ShareAQU Catalunya, an agency working for gender equality
Beyond gender parity in its committees, the Agency integrates a gender perspective into the activities of the CAIP and the CAR.
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AQU Catalunya is an agency committed to equality between men and women, as demonstrated by its Gender Equality Plan 2024–2027, which the Agency has been implementing since its approval. This plan, the first of its kind developed by the organisation, complies with the requirements set out in Royal Decree-Law 6/2019 of 1 March on urgent measures to guarantee equal treatment and opportunities between women and men in employment, Law 9/2022 of 21 December on science, and Organic Law 2/2023 of 22 March on the university system. It also aims to address the concerns of the Agency’s staff regarding equality and gender perspective.
In this regard, the Institutional and Programme Review Commission (CAIP) has recently included in a report on gender equality actions the development and approval, in 2018, of the General Framework for the Incorporation of a Gender Perspective in University Teaching, which aims to establish guidelines to support the integration of a gender perspective in teaching. The report also examines how elements and criteria have been introduced into the various evaluation guidelines in accordance with current equality legislation. It further highlights the Framework for the Improvement of Institutional Quality in the Catalan University System (QUALINS Framework) —approved in April 2025— as an initiative aligned with emerging international trends and aimed at building an inclusive European Higher Education Area that ensures gender equality. In this regard, the text states that the QUALINS Framework establishes that external quality assurance processes must take into account respect for diversity and promote development goals, explicitly including effective equality between men and women.
The CAIP report also details that AQU Catalunya has integrated a gender perspective into its institutional and programme evaluation methodologies in accordance with current legislation, specifically in relation to the verification and modification of official degrees, the accreditation of official degrees, and the institutional accreditation of university centres. Finally, the report notes that both the commission itself and its dependent bodies (specific committees and external evaluation panels) have now achieved gender parity.
For its part, the Research Assessment Commission (CAR) identifies in a recently published report on gender equality actions AQU Catalunya’s adherence to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) as key drivers of its gender equality initiatives. In the report, the CAR lists a total of eight actions. The first is the inclusion in its procedures of ad hoc sections in CVs to identify sensitive situations, allowing applicants to highlight circumstances requiring special attention in terms of equality. Secondly, it highlights the adaptation of criteria for permanent academic staff positions (lecturers and full professors), which explicitly take into account diverse career paths resulting from work–family balance.
Thirdly, the report highlights the agreement of the Research Assessment Commission on measures to ensure equality and work–life balance in the evaluation of academic and research staff. The consideration of career interruptions in the 2025 evaluation of research periods, the inclusion of non-binary identity and chosen name in teaching activity certification and evaluation documents, the addition of a Gender and Academic Accreditation section on the AQU Catalunya website, the preparation of a report on the state of the Research Assessment Commission and its specific committees in terms of parity, and the planned development of training materials for the Agency’s experts on gender perspective are among the final elements outlined in the CAR report.
In addition to the actions undertaken by its two evaluation commissions, AQU Catalunya also promotes gender equality through the pursuit of parity among members of its various committees. During 2025, the number of men and women participating in the Agency’s evaluations was very similar. Specifically, of the 777 experts who collaborated with the Agency, 49% were women, an increase of two percentage points compared to the previous year.
Looking at the data by commission, parity has also been maintained. The Institutional and Programme Review Commission (CAIP) included 43% women; the Research Assessment Commission (CAR), 52%; and the Appeals Commission (COAPEL), 50%. In addition, both the CAR and the COAPEL are chaired by women: Maria Pau Ginebra and Neus Vidal, respectively.