Esther Escolano, professor of the Universitat de València and researcher at INTRAS, has attended the high level Conference by the EU about Gender Mainstreaming in Academic and Research Organisations, invited by the European Commission and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). The conference took place on 20 October 2016 in Brussels.
The European research and innovation policy promotes a strategy for gender equality based on the institutional change, in order to remove the biases that affect scientific degrees and women’s participation in the decision making. The conclusions of the European Council on December 2015 confirmed the commitment to achieve gender equality in the European Space for Research, inviting the member States and the research organisations to strengthen their strategies in this regard, extracted from good practices, and star concrete actions to achieve it.
To give practical support to such objective and ease the mutual learning, the European Commission and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) have developed a new online tool, called Gender Equality in Academic and Research – GEAR, which has been presented at this Conference. The tool provides examples and guidelines for gender mainstreaming at the organisational procedures and cultures. Its design and implementation are based on the analysis of the gender mainstreaming plan and its success in many universities and research organisations of the EU.
Esther Escolano, member of the Experts Forum of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), representing Spain, has taken part in the previous works for this tool that aims to implement equality plans in universities and research centres. Specifically, she has act as a consultant at its online running tests, participating at the Conference of Good Practices on Gender Equality at Universities, in Vilnius (Lithuania), seat of th Institute, as well as in the meeting about Promotion of Gender Equality in Higher Education Institutions, that took place in Brussels last September.
The high level presentation conference of this online tool, GEAR, has brought together by invitation around 170 social actors and leaders that make decisions in socioeconomic and research policies, in order to reflect about women’s and men’s situations in academic and research organisations. It was conceived as an encounter to share experiences and generate together commitments to change - by means of GEAR’s implementation and transformation of academic institutions into equal organisations from a the gender perspective.
The results of the conference will give support to the EU’s policies, specifically to the implementation of the Roadmap by the Europan Space for Research 2015-20, Horizon 2020, as well as the Strategic Engagement for Gender Equality 2016-19 by the European Commission.
Esther Escolano, miembro del Foro de Expertos del Instituto Europeo para la Igualdad de Género (EIGE) en representación de España, ha participado en los trabajos previos a la puesta en marcha de esta herramienta para implementar planes de igualdad en universidades y centros de investigación. En concreto ha asesorado en las pruebas de rodaje de la misma on line, participando en la Conferencia de Buenas Prácticas en Igualdad de Género en Universidades, en Vilnius (Lituania), sede del Instituto, así como en el encuentro sobre Promoción de la Igualdad de Género en Instituciones de Educación Superior, que tuvo lugar en Bruselas el pasado mes de septiembre.
La conferencia de alto nivel de presentación de esta herramienta on line, GEAR, ha reunido por invitación previa a cerca de 170 actores sociales y líderes que toman decisiones en políticas socioeconómicas y de investigación, para reflexionar sobre la situación de las mujeres y los hombres en las organizaciones académicas y de investigación, concibiéndose como un encuentro para compartir experiencias y generar juntos compromisos para el cambio –mediante la puesta en marcha de GEAR y la transformación de las instituciones académicas en organizaciones igualitarias desde el punto de vista del género-.
Los resultados de la Conferencia servirán de apoyo a las políticas de la UE, en particular en la aplicación de la Hoja de Ruta del Espacio Europeo de Investigación 2015-20, Horizon 2020, así como en el Compromiso Estratégico para la Igualdad de Género 2016-19 de la Comisión Europea.
link:see GEAR
