Lavoro e competenze nella strategia nazionale per la parità di genere: dalla dimensione strategica ai dati nel settore della ricerca pubblica

The Italian National Strategy for Gender Equality (SNPG), issued by the Department of Equal Opportunity in 2021, introduced a new organic model for achieving gender equality goals. It contains several elements that make it possible to detect profound differences, formal and substantive, from every other instrument developed in the past at the national level to support gender equality. In particular, the strategic dimension (with a series of context analyses, indicators, targets, cross-cutting and sectoral measures), the selection of a series of intervention areas (work, income, skills, time, power) assessed ex-ante and ex-post, the application of documents as the European Strategy for Gender Equality and operational tools drawn from the European experience (Gender Equality Index) qualify the capacity for innovation of the intervention envisaged by the SNPG for achieving gender equality. Such approaches pose the SNPG as an element of strengthening women's empowerment strategies as expected at the institutional level. This contribution investigates the main features of innovation within the Strategy in the two areas of work and expertise, trying to read some specific issues referring to the labour market and skills (two of the pillars of the Plan) within the public research sector. The authors' dual perspective highlights, on the one hand, the strategic, operational and organisational approach that the National Strategy has in the areas of women's empowerment in skills and work. On the other hand, the authors propose to investigate the SNPG areas of application within a context of high skills rates for women and men, unfolding that equal opportunities in the career progression still seem to be an objective not as fully considered in the Strategy.