“LThe university must represent a privileged place in which to build gender equality. Why inequality determines the lack of valorisation of talents, knowledge and research».A few days after the debut of the second edition of Objective 5, Antonella Polimeni, director of theLa Sapienza University of Romethe first woman at the top of the largest university in Europe after seven centuries of male power, takes stock of the role of the University in challenging the resistance that still hinders gender equity.
To avoid losing female talents and knowledge, as well as the economic wealth they can generate, what still needs to be done, Rector Polimeni?
We must continue to reduce all barriers to gender equality, women’s participation and success. We must work on the empowerment of girls, which passes through a continuous action of strengthening awareness of their abilities and ambitions. And which must foresee, in a preliminary and absolutely strategic way, the deconstruction of stereotypes: we as a university institution must work so that the message on the crucial importance of gender equality reaches everyone, and above all boys, men, who must also be protagonists of the process of breaking down stereotypes.
The message must also convince the world of work. The postgraduate employment statistics reveal the great Italian paradox: female students graduate better and earlier than males, they are more motivated, but as soon as they enter the world of work they suffer a mortifying backlash. And in fact, male recent graduates are more employed and more paid, already 20 percent more five years after graduation.
Ever since I was a student exactly like now, in the role I hold, the thought of equal opportunities in a context of equal abilities has always moved me. Skills, however, must find the conditions to be able to express themselves, for this we must create contexts free from gender prejudices that hold back women today. In emergence, character does a lot, of course, but there is no doubt that for a capable and deserving woman it is more complex and difficult to assert herself and to have her merits recognized. You will certainly have to put more effort into it, and this is already a disparity. Above all, however, I believe that in order to encourage greater female employment, the tools for reconciling working life and private and family life must be structured in the best possible way, the inadequacy of which is, moreover, one of the causes of the dramatic demographic winter in our country .
Antonella Polimeni, rector of the La Sapienza University of Rome.
Tanya/Contrast.
In the universities themselves, where now there are far more female students than boys (60 percent of graduates), academic careers favor men: as one climbs the hierarchical ladder, women decrease. After all, she is one of the 10 directors of our country, out of a total of 88.
Real. And yet there is an interesting fact: net of the number of rectors, which is certainly still low, it must be said that until a few years ago in the elections for rector there were not even women among the candidates. In the last five years, however, the number of colleagues applying for the role has increased.
And on the number of girls who enroll in STEM subjects? The value measures, as we know by now, how deeply rooted gender stereotypes are and how effective the empowerment actions that the country is implementing are. How did the enrollments of Stem students at La Sapienza go this year, under the direction of Polimeni?
As part of a general increase in enrollments, in the 2022-23 academic year we recorded an 11.3 percent increase in female enrollments in three-year degrees in the STEM area, compared to the previous year. Considering that the objective of the Italian university system is to increase the number of graduates globally which, as you know, is low – in fact we are the rear in Europe in terms of number of graduates -, I would say that this is a significant leap.
Does it lead it back to specific actions that you have implemented?
Through the Hundred Stem Girls project we have implemented an important scholarship program, once again allocating 100 to female students who enroll in our Stem courses, are resident outside the Lazio Region and graduated with a vote of 100 Having said that, I believe that we should start talking to girls long before they enter university.
How?
Cultural influences that we know by now insist on girls and that continue to keep them away from more technical, scientific and technological areas. It is therefore essential that they meet women who embody professions from which they feel distant, so that they are mirrored in their stories and think that, just like them, they can do it. Orientation is a fundamental tool: on scientific subjects it should already be offered in elementary schools, especially with regard to mathematics. Our university, in particular, began an orientation activity in schools through our teachers in early February, starting right from the scientific disciplines. On guidance, on which the Pnrr has allocated dedicated resources, a lot of work needs to be done: the activity must be supported regardless of the Pnrr and become structural, in favor of everyone, girls and boys, so that they are supported in identifying the area of study in which to make the most of one’s skills and passions. I always tell students that work must also bring a part of happiness. And that without passion things don’t go well. As far as I’m concerned, I have always considered it a privilege to do a job for which I am very passionate. The engine is passion.
Rector Polimeni, you have been leading La Sapienza for over two years. Can the university particularly benefit from female leadership?
Female leadership has particular connotations, because it relies heavily on active listening, empathy, involvement, delegation. And because the real one interprets power as being able to do things. Having said that, to build leadership you need to put yourself on the line: therefore, to girls I say commit yourself, study and become authoritative, because leadership passes through authoritativeness and to be recognized you need to measure yourself on results.
Another portrait of Antonella Polimeni, rector of the University of Rome La Sapienza. Tanya/Contrast
A personal curiosity: which student were you? Do you remember her university transcript?
Out of 35 exams, I had thirty 30s with honors and five 30s.
Returning to female students, a very interesting aspect emerges from the first gender report presented by AlmaLaurea: among graduates it is more common to find girls who come from less favorable family backgrounds, rather than boys. And the former are on average better at schooling. It follows that women can play a role in restarting the social elevator.
The theme of education as a social lift must be further reaffirmed, but for everyone, boys and girls. We have come from years where young people were offered models of achievement that abstracted from the studio. Instead, with regard to higher education, it should be clearly stated, especially referring to males in the lower economic bracket, that those who study more have a better chance of finding work and being paid better.
You have set up an anti-violence center in the university. Why?
We opened it in the spaces of the Faculty of Medicine and Psychology in San Lorenzo, a rather complex district, with a service function not only for the university community, but for the local area: a step forward against all forms of violence and discrimination. We have also set up the Trusted Counsellor, a figure who is still not very present in universities and who has a listening function to counter harassment, as well as deal with situations of fragility. Typically, it’s thought of as an interface for girls: it’s actually aimed at the entire community.
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