Established in November 2016, the Committee on Gender Equality and Diversity works with organizations both within and outside of the University of Hong Kong to lead the way on gender and diversity, and realize the full potential of our academic community.
Statement from the Dean of Arts, Professor Derek Collins
As Dean of the Faculty of Arts, I am strongly committed to eliminating bias and inequality of opportunity of all kinds, and working to ensure individuals are advanced in accordance with their talents and abilities. I established the Gender Task Force in December 2015 to review the current gender and diversity situation in the Faculty. Arts was the first faculty at the University to undertake such a study and we recognised we had work to do to correct some imbalances.
We took action. As a result of the groundbreaking work accomplished by the Task Force, the Committee on Gender Equality and Diversity was established in November 2016 to implement its recommendations and further review gender and diversity policies in the Faculty. I then changed the composition of several key committees to ensure that they were more diverse, and secured funding for a new Assistant Professor position in gender and sexuality studies. As a result, the Gender Studies undergraduate major and minor programmes were established in the 2018-2019 academic year.
Although the Gender Task Force was a Faculty initiative, it was clear that many of its recommendations addressed university-wide structural issues. I am committed to working with the Committee to promote gender and diversity on our University campus and beyond.
Statement from the Chair of the Committee 2016-2022, Professor Gina Marchetti
Since its establishment in 2016, the Committee on Gender Equality and Diversity has improved representation of women on key committees, established the Faculty’s Gender Studies programme, launched a seminar series showcasing gender and diversity research in the Faculty, and advocated for progressive change of university policies such as parental leave for research postgraduate students. We are enormously grateful for the support and encouragement we have received from the Faculty.
