Report on NIVA’s work to promote equality and combat discrimination

NIVA’s work to promote equality and combat discrimination is embedded in its strategy up to 2030 and contributes to inclusion whilst combating social exclusion.

“NIVA has a working environment characterised by respect and equality. We treat everyone equally regardless of gender, age, disability, religion, ethnic or cultural background, or any other significant personal characteristics.”

At the end of 2025, the institute (excluding subsidiaries) employed 163 women and 110 men. Ten staff members were employed on fixed-term contracts. The temporary positions consist mainly of PhD students (3 employees) and postdoctoral researchers (5).

On average, women have taken approximately 7 weeks more parental leave than men.

As regards part-time work, the majority of those working part-time are women. Part-time work is usually due to care leave, work assessment allowance / disability, or holding a secondary position at the institute.
 

Pay and gender balance by job level (2025)

The table below shows women’s pay as a proportion of men’s pay for all employees at NIVA as of 31 December 2025. Tools provided by the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir) have been used to assess job levels. The criteria underlying these levels are competence, responsibility and working conditions/workload.

We do not have any significant payments for overtime or other irregular allowances and bonuses; these are therefore not reported.

The table below shows that, overall, NIVA has small pay gaps between women and men. Women’s pay is marginally higher or lower than men’s at most job levels. At level 6, women earn 93 per cent of men’s pay. This is mainly explained by the composition of posts within that level, where the highest-paid posts (senior research fellow) are held by men.

Job level	Positions	Total number of people	Proportion of women	Agreed annual pay, women as a percentage of men (1)
Level 1	Assistant	4	0%	0%
Level 2	Consultant, Operations Technician, Laboratory Technician / Engineer.	22	64%	101%
Level 3	Researcher 3, Research Assistant, Senior Engineer, Consultant, Research Fellow.	62	74%	99%
Level 4	Researcher 2/Postdoctoral Researcher, Senior Engineer, Senior Adviser.	90	61%	99%
Level 5	Researcher 1, Senior Researcher, Systems Developer	52	50%	98%
Level 6	Research Director, Head of Section, Chief Researcher, Special Adviser.	32	47%	93%
Level 7	Director	10	70%	--
Total		272	60%	95%
The symbols ‘--’ indicate that there are too few (<5) women or men to provide a figure.

(1) The agreed annual salary is the agreed annual salary converted to a 100% equivalent if the employee’s percentage of full-time employment is less than 100 (part-time).

Principles, procedures, and standards for gender equality and against discrimination

NNIVA has set out guidelines in policy documents and has a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of discrimination, harassment and violence. Procedures and guidance have been drawn up for reporting and dealing with conflicts, bullying and harassment. As part of the safety inspection, specific questions are asked regarding harassment, unequal treatment and discrimination. This is not an anonymous survey, which means that we can implement targeted measures if any undesirable circumstances are uncovered.

How we work to ensure gender equality and non-discrimination in practice

Since 2021, a working group comprising HR and staff representatives has been working systematically to evaluate and further develop the institute’s work on equality and non-discrimination. This work continues to follow the recommended methodological approach:

1. identify risks and prevent them;

2. analyse causes;

3. implement measures;

4. assess results.

As part of this work, we have reviewed all areas of human resources covered by the legislation, including recruitment, pay and working conditions, promotion, development opportunities, reasonable adjustments and the ability to balance work and family life, as well as other matters relevant to the institute’s operations.

The work has also been reported to NIVA’s Board, the Working Environment Committee and the trade unions on the Staff Council.

The 2026 working group consists of Max Nawrath, Øyvind Tangen Ødegaard, André Staalstrøm, Viviane Girardin, Jemmima Knight, Line Gangeskar (HR) and Julie Fjellstad (HR).

Gender distribution of positions and areas as of December 2025

NIVA’s board comprises 3 men and 5 women, and the senior management team consists of 4 men and 7 women. NIVA is now in a situation where women are in the majority at board and senior management level. When electing this year’s staff representative to the Board, it was important to secure a male staff representative on the Board, which we succeeded in doing.

