equal opportunities plan 2016–2018 - university of … · the diversity of the university...

16.9.2016

Postal address FI-33014 University of Tampere

Visiting address Kalevantie 4 Tampere

Tel. +358 3 355 111 Email [email protected] www.uta.fi/en

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Equal Opportunities Plan 2016–2018

Approved in the meeting of the University Board on 8 April 2016

University of Tampere promoting equality

The University of Tampere has drawn up this Equal Opportunities Plan to support the achievement of the university’s objectives and to implement the requirements of the legislation on equality and parity. According to the Non‐Discrimination Act, nobody may be discriminated against on the basis of age, ethnic or national origin, nationality, language, religion, belief, opinion, political activity, trade union activity, family relations, health, disability, sexual orientation or other personal characteristics. In addition to direct and indirect discrimination, the refusal of reasonable adjustments, as well as instructions or orders to discriminate, are also prohibited. The purpose of the Act on Equality between Women and Men is to prevent direct and indirect discrimination based on gender and to foster equality between women and men. Another purpose of the Act is to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender identity or gender expression. The Constitution of Finland, the Act on Equality between Women and Men, the Non‐discrimination Act and the Employment Contracts Act require active measures from the employer in order to promote equality and equal treatment and to remove discrimination and harassment. The University of Tampere takes account of the principle of equality in all of its decisions, and their preparation and implementation. In addition to implementing the legal obligations, the university aims to build a truly diverse and equal university. An open and diverse university community offers its members opportunities to develop, learn and influence the development of the university community. The university’s equal opportunities working group has prepared a report on the development of the work on equality at the University of Tampere from 2012 to 2014 (in Finnish): ‘Tasa‐arvo ja yhdenvertaisuustyö Tampereen yliopistossa – tasa‐arvo‐ ja yhdenvertaisuustyöryhmän katsaus kehitykseen 2012–2014’.

Work on equality as part of the routine at the university The University of Tampere is committed to promoting equality in society and the equal opportunities of the university community members to learn, know, participate and make an impact. Reaching these goals requires integrating the measures that promote equality as part of the university’s everyday activities, communications and the work orientation of its employees. The university acts responsibly and ethically and treats people equally in all of its study, teaching and administration practices. The university also ensures that considerations of equality are taken into account in the activities of all of its schools. The activity and responsibility of individuals in promoting equality is also necessary: promoting equality and parity is an obligation that concerns every member of the university community.

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Taking the needs of the workplace into consideration, an employer must develop working conditions and the operating methods followed in the selection of personnel and when making decisions that affect personnel. The promotion methods must be efficient, appropriate and in correct proportion with the operating environment, resources and other conditions. An equal opportunities working group appointed by the rector operates at the university. It is tasked with making proposals and statements on the realisation of equality and parity and their development at the university, among other things. The personnel and the students can submit proposals and comments to the group regarding the work on equality. The diversity of the university community is represented in the group. As far as possible, the group members are selected so that they represent the university’s different personnel groups and students, taking account of the group members’ special expertise and/or experience in issues concerning equality. The group’s term of office corresponds to the validity of this plan. Promoting equality and parity is included in the communications of the university and its schools. The measures and their results are monitored regularly, using separately defined indicators. The university’s own expertise is utilised in assessing the university’s equality and parity issues.

The plan supporting the work on equality and parity The goal of the University of Tampere is to produce experts who can change society through their actions. This goal also provides guidance from the point of view of the equality and parity goals. The Equal Opportunities Plan defines the goals, measures and responsible parties for promoting equality at the University of Tampere. The plan applies to the whole university community from personnel to students, and it sets guidelines for promoting equality in the different phases of planning, implementing, assessing and developing the university’s activities and at different levels of action. The schools include their measures concerning the implementation of the university’s Equal Opportunities Plan in their HR plans. The Student Union of the University of Tampere has its own equal opportunities plan. The plan’s goals and measures promoting equality and parity focus on four thematic areas: (1) Management and operating culture; (2) Recruitment, remuneration and career development; (3) Teaching and studying; and (4) Research. For each thematic area, proposals are made on what kind of measures will be needed at different levels of action for the university’s strategic goals and legal obligations to be realised. Promoting equality in the everyday activities of the whole university community is a prerequisite for reaching the goal of diversity. The realisation of the goals recorded in the plan is monitored, and the effects are assessed at regular intervals. The Equal Opportunities Plan and monitoring its realisation do their part to ensure the high quality of the university’s operations.

