Alignment of the institutional strategy with the teaching action in the implementation of the gender perspective. Design and implementation in the case of the UOC

Abstract

Both the Equality Unit of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and the Equity Commission of its Faculty of Computer Science (Estudis d'Informàtica, Multimèdia i Telecomunicació) have been working, among other goals, to ensure a gender perspective in teaching. A key element for this has been the definition of a transversal competence (Ethical and global behavior) that includes the gender perspective that should be implemented in all programs. This paper describes the path followed since the appearance of this institutional impulse, its materialization in this competence, and its final linkage to a subset of the courses of the Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Computer Engineering. The reasoning, the phases, the established guidelines, as well as the selection of the courses are detailed. Beyond this theoretical design process, its actual implementation in all these courses during the 2022-2023 academic year is also analyzed. The contrasted result of the proposal is that this is a viable process thanks to some already existing facilitating factors and the involvement of the interested groups, especially the faculty. However, despite this involvement, it still needs additional momentum to consolidate its implementation and is not free of contradictions and is not yet mature in all key aspects, including some as relevant as that of competency assessment.