Gender equality is one of the fundamental values of Université Gustave Eiffel and is the subject of a specific mission set up by the President of the University. In 2020, the Equality mission laid the foundations for the development of a professional equality plan and launched several schemes and actions for fighting a culture of impunity and promoting an inclusive society.
The Equality Mission deploys its action plan
Are you a victim or have you witnessed sexist, discriminatory or sexual violence?
"The University is committed to fighting these forms of violence. The Equality mission will support and guide you in taking action.” This message is now included in the University’s welcome booklet for students. The Equality mission is led by two equality officers, Caroline Trotot, former Assistant Vice President for Research, and Karine Marot, Vice-President for Student Affairs, and is supported by representatives from each of the university’s components. It has a clearly defined objective: “to ensure the promotion of gender equality within the institution and, more generally, respect for people of all sexes and genders, regardless of their sexual orientation”.
Throughout the year, the Equality mission carried out support, prevention, training and awareness-raising actions to encourage and promote a culture of equality in conjunction with the presidency and the University’s departments and governance bodies. Its actions are part of a plan for professional equality that was initiated in 2020. The analysis and diagnosis of HR data and the creation of a steering committee with three working groups (human resources, time balance, the fight against harassment and discrimination) has allowed collective progress to be made.
Fighting and raising awareness
vieetudiante.harcelement@univ-eiffel.fr and drh.harcelement@univ-eiffel.fr: two University email addresses available to students and staff for reporting violence.
“These addresses allow the University to deploy its whistle-blower system across the whole of the new establishment and to meet the new requirements set out in the Decree of 13 March 2020. They make it easier to collect and process complaints. Several people have already used it," says Thierry Fragnet, Project Manager in the President’s office whose work supports the Equality mission. Four cases were reported in 2020, one of which led to exclusion after investigation.
During the lockdown from March to May 2020, the Equality Mission also distributed several publications including a brochure on cyberbullying and a memo for all staff on What to do when you see a case of harassment. Among its awareness-raising activities, the Mission also organised radio interviews, lunchtime conferences, training sessions for staff and a day of meetings on the subject of "Thinking about gender equality and the fight against discrimination through research at Université Gustave Eiffel", on 22 September. These materials, as well as many others, are all available on the Equality Mission’s website: https://mission-egalite.univ-gustave-eiffel.fr.
In the last quarter of 2020, the Equality Mission team saw the arrival of two new members (a student on a student job and a project manager) and it has set itself the target of “boosting communication and training actions, for example among examiners, to fight against all forms of discrimination”, between 2021 and 2023. The aim is to provide a safe and serene working environment and protect the physical and mental health of the university community.
A network of “watchmen and women” for a culture of equality
The “equality watchmen and women” scheme was also launched in 2020 and is based on the same principle as the one at EAVT. Designated members from the components and departments will work in conjunction with the Equality Mission to monitor, report, listen and raise awareness to promote the creation of a shared culture of equality across the establishment. The “watchmen and women” network is due to be set up on 2021 on a voluntary basis.