Building fairness: gender plans and gender equality reports

2025-2027 Gender Equality Plan: what we intend to do

The 2025-2027 Gender Equality Plan (GEP) of Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna represents our commitment to reducing gender inequalities and enhancing diversity related to age, culture, physical ability, sexual orientation and multilingualism. It is a vision that looks to the future, with a view to building an environment where everyone can feel welcome, respected and part of a community that shares common goals.

With a collective effort, we introduced one of the first Gender Equality Plans (2017-2020), and then implemented the 2021-2024 plan and now the one for the three-year period 2025-2027.

Through the GEP, we work to ensure a positive work-life balance, to promote equality in top positions, and to support recruitment that breaks down inequalities. We bring the gender dimension into research and teaching, creating innovative educational paths that nurture an inclusive culture. We have also strengthened our commitment to fighting gender-based violence and harassment by offering support and awareness-raising tools.

This plan is an operational response; a concrete action designed to turn fairness and inclusion into everyday values. For us, it is the promise of a different trajectory, free of stereotypes; one that values the uniqueness of each person and promotes a culture of respect and shared trust.

Read more in the 2025-2027 Gender Equality Plan [.pdf 1326 KB]

The Gender Equality Report: results and outlooks

The Gender Equality Report, now in its ninth edition, is a key tool for analysing gender gaps in our community and identifying areas on which to focus our actions so as to continue to improve. Here are some points illustrating the situation to date:

• Inequalities in academic careers
  Phenomena such as the leaky pipeline, i.e. the progressive reduction of women in academic paths, persist, particular in STEM areas.
  There is a vertical segregation, or 'glass ceiling', which limits the presence of women in top positions among teaching staff, especially for the younger generation.
• Status of female students
  Female students tend to invest more in their education than their male counterparts. However, once in the labour market, they suffer significant penalties in terms of opportunities and remuneration.
• Professional staff
  Although 66% of our professional staff are women, vertical segregation is still present, albeit less pronounced than for teaching staff.
• External and cultural factors
  Inequalities are exacerbated by factors such as care work, which predominantly burdens women, and elements of institutional culture that perpetuate imbalances.

Read more in the 2024 Gender Equality Report [.pdf 775 KB]

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How to improve

Outlining the current state of inequality allows us to identify clear objectives and to develop responsible actions with a concrete impact on the territory and on the lives of the people trained by the University. Our concrete contribution takes the form of:

1. Continuing the work on stereotypes that limit the presence of women, particularly in STEM degrees, and promoting greater awareness among students, teaching and professional staff.
2. Strengthening integration of the gender perspective in all University policies through the analysis and data provided by the Gender Equality Report.
3. Promoting cultural change through educational paths that encourage the breaking down of prejudices and foster a more inclusive environment.
4. Continuing to develop critical knowledge and operational tools to monitor and reduce gender inequalities, with targeted actions based on data.