Gender Equality Commission
In the recent plenary session of the commission, the rector in charge, Fernanda Kri, stated that "there are so many issues to address on the gender agenda that reaching an agreement and being able to prioritize one is not always easy," but there was agreement on the priorities for this year.
The commission's work agenda will focus on "how to incorporate the gender approach into the curricular plans of universities and also work on criterion 7 of the accreditation established by the National Accreditation Commission (CNA), which relates to gender equality and equity," said Angélica Marín, coordinator of the CRUCH Gender Equality Commission.
With the purpose of evaluating the work developed during the year 2023 and defining the priority lines for 2024, the members of the Gender Equality Commission of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) met this Tuesday, January 23, at the Federico Santa María University (USM), in Valparaíso.
The meeting, held in a hybrid format, brought together the gender directors of the 30 CRUCH universities, along with the rector in charge of the commission, Fernanda Kri, who noted that “we had an excellent day” and that there was agreement on the priorities for this year's work. “There are so many issues to address on the gender agenda that reaching an agreement and prioritizing one is not always easy, but in this case, accreditation criteria and the mainstreaming of the gender perspective in educational processes were strongly emphasized (...), without neglecting all the other facets of gender issues in our institutions,” stated the rector of the University of O'Higgins (UOH).
At the beginning of the meeting was the rector of USM, Juan Yuz, who, along with welcoming everyone, praised the work of the directors, thanks to which the CRUCH universities have made significant progress in creating conditions of gender equality.
Lessons learned and projections
Regarding the balance and lessons learned from the past year, Angélica Marín, coordinator of the CRUCH Gender Equality Commission and Executive Secretary of the Gender and Sexualities Office of the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences (UMCE), commented that a very important aspect is that "the results of the actions that we are carrying out in the gender departments can be seen in the daily life of the universities.".
In that regard, Marín highlighted the importance of all CRUCH universities currently having gender policies and also "developing action plans so that there are concrete measures and actions that promote the expected cultural transformation.".
Regarding the lines of work for 2024, the coordinator of the commission explained that they will focus on “how to incorporate gender into the curricular plans of universities and, also, work on criterion 7 of the accreditation established by the National Accreditation Commission (CNA), which relates to gender equality and equity.”.
In addition to those two areas, other relevant topics discussed at the meeting included the shared social responsibility for caregiving and deepening the exchange of experiences among the commission members. Angélica Marín stated that it was deemed necessary “to share progress as well as obstacles, and how these have been overcome or how we need to continue working to overcome them.”.
Text: CRUCH Communications
Photos: Gabriela Vera, Federico Santa María Technical University (USM)
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