Gender equality is one of the key challenges facing society today. Across the world it manifests in many ways including pay, employment opportunities and access to education.
The United Nations Sustainable Development goals (SDGs) look to tackle some of today’s biggest global issues and SDG 5 aims to address the issue of gender equality.
As part of the Impact Rankings, Times Higher Education has produced a ranking focusing on how universities are contributing to gender equality. Some of the measures looked at as part of the ranking are research on gender, policies on gender equality, commitment to recruiting and promoting women, the proportion of first-generation female students and student access measures. You can read more about the methodology here.
Top five universities for gender equality
1. La Trobe University
La Trobe University has a number of initiatives that drive gender equality, including the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, SAGE Pilot (an accreditation and improvement programme for higher education research organisations focusing on gender equality) and Square the Ledger, which aims to celebrate the lives of women that have studied, taught and worked at the university.
La Trobe vice-chancellor John Dewar has stated that he is “deeply committed to achieving gender equality in all areas of university life” including equal representation of women in senior leadership roles and across all schools and departments.
2. Western Sydney University
Western Sydney University was awarded an employer of choice for gender equality by the Federal Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency. The institution has held this title for the past 15 years.
The university is also dedicated to combating sexual violence on campus through the development of a respectful relationships education programme to be implemented across the Australian university sector.
A Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan 2015-2020 has been implemented to focus on the areas where gender equality can be improved. One of the key aims for the plan is to support the university’s efforts in recruiting, retaining and helping female staff advance. Other measures that have been introduced in response to the plan are improved breastfeeding facilities on campus, additional leave for staff experiencing domestic violence, and the development of a Gender Equality Policy.
3. Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin established the Trinity Centre for Gender Equality and Leadership in 2017 to implement strategies to advance gender equality at the institution.
The centre has hosted talks from many prominent and successful women, sponsors female staff to attend the Aurora Leadership Development Programme and grant writing workshops for female early career researchers.
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4. University of Bologna
The University of Bologna has developed a Gender Equality Plan to promote the careers of women and prevent the loss of talent through women dropping out of their jobs.
As a commitment to SDG 5, the university plans to publish gender data annually, and establish a help desk for those students with LGBTQ+ concerns.
The university also aims to launch projects together with the Civilian Police and the Women’s Refuge alongside various voluntary associations to ensure that students across the university are aware of gender violence.
5. University of Worcester
The University of Worcester’s 2018 gender pay gap report stated that the institution’s mean gender pay gap was 2.09 per cent, which was far smaller than the UK’s national average of 17.9 per cent.
The report also stated that 63 per cent of employees were women and that women are represented across all levels of seniority.
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