As regards research leaders, there are 10 men and 7 women, which is a positive development. NIVA has a total of 131 researchers, of whom 59 per cent are women. The number of staff with a PhD is 131, comprising 70 women and 61 men. In the senior research categories, the proportion of women is 45 per cent. Historically, researchers were predominantly men, but this has evened out at NIVA. In the Researcher 3 category, however, there is a marked predominance of women. This is also reflected in the recruitment processes, where the majority of applicants are women.

When we look at technical roles, we have a predominance of men. It is mainly in the laboratory (analytical work) and administration that we have a majority of women. This situation reflects the fact that there is also a gender imbalance among qualified applicants in these fields elsewhere in society.

Balancing work and family life

NIVA has a life-stage-oriented HR policy that emphasises flexibility and facilitates a good balance between work and leisure time. NIVA also takes an open and supportive stance towards men taking more paternity leave than the minimum level provided for under the public sector scheme. At the same time, our staff are highly dedicated and take a strong personal ownership of their field of work and projects. This can make it difficult for them to hand over tasks and projects to others, particularly if these are exciting tasks they would prefer to keep for themselves.

Since women, on the whole, take more leave related to childbirth and caring for young children than men, this can be perceived as a dilemma and a hindrance to career development. An important measure has therefore been to ensure that staff are given the opportunity to (re)establish a project portfolio following extended periods of parental leave. As part of this, a clearer framework has been established for managers on how to support staff before, during and after parental leave. In this way, we can ensure that staff do not feel that taking leave is a barrier to their career progression.

With regard to pay progression, the Institute’s pay policy ensures that staff, both women and men, who have been on extended parental leave or sick leave, still receive an average share of the individual adjustments made during pay negotiations.

Gender balance in recruitment and career development

NIVA has clear procedures and guidelines for recruitment, as well as a detailed specification of requirements that is used in job advertisement texts. The selection process is designed to ensure that decisions are based on objective criteria such as the candidate’s competence and personal qualities. HR is responsible for ensuring that the process is objective and in accordance with applicable guidelines and legislation. We see a predominance of female applicants in most job categories.

We aim to achieve a balanced gender distribution at the institute and place particular emphasis on achieving a good gender balance in leadership recruitment. We are therefore making a conscious effort to identify internal management candidates and offer targeted training, with a view to encouraging more women to take on leadership roles. Career development and promotion are also assessed according to established, gender-neutral criteria.

NIVA’s work to promote inclusion and combat social exclusion

NIVA is a research institute with a very high level of specialised expertise. This means that the scope for offering work placements is largely limited to tasks within laboratories and operational departments. A significant part of the institute’s inclusion work is aimed at candidates with limited Norwegian language skills or people who, for various reasons, have fallen outside the labour market. NIVA collaborates with NAV to offer work placements and vocational training that can help improve candidates’ prospects for continued participation in the labour market.

NIVA’s staff remain in their posts for a long time; the institute’s average retirement age is now 67. 138 NIVA employees come from around 35 different nationalities, and support for language training is an important measure. NIVA provides financial support for Norwegian language courses, as well as four hours per month for the first two years to attend Norwegian lessons.

One initiative established in early 2023 was the ‘language lunch’. For those who wish to improve their Norwegian, groups of different levels have been set up which meet with a language host to practice together. This remains very popular and is something we will continue with.

Objective 1

More women in the highest research categories.

There is now a more balanced gender distribution amongst NIVA’s research leaders, and we recognise that the focus should be shifted more towards the highest research categories.

Measures:

• Strengthen managers’ skills and focus to support staff development with a view to promotion.
• Clarify career paths and admission criteria.

Objective 2

Continue to step up efforts by valuing diversity and actively promoting inclusion.

Work on procedures and guidelines is considered to have been sufficiently implemented, and the language café and Pride celebrations are successful initiatives that we wish to continue.

Measures:

We will strengthen project manager training in 2026 and run a pilot course focusing on leadership and communication within teams, which also takes cultural differences into account.

Objective 3

To increase and highlight NIVA’s contribution to reducing social exclusion.

Measures:

NIVA will continue to collaborate with NAV to provide work placements and work training.

Updated 03.07.2026.