EQUAL4EUROPE kick-off: ESMT Berlin participates in project launch to promote gender equality at academic institutions
Led by Esade, the project aims to identify and develop gender equality plans for European research and higher education institutions to apply in their management strategies and diversity plans.
To achieve this goal, EQUAL4EUROPE has assembled a consortium of eight international partners made up of European researchers, academics, and experts, including ESMT Berlin, Erasmus University Rotterdam and PNO (Netherlands), Comenius University de Bratislava (Slovakia), IEDC Bled School of Management (Slovenia), ESMT Berlin (Germany), INSEAD (France), EFMD (Belgium), and Esade (Spain). The consortium will identify and enable the levers that make it possible to mainstream gender in education and research, reduce gender imbalance in decision-making bodies, and eliminate lingering barriers in the recruitment, retention, and promotion of women especially.
“The higher the position at European universities and research centers, the fewer the women who hold it,” says Anna Ginès, coordinator of EQUAL4EUROPE and associate professor at Esade Law School. “It is like a leaking pipeline. Women go from accounting for 47 percent of PhDs to 33 percent of researchers to 20 percent of full-time lecturers. With regard to management bodies, only one in five European institutions in the field are headed by women.”
“ESMT is committed to addressing these pressing issues,” says Monica Perez, lead of the EQUAL4EUROPE project at ESMT. “We are engaging in a process of structural change that attracts talented women, supports female researchers in their careers, and promotes women in leadership positions in business and management. We are excited to participate in the development of new ways to improve gender equality and share our insights and best practices with other institutions.”
Academic expertise of leading international experts
The EQUAL4EUROPE consortium, which has received three million euros in funding, is part of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program. Over the next four years, the project will pursue several lines of research, involving all levels of each institution, including students, faculty, researchers, and general management. This will make it possible not only to diagnose and improve the situation, but also to raise awareness of gender equality within each group.
The project, coordinated by Esade, will also serve as a forum for sharing and disseminating knowledge and findings and will enable the creation of a European network of gender equality officers in which all the Union’s research and higher education institutions can share their experience with the practical implementation of the project’s plans and recommendations.
About ESMT Berlin
ESMT Berlin is a leading global business school with its campus in the heart of Berlin. Founded by 25 global companies, ESMT offers master, MBA, and PhD programs, as well as executive education on its campus in Berlin, in locations around the world, online, and in online blended format. Focusing on leadership, innovation, and analytics, its diverse faculty publishes outstanding research in top academic journals. Additionally, the international business school provides an interdisciplinary platform for discourse between politics, business, and academia. ESMT is a non-profit private institution of higher education with the right to grant PhDs and is accredited by AACSB, AMBA, EQUIS, and ZEvA. It is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion across all its activities and communities.
