Hundreds of initiatives are taking place today, 24th October, from North to South Portugal, to celebrate the Municipal Day for Equality. Instituto Superior Técnico highlights the work that has been carried out by the Gender Balance @ Técnico group to promote inclusion and gender equality.

As in previous years, the Municipal Day for Equality 2020 is a collective action from civil society organisations, local governments and companies, in order to celebrate the values of Equality, with the support of the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (IGC).

Professor Beatriz Silva and professor Alexandre Bernardino, coordinators of the Gender Balance @ Técnico group, share their message: “Gender equality is a human right and the increasing participation of women in the working world is important for the global economy”, says professor Beatriz Silva. “Diverse teams are more efficient, more creative and more innovative. The mission of Técnico’s Gender Balance group is to attract more female students to STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and to overcome the obstacles to career progression for women at Técnico”, adds professor Alexandre Bernardino.

The work carried out by the Gender Balance @ Técnico, which can be seen in this video, is recognised by the IST Best Practices Observatory (ObservIST), in the human resources thematic field. The ObservIST 4th meeting was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Information on the 20 distinguished Best Practices is available in ObservIST website.

According to professor Beatriz Silva this recognition will give the working group “visibility in Técnico community” and it is “a motivation to continue our work”. “The group was created 4 years ago and, despite the activities carried out so far, there is still a lot of work to do to make the entire Técnico community aware of the importance of this topic”, stresses professor Alexandre Bernardino.