Your responsibility
As an employee, you are responsible for treating colleagues and students with respect and through your actions build a safe and open-minded workplace and study environment. If you feel that you or someone else is being treated differently because of, for example, gender, ethnicity or something else, contact your manager. You will find more information about the notification on the pages If something happens.
The University's responsibility
Both as an employer and as an education provider, the University has a legal obligation to counteract discrimination and work for everyone's equal rights and opportunities.
At Umeå University, we use equal opportunities as a collective term for the work to counteract discrimination and work for everyone's equal rights and opportunities, called active measures. The concept of equal opportunities also includes working with the strategy on gender mainstreaming.
It is prohibited for employers and education providers to discriminate against employees or students.
If a employee or student has been subjected to harassment at work, the University has an obligation to investigate and take action.
It's all based on the grounds of discrimination
The work with equal opportunities is based on the seven grounds for discrimination included in the Discrimination Act:
- Sex
- Transgender identity or expression
- Ethnicity
- Religion or other beliefs
- Disability
- Sexual orientation
- Age
Umeå University has a Policy for working environment and equal oppertunities that describes general guidelines and important values to be taken into account. In the parts that apply to equal oppertunities, the university's policy is largely based on the Discrimination Act.
Work environment and equal opportunities policy
Discrimination Act (do.se)
Measures for prevention and promotion
Active measures
Umeå University conducts a preventive and promotional work for equal rights and opportunities, against discrimination. This work is called active measures.
The Active measures pages of the HR guide provides more information on how this work should be carried out, including practical guides with suggestions for activities to carry out at the workplace.
Active measures (only in Swedish for the moment)
Gender mainstreaming
The Government has commissioned the University to work with gender mainstreaming. Each university must work on the basis of a higher education plan based on development needs, describe goals and activities that the university intends to take and describe how gender equality should be integrated and become part of the university's regular activities
Gender mainstreaming strategy 2022-2025
The equal opportunities organisation
The Vice-Chancellor and the managers that is responsible for the work environment are also responsible to ensure that active measures is carried out in the workplace to prevent and counteract discrimination, harassment and violations. As support, managers have an equal opportunities organisation that helps managers to work with active measures in order to prevent discrimination..
The network consists of:
- Representatives of equal opportunities supports the head of department or equivalent,
- Equal opportunities officers supports the dean or equivalent,
- Coordinator for equal opportunities supports the university management,
The network also consists of the Strategic Council for Equal Opportunities, which is a university-wide advisory and preparatory body in support of university management and for exchange of experience between faculties and teacher colleges. The Council is also a faculty-wide strategic support for university management.
Equal Opportunities Council (only in swedish)
Equal opportunities organization's microsoft team