Equal opportunities and Careers
USI's Equal Opportunities Action Plan 2021-2024 envisages activities aimed at supporting careers (academic, administrative and student) whose path is made potentially more difficult due to personal situations and/or structural conditions specific to the sector that favour their exclusion.
In particular, the measures and activities envisaged aim to
- counteract the vertical segregation of women in the academic sector through programmes and measures aimed at the academic and intermediate body;
- counteract the horizontal segregation of women in the MINT fields (mathematics, computer science, natural and technical sciences);
- support the continuous training of administrative staff.
Expand All
-
Academic staff
In this section, you will find all the useful information on programmes and specific initiatives aimed at boosting academic careers and, in particular, women's academic careers at USI at all levels: from the delicate phase of doctoral and post-doctoral studies, to the access of female professors to the top roles of university governance.
-
Administrative staff
-
Students
The MINT sectors (mathematics, informatics, natural and technical sciences) have always been characterised by a marked under-representation of women. In this section you will find all the current initiatives aimed at combating the horizontal segregation of women in these professional fields and at combating the persistent cultural stereotypes that hinder young women's access to training and career paths in the MINT sectors, as well as the concrete measures implemented at USI to encourage university studies and access to the labour market for women in these sectors.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES SCHOLARSHIP
Every year, the Equal Opportunities Service puts up for competition a scholarship worth CHF 4,000 for a female student enrolled in the first year of the Bachelor's programme in Computer Science. The aim of the scholarship is to raise awareness and support girls in their informed choice of study paths in the MINT disciplines (Mathematics, Informatics, Natural Sciences and Technology).
Further details and the application form are available on the following page.
PROFESSIONAL MENTORING
Implemented in collaboration with the Careers Service and the BPW (Business Professional Women) association, from the autumn semester 2020/2021 USI will be offering a professional mentoring programme to all 2nd year Master's students. The aim of the programme is to facilitate their entry into the world of work, to provide support for the challenges they will encounter in the professional field and to reconcile private and working life through targeted and individual professional counselling.
Mentoring has a duration of 6 months. Mentors, a selected group of female professionals belonging to the BPW network, on a voluntary basis, offer professional counselling to female students enrolled in the programme (Mentee) on the basis of an individual match (Mentor/Mentee).
More information and the conditions of participation and admission can be found here.
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN SCIENCE
Established by the United Nations General Assembly with a resolution on 22 December 2015, the "International Day for Women and Girls in Science" is celebrated annually with the aim of raising awareness and sensitising public opinion towards the gender inequality that has always characterised women's participation in the so-called STEM disciplines, viz: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
As of 2019, USI is also joining in by organising events that foster dialogue between female researchers in STEM disciplines.
More information is available here.
'NUOVO FUTURO' DAY
The Nuovo Futuro Day is a cooperation project between school, the world of work and parents and offers girls and boys in grades III and IV the opportunity to open up to new perspectives and gain practical experience in the world of work in trades and professional sectors where their gender is underrepresented.
Since 2017, the Università della Svizzera italiana has joined Nuovo Futuro by offering a day of discovery in the world of IT.
From 2019, USI also joins the initiative by organising the Nuovo Futuro Day at USI.
More information is available here.
