Our “Gender and Diversity Plan“, adopted in 2022, aims to promote gender equality by including this issue in a set of measures designed to encourage the diversity of profiles and the development of the University.

By identifying the mechanisms of discrimination and bias, this plan is designed to stop inequalities from occurring.

UMONS is committed to combating all forms of discrimination, including sexism, racism and violence, by creating safe, inclusive working and learning spaces conducive to education, well-being and empowerment.

Through 21 actions, our Gender and Diversity Plan focuses on:

• Developing awareness-raising initiatives on discrimination issues (particularly gender-based)
• Removing barriers in recruitment, as well as maintaining and developing the careers of a wide range of profiles
• Reducing the imbalance between men and women in scientific fields and improving the attractiveness of scientific careers, particularly in STEM disciplines
• Reducing gender imbalances in decision-making
• Including the gender dimension in the content of teaching and research, where justified.

In addition to these areas of intervention, we also pay particular attention to the specific needs of our students and staff (notably in terms of disability, as well as parenthood, LGBTQIA➕ issues, and more) through various actions proposed and implemented by the members of the UMONS Equal Opportunities working group and thanks to the help of various internal UMONS structures.

Find out more about our different areas of intervention and related actions in the document below.

At UMONS, the advisors working on gender and diversity issues, and more generally on equal opportunities, are:

• The First Vice-Rector, responsible for economic, social and cultural development and student affairs: Marc Labie

• Equal Opportunities Advisor: Claire Dupont

• UMONS representatives in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation:
  • Gender contact: Catherine Gravet
  • UMONS representatives on the Women and Science Committee: Dimitri Cauchie, Catherine Gravet, Amandine Nachtergael
  • UMONS representative on the ARES Gender and Development Advisory Council: Claire Martinus
  • UMONS representative in the preparatory ad hoc working group for the creation of the Gender in Higher Education Commission: Claire Martinus
  • UMONS representatives on the Gender in Higher Education Commission (COGES): Dimitri Cauchie, Claire Martinus

• The contact person for transgender issues and the use of a chosen name: Isabelle Brumagne
• The Genre.S think tank: each year, this group organises a scientific day on a theme related to discrimination and implicit bias. It also organises awareness-raising activities on the occasion of International Women’s Rights Day, as well as events to promote respect for all forms of diversity, in particular for the LGBTQIA➕ community.

You can follow them on Facebook: Groupe Genre.S – UMONS

• Equal Opportunities working group: this group aims to drive forward the actions of the UMONS Gender and Diversity Plan, as well as other actions linked to disability and social inclusion issues. Following a call for volunteers from the University community (academic, scientific, administrative, technical and manual staff) in September 2022, over 70 people expressed interest in joining the group. After choosing the actions they wished to get involved in, these various volunteers formed working teams. Each team reflects on the proposals that would make it possible to implement the actions of the Gender and Diversity Plan, and submits them to the Equal Opportunities working group for discussion. The selected proposals are then submitted to the various UMONS decision-making bodies for approval, and are finally implemented.
• Trusted advisors who welcome and support anyone experiencing suffering and/or violence or harassment in the workplace (the list of support persons is available on the intranet for members of the UMONS community).
• The non-profit organisation Les Cèdres, which runs the UMONS reception and support service for students with disabilities and special needs:

https://web.umons.ac.be/lescedres/

After collecting and analysing various internal data, UMONS regularly publishes a report on the state of gender equality. The purpose of this report is to take stock of gender equality among both students and staff at UMONS, to identify specific areas for attention and to list the initiatives developed to encourage gender equality at the University.

Reports:  

List of reports on the state of gender equality at the University of Mons as sent to the Ministry: VIEW PAGE IN FRENCH

The UMONS Genre.S group has initiated a number of awareness-raising initiatives:

• Since 2015, the annual Genre.S study days on specific themes. Thus, gender has already been approached from various perspectives: money (2023), professions (2022), spaces and places (2021), sport (2020), its place in literature (2019), the arts (2018), wars (2017), teaching and clichés (2016), and religions (2015).
• The organisation of various shows and/or exhibitions throughout the year, in particular to mark International Women’s Day. Films followed by debates on gender issues are also organised several times a year.
• For the first time in 2023, the organisation of Pride Month with events to raise awareness of violence, stereotypes and discrimination against the LGBTQIA➕ community.

Other awareness-raising/training initiatives also exist at UMONS:

• Awareness-raising training for staff on the theme of “Beyond binary categories: gender and sexual diversity” (2023).
• For student initiations (“baptêmes”), a charter has been drawn up which forbids any degrading behaviour, particularly of a sexual nature. Students are made aware of this and must sign the charter if they wish to take part in the initiations.
• An introductory course in Belgian French sign language.
• A discrimination awareness module set up in collaboration with UNIA: teaching aids are available on the Moodle electronic platform for all UMONS teachers wishing to address discrimination issues in their courses.
• A practical guide for teachers on students with disabilities.

• Various workshops organised by MUMONS focusing, in particular, on gender and diversity issues (“Invent and shut up” workshop open to those aged 14 and over, on the question of gender in the awarding of the Nobel Prize and on actions to combat gender discrimination, Children’s University on themes linked to professions and gender, disability and inclusion, etc.).

UMONS has set up the 100% Respect scheme to prevent and combat all forms of harassment between students and between students and staff. It is for both victims and witnesses of harassment, and works in close collaboration with students. The idea is to encourage students to speak out by initiating a procedure that can support them and prevent or halt the onset of harassment.

UMONS also has a network of trusted volunteers who welcome and support any colleague who is in distress and/or experiencing violence or harassment in the workplace.

Members of the UMONS community can find out more about these two schemes on the intranet.

UMONS is aware that some students encounter very different situations, leading them to have special needs. UMONS aims to meet these needs where possible. Thus, among the actions developed by UMONS to better include and support these students, the following stand out:

• The possibility for transgender people to use a chosen name that better corresponds to their gender identity (the procedure is available to members of the UMONS community on the intranet).
• The possibility for pregnant students and young parents to benefit from specific “expectant mother” and “young parent” statuses (see regulations).
• The possibility, for students recognised as having a disability, of benefiting from specific accommodations during courses and/or exam sessions thanks to the support provided by the non-profit organisation Les Cèdres (more info).

Gender issues are also addressed in teaching and research at UMONS.

In terms of teaching, UMONS organises the Advanced Master’s in Gender Studies in conjunction with the 5 universities of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. This Master’s programme aims to contribute to the fight against discrimination, in particular by tackling issues relating to gender and sexual equality. The Université Catholique de Louvain is the lead institution for this Master’s programme.

School of Human and Social Sciences

Advanced Master's in

Gender Studies

Brussels

• Schedule

  Daytime schedule
• ECTS Credits

  60
• Language

  French

In terms of research, the UMONS institutional repository gives an idea of the research carried out on gender-related themes. Feel free to consult it at https://orbi.umons.ac.be.

UMONS also has a collection of publications on gender, feminism, transidentites and other issues. This collection is available to anyone interested in these issues. You can search for these publications in the Library via this link.

UMONS is pursuing a human resources strategy for researchers (HRS4R) and has drawn up an action plan defining the main aspects of this strategy. Various actions linked to the theme of gender are included.

UMONS has been awarded the HR Excellence in Research label, which was renewed in 2021.