Abstract
The underrepresentation of women in informatics academia remains a significant issue. In response, Higher Education Institutions have been implementing measures to promote gender balance. To evaluate the prevalence of current recruiting, promotion and retention practices, as well as to identify new strategies, we conducted a survey with 57 respondents, mostly from EU countries. The respondents reported various measures adopted by their Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and the percentages of female representation. Our findings show that women are typically more represented at Ph.D. level compared to senior positions, such as associate or assistant professors. Our study reveals that some institutions are already implementing numerous effective practices to achieve gender balance in the recruitment, retention, and promotion of women in informatics academia, which can serve as exemplary models. Our results provide valuable insights for institutions aiming to enhance gender balance in informatics within academia. © 2025 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s).

Abstract
Women are seriously underrepresented in Informatics and STEM areas in general. In this chapter, we raise awareness around some of the key issues and problems that women and other minority groups may face and identify good practices to improve gender balance—and diversity in general—in academia. Our goal is to cover the entire academic career: we start with the recruitment and application evaluation, discuss retainment of female talent, including work life balance, as well as promotion, including strategies to battle the glass ceiling and sticky floor phenomena. In each section, we also provide examples of actions that have been deployed. © 2025 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s).

Abstract