On 13 May, a discussion “Gender equality plans in higher education institutions: exchange of experience on implementation” took place at the EU House. It was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Welfare, higher education institutions, and scientific institutions.
“Equality is a sign of the quality of any system. Therefore, discussions about whether our academic environment is capable of attracting, retaining, and developing talented people regardless of gender or other circumstances are important. We cannot afford a situation in which someone who is capable of offering solutions to today’s problems leaves the academic environment—not due to a lack of ability or interest, but because the environment is not sufficiently safe, fair, or professional,” noted Anna Leiškalne, Deputy Director of the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation in the field of science.
During the event, comparative data at the European level were presented, and presentations were also held on the experience of scientific institutions in addressing specific challenges.
"In the second part of the event, representatives of various higher education and scientific institutions actively shared their experience, both by informing about the current situation in their institutions and by sharing examples of good practice. Participants shared various challenges they had successfully overcome and put forward new proposals on how to promote gender equality and inclusion in their institutions in the future,” says Krista Anna Zalāne, Senior Expert of the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of the Ministry of Education and Science.
The discussion covered a wide range of issues, including drawing attention to the fact that equality is not only about ensuring an equal number of women and men in scientific institutions, but is measured in a much broader sense—in the distribution of positions between men and women, opportunities to take paid parental leave and to successfully return to work in science afterwards, as well as in other aspects. Issues of creating an inclusive environment in general were also not forgotten, in which employees of the field do not experience discrimination not only in terms of gender, but where gender equality issues are viewed more broadly—in the context of intersectionality.
