UOC receives EU Award for Gender Equality Champions from European Commission

The European Commission has presented the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) with the EU Award for Gender Equality Champions, a prize of excellence given to universities and research organizations with outstanding results in the implementation of gender equality policies. The UOC received the award in the Sustainable Gender Equality Champions category, which acknowledges institutions with a robust and sustained track record and a high level of implementation of their Gender Equality Plan. UOC Rector Àngels Fitó received the award in Brussels on Tuesday 3 February, at an event organized by the European Commission.

The rector was accompanied by the Vice Rector for Alliances, Community and Culture, Manel Jiménez, the Commissioner for International Action, Pastora Martínez, and the director of the Equality Unit, Maria Olivella. The award is part of the Horizon Europe programme, and seeks to highlight and raise the profile of institutions that act as benchmarks in organizational transformation, by creating more inclusive and diverse academic and research environments which are free of gender bias.

"Accepting this award on behalf of the UOC is not only an honour, but also a shared responsibility. It belongs to our entire community, and it reaffirms our long-standing commitment to gender equality as a structural cornerstone of academic excellence and institutional transformation”, said Fitó.

In the words of Jiménez: "This award not only recognizes the gender policies designed and implemented across the university, covering all its areas of action, but also highlights the pioneering nature of the analysis, investigation and implementation in the context of an online education institution."

A comprehensive equality plan with an institutional impact

The award is recognition for the UOC's Gender Equality Plan 2023-2025 and its implementation at all levels of the institution. The Plan addressed gender equality in structural terms, focusing on the workplace and the university's key responsibilities: teaching and learning, research and innovation, knowledge transfer and communication.

This approach is the response to a strategic vision that sees equality as a core principle of governance, including it in decision-making processes, institutional planning and the assessment of the impact of university policies. The Plan has been implemented in a comprehensive sequence involving analysis, participatory design, joint implementation and monitoring, and continuous oversight mechanisms. This model is able to identify biases, measure results, and enables adjustments to be made when necessary.

The UOC's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Unit coordinates equality policies at the institutional level and was responsible for the operational leadership of the process. In the words of its director, Maria Olivella, "having a specialized unit means that we can make sure that the Plan is not just a strategic document, but also a real tool for transformation, which can impact on all areas of the university and connect the institutional vision with our day-to-day practice".

Mainstreaming gender equality in teaching, research, and innovation

One of the aspects taken into account by the European Commission when presenting this award is an institution's ability not just to integrate gender equality internally, but to also apply it to their core missions. At the UOC, this commitment has led to incorporating the gender perspective into teaching, research, innovation and knowledge transfer policies.

In terms of research, the UOC has a robust track record in studying the relationship between gender, technology and society, with internationally recognized groups and projects that have contributed to producing critical knowledge about gender inequalities in the digital age. These include the lines of work of the Gender and ICT (GenTIC) group, as well as European projects associated with responsible research and the gender perspective in science and technology.

In teaching, the UOC promotes the integration of the gender perspective in its programmes of study, teaching materials and learning methodologies, as part of its policy for educational quality and university social responsibility. This area of work is part of a broader strategy aimed at educating people to act critically thanks to their awareness of structural inequalities and ability to address them from the areas in which they work.

European leadership, international alliances and institutional standing

This recognition by the European Commission reinforces the UOC's position as a leading institution in European higher education and research. This leadership is part of an institutional strategy based on cooperation between universities, building alliances, and active participation in European and international initiatives.

As part of these efforts, the UOC coordinates the OpenEU alliance of European universities, an initiative that works to foster a common space for higher education based on shared values, including equality, inclusion, diversity and social cohesion. As part of this alliance, the UOC has also led the development of an Equality Plan for OpenEU, transferring its institutional experience to the European arena and contributing to the harmonization of equality policies between universities in different countries.

Pastora Martínez Samper, the OpenEU coordinator and president of the Equality Unit between 2016 and 2023, believes that the award is recognition of a clear strategic commitment: "It is recognition for a comprehensive equality plan, which covers both organizational aspects and key teaching, research and innovation activities. We decided to create the plan in those terms from the outset, although we were under no obligation to do it this way. This Plan was also constructed in a collaborative and cooperative way, with the involvement of many people and teams from the university, so it is also international recognition for a very UOC way of doing things."

Towards a policy of equality, diversity and inclusion with an intersectional perspective

Since the completion of the Equality Plan 2023-2025, the UOC has been working on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Plan 2026-2029, which will broaden the scope of institutional policies by incorporating an intersectional perspective. The new strategic framework will comprehensively address gender equality, LGBTI+ diversity, cultural diversity and the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace and in terms of teaching and learning.

This evolution is aligned with European priorities related to social inclusion, accessible higher education and responsible research, and with the lines of work that the UOC is already undertaking in the field of educational accessibility and inclusion, as shown in recent institutional initiatives aimed at building a university without barriers.

In this context, the UOC is consolidating its track record and reinforcing its commitment to social transformation through higher education and research, in line with its public service mandate and the founding values of the European university project.