If you are looking for Equality Officer On any job platform, the job descriptions are almost identical. A person with specific training in gender policies and accredited experience is required.
The question comes later: what training exactly?
Some offers require a higher cycle linked to equalityothers require qualifications in social work, human resources or law.
And, in many cases, the need to have completed a master’s degree in gender studies is mentioned.
There is a whole academic mosaic without a single criterion, which the Government now wants to organize and clarify.
The Department for Equality which leads Ana Redondo took a step forward after the Department of Science, Innovation and Universities put for public consultation the draft law that regulates the exercise of the profession of equality officer.
It’s not that this profession didn’t exist until now. Equality legislation regards this position as essential for the development of equality plans and anti-harassment protocols in businesses.. It is also these professionals who usually pay attention to the so-called purple dots.
What did not exist until now was specific regulation of the profession.which describes the knowledge that anyone carrying out this work must have.
Sources from the Ministry of Equality tell EL ESPAÑOL that at present they are not creating their own university degree, but rather clearly limiting access and exercise of their functions.
This decision, whether to launch a diploma (four-year degree) or a master’s degree, will come after the initial process is sorted out.
When this moment arrives (that of preparing specific training), the Government will take an initiative that traditionally comes from the academic field: launching from the Institutions specific regulated training for the exercise of the equality agent.
An initiative which, according to sources in the sector, has not been expressly proposed by the universities and which consists of establishing by law a specific university diploma for a profession hitherto constructed from diverse profiles.
The commitment to regulate the figure of the equality agent also represents the second attempt by a socialist government to achieve a specific title in this area.
During the last term of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, a similar initiative was launched to create a degree in equality, which ultimately did not prosper.
Title activation
The approved project establishes that the exercise of the profession of equality officer will be linked to obtaining a qualifying professional diploma, delivered by the competent universities.
In other words, it can no longer be a human resources professional who works for the company and also adapts equality plans, but rather a person with specific training.
Accreditation can be obtained in two ordinary ways: through an official university degree or equivalent in the field of gender studies, feminist studies and public equality policies, or through an official university master’s degree in equality agent.
The preliminary draft precisely defines the functions which correspond to these professionals. Among others, “the promotion, coordination, design and evaluation of actions aimed at achieving effective equality between women and men in different social areas”.
Also included are the diagnosis and analysis of situations of discrimination, as well as “the design, implementation and evaluation of public policies and programs aimed at their reduction and elimination”.
Likewise, the future law provides for advisory work to companies, public administrations, institutions and other entities in the development and implementation of plans and measures for equality.
And those who already practice?
In order to avoid the exclusion of those who already exercise these functions, the project establishes a transitional period of ten years from the entry into force of the law.
During this period, people who do not have the new university degree, but who have sufficient professional experience, can be officially accredited as equality officers.
More precisely, those who prove at least three years of continuous experience or five discontinuous years in functions inherent to the profession, provided you have a Technical title of Higher Professional Training Diploma.
Access is also considered for those who hold an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in the field of gender studies, feminist studies and public equality policies.
The Minister for Equality defended that this model allows for an orderly transition to a regulated system, avoiding “the unjustified exclusion of competent professionals” who have carried out their work in the public, private or third sector.
According to Redondo, the standard provides legal certainty to both professionals and contracting entities and “establishes a clear horizon for future professionalization based on regulated training.”
Universities affected
This newspaper contacted some universities that already offer similar degrees, such as Autonomous University of Barcelona, where there is a degree in sociocultural gender studies.
Inesme and Euroinnova, two online higher education centers belonging to the Edtech group, also offer the possibility of following the Equality Agent master’s degree. In addition, there is also the Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) which has its own degree in Gender Policies.
Only the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) wanted to respond to this newspaper on this initiative. In this regard, they confirmed that they have contacted the Spanish Government to contribute to the public consultation process and present their experience as the only center that, since the 2018-2019 academic year, has been teaching the degree in Sociocultural Gender Studies.
In his contribution, to which this newspaper had access, he explained to the Government that his diploma, “by the design of the program, the training objectives and the skills acquired, constitutes an ideal and specialized academic path to access the profession of Equality Agent”.
The study plan of the Autonomous University of Barcelona aims to train equal opportunities agents in the field of “Human Resources or Public Administration; specialist consultants with an interdisciplinary perspective in educational establishments or organizations in the non-regulated educational field, penitentiary institutions or in the legislative and penal field”.
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