Issued by the Slovenian presidency last November, the Ljubljana Declaration on Gender Equality in Research and Innovation places combatting existing gender inequalities in research and innovation at the core of the new European Research Area (ERA), with a goal to ensure that R&I policies across Europe are fair and inclusive. In addition, the Council Recommendation on a Pact for R&I in Europe affirms that gender equality and equal opportunities should be core values to the development of the ERA, and calls on Member States to ensure the development of truly inclusive, diverse, and equitable research systems.
From developing inclusive and intersectional Gender Equality Plans to creating tools and trainings to combat gendered biases in recruitment, The Guild’s member universities are actively working on improving gender equality, inclusiveness, and diversity in their institutions.
Enabling diversity and inclusivity to develop and flourish at European universities requires to open conversations on issues, challenges, and solutions. But such debates require common understandings of key concepts, and what is at stake, across communities as well as institutions and countries.
The Guild is issuing a set of definitions related to gender and diversity which can provide a basis for opening a discussion and reaching a common understanding within and between European universities on how we may approach and discuss gender equality and diversity.
Jan Palmowski, Secretary-General of The Guild, commented: “To facilitate culture change towards gender equality and diversity, we need to have a common understanding of what we mean by key terms such as diversity, inclusion and intersectionality. With these definitions The Guild wishes to encourage debate within university campuses about what we mean when we use these terms, how they relate to each other, and how we can achieve a culture of diversity and fairness for all.”
Read the full statement including the detailed definitions and watch below short videos where the members of The Guild's Gender and Diversity working group share insights on why defining these terms can be helpful, and how their institutions have made progress in creating a culture that values gender equality and diversity.
8 March 2022