On 17 June, the CTAO gGmbH published its Gender Equality Plan (GEP), which implements actions within the CTAO to reduce gender inequalities and to enhance diversity regarding sex, gender, age, culture, different physical and mental capacities and multilingualism, among others. The document includes an evaluation of existing initiatives and policies, as well as an analysis of an anonymous survey that gathered CTAO employees’ opinions on gender, inclusion and discrimination. Based on these results and sex/gender-disaggregated available data, an action plan was created with measures to achieve various inclusive goals that affect the organisation.
As described by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), gender equity is understood as the “provision of fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women and men,” which means that rights, responsibilities and opportunities must be the same for everyone, independent of gender or sex. As an international Observatory and world-class project, the CTAO is committed to cultivating an environment for all staff and associated members that is free from prejudices and stereotypes, where individuality and originality are valued.
A team of CTAO representatives elected by the staff was charged with the creation of the GEP based on guidelines defined by the European Commission. At this stage, the group limited its focus to the CTAO’s internal organization, basing their analysis on current initiatives and policies, available personnel data and the findings from the dedicated employee survey. Their findings confirmed that the majority of the CTAO staff considers gender equity a paramount topic and thinks that equality, diversity and inclusion are equally important, too.
The resulting GEP is a tool designed to encourage a cultural shift: its action plan is meant to overcome the identified obstacles and enhance diversity, taking inspiration from other organizations with similar characteristics and objectives. In particular, with input from the CTAO staff, the GEP identifies measures and objectives that include, but are not limited to, three macro-areas: internal and external communication (inclusive language), activities (trainings and outreach events), organisation and policies (work-life balance and recruitment).
The CTAO’s GEP is a living document and will be regularly reviewed and updated. With the establishment of the CTAO ERIC, a full revision and evaluation of the action items will be performed to adapt and improve the document.