Top universities for tackling gender equality 2024
Explore the top 100 universities for gender equality based on data collected for the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings
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Gender equality is one of the key challenges facing society today. Across the world, it manifests in many forms, including pay, employment opportunities and access to education.
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) look to tackle some of today’s biggest global issues, and SDG 5 addresses the issue of gender equality.
As part of the Impact Rankings, Times Higher Education has produced a ranking focusing on how universities are contributing to gender equality. Some of the measures looked at are research on gender, policies on gender equality, commitment to recruiting and promoting women, the proportion of first-generation female students and student access measures. You can read more about the methodology here.
Top five universities for gender equality
1. Western Sydney University
Australia’s Western Sydney University was named an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality by the federal government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency. The institution has held this title for the past 22 years.
Western is also dedicated to combating sexual violence on campus through the development of a respectful relationships education programme to be implemented across the Australian university sector.
A Gender Equity Strategy and Action Plan has been implemented to focus on the areas where gender equality can be improved. One of the key aims of the plan is to support the university’s efforts in recruiting, retaining and helping female staff advance. Other measures that have been introduced in response to the plan are improved breastfeeding facilities on campus, additional leave for staff experiencing domestic violence, and the development of a Gender Equality Policy.
2. Institut Mines-Télécom Business School
France’s Institut Mines-Telecom Business School has signed the Charter for Gender Equality of the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles. On signing this charter, the school has pledged to implement a sustainable gender equality policy.
In 2018, the school launched a Mooc titled Gender@IMT. This courses highlights the contribution of women to research, software entrepreneurship and digital careers.
The school also works with the Pascaline association to encourage more female students into engineering and digital studies.
3. The Women University Multan
The Women University Multan, the first university for women in Multan, Pakistan, seeks to highlight the importance of education and its ability to empower women. Its mission is to provide encouragement and support to help students develop into successful graduates.
Many of its graduates have gone on to further study abroad in Europe and South Korea.
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4. Universitas Airlangga
Universitas Airlangga in Indonesia has taken steps to improve outreach and encourage more admissions for female students. In 2022, 72 per cent of new applicants to the university were female.
Universitas Airlangga has established campus support units to help female students and provide a safe space for them to report incidents, seek guidance and receive support.
5. Al Ain University
Al Ain University in the UAE is committed to increasing the number of female students at the institution. Recent statistics show that in 2022, 51 per cent of graduates were female.
The university also has a support system that mentors female graduates as they enter the workforce.
Top universities for gender equality 2024: Top 100
View the full ranking for gender equality here