I Management and operating culture Good management is a key success factor for the university. The goal of equality and parity management is to make all members of the university community feel that they have been treated fairly and their work is valued and that they value the work of others.

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Management ensures that the operative instructions, plans and other documents guiding the university’s operations do not include any elements that would place the members of the university community in an unequal position due to their gender, gender identity, age, ethnic or national origin, nationality, language, religion, belief, opinion, political activity, trade union activity, family relations, health, disability, sexual orientation or other personal characteristics. In addition to these minimum requirements, good management creates the preconditions for the university community members’ expertise‐based development and their chances to influence issues.

Obligations due to regulations Objective of a diverse university

1. The university has principles for preventing discrimination and harassment, procedures for early reaction, and instructions in case of incidents. The university’s occupational health and safety action plan also includes the goals and measures related to occupational mental health and safety. 2. Supervisors play a key role in promoting equal treatment. The rights and responsibilities of supervisors and management in the work on equality are defined, and the assessment of supervision and management is developed. 3. The supervisor has a duty to investigate suspected cases of discrimination either presented by an employee or discovered by other means, and take available measures, if necessary. 4. If an employee has appealed to the principles against discrimination prescribed in the Non‐Discrimination Act or the Act on Equality between Women and Men or participated in resolving an issue related to discrimination, no countermeasures, such as worsening the working conditions, can be taken against such an employee. 5. All members of the university community have the right to a safe working atmosphere and to be accepted as themselves. Additionally, all members of the university community have the right and duty to step in when they witness unequal treatment or discrimination.

• The university identifies and removes functions and structures that cause gender, ethnic and any other form of inequality. • Management takes account of the diversity of the personnel, the challenges it poses and the opportunities it brings. • The supervisors act responsibly in order to create and maintain an equal, fair, engaging and enthusiastic operating culture. • The aim is to create closer cooperation concerning equality between the parties responsible for the issue (Cooperation Council, Teaching Council and Research Council as well as the equal opportunities working group). • The university identifies and removes functions and structures that cause gender inequality. • All members of the university community should have the right to define their gender identity on the systemic level.

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Measures: Measures:

1. Ensuring that the operative instructions, plans and other documents guiding the university’s operations do not include material that would put the members of the university community into an unequal position. Responsible parties: University Board, operative management 2. Ensuring the participation of people with supervisory status in training on management and supervision that includes the point of view of equality. Responsible parties: operative management, HR Services 3. Ensuring that all members of the university community know how to act if they experience discrimination. It is the duty of the employer and all members of the university community to deal with any occupational safety or inequality‐related shortcomings that they have discovered without delay. Responsible parties: personnel, students, HR Services, the occupational safety and health organisation 4. Increasing the visibility of instructions and procedures concerning the prohibition against inappropriate treatment and harassment.

1. Utilising the results of workplace well‐being surveys and workplace surveys in the development of a diverse, pluralist operating culture. Responsible parties: operative management, deans of the schools 2. Supporting multicultural competence and age management through personnel development and training. Responsible party: HR Services 3. Organising training in diversity management for supervisors and management. Responsible parties: operative management, HR Services 4. Making it easier to balance work and private life for women and men with flexible working time arrangements, by encouraging people to take family leave, and allowing them to use unpaid leave as flexibly as possible, while taking the situation at work into account. Developing services that support the integration of international personnel into the university community. Responsible parties: HR Services, deans of the schools 5. As far as possible, the university develops statistics and the implementation of surveys so that taking equality and parity considerations into account, people other than men or women can state their gender identity. Responsible parties: University leadership, University Services 6. Arranging joint meetings between the parties responsible for equality and parity issues. Responsible party: equal opportunities working group

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II Recruitment, remuneration and career development As an employer, the University of Tampere creates equal career advancement opportunities for all members of the working community.


