The first definition of a professional figure so-called Equality Officer may be found in 1985 in a Seminar organized by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. This seminar has already affirmed the need for a previous university education as licenciatura or diplomatura (former Spanish undergraduate degree), a training supplement referred to:

• Legal, economic, sociological and management expertise.
• Feminist studies.
• Design and project management on positive action and assessment techniques.
• Human communication expertise.

Later in 1991 the Women’s Institute at their annual meeting discussed the Equality Officer intervention in local affairs, with some previous publications as “Teaching Guide: Equality Advisory”.

Some countries of the European environment had begun to regulate this professional figure. In 1994, the Spanish National Occupational Classification by the INEM collects this type of professional figure, differentiating between Equality Officer and Equal Opportunities Promoter in function of the university education. In recent years various Local Authorities have been incorporating these professionals to their workforces.

2004 was a prolific year in meetings and conferences on the profile of the Equality Officer. The First Conference of Equality Officers takes place in Pontevedra in October. In the same month the First Castilla-León Agents Conference of officers for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men is celebrated. Professional Associations of Equality Officers are created simultaneously in the regions of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Basque Country, Valencian Community, Balearic Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Navarra, Madrid, Castilla-León and Andalusia. At the same time, a process of setting up a State Federation of Equality Officers Associations starts.

In the Valencian Community through a NOW initiative promoted by the Directorate General of Women, the University of Valencia to form the first class of Equality Officers in 1998.

The first class, formed by 27 graduates students, are the first network of public attention to the equality of women in the Valencian Community.
From that year until 2005, six editions took place, making a total of 135 Equality Officers of which only one of them is male.