The percentage of female professors at the UB has increased by 14% over the last decade, reaching 35%
PRESS RELEASE
- On the occasion of 8 March, the UB has presented data that shows the University’s positive progress towards gender equality.
The percentage of female professors at the University of Barcelona has risen from 21.2% in 2016 to 35.1% in 2025. This represents an increase of almost 14 percentage points, reflecting a reduction in the so-called glass ceiling, although full equality is yet to be achieved. To mark International Women’s Day, the UB presented this and other data showing that the institution is making positive progress towards gender equality.
The percentage of female professors at the University of Barcelona has risen from 21.2% in 2016 to 35.1% in 2025. This represents an increase of almost 14 percentage points, reflecting a reduction in the so-called glass ceiling, although full equality is yet to be achieved. To mark International Women’s Day, the UB presented this and other data showing that the institution is making positive progress towards gender equality.
Among students, the majority of those enrolled at the UB are women, both at undergraduate level (65.5%) and at master’s degree level (62.1%). Although the proportion of women decreases as they progress in their academic careers, in recent years there has been an increase in the number of women becoming permanent research and teaching staff (PDI): women currently account for 44.6%, compared with 40.7% a decade ago. It should be noted that, in this indicator, the UB is above the average for Catalan universities as a whole, which in 2023 was 38.24% (at that time, the figure for the UB was 43.5%). Overall, 50.4% of all PDI members are currently women. In research activity, women already lead 45.3% of research projects.
“The presence of women in the PDI is not only solid and growing, but the increase in the percentage of female professors beyond 35% shows that the gender gap in the highest positions is narrowing, which opens up hopeful prospects for the future,” said the vice-rector for Equality, Inclusion and Gender, Montserrat Puig.
Regarding PTGAS members, women represent 64.3% of the total. In the specific case of civil servants, this percentage increases to 77.4%, while among contractual staff it stands at 53.5%.
Extraordinary increase in women at the helm of the Dean’s Offices
Regarding university leadership positions, there has been an extraordinary rise in the number of female deans: between 2016 and 2025, the proportion increased from 25% to 52.9%. “This acceleration in the presence of women in the Dean’s offices indicates the effectiveness of institutional equality policies,” said Puig. The Rector’s team also has gender parity, with women representing 53.5%.
Although the low presence of women persists in the teaching activity of some faculties, such as Physics (26%), the figures show “a positive trend towards gender equality”, according to the vice-rector.
8M events at the University
To mark International Women’s Day, the UB has organized a series of activities under the slogan “Knowledge that transforms”. As in previous occasions, the University has based its graphic image for 8 March on portraits of specific women, this year from the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science.
At the main event, held today, 5 March, these figures on gender equality at the UB were presented, followed by a poetry recital by La SubVERSiva. The University also announced the event to be held tomorrow, 6 March, in memory of the First Catalan Women’s Conference, which took place 50 years ago on the same stage. Also, the Clara Campoamor and Rosalind Franklin awards to the best final bachelor’s and master’s degree projects with a gender perspective were presented.
The Clara Campoamor Award for the best bachelor’s final degree project with a gender perspective went to Andrés Aguilar Corominas, a Social Education student, for his project “Juventudes queer y educación social en el sistema de protección. Percepciones, retos y oportunidades en los centros residenciales” (Queer youth and social education in the protection system. Perceptions, challenges and opportunities in residential centres).
Second prizes (accèssit) were awarded to:
- Mijanou Ribbeck Jiménez (Fine Arts student) for her work “Cuerpo spam” (Spam Body);
- Lara Alabert Suñé, (Physical Activity and Sports Sciences student) for “La veu de les dones esportistes durant la II República i la dictadura franquista” (The voice of female athletes during the Second Republic and the Franco dictatorship);
- Irina Casero Canyigueral, (Physics student) for “Històries de vida d’identitats dissidents en la física” (Life stories of dissident identities in physics).
Honourable mentions were awarded to:
- Rita Galanó Estadella, (Fine Arts student) for her work “Identidad heredada. El bucle del genero” (Inherited Identity. The Gender Loop),
- María Robledo Martínez, (Audiovisual Communication student), for “La salud mental femenina en las teen series: entre el estigma y la visibilidad” (Women’s Mental Health in Teen Series: Between Stigma and Visibility).
The Rosalind Franklin Award for the best master’s thesis with a gender perspective was awarded to Elena Perelló Sender, a student of Advanced Studies in Art History, for her thesis “Elegí fracasar. Tácticas de representación lésbica en la historia del arte” (I chose to fail. Tactics of lesbian representation in art history).
Honourable mentions were awarded to:
- Sophia Vargas Correa, (Visual Arts and Education: A Constructionist Approach), for “Cuerpos feminizados, diversidad funcional y su politización: intersecciones entre patriarcado, capacitismo y otras fallas del sistema” (Feminized bodies, functional diversity and its politicization: intersections between patriarchy, ableism and other systemic failures),
- Noelia Úbeda Cano (Communication and Diversity Research) for “La mujer de alto valor en TikTok. Un análisis multimodal de una identidad posfeminista” (High-value women on TikTok. A multimodal analysis of a post-feminist identity).
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