ACTION PLAN FOR GENDER EQUALITY, INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY

Here you can read about the gender equality, inclusion and diversity action plan for Aarhus School of Architecture.

This Gender Equality, Inclusion and Diversity (GEID) Plan for Aarhus School of Architecture was conceived and created by a working group appointed by the Rector.

The primary objective of the plan is to ensure that Aarhus School of Architecture brings into play all talents, regardless of gender, age, nationality/ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity, physical or mental barriers, and backgrounds.

Aarhus School of Architecture wants to ensure that there is room to express all the different perspectives represented by this diversity. It is therefore essential to ensure that Aarhus School of Architecture create a framework that supports this diversity.

Challenges

This plan addresses four main challenges:

Gender imbalances
Sexist and discriminatory behaviour
Language and culture differences among faculty and staff
Embracing people of all gender identities

We work with three guiding principles for addressing the challenges. Our initiatives are based on:

Data
To understand where the obstacles to gender equality and diversity are, organization must collect data from several sources.
Voluntary engagement and social accountability
Because Aarhus School of Architecture is an institution of higher education, the principle of voluntary engagement is particularly important to protect academic freedom and the right to freedom of speech.
An inclusive approach
Focus on minimizing the impact of unconscious bias and promoting an inclusive culture and a work environment that values diversity and gender equality. The quantitative data are not quotas, simply indicators of how well they are succeeding.

Desired outcomes

The desired outcomes of the current plan are therefore (1) gender balance in senior academic and leadership positions and (2) establishing an even more inclusive culture, to meet all the challenges described above.

Gender balance

The gender balance target should be defined as 40 % + 40 % + 20 % meaning 40% men + 40% women + 20% men, women, or self-identifying non-binary/gender diverse individuals among admitted and graduating students and within all employment categories. There should be measurable progress toward these targets within a 5-year period and balance should be achieved within a 10-year period.

Inclusive culture

We want to have a working environment and culture that values a high degree of diversity among students and staff. Therefore, we wish to strengthen awareness of how to ensure all these differences are welcome and allowed to come into play at Aarhus School of Architecture in everyday actions and activities. We work on four tracks:

Sharpen our skills for including the perspectives and experiences of others
Minimize the impact of unconscious biases in our recruitment, hiring, and promotion processes
Ensure that diverse fields of inquiry, expertise, and professional knowledge are represented at Aarhus School of Architecture
Ensure that those who experience harassment know where they can go for help, and feel trusted in doing so.

Actions

We wish to establish an ongoing process over the next 4-5 years that encourages self-reflection, voluntary initiatives, regular review of processes and practices, and identifying areas for improvement or new initiatives. The process is based on four components:

Leadership
Ensuring that the organisation’s policies and practice across all functions in the organisation. Allocating ressources. Participating in capacity training and promoting initiatives.
A Gender Equality, Inclusion and Diversity Committee
Support implementation of the action plan. Initiate and support constructive dialogue throughout Aarhus School of Architecture. Provide a forum for students and staff to raise issues and concerns.
Collection and monitoring of data
Used as indicators that measures the progress of achieving gender equality and inclusive culture.
Training and capacity building
Voluntary activities towards inclusive working and study environment, unconscious bias, response mechanism to sexual harassment or integrating gender dimension in research and teaching.