• The employer’s duty is to ensure that both women and men can apply for open positions. The university may use positive action at its discretion in filling positions. • In order to promote equality, appropriate measures are taken to ensure that disabled people can be hired, cope at work and advance in their careers. • The schools act so that decisions on the length or continuation of an employment contract, salaries, or other terms of employment are not based on a person’s gender or any other prohibited reason for discrimination.

• The recruitment processes are transparent and guided by clear instructions that take the principle of equality into account. • The University Salary System (YPJ) promotes fair wages, supports developing the personnel’s competence and their advancement towards more challenging tasks, encourages the personnel to improve their work performance, and develops and improves supervision and management. • The university supports career advancement, opportunities to take on diverse work tasks and development at work, taking the principle of equality into account. • The principles of career advancement are transparent. • Performance reviews and work plans are tools used in career planning.

Measures Measures

1. Implementing equality and parity in recruitment by using the university’s recruitment guidelines, which include a clear and transparent research career model for teaching and research personnel, as well as on‐the‐job learning and career advancement for other personnel. Responsible parties: HR Services, deans of the schools 2. Drawing up fair and well‐documented comparisons of the applicants’ merits using the same criteria and emphases. Responsible parties: deans of the schools 3. The University of Tampere aims to remove obstacles against women applying for positions in male‐dominated fields and men applying for positions in female‐dominated fields. Responsible parties: the whole university community 4. Where possible, an equal number of men and women are selected as appointment committee members and assessors in recruitment processes. Responsible parties: deans of the schools 5. The schools have a duty to consider using positive action in recruitment when a specific group of employees has a clear gender imbalance. Positive action can only be used in recruitment when priority is not automatically and absolutely given to the underrepresented gender. The applicants must also be equally or very nearly equally competent. Responsible parties: rector, deans of the schools 6. The salary system supports the achievement of pay equality.

1. Strengthening recruitment competence: the knowledge and mastery of instructions, responsibilities and procedures, as well as the principle of equality. Responsible party: HR Services 2. Monitoring and reviewing recruitment processes regularly. Responsible parties: management boards of the schools, equal opportunities working group 3. Monitoring the functionality of the salary system and the organisation of work tasks. Developing the use of flexible working time arrangements in accordance with the equality and parity goals. Responsible parties: HR Services, deans of the schools, immediate supervisors 4. Developing the salary survey so that it enables the monitoring and evaluation of how different parts of the salary are determined in the manner required by the Act on Equality between Women and Men. Responsible parties: HR Services, equal opportunities working group 5. Training supervisors in supporting the careers of members of ethnic and other minorities. Responsible party: HR Services 6. Assessing the observations and experiences made during performance reviews, and making the necessary changes to the HR policy based on them. Responsibility: deans of the schools and immediate supervisors

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The University Salary System assessment groups take care of monitoring pay equality. Responsible parties: HR Services, University Salary System assessment groups

III Teaching and studying

The University of Tampere promotes equal accessibility to education and ensures that equality and parity is achieved in student selection, teaching arrangements, and grading completed studies. The university community must identify the factors affecting studying that are due to other differences between individuals and groups, such as differences in financial and social situations, and the opportunities of students of different ages and at different life stages to participate in the university community’s activities.


• The instruction given at the University of Tampere promotes equality with its content and methods. • Equal treatment of students and the prohibitions against discrimination are taken into account in organising education as a whole. All students are offered equal opportunities to study and complete their degrees in time. • Attention is paid to measures intended to prevent and eradicate sexual and gender‐based harassment .

• Study materials, teaching technology, teaching methods and the procedures for assessing the studies treat everyone equally. • Work on accessibility (physical accessibility; electronic services and the accessibility of studying, such as flexible study opportunities, versatile learning environments and special arrangements for studies) supports the realisation of true student equality. • Planning that creates equality and supports equal treatment is part of the curriculum work and the development of supervision. • Paying attention to preventing discrimination in both traditional and digital learning environments, teaching methods and study materials.

