Although in recent years more and more women have been obtaining academic titles, there are still significantly fewer female professors than male ones at the University of Gdańsk. To support female researchers, the Rector's Joanna Schopenhauer Award was established in connection with implementing the gender equality policy at our university. The winner of the first edition was prof. dr hab. Małgorzata Lipowska.

The Rector's Joanna Schopenhauer Award is awarded to women who have been awarded the title of professor and who take into account the gender perspective of the object of their research (particularly in its design and interpretation) in their scientific research. In the first edition of the award, female researchers who obtained their professorship in 2023 or 2024 were eligible to apply for it.

‘The fact that I have included gender in my research from the beginning is due to clinical practice,’ notes the award winner, prof. dr hab. Małgorzata Lipowska. ‘Most disorders are represented differently in groups of boys and girls, and research has often focused only on the group in which the disorder was more prevalent. There has been a lack of both adequate diagnostic tools sensitive to the gender context and therapies for neurodevelopmental disorders that take this context into account. As a researcher and practitioner (psychologist and psychotherapist), I am aware of the importance of overlooking gender in science and practice. Therefore, there is no area of my scientific exploration where the topic of gender is overlooked. I am pleased that my work has been recognised.’

‘I think it is very important to draw the attention of the academic community to the inclusion of the gender dimension in research,' says prof. dr hab. Ewa Łojkowska, who, on behalf of the University of Gdańsk, heads the HORYZONT 2020 Programme project Modifying Institution by Developing Gender Equality Plans (MINDtheGEPs). ‘Including a gender perspective in research serves to improve the quality of the research itself, as well as its application to the knowledge society, technology and innovation. Gender mainstreaming in research is enshrined in the HORIZONT EUROPA programme and has been included in the University of Gdańsk's current ‘Gender Equality Implementation Plan 2024-2028’.

Where did the idea to establish the award come from? Prof. Ewa Łojkowska draws attention to the figures:

‘In the course of the MINDtheGEPs project, the report “Women in Science: Managing Diversity and Gender Equality in the Social Responsibility of the University of Gdańsk” was created. It clearly shows that, although there are more female assistants, doctoral students and assistant professors at UG (around 60%) than male assistants, doctoral students and assistant professors, the situation is already different when it comes to the percentage of women with a postdoctoral degree or a university professor position: in 2008, this percentage was around 30%, in 2019 - 43% and in 2022 - 47%. In contrast, among those with a professor's degree, women accounted for only 22% (in 2008), 26% (in 2019) and 29% (in 2022). The situation has improved in recent years, but there are still significantly fewer female professors than male professors at UG. The award was intended to be one of the factors mobilising women to increase their scientific output and to apply for the title of professor. I would like to emphasise that our proposal to establish this type of award met with great support from the Rector, prof. dr hab. Piotr Stepnowski. He took it under his patronage and proposed that it should be the Rector's Joanna Schopenhauer Award.’

The winner of the first edition of the Rector's Joanna Schopenhauer Award was prof. dr hab. Małgorzata Lipowska from the Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, UG. It was her achievement entitled ‘Beauty and Health’. - the psychology of corporeality in clinical and developmental terms, was rated highest by the Competition Committee.

‘Prof. Małgorzata Lipowska has addressed the subject of gender in the scientific achievements shown in the proceedings for the conferment of the title of professor. In her most important works on the psychology of corporeality, she identified gender as a factor that not only differentiates the appearance of the body, but also attitudes towards it. In her opinion, the role and importance that women and men ascribe to physical attractiveness seem to be the most significant from the perspective of gender differences,’ reads the Announcement on the outcome of the competition.

The competition committee highly valued the development by prof. Małgorzata Lipowska of the Polish standardisation of the ‘Body Esteem Scale’ (BES), which takes into account gender and age specificity and is currently one of the most widely used tools in Polish studies.

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Awarded annually, the Rector's Joanna Schopenhauer Award was established within the framework of the EU Horizon 2020 project Modifying Institutions by Developing Gender Equality Plans (MINDtheGEPs), implemented at the University of Gdańsk in 2021-2025 and led by prof. dr hab. Ewa Łojkowska. It constitutes one of the activities (action 4.6) foreseen within the Gender Equality Implementation Plan 2024-2028 agreed for the University of Gdańsk.