Gender equality

The Baque Center for Applied Mathematics - BCAM is actively against any discrimination whether it be on the basis of gender, age, ethnic, national or social origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, language, disability, political opinion, social or economic condition. The people in the center work every day to eliminate inequalities and bring forward real actions that promote equality between the employers, researchers and/or funders of researchers. In this context, BCAM has implemented an equality plan for women and men which is structured around four objectives:

1. Develop people management that promotes equality between women and men: Identify gender bias in people management processes
2. Develop a labour equality policy and promote work/life balance: Formalise the work/life balance measures that are applied in BCAM
3. Mainstreaming the gender perspective in BCAM’s internal and external activities: Create structures specifically aimed at promoting equality
4. Guarantee safety in the event of potential harassment cases: Improve the protocol for attention to cases of sexual harassment and sexist harassment

When it comes to assessing the candidate, it’s central to use a wide range of selection practices, such as external expert assessment and face-to-face interviews. Members of the selection committees should be adequately trained in the values of equality and gender balance and be realistic. Selection committees should bring together diverse expertise and competences and, where appropriate and feasible, include members from different sectors (public and private) and disciplines, including from other countries and with relevant experience to assess the candidate. It is necessary for the development of the center and the progress of our society in the field of work, study and research. 

To achieve a gender-balanced community at BCAM, we work to build a community through a broad, consultative and face-to-face selection process. The working environment is built on the values of respect and equality regardless of orientation, religion, culture or gender, to ensure equal treatment and fair and balanced selection and evaluation. These values are present at all times and BCAM has designed a Gender Equality Plan to implement all these measures and also the committees can have an appropriate gender balance. This is achieved on the basis of a policy of equal opportunities in recruitment and subsequent career stages, without overriding the criteria of quality and competence. 

Employers and/or funders should aim for a representative gender balance at all levels of staff, including at supervisory and managerial level. This should be achieved on the basis of an equal opportunity policy at recruitment and at the subsequent career stages without, however, taking precedence over quality and competence criteria. To ensure equal treatment, selection and evaluation committees should have an adequate gender balance.