Measures Measures

1. Ensuring that applicants are treated fairly in the student selection process. The selection criteria for undergraduate and postgraduate studies are public and justified. The student selection process is developed from the point of view of accessibility. Instructions on applying for special arrangements are reviewed and evaluated regularly. Responsible parties: Teaching Council, management boards of the schools, Study Services 2. Monitoring the realisation of the student selection process from the point of view of equality. Responsible parties: Study Services, curriculum committees of the schools 3. Using student surveys and feedback regularly to monitor the students’ experiences on the realisation of equality and parity. Responsible parties: Study Services, curriculum committees of the schools 4. The student’s gender, age or other personal reasons do not affect the assessment of coursework or student counselling.

1. Directing teachers towards using study materials, teaching technology and teaching and assessment methods that treat everyone equally and also guide students to act fairly. Responsible parties: schools, curriculum committees 2. Increasing the realisation of true equality at the university by reducing physical, cultural and technological barriers. This requires diversity training and drawing up instructions. Responsible parties: Study Services, equal opportunities working group 3. Monitoring the realisation of student admission and selection for different study paths from the points of view of equality and equal treatment. Responsible party: Teaching Council 4. When developing teaching and the related support services, the awareness of teachers and students is increased of the students’ opportunity to apply for special arrangements, if they have a learning difficulty, illness or other disability, based on which they are entitled to special arrangements. Responsible parties: Teaching Council, curriculum committees of the schools, teachers, Study Services

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Responsible parties: teaching staff of the schools, heads of academic counselling 5. Together with the university’s Press and Information Office and the Student Union, the equal opportunities working group regularly disseminates information about the issues concerning equality at the university. Responsible parties: equal opportunities working group 6. Increasing flexible study opportunities in order to make it possible to balance private lives, employment and studies. Responsible parties: Study Services, curriculum committees of the schools

IV Research

The university supports people from different backgrounds to advance in their careers as researchers, taking account of the point of view of equality. The goal is that all people doing research have equal opportunities for career advancement.


• The university’s principles and criteria for allocating research funding are consistent, clear and public. • The guidance and supervision of doctoral students and doctoral researchers is fair and equal. • The freedom of science has been secured by the Finnish Constitution. The freedom of science includes the right of researchers to choose their research topics and methods. In addition, the freedom of science includes the right of researchers to publish their research results; this freedom is closely related to the freedom of speech. Researchers must be able to present their research results without the fear of sanctions, threats or persecution. Ethical principles are followed and the basic rights prescribed in the Constitution are respected in scientific research.

• The principles of equality and parity are followed in the recruitment of personnel carrying out research and the selection of doctoral students and doctoral researchers. • The decision‐making on research tasks and funding is fair and transparent. • Doctoral students and doctoral researchers receive equal support, supervision and assessment.

Measures Measures

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1. Monitoring and promoting the realisation of equality and parity in the terms of employment of people conducting research. Responsible party: Research Council 2. Where possible, an equal number of men and women are selected as examiners of dissertations. Responsible parties: management boards of schools, postgraduate committees 3. The aim is to take the requirements of private life into account as far as possible. Responsible parties: deans of the schools

1. Increasing the share of international research personnel and doctoral students. Responsible parties: deans and manageboards of the schools 2. Drawing up supervision agreements with doctoral students. Responsible parties: schools, Research Council

