Gender Equality Annual Report

Now in its ninth edition, the 2024 Gender Equality Report of Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna proves itself, once again, to be a valuable tool for understanding the complexity of our community in terms of our differences and, above all, of the gaps that still exist within it, setting targeted policies and initiatives that help implement one of the four key principles of the 2022-2027 Strategic Plan, namely to “facilitate equity, sustainability, inclusion and respect for diversity in every area”.

An essential document for incorporating the gender perspective into the policies of our University, this Report is the product of the work and efforts of many people, to whom I would like to express my gratitude.

Thanks to our efforts and the information gathered in our past Gender Equality Reports, we have been among the first universities in Italy to draft a Gender Equality Plan (2017-2020), implement the actions of the Plan 2021-2024 and launch the preparation of the Plan 2025-2027, currently ongoing.

However, we need to improve in many ways, raise the awareness of students and professional and teaching staff, and translate it into actions designed to overcome prejudices, dispositions and attitudes that still prevent a decisive reduction in inequalities.

To do this, we must start from the data in this Report. I would like to draw your attention to just a few pieces of information. Within the student community, overall, female students tend to invest more in education, but once they enter the world of work, on average, they are disadvantaged compared to their male counterparts in all fields.

The gender gap also affects teachers at our University, where the phenomenon of ‘vertical segregation’ or ‘glass ceiling’ is clearly manifest. This means that the number of women tends to decrease as the professional role increases; the inequality is even more evident among younger teachers.

As a whole, the 2024 Gender Equality Report confirms the presence of the so-called ‘leaky pipeline’ effect, a complex phenomenon that should prompt us to identify which steps of the academic career and which subject areas see the gradual reduction of women, as well as reminding us of the importance of continuing to work on gender stereotypes, which are often the reason behind a low female presence in STEM degree programmes.

As regards the data concerning professional staff, where there is a prevalence of women (66%), the situation is stable but still marked by vertical segregation, albeit less evident than in the case of teachers.

All in all, our University continues to be marked by inequality between men and women, not only due to external factors – such as the fact that caregiving responsibilities are usually taken on by women – but also to aspects that relate to our institutional culture. To counter this, we need to continue developing tools and critical knowledge, supporting new and old rights, and listening to each other. And we need to continue taking responsibility for the impact that our principles – if effectively implemented – can make on local communities, on the life of the people we educate, and on and for the sustainability of our common future.

With this shared commitment in mind, I leave you to the 2024 Gender Equality Report of Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna.

Giovanni Molari
Rector of the Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna