Gimena VitaliRector of the Metropolitan University for Education and Work (UMET) and Flavia Quirogaacademic secretary of UMET, spoke to Gabriela Lopez In #WomenintheJungle (protagonists on the move) by Radio Perfil AM 1190 (Saturdays at 2 p.m.) about the importance of the role of women and teaching with a gender perspective in university courses and the joint work with trade unions in the training of future specialists.
“UMET is a very young university that was created at the initiative of a trade union (SUTERH) and in these 13 years it has managed to incorporate more than 100 trade union organizations into the co-management of the university.. We also all know that unions are very masculinized organizations. However, there is a decision from the university management (October Foundation) To have women at the head of the rectory, especially in the years following the leadership of Nicolás Trottawho was rector of the university for many years and was one of its supporters and founders,” said the rector.
Vitali also emphasized the importance of collaboration between the university and unions in designing and planning careers for workers. Using the pharmacy degree at UMET as an example, Vitali mentioned that “the ADEF (Association of Pharmacy Employees) had a dream that their employees could be pharmacists, so the degree was accredited with them.” The union appeals to UMET because public universities can sometimes be very exclusive to those who lead professional liveswho invests many hours in their job and also has family obligations, and their private tasks are rather exclusive due to the quota, especially in professions such as pharmacy. So we had to bring these two problems together and find a solution.”
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For his part, Quiroga emphasized: “If I can read all the UMET syllabi, the human rights perspective is very strong in the topics covered.regardless of whether they are located in the exact or technical sciences or in the social sciences. All of this is also the result of various alliances that UMET has formed with organizations such as transvestites, women’s organizations and various groups to bring together students from populations that feel culturally distant.”
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Regarding gender in education and the role women play, Quiroga said: “Although education seems to be a natural field for women, There are very few female principals. We have more than 130 public and private universities across the country and the proportion of women in parish leadership is very low. Less than 10% are women at the top. In general, women occupy other spaces, the vice-chancellor’s office, the academic secretariat, all the spaces more associated with the academic management of the university but where the signature must be made, where the budget is discussed, “Where the important decisions of university life are made, it is generally men who lead these positions.”
In response to López’s question about women’s professional development: Quiroga said the glass ceiling is “something that is breaking” and highlighted the role new generations play in raising awareness.. In addition, the teacher explained: “There are other areas where this border is thicker and more visible, such as at the university, but in the research field there are still traces of this border, but I think that our colleagues are also changing the way they think and perceive reality. I think everything has to do with this. We learn from an early age how to feel and how to desire, and these desires that they teach us are that I want to do a certain career and I don’t want this other one, me.” I can’t imagine myself in certain areas. So if we’re told from a young age that we can’t imagine playing football or having fun running a company, then they distance us.“.
“Anyone who wants to study can come to UMET,” emphasized Quiroga, adding: “You will find a university educational project that thinks about people who work, about people who have care responsibilities.“The UMET has a time offer that allows an employee to come to study or to opt for the virtual modality with distance learning courses. Regarding the latter, the academic secretary explained: “They are jobs that can be completed 100% via computer or tablet, through a platform where all the content is stored and there are classrooms where you can interact with the teacher.“.
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Vitali highlighted the tourism, cultural management and environmental management courses because “We make a lot of contact with municipalities; it is of great interest to them. These are careers that they want to promote and that they actually want to sign an agreement so that neighbors can study at UMET with a 50 percent scholarship. Our fees are very popular because, just as we think, the university must be a possible project for workers.”
Registration for the 2026 school year can be done in person or on the university’s website and is open until March 11, 2026 so that they can complete the introductory course to university life the following week. Quiroga explained: “It is necessary to do this, otherwise frustrations will arise from the paradigm shift between one level of education and another, or from people who have not studied for a long time and lose track of the platforms, lose track of the procedures that need to be carried out.”
Finally, the academic secretary explained: “We do not provide a service to those who register for a race, they are not a customer.” We provide a service to society and our goal is to train professionals for societyPharmacists for our society, teachers for our society, we make students aware of the role we fulfill as a university institution and that they will fulfill as university students and future graduates.”
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