What strategies for favoring structural change? : Experiences from the Stages project at the University of Milan

The Project STAGES – Structural Transformation to Achieve Gender Equality in Research and Science (G.A. No.FP7-289051) - was one of the very first funded projects in the framework of the new “structural change” strategy launched in 2011 by the European Commission with the aim to promote gender equality in science through multi-level and long-lasting transformations. The Project was based on the implementation of tailored Action Plan (AP) within different European university and research institutes. As member of the STAGES consortium, the University of Milan also implemented an AP. After four years of Implementation Phase (2012-2015) and the first year of the Sustainability Phase (2015-2019), in this paper we present some first experience-based reflections on a specific aspect and challenge among the different ones of structural change processes : that of ‘prevailing strategies’. We first describe the actions included in the UMIL’s Plan and the strategical reasoning which led to their planning and implementation. We particularly focus on the dynamics of strategical adaptation the Team used while implementing the Plan and on the need of taking into account uncertainty and emergence in this process. We finally present the Implementation Phase outcomes and the first outcomes of Sustainability deriving from the strategies employed and from their adaptation to emerging needs and changing contexts.