Coordinators: Beatriz Rodríguez Villafuerte.
Preamble:
The Space for Women Leaders of Higher Education Institutions in the Americas (EMULIES) began as an initiative in 2011 with a group of 30 women leaders from HEIs in the Americas, who met on the premises of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional and identified various barriers women face in accessing positions of authority in higher education.
Its main objective is to strengthen women’s leadership in the higher education institutions (HEIs) as rectors, vice-rectors, deans, secretaries (academic, financial, etc.) department heads, research coordinators, student leaders, among others.
Due to the fact that historically, universities and higher education institutions have been governed by a deeply androcentric and patriarchal culture, rules and interests, EMULIES seeks to be the space for reflection, dialogue, exchange of experiences and information regarding the situation of governance and leadership of women in HEIs, which constitutes a platform for the spread of policies and actions that promote increasing gender equity, a culture of inclusion and social relevance in these institutions.
Considering the current demands for women’s equality and their impact on higher education, making inequalities visible and acting to combat and eradicate them is a social responsibility that HEIs must assume, claiming gender equality as a fundamental principle and right for a life with justice and dignity. However, in the everyday practices and social relations within educational institutions, examples of the normalization of exclusion, discrimination and structural violence towards women and populations with a non-hegemonic or normative ethnic, sexual or gender identity continue to prevail.
In this sense, following up on the I Conference on University Gender Policies (2019), a key priority is to reflect on the progress made, with the aim of sharing strategies and experiences and discussing good practices that have occurred in HEIs and enable progress in the design of equitable and including institutional policies.
Objectives:
- To provide a space for analysis and discussion about the challenges of gender-sensitive leadership in higher education institutions.
- To identify and share the gender policies that different institutions have adopted and that are reflected in good practices that promote gender equity, a culture of inclusion and social relevance in the continent’s institutions.
- To disseminate the work and progress that has been made in the Space for Women Leaders of Higher Education Institutions of the Americas (EMULIES).
- To promote reflection and critical analysis from a gender perspective in the face of new challenges and realities for women during the pandemic and the outlook for the future.
Topics:
- Good practices in women’s leadership in science, the arts, and humanities.
- Reflections on the role of women as leaders in HEIs in the pandemic and new realities.
- Budgets and management from a gender perspective.
- Achievements, challenges, developments, obstacles, and paradoxes.
- Substantive equality good practices in HEIs
- Pending agenda of EMULIES and the HEIs, towards university policies that strengthen leadership from a gender perspective.
