SDG 5 Gender equality

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Selected goals:

5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.

5.2 Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.

5.4 Recognise and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate.

5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.

5.c Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.

Indicator	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22
Number of interventions to apply the UIC gender-based violence protocol	0	0	0	0
Percentage of leading female researchers in research groups	51,51%	51,51%	56%	37%
Percentage of women occupying academic positions	55,73%	58,73%	60%	55%
Percentage of full professors that are women	7,69%	7,14%	8%	18%
Percentage of female members of administration and services staff at the university	80%	77%	78%	80%

2. Research

2.1 Publications on equality at UIC Barcelona

We have selected two articles from among our publications on equality:

“Work-family policies and the transformation triangle: women, organizational culture and managerial strategy”, which focuses on proposing a model in which a female workforce is seen as contributing to the development of the family run business. The analysis was performed in a sample of 1,048 Spanish firms.
“Educación STEM en la infancia: percepciones del profesorado” (STEM education for children: teachers' insights), in which the authors propose that the skills promoted by STEM education should form part of basic literacy, and that some countries are beginning to recognise their importance in the educational policies for children between 3 and 6 years old for developing critical thinking and scientific skills, such as cooking workshops as a laboratory for STEM education.

Publications on equality at UIC Barcelona

3. Education

The Equality Office and the University’s faculties are currently reviewing the Course Guides for all sixteen UIC Barcelona degree programmes, with the aim of promoting the visibility of women, the use of non-sexist language and a research output broken down by sex in order to obtain more accurate results.

This first phase of the review is published in the chapter “Perspectiva de género y calidad universitaria” (The Gender Perspective and University Quality) from the book Muros de discriminación y exclusión en la construcción de identidades: la mirada de las Ciencias Sociales (Walls of Discrimination and Exclusion in the Construction of Identities: A Social Science Perspective), published in 2021.

3.1 Measuring the University’s data on applications and incoming students

The application rate of women and the rate of acceptance to and graduation from university is systematically measured.

These data, reflected in the UIC Barcelona Student Enrolment and Graduation Report for the 2021-2022 academic year, can help us see our progress and guarantee equal enrolment between men and women. We provide data on students from the first year of both bachelor’s degrees and postgraduate degrees; the total number of applicants who applied that academic year; the proportion of female and male students enrolled; international students, students from developing countries, and the graduation rates from all degree programmes. The average graduation rate is 88.07%, of which 68.88% are female graduates.

The Equality Office monitors the evolution of equality throughout the institution and takes into account data regarding students and staff (PAS and PDI) broken down by sex.
Analysing these data helps design policies and actions for our different programmes, especially plans for equal opportunities between men and women.

The objectives of these plans form part of the university’s commitment to equality and serve as a guide for eliminating any gaps in representation, access to degree programmes, career progression and pay.

3.2 Specific study support programmes for female students

3.2.1 Mentoring programmes

Below are the University’s various mentoring programmes and the proportion of women involved, and within the first 3 links we show the skills acquired in line with the women’s mentoring schemes.

1. Dentistry Student Mentor Programme: 57.1% of women.
2. Mentoring programme for female students from the Faculty of Bioengineering: 100% of women.
3. Mentoring programme: 69% of women.
4. Alumni Ambassadors Programme: 57.14% of women.
5. The CYD Foundation’s Mentoring Programme 2022.

3.2.2 Guidance: All students are assigned an advisor who supports them with tutorials and offers one-to-one academic, professional and personal guidance to help them discover new horizons while at university.

3.2.3 Coaching service or final-year bachelor’s degree students and postgraduate degree students.

3.2.4 The Promotion and Admissions Department provides information on grants and organises activities at the University for prospective students in order to inform them about all degree and double degree programmes and enable them to enrol.The Promotion and Admissions Department provides information on grants and organises activities at the University for prospective students in order to inform them about all degree and double degree programmes and enable them to enrol.

3.2.5 Grants: The University has made a commitment to students to ensure that no-one who wants to study should have to give up their dream for financial reasons. The Grants Unit offers one-to-one guidance to postgraduate and master's degree students who need to access grants and other types of financial aid offered by the University.

No Talent Without a Future annual campaign - 2021-2022 academic year | UIC Barcelona

4. Social impact

4.1 Promoting women in STEM

We promote girls' and women's access to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects and careers by setting up outreach and partnership programmes.

We offer information, events and resources in order to help and inspire female students in these fields.

Bachelor’s Degree in Bioengineering Brochure

4.1.1 The Bachelor’s Degree in Bioengineering began in the 2017-2018 academic year. As an example of outreach, we began the Faculty of Bioengineering's promotional campaign, which has inspired many young women to enrol on this degree programme. This is evidenced by the results of the 2021-2022 academic year, when out of a total of 111 students, 70 were women and 41 were men.

Sara Estruch: “My experience studying bioengineering”.

