Can a Community of Practice foster institutional change for gender equality?

Abstract

Community of Practice (CoP) can be an organic or purposefully organised social structure to collectively learn and share situated knowledge. Despite the growth of CoP scholarship, theoretical explorations of CoPs designed for social or institutional change are scarce even though change can occur through peer collaboration and institutional work of embedded agents. This is a missed opportunity for institutional change efforts, and for furthering CoP theory. We argue that CoP is a promising mobilising structure for promoting equality endeavours drawing on the concepts of counter-hegemony, social movement, and institutional change; and present an empirical unit of analysis – a gender equality project in Higher Education and Research and Innovation institutions in Europe. In so doing, we develop a new concept of Community of Political Practice (CoPPs) – that is, a group of institutionally affiliated people across different organisations or nations coalescing around a shared concern for social equality who engage in transformative practice, who learn from each other and co-create knowledge through regular interactions to act on institutional change. By mapping out new crossroads of theories of CoP, social movement, and institutional change, this chapter deepens insights into potential lessons to consider when designing CoPPs for counter-hegemonic endeavours.