News story in Khrono about UIS breaking law when hiring new Head of department at Department of social studies

I am indirectly referred to, though not mentioned by name, in the news story "Brøt loven ved ansettelse av instituttleder" (broke the law when head of department was hired") published this afternoon in the Norwegian higher education online newspaper Khrono. The news story refers to the university board´s treatment of the announcement and hiring process, and the fact that the composition of the appointments committee was not in accordance with the Norwegian law concerning gender balance. This was only made clear as the Ministry of Culture replied to a question from the university on September 11th, the day after I was hired. In Spring, I was the only man in the appointments committee, versus four women. In autumn, I withdrew from the appointments committee as I decided to apply for the position as head of department at Department of social studies. After that point the appointments committee consisted of five women, without any male.

The HR director at University of Stavanger stated to the board that the university´s practice will now have to change with regard to gender balance in appointments committees, but that the hiring of me is valid and stands.