4.1.2 Other educational activities with the same objective have been funded by the Engineering Information Foundation (EIF), such as the Mentoring programme: Women in engineering, or a series of educational games that were created by the Faculty of Education Sciences at UIC Barcelona.

The Women Scientists Card Game celebrates the achievements of women in science and engineering in an easy and playful way, suitable for children aged 6 to 12 years old. The pilot was carried out with 50 pupils from one school during Science Week in November 2021.

There’s also the women in engineering virtual escape room, which was held on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in 2021, aimed at students in their third year of secondary school through to their second year of upper secondary school. In the game, students travel back in time to learn about the discoveries of female scientists and engineers and to see what impact they have had on bioengineering today. So far, 2,696 students from 58 schools in 22 Spanish provinces have taken part.

4.2 Collaboration with other universities is something the UIC Barcelona Faculty of Education Sciences does to develop STEAM skills European Union’s Erasmus+ programme.
The aim is to help promote STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) skills in pre-school education by organising cooking labs and to develop educational materials and resources that promote sustainability among 3- and 6-year-olds.

http://kitchenlab4kids.eu/. 2018-2022. Some 180 children from five schools in Catalonia have benefited from this collaboration.
https://kidslab4sustainability.eu/ 2021-2024.

The researchers explain how "the new project, which introduces STEAM disciplines as a pathway to understanding sustainability, mainly aims to design a curriculum focused on outdoor STEAM education for sustainability, complementary to the early childhood curriculum, allowing teachers to choose individual resources or learning paths". The project also focuses on overcoming the gender gap and the stereotypes related to STEAM education for girls.

Both projects were led by the Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow, with support from the LUMSA (Rome), the Politecnico di Milano, Dublin City University and UIC Barcelona.

5. Policies

5.1 Non-discrimination policy, including admission and participation in the University

Since its foundation in 1997, the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya has been firmly committed to respecting the dignity of each individual, their rights, equal opportunities (access, development, promotion and pay) and a policy of non-discrimination on any grounds (nationality, race, ideology, sex, disability, etc.).

These principles form part of the University’s ideology, and are stated in article 8 of the UIC Barcelona Statutes:

“The University’s universal spirit is open to all kinds of people and does not discriminate on the grounds of religion, nationality, geographic or social origin, sex, race, ideology, or any other, and cultivates a wide range of fields of knowledge. It respects freedom of conscience and legitimate differences of opinion among all members of the university community.”

Article 6 states:

"An indispensable requirement for the service that the University wishes to provide to all individuals, is for all members of the University community and the University’s work to be guided by the utmost respect for the dignity of each individual and human rights. As such, the University also helps prepare students for honest social coexistence".

5.1.1 The Equality Office, founded in 2019, ensures that the principle of equal opportunities and non-discrimination is respected among the entire university community (PAS, PDI and students), as well as harassment procedures.

In 2020, the Board of Governors approved the Protocol for Harassment Prevention, Evaluation and Intervention and the 2nd Gender Equality Plan (2020-2025). Then in 2022, the 3rd Gender Equality Plan (2022-2026) was also approved. -

5.1.2 As regards legislation, the Equality Office has compiled the laws, actions and procedures on which UIC Barcelona bases its policies of gender equality, positive work-life balance, diversity/inclusion/treatment and the gender perspective.

In 2021, Spain’s State Pact on Gender Violence was renewed in order to eradicate violence against women. Our University has been working on a series of measures to help achieve this goal since 2019.

5.1.3 Here is a sample of UIC Barcelona texts that include:

Non-discrimination policies
Policies that protect anyone who reports discrimination, such as the UIC Barcelona Protocol for the Harassment Prevention, Evaluation (2020) and Intervention and the university ombudsman's mediation efforts.

5.2 Maternity and paternity

The University’s maternity and paternity policies are based on current legislation and are included in the equality plans. What's more, maternity protection is supported by the Occupational Risk Prevention Unit.

The University also offers training in parenting skills, family guidance and family policies at the Institute of Advanced Family Studies at UIC Barcelona. In May 2022, it organised the First International Workshop on Family Support, in order to help train people working in this field and as a preventive tool to support individuals and families. Around 850 people from 50 countries took part.

First International Workshop on Family Support | UIC Barcelona

With regard to careers at UIC Barcelona, it is worth noting the high percentage of female teaching and research staff (PDI). In 2022, 52.23% of PDI were women.

6. Activities

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

This video shows the University's social commitment, the policies and the culture that supports female talent by highlighting the role of women in research, as well as the importance and impact of researchers on society, and having a successful career in such a competitive sector.

Other activities:

Conference: “Women artists paint unique women”.
Doctors, but not engineers: female characters and STEM representation in television series, videos and article.
Sports: Women’s basketball, football, indoor football and volleyball teams and the Pilates group for female PAS and PDI staff members.