Statement from Dr Joseph Ryan, CEO, Technological Higher Education Association (THEA) in support of HEA publication of Higher Education Institutional Profiles by Gender
“THEA welcomes the HEA’s publication of the gender profiles of higher education institutions. It is of paramount importance that each Institute of Technology establish structures that will allow equal opportunities for all to advance in their career. To that end, THEA will shortly be publishing a Gender Policy Statement that has been adopted by the entire technological higher education sector and will be supported by appropriate action plans and work programmes in order to facilitate implementation.
“The overarching mission statement in this policy outlines a commitment by all Institutes of Technology to ensure equality of access to education and opportunities for career advancement to all persons regardless of gender.
“We are proud of the fact that we have two current sitting female Presidents, and a former female President who is leading the Technological University Dublin implementation group; and while the sector has had a number of distinguished female Presidents in the past, we readily accept that the situation is not balanced and we are committed to addressing this. Our policy sets out a commitment to increase female involvement in all decision-making roles and to ensure that all statutory decision-making committees are gender balanced.
“As a sector we are actively working with the Minister’s Gender Equality Taskforce for Higher Education and the output of the ensuing report will inform the work programmes that will support our Gender Policy Statement”.
The full report is available from the HEA website at: www.hea.ie
