The signing ceremony of accession agreements and renovation of agreements to IGen – Business Forum of Gender Equality took place this Tuesday at Instituto Superior Técnico.
The session was attended by Eduardo Cabrita, Deputy Minister, Miguel Cabrita, Secretary of State for Employment, Arlindo Oliveira, President of Técnico, Joana Gíria, President of CITE – Commission for Equality at Work and in Employment, Jacinto Pereira, President of the Executive Board of Baía do Tejo, and Teresa Duarte, Vice-president of the Scientific Board at Técnico.
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo Award, which was established this year by Técnico, was presented during the ceremony. “With this award we want to give visibility to the professional achievements of women”, said the President of Técnico.
IGen is now composed of 60 members and according to Joana Gíria “it’s a pleasure to see that a growing number of companies consider Gender Equality a relevant issue for business”.
The Secretary of State, Miguel Cabrita, recalled that there is still a long way to go, and that “the future depends on everyone present in this ceremony”. “I think we have good reasons to be optimistic about the future.”
The Deputy Minister, Eduardo Cabrita, spoke about the importance of this forum and its companies, “inclusive companies are seen as an example, as excellent places to work”.
The Vice-president of the Scientific Council, Teresa Duarte, presented Maria de Loures Pintasilgo Award, which aims to recognise and reward annually two women, graduated at Técnico: a former student who has completed her studies at IST for over 15 years and who has made outstanding contributions throughout her professional career; and a recently graduated from IST, under 27 years, whose Master’s thesis has been distinguished for its scientific quality and whose academic performance at IST has been remarkable. This latter one will receive a €5000 award, sponsored by Técnico and Baía do Tejo.
In 2016, the winners of this award are professor Maria da Graça Carvalho, “for her academic contributions, leadership and development of research policies in the European union”, and Inês Godet, “for her outstanding academic performance, student support activities and dissemination actions”.