Monitoring and assessment

The monitoring and assessment of the work on equality is established as part of the university’s operations management, planning, evaluation of operations, and the allocation of objectives and resources. At the school level, promoting equality among the personnel is included in HR planning and the HR plan document. The general focus areas of the work on equality arise during the university‐level operational and financial plan process, in the spirit of the university’s Equal Opportunities Plan. The monitoring of HR resources linked to the operational and financial planning is specified in the HR report process, which systematically and annually collects comparable data on the status of HR resources and the personnel, also covering the realisation of equality. School‐specific monitoring information on the data collected for the HR report is shared with the schools to support their HR planning. This requires a reform of the statistics and monitoring information and the reporting responsibilities in order to make it possible to monitor the work towards the equality and parity goals in the HR planning, as well as operational and financial planning processes, both at university and school levels. The school’s long‐term HR plan assesses how well the school’s equality goals have been achieved and reviews the goals for the coming years. In research, the schools and the Research Council are responsible for monitoring and assessing the promotion of equality. The schools and the Teaching Council are responsible for monitoring and assessing the promotion of equality in teaching and studying. The Study Services are responsible for generating monitoring information on student selection, implementing student surveys and reporting the information. The Study Services share school‐specific monitoring information for the use of the schools to support their curriculum committees and the Teaching Council to draw up conclusions on the university level. Instructions and statistics produced by the Study Services as part of the coordination, support and guidance of curriculum design work ensure that the promotion of equality and equal treatment in studying is included in planning. The assessment of the equality goals included in the curriculum design work as a whole is carried out every three years in connection with assessing and revising the curricula at the school level. The Teaching Council is responsible for making conclusions on curriculum design work at the university level, the realisation of equality in teaching and studying, and drawing up

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development proposals. In addition, the Teaching Council forwards the feedback to the curriculum committees of the degree programmes. Every three years, the equal opportunities working group assesses the realisation of the equality and parity goals based on the materials created during the university’s operations management (annual reports, HR reports, salary surveys, workplace well‐being surveys, school‐specific assessments of curriculum design work, student surveys, etc.). In addition, the equal opportunities working group can organise separate equality reports in cooperation with the university’s specialists and utilise their results as part of the legally mandated assessment carried out every three years. In future, internal audits can support the development of equality work at the school level. The equal opportunities working group can be appointed as the responsible party for implementing the internal audits in this area. The group’s tasks can also include limited assessment and development tasks assigned by the rector in order to rectify shortcomings that have been found or to promote equality issues.

Table 1. Annual equality monitoring procedures, materials and responsibilities.

Procedure/time/responsible

party

MONITORING MATERIAL or REPORT/RESPONSIBLE PARTY

HR issues Teaching, studying and scientific postgraduate studies

University level

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Operational and financial plan project/from the end of the year to the following spring Workplace well‐being survey/autumn HR report/February

Annual planning/February

Annual report/Financial Services Workplace well‐being report/ HR Services HR report/ HR Services Generating and compiling information on the status of HR resources: • Salaries/HR Services, evaluation teams • Recruitment/HR Services • Family leave/HR Services • Career model/HR Services • Workplace well‐being status

/HR Services

Generating and compiling information on student selection and curriculum work: • Student selection/Study Services • Curriculum work/Teaching Council, Research Council

School level

HR planning/autumn

– equality planning • School‐specific information to support HR planning • Workplace surveys and other school‐specific material

Curriculum work/spring • School‐specific work to support curriculum work • Student feedback/curriculum committee, postgraduate work

Profit negotiations/autumn • Rector’s feedback

• HR plan

Table 2. Long‐term assessments on the progress of equality.

PROCEDURE/TIME/

RESPONSIBLE PARTIES MONITORING MATERIAL

Human resource matters Teaching, studying and scientific postgraduate studies

University level

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Assessment on the progress of equality /every 3 years

/equal opportunities working group

• Annual reports University Services • HR reports /HR Services • Salary surveys /HR Services • Workplace well‐being surveys

/HR Services

• School‐level assessments on the realisation of equality goals included in the curriculum design work as a whole /Teaching Council, Research Council • Student surveys /Study Services, research support services

School level

HR plan /every 4 years – assessment of the equality goals related to personnel

/school’s management board

• School‐specific statistics University Services

• The school’s own monitoring material

Curriculum assessment /every three years – assessment of the equality goals included in curriculum design work as a whole

/schools

• Statistics on student surveys for the schools /Study Services

• The school’s own monitoring material

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