Supranational organizations and policies: perspectives from higher education and gender equality

We are at a time when gender equality is understood as a matter of human rights and social justice. For this reason, in the frame of development of a democratic Europe, social movements demand a gender equality perspective in all educational stages. However, the Member States of the European Union configure their educational and gender policies around different interpretative frameworks. From the perspective of globalization and the creation of supranational organizations, this article analyzes the interpretative frameworks and values the possibility of assuming the existence of a common framework for European countries for the improvement of higher education institutions. It is concluded that the linking capacity of the European Union and the global dynamics allow the implementation of common policies to the Member States. Thus, a series of basic demands raised by feminist movements at the international level and the relevance of their integration in European universities are exposed. The problems to be addressed that are collected throughout the article and that limit the inclusion of gender equality in higher education institutions are: gender segregation, unequal distribution of power, poor access to decision-making positions, need of conciliation and attention to care, elimination of biases in research and teaching, transformation of the organizational culture and institutional support. The relevance of initial teacher training with a gender perspective is also needed for the effective transformation and the definitive eradication of inequalities.