The launching ceremony, which was attended by university authorities and representatives of the three estates, was attended by the Undersecretary for Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, Dr. Carolina Gainza Cortés.
Yenifher Haverbeck / Francisco Morey – VIDCA, Journalism.- In a meeting environment, the Universidad Austral de Chile officially launched the InES Gender project “Knowledge + gender UACh: Creating culture in R+D+i+i with a gender perspective and intersectional approach from the southern south”, an initiative whose main objective is to implement a development plan for gender equity in higher education.
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The launching ceremony, which was attended by university authorities and representatives of the three estates, included the participation of the Undersecretary for Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, Dr. Carolina Gainza Cortés, who offered the main conference “Gender, intersectionality and Decentralization: A change in the way knowledge is produced”.
During the conference, the Undersecretary highlighted the worrying increase in the gender gap in the scientific field, as a result of the consequences of the pandemic. The ministerial authority indicated that, for example, according to the report “Global Gender Gap 2021” from the World Economic Forum, if before the health crisis it was estimated that it would take 100 years to reach gender parity in this area, now it is estimated that it will take 136 years.
Undersecretary of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, Dr. Carolina Gainza Cortés.
To address this problem, the Ministry, through the Fund of the National Research and Development Agency (ANID), has allocated financing to Chilean higher education institutions to advance in the reduction of gender gaps, being the InES Género program one of its main instruments.
The Austral University of Chile is one of the 10 institutions that will carry out this project, in this case from the Vice-Rector for Research, Development and Artistic Creation, with the aim of implementing a development plan for gender equity in R+D+i +e and promote greater awareness and actions to address the gap in this area.
The Director of the project at the UACh, Dr. Marcela Hurtado, pointed out that “the main aspect to take into account is that the production of science and knowledge cannot be separated from the gender perspective and the intersectional approach, because this knowledge arises from people with affiliations, life histories, particularities, all issues that leave marks on what is thought, investigated and intervened”.
He also indicated that the InES Gender project of the UACh will allow concrete actions to be carried out to achieve its objectives, such as the holding of workshops and training for all levels of the University, with a gender perspective and an intersectional approach; launch of competitive funds to promote research with a gender perspective and an intersectional approach, in the different areas of science, technology, knowledge and the arts. Finally, the realization of an institutional diagnosis on the gender gap in campuses and headquarters, built on the base of efforts already made and strengthened with a wide and updated collection of data.
Conversation with deans
The activity ended with the discussion “Academy and gender: A pending matter”, composed of Dr. Daniela Accatino S., Dean of the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences; Dr. Karen Alfaro M., Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities; and the SEREMI for Women and Gender Equity of Los Ríos, Francisca Corbalán.
Dr. Karen Alfaro pointed out regarding the project that “this InES generates the possibility of combining efforts and collaborations in the different faculties of the University. We are convinced that it is necessary to generate transformations, especially with the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities, which has a relevant sensitivity regarding these issues”.
In the conversation, a series of questions were addressed that allowed us to know some of the fundamental lines of the project, the cultural transformation that is sought for the University and the challenges that it will have during these three years of implementation.
The Dean of the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences, Dr. Daniela Accatino, indicated that “it is very important to make visible this project and its line of work, which focuses on gender gaps in research, as well as on the profound changes that They must occur in various fields. From the Faculty we are willing to collaborate, since we have many colleagues who work from this perspective. We will support the generation of the project and we will be available for its implementation”.
The project “Knowledge + gender UACh: Creating culture in R&D+i+e with a gender perspective and an intersectional approach from the southern south” marks the beginning of an important path towards a more inclusive and equitable University, where all people, Regardless of their gender, they can develop their potential on equal terms.
