SSE’s diversity policy
The Stockholm School of Economics is of the strong conviction that competency does not depend on gender and that a lack of gender equality negatively affects the quality of an organisation. SSE must therefore continually strive towards achieving gender equality in order to ensure that we attract the most competent employees and students that reflect the world in which we live, work and study.
At SSE, we are well aware of the shortcomings of our past and the challenges of our future. In 2021 we therefore established a gender equality strategy, Program 40/60 2030. It serves as a framework and guides us in implementing our gender equality plan (GEP) and carrying out the many measures and actions that will help us achieve our lofty gender equality goals.
The overall goal of the strategy Program 40/60 2023 is that by the end of 2030 a minimum 40/60 ratio will exist between women and men among management positions, employees (faculty all levels and professional services) and students (all programs). In addition, by 2030 SSE will also be the most gender-equal Swedish HEI according to Nyckeltalsinstitutet’s (Institute of Human Resource Indicators) gender equality index JÄMIX, and will have received recognition by at least one other organisation for its gender-equality efforts and success.
The strategy has five focus areas that are addressed in the GEP: (1) Recruitment, (2) The SSE Culture, (3) Leadership at SSE, (4) Academic Career Paths, and (5) Collaboration with Other HEIs and the Student Association. In addition, the GEP contains a sixth area (Factors to Monitor for Possible Future Action) that describes elements that affect gender equality efforts at SSE but that are currently not feasible to address.
It should be noted that SSE is aware of the fact that the strategy and GEP appear to reinforce a binary view of gender, largely due to they’re only being two legal genders (female and male) in Sweden. However, SSE recognises the limitations and exclusionary aspects of a binary view and gender identities and/or expression beyond the traditional gender dichotomy are both welcomed and encouraged.
The structure and function of SSE’s GEO
Gender equality was a prioritised strategic area at SSE long before the start of TARGETED-MPI project.
SSE works strategically with DEI in accordance with the Swedish Discrimination Act and Organisational and Social Work Environment Provisions, as well as SSE’s own policies and guidelines. The President is ultimately responsible for ensuring that a goal-driven diversity, equity and inclusion program is implemented at SSE.
Already in 2015, SSE created the full-time Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager role to oversee all work from both the employee and student perspectives related to compliance with the Swedish discrimination legislation, increasing diversity from multiple perspectives, and creating and maintaining an open and inclusive environment at the school. Organisationally the role belongs to the HR department. Since 2015, the DEI Manager role has become a business-critical strategic position as gender equality is vital if SSE is to maintain and increase its competitiveness in attracting the very best students, faculty and staff.
Since 2016, the school also has a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) with representatives from all academic and professional services departments, SSE Executive Education and the SSE Business Lab, as well as student and trade union representatives among others. The DEIC is in fact the only body that has representation from all aspects of SSE’s operations. It meets three times per year and issues raised there are regularly reported to the Faculty and Program Board (FPB). The FPB is SSE’s highest operative decision-making body and the DEI Manager Report is a standing agenda item. In addition, DEIC members are able to share all meeting minutes, presentations and so on with other internal stakeholders, as well as to regularly bring issues to each other’s attention to share best practices and obtain advice.
The DEI Manager and the DEI Committee are permanent and will thereby continue far beyond the completion of the TARGETED-MPI project. It is therefore logical that they constitute the backbone of the SSE GEO.
SSE’s GEO members and expertise
The key members of GEO are: Karol Vieker (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager), Malin Skanelid (Gender Equality Coordinator), Assistant Professor Giada Baldessarelli and Dr Jelena Angelis.
Upcoming GEO events
Date: Autumn 2026
Place: Online
Title: Gender and inequality in the scientific system
Target Audience: university management, funding bodies, researchers, students, and policy makers.
Description: Since the seminal works of Lotka (1926) and Merton (1968), scholars of science have been interested in the inequalities that characterise scientific fields, from levels of research funding to the availability of equipment to graduate students and the recognition they receive (Stephan 2012). Who gets to participate in the scientific enterprise shapes the type and content of research conducted: as governance arrangements change in science, it is crucial to understand if and how these changes will exacerbate or reduce inequalities in science.
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