Pending debts in terms of gender in the Universidad Catolica de Maule (Catholic University of Maule)

Abstract

The chapter, written as an essay, has as its purpose the critical reflection on the advances, critical issues, and cultural and institutional resistance that has experienced Universidad Católica del Maule (UCM) in the last years regarding equity and gender equality. With the purpose of visualizing the strains, it has been privileged the analysis of official documents with the aim of identifying the presence of non-sexist and inclusive language; moreover, it provides information on the policies and the proposals of gender developed by the organization in the last decade, through guidance, strategies, and academic claims or with specific training programs. The conclusion that is reached is that the UCM not only does not show a non-sexist and inclusive language in its official documents but also many practices of its authorities could be tagged as authoritarian and arbitrary, even though an increasing number of women has held management positions in the last years. They, more like, appeared to reproduce and perpetuate the aforementioned practices. Furthermore, it has been found institutional resistance to the development of researches which central purpose of reflection is the study of gender, wasting with it the possibilities that offer doctrinal teachings to add higher doses of respect and tolerance. The information previously stated allows asserting that there are still many debts in terms of gender and inclusion that the UCM must try to solve, as soon as possible, if it genuinely pretends to be loyal to its vocation as a Catholic university.