Taking into account the accurate definition of priorities in this area, Gender Equality Board was established at the University of Lodz in 2021. Consulting documents related to equal treatment on an ongoing basis and recommending the most appropriate actions in this field constitute its important tasks.
Creation of the Gender Equality Board was closely related to the implementation of the international project H2020 RESET: Redesigning Equality and Scientific Excellence Together at the University of Lodz. The project provides unique opportunities to look carefully at the needs of various stakeholder groups. For this purpose, quantitative and qualitative studies aiming at a detailed diagnosis of the situation of individual groups belonging to our academic community was carried out at the University of Lodz in 2021. They served as the basis for the creation of the first Gender Equality Plan at the University of Lodz, which was officially adopted in June 2022. The goals and tasks set out in this document will be successively implemented throughout the next two years.
Thanks to the international nature of the RESET project, we have the opportunity to compare our experiences and exchange observations with people representing various European universities. Such a diverse perspective provides for a better understanding of the essence of equal treatment in research, teaching and administration processes, simultaneously creating opportunities for better planning and monitoring of these processes
– says Dr Aleksandra Różalska, coordinator of the RESET project at the University of Lodz and Head of the Women’s Studies Centre (Faculty of Philology of the University of Lodz).
She also adds:
Representatives of various stakeholder groups are invited to implement individual tasks, because we want to create the culture of equality with active participation of the entire university community.
The "Faces of Campus" campaign and the "Behind the Scenes" photography exhibition organised as part of the campaign are examples of initiatives involving the University of Lodz community. The aim of the campaign was to draw attention to the role of people who support university research excellence and are very often less visible in narrowly defined research processes, such as librarians, project administrators, accountants.
In 2022, intensive work was performed so as to develop a comprehensive training material, thanks to which the University of Lodz would soon start a series of workshops addressed to various professional groups at the university. The subject of the planned educational activities was created on a basis of the analysis of needs and expectations articulated by members of the academic community from all partner countries involved in the RESET project. The trainings are based on a holistic approach to education in the important areas of university development, such as diversity management, work-life balance, or gender equality in research and education.
The following months will bring further development of the training programme, the next edition of the ‘Faces of Campus’ campaign and initiatives planned as part of the implementation of the Gender Equality Plan (GEP). The Gender Equality Board also developed a Position on Transgender People in response to requests from the University of Lodz students and participated in the preparation of the Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Mobbing Procedure at the University of Lodz, which was introduced in March 2023.
About the project:
RESET: Redesigning Equality and Scientific Excellence Together is a project that aims at ensuring equality of women and men in research institutions. RESET focuses on activities enabling real equalisation of opportunities for employees in research institutions. The project aims at creating space within which female and male researchers will be able to fully realise their scientific and organisational potential. RESET uses an intersectional approach to the concept of gender equality and aims to develop Gender Equality Plans (GEP), which will be implemented in the project partner institutions based on the analysis of their needs and experiences Seven European universities are participating in this initiative – the initiative funded under the prestigious European Union Horizon 2020 programme: University of Bordeaux (France; project coordinator), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), University of Lodz (Poland), University of Porto (Portugal), Ruhr University of Bochum (Germany), University of Oulu (Finland) and the Institute of Political Science in Paris (France).