The University of Warsaw adopted its Gender Equality Plan. The document responds to the needs of the university community. GEP was created as a result of expert consultations reflecting good practice from European institutions. UW was the first university in Poland to adopt the GEP.
“Gender Equality Plan” is an action strategy for UW in the years 2020-2023. It is based on five main goals. Its primary objective is to ensure that the University of Warsaw is a safe place for all, functioning in a way respecting equality and diversity, free from discrimination, as well as ensuring freedom of academic development for everybody.
As shown by surveys and consultations, some people suffer from prejudice and encounter institutional barriers, as a result of which not everybody can benefit equally from academic development opportunities. These barriers often take the form of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and difficulties in combining professional work with family life. Obstacles of this type result in slowing down scientific careers, especially of women, and some of them may lose interest in further academic development. Barriers hindering combining professional work with family life also discourage fathers endeavouring to be involved in both spheres of life – professional and family.
“The activities presented in the Gender Equality Plan for the University of Warsaw are aimed at counteracting the stereotypical assignment of gender to scientific fields in order to strengthen the scientific position of our university and remove obstacles to the individual development of people working and studying at the University of Warsaw,” said Prof. Julia Kubisa, Equal Opportunity Chief Specialist at UW.
In 2016 the European Commission recognised the University of Warsaw with the “HR Excellence in Research” logo. UW is committed to continuously develop HR and recruitment policies, including the development of equality policies in the form of the General Equality Plan for the University of Warsaw.
Goals of the Gender Equality Plan for the UW:
- Raising awareness of the importance of equality issues and strengthening positive attitudes towards diversity.
- Supporting the development of women’s scientific careers.
- Ensuring gender equality in the recruitment of female and male employees and doctoral schools.
- Making the combination of work and family life easier.
- Increasing balanced sex representation with respect to chairpersons of faculty and university committees, management, expert and reviewer teams, and chairpersons of scientific and popularisation events.
Planned actions
It is planned to launch a research and development programme for young female researchers and lecturers to counteract their loss of participation in pursuing their research career. Networking groups for female doctoral candidates will be established to engage them in networks with employees and academics. The Code of Ethics of the University of Warsaw will also be created.
The GEP also comprises activities aimed at providing people working and studying at the University of Warsaw with help in combining work and studies with family life. It is planned to:
- increase the number of vacancies in the university nursery at Karowa street,
- develop a plan to create a new nursery and kindergarten on the Ochota Campus, and a childcare point on one of the campuses.
- create the system of flexible working hours for employees, as well as other flexible forms of work.
The strategy envisages the implementation of the Anti-Discrimination Procedure, which will enable formal complaint proceedings both by the person who has experienced discrimination and by heads of the units to ensure safe reporting and prevention of sexual harassment and discrimination.
Lectures on equality for all members of the academic community will be organised at the University of Warsaw. UW will monitor the participation of women and men in grant calls, project and financial support. Furthermore, to define the remuneration regulations for individual positions, the policy of remuneration and other employee benefits will be established.
The full text of the Gender Equality Plan for the UW is now available (pdf) >>