catalyst for change. Over time, we began to seek funds for the group, which we received. We now use these funds for our collective activities, says Johanna Rickne, who, along with Anne Boschini, initiated the very first meetings.

Johanna Rickne, professor in economics at the Institute for Social Research (SOFI). Photo Marcus Marcetic/ Wallenbergstiftelserna.

Johanna Rickne is a professor of economics at the Institute for Social Research (SOFI), at Stockholm University, and her research includes gender differences in the labor market and politics. Over the past year, she has received several prestigious awards and grants, which have increased her visibility as a researcher. However, for Johanna, the most important aspect is that the attention will eventually make it easier for their research group to gain more and better contacts with authorities and actors.

Research that Sparks Debate

Together with the members of GAINS, she has created a constructive research environment that facilitates cooperation and knowledge exchange across disciplinary boundaries. Its main goal is to bring together researchers and practitioners for an interdisciplinary dialogue on equality. Additional goals include providing research-based policy advice and promoting a supportive place for young researchers. Most researchers within GAINS come from economics and sociology, contributing to the significant discourse on equality.

– GAINS brings together incredibly many talented, ambitious, and driven researchers who make you think outside your own box. It is a context filled with inspiration and ideas but also a group with a basic idea that supports especially young, talented researchers. Johanna has handled it all very nicely, partly through paid assistants from whom we all can benefit, but where there is always time and priority for their master's theses. There is very little ego within the group, and rather a feeling that everyone should be able to join, whether you are still a student and young researcher or professor, and regardless of what your main subject is. Within GAINS, the focus is on our subjects, rather than specific methods, says Marie Evertsson, professor of sociology at SOFI.

Marie Evertsson, professor of sociology at SOFI.

Marie Evertsson leads the GENPARENT research project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC), focusing on what happens in careers when couples have children. In GAINS, the GENPARENT team has presented and received useful feedback on article drafts from researchers who are interested and engaged in related topics. Several in GAINS work with studies that include same-sex couples and LGBTQ people, which is not so common.
– A great advantage of GAINS is that we have become more aware of each other across the scientific subjects. It is still a problem that dialogues are often not held between different scientific subjects. At SOFI, it has strengthened the integration between our different units LNU, SOCPOL, and AME.

Projects that Make a Difference

The interdisciplinary dialogues within GAINS benefit the researchers and their results. One of Johanna Rickne's projects that particularly stands out for her, and which has started dialogue in several different places, is her study of the impact of gender quotas on meritocracy.
– We really wanted to understand: Do you have to replace good men with bad women? The results showed rather improvements in men's competence when women with the right qualifications got the chance. Mediocre men were more likely to leave when more women came in, while more competent men stayed. That paper gave a clear result that was empirically well-founded. It was a fun paper to work with.

A report was also recently released in collaboration with SNS, by Anne Boschini and Lina Aldén, which is one of the results from a larger project initiated by Lina and Anne, together with Marianne Sundström. A project that has received support both from the Swedish Research Council and from Handelsbanken's research foundations. In the report, the researchers point out that men who become fathers today have higher parenting skills than men who became fathers in previous generations. A result of fatherhood today requiring more active care of one's child, and that today's women, with their increased economic independence, prefer to start a family with men with good parenting ability.
– We wanted to understand two understudied aspects of fatherhood: male childlessness and fathers who do not take any parental leave. We are surprised by how much social competence has increased in significance for the likelihood of becoming a father at all, but it is also clear that more needs to be done for men to take care responsibility early in children's lives, says Anne Boschini, professor of economics at the Institute for Social Research.

Emerging Trends in Gender Research

Johanna notes an increased focus in social science research on transgender people and broader LGBTQ issues. She emphasizes the importance of tackling issues within the LGBTQ spectrum, an area where research is still relatively scarce in several disciplines. It is an important topic that needs to be explored more, and she is pleased to see increased attention in the area.

– Generally, it's about trying to understand economic inequality and marginalization among trans and other LGBTQ+ individuals, such as how they fare in the labor market. We want to highlight structural inequalities and work-related issues. Mapping out how policies in the area affect the groups' opportunities to exist on the same terms as everyone else in society, says Johanna Rickne.

Acknowledgments in Research

Claudia Goldin's recognition in connection with the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel marks a milestone in research on gender equality in society. Her achievement signifies not just a personal distinction but also elevates the international profile of gender equality issues within the field of economics, Johanna believes.

The Institute for Social Research at Stockholm University was one of the co-organizers of Claudia Goldin's lecture at the Economic Museum. Photo:Māris Vancevičs.

On December 11th, the laureate in economics gave a lecture titled "Why Women Won" that GAINS had co-organized with the Economic Museum, the Nobel Prize Museum, Sweden's Women's Organizations, FemEk – the Women's Movement's Economic Think Tank, the National Economic Association, and the organization Ownershift. Anne Boschini shares why GAINS was involved in organizing the lecture with Claudia Goldin and the subsequent mingle:

Anne Boschini, professor of economics at the Institute for Social Research (SOFI).

– We at GAINS wanted the chance to interact with Claudia Goldin because she has meant so much to many of us and also to have a chance to hear more about her latest research. Many female economists were deeply moved when Claudia Goldin was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, and the seminar also became a way for us to gather and share the joy regardless of where we work.
 

Watch the lecture 'Why Women Won' by the economic laureate Claudia Goldin, via this link.

Learn more about GAINS