Gender Equality Commission
The rector of the University of Aysén, Natacha Pino, who is accompanying the commission, emphasizes that “there has been significant progress in the design and implementation of equality policies in institutions.” Furthermore, all CRUCH universities have Gender Offices and Gender Departments, and progress is currently being made in incorporating a gender perspective into the curriculum, which “contributes to social transformation from within the universities,” says the commission's president, Angélica Marín.
To commemorate International Women's Day, the 30 universities belonging to the Council of Rectors have created a calendar of activities that will take place throughout March. The various initiatives can be reviewed on the [social media platform/account/etc.]. Instagram @consejoderectores.
To commemorate International Women's Day on March 8, members of the board of the Gender Equality Commission of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), as well as the rector of the University of Aysén (UAysén), Natacha Pino, took stock of the main advances of the universities in terms of eliminating gender gaps.
Rector Pino, who is accompanying the commission, maintains that “there has been significant progress in the design and implementation of equality policies in institutions. To date, virtually all CRUCH universities have approved their policies and are in the process of implementing and designing prevention, investigation, and sanction models for gender-based violence. Undoubtedly, a fundamental contribution to this process was made by the documents issued by the Gender Equality Commission: Gender Equality Policy Guidelines and the Kaleidoscope Model.”.
The president of the commission and Executive Secretary of the Gender and Sexuality Office of the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences (UMCE), Angélica Marín, emphasizes that “the generation of gender policies has been participatory” and explains that these achievements are relevant “because in addition to the progress in safeguarding women's rights to a life free of violence with the creation of protocols for action against harassment, violence and discrimination, hard work has been done to advance the elimination of gender inequalities in training, research, regulations and care.”.
Lucía Saldaña, Director of Gender Equity and Sexual Diversity at the University of Concepción (UdeC), agrees with this approach and adds that “regulating gender relations through protocols has made it possible to impact university cultures, while promoting good practices and developing prevention strategies.”.
For her part, Andrea Hurtado, Director of Gender, Diversity and Equity at Alberto Hurtado University (UAH), also gives a positive assessment and says that “universities have taken decisive steps against inequality and violence towards women and dissidents, and through Gender policies we have committed management processes, resources and personnel to overcome existing gaps.”.
For Vanessa Jara, Director of Gender Equity at the University of Tarapacá (UTA), the implementation of various actions to eradicate gender violence, as well as the establishment of specialized units to address issues related to gender and human rights, and the institutional commitments to consolidate institutional spaces free of violence, is also a significant achievement.
In this regard, Angélica Marín believes that “it is very relevant to mention that all CRUCH universities have Gender offices and departments, which have led the development of policies and actions in conjunction with the university communities.”.
Rector Pino points out that “consolidating working groups within the Gender departments and units allows for a better response to the needs of university communities in the areas of institutionalizing a gender perspective in management, mainstreaming a gender perspective in education and research, and eradicating gender-based violence.” She also envisions a major challenge as “implementing, monitoring, and developing an evaluation system for policy action plans, with the aim of ensuring their impact on the daily life of universities.”.
Other achievements and challenges
In addition to the development of policies and protocols, universities have made progress in other areas to address gender gaps.
The commission's president, Angélica Marín, comments that "universities today are delving deeper into other areas, such as training, with the aim of incorporating a gender perspective into the curriculum. This contributes to social transformation from within the universities.".
According to Lucía Saldaña, from UdeC, these advances are relevant, given that "another very significant area that has been part of the students' requests is the changes leading to a non-sexist education.".
Regarding other lines of action to reduce gender gaps, the InES Gender projects have been significant. The director of the University of Concepción (UdeC) points out that "these projects address the existing structural inequalities at all stages of the research process, promoting the equal development of female researchers, as well as work-life balance strategies and innovative and relevant actions such as collaboration." Meanwhile, the director of the University of Tarapacá (UTA), Vanessa Jara, values the fact that "many universities have been awarded these projects, which will allow them to build capacity in the areas of R&D&I and strengthen knowledge creation and scientific dissemination.".
Regarding the challenges, for the director of the UAH, Andrea Hurtado, “it is necessary to maintain clear commitments so that our institutions provide students and their workers with answers to new challenges, such as teaching and training with a gender perspective, equal pay, equality in academic and management workloads, as well as co-responsibility and care actions.”.
8M Commemoration Activities
To commemorate International Women's Day, the 30 universities of the Council of Rectors have created a calendar of activities that will take place throughout March, including events, discussions, talks, plays, concerts, projects, meetings, workshops, fairs, exhibitions, seminars, film screenings, reflective days, banner and canvas making, story contests, and tri-sectoral dialogues.
The various initiatives can be reviewed on the Instagram account @councilofrectors.
It is worth remembering that International Women's Day was first commemorated in 1975 by the United Nations (UN) and proclaimed by its General Assembly two years later. Its origins lie in the demonstrations of women, especially in Europe, who at the beginning of the 20th century demanded the right to vote, better working conditions, and gender equality.
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