SDG 10. Reduced Inequality

• Centre for Research and Promotion of Advocacy in Education, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
• Centre for Research on Intergenerational Justice, Social Responsibility and Sustainability, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
• Centre for Research and Innovation in Social Services, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work
• Centre for Research and Promotion of Equity in Education
• Centre for Access Technologies
• Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Studies and Dialogue
• Heterotopos Research Centre: Representations and Practices of Foreign Space

• Analysis of benefits of full implementation of the Victims’ Rights Directive
• Contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice

The admissions policy of the University of Bucharest is non-discriminatory.

• The Charter of the University of Bucharest (art. 19, par. 1 ) establishes the conditions of access to the university community as follows: “Access to the university community by admission as a student or by holding a teaching or research position, as well as the exercise of managerial functions, is free, under the conditions of the law, and may not be prevented or restricted for reasons of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political or religious conviction. All methodologies for the organisation and conduct of admission contests to undergraduate, master’s and doctoral studies comply with the provisions of the Charter.
• 11, para. 2, lit. d of the Code of Ethics and Deontology of the University of Bucharest also specifies that it is forbidden in the university community “discrimination, understood as distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference, based on race, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, social category, beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, illness of any kind, belonging to a disadvantaged category, as well as any other criterion that has the purpose or effect of restricting, eliminating the recognition, use or exercise, on equal terms, of human rights”.
• A procedure has been approved which establishes an effective and transparent mechanism for investigating incidents of sexual harassment and sex/gender discrimination in the academic community. The procedure available here, sets out the principles, preventative measures, responsibilities and how to deal with incidents of sexual harassment and sex/gender discrimination.
• UB signed the Romanian Diversity Charter in 2022, and in 2023, UB signed the Equality Charter in the framework of the CALIPER initiative.

The University of Bucharest annually monitors the number of its applicants, including those from under-represented groups. Data on their number is managed through the platforms dedicated to these activities: The School Management Platform and the Admissions Platform. The UB also has an Office for Enrolment Monitoring, Reporting and Statistics, which manages all this data and provides it to the university and faculty management for analysis and specific action.

According to Article 2, point 2 of the Methodology for the organisation and conduct of the admission examination for undergraduate university studies (consult the 2022, 2023 & and 2024 admission methodologies), there are also special categories of subsidised study places, such as those allocated to high school graduates from rural areas, for Roma candidates, for high school graduates from the social protection system and others.

The University of Bucharest has anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and constantly monitors their implementation.

• The Charter of the University of Bucharest discourages the use of “defamatory language, obscene behaviour, discrimination based on ethnicity, race, gender, age, social origin, religion, political opinions, sexual orientation, or other conduct lacking ethical integrity.” (Article 7(1)).
• In Art. 11 (2) lit. d of the Code of Ethics and Deontology of the University of Bucharest states that “discrimination is prohibited, understood as any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, social category, beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, illness of any kind, membership of a disadvantaged category, as well as any other criterion whose purpose or effect is to restrict or eliminate the recognition, use or exercise of human rights on equal terms”.
• Another document which contains regulations against discrimination and harassment is the Internal Regulations of the University of Bucharest, which contains in the second part the Rules on the respect of the principle of non-discrimination and the elimination of all forms of violation of dignity (art. 57-67).
• In 2021 the project team of the ATHENA – UB project developed the UB Gender Equality Plan 2022-2024. One of the objectives of the plan is to Prevent and combat sexual harassment and gender discrimination (Ob. 7).

• In 2021, the Gender Equality Committee at the University of Bucharest was set up, comprising representatives of the academic and administrative management, teaching staff, researchers, and students of the UB. The committee held its first meeting in September 2021, during which a benchmarking exercise was carried out, discussing “issues related to the quantitative and qualitative data needs that have been and will be collected so that the strategies and activities to be included in the future gender equality plan are useful, feasible and adapted to the realities of the institution”. The current composition of the committee is accessible here.
• The Ombudsman of the University also has the role of advising, under conditions of independence, impartiality and confidentiality, all university community members who consider themselves mistreated.

The University of Bucharest undertakes multiple actions to support underrepresented groups in the academic community, including mentoring, counselling or peer-support programmes. Among the UB’s actions supporting underrepresented groups, we mention:

• Career counselling, vocational guidance, psychological counselling and assessment, and aptitude assessment are offered through the Department of Career Counselling and Guidance (DCOC);
• Screening or comprehensive psychological assessment services for different clinical conditions, psychotherapy, psychological or educational counselling and crisis assistance offered to students, academic and administrative staff of the UB by the team of the Clinic for Psychological and Educational Assistance and Intervention (CAIPE);
• Coaching and personal development services in the area of social and emotional competencies, professional counselling and career guidance, and remedial learning programmes and development of critical thinking and scientific reasoning skills and academic writing skills offered by the UB Learning Centre (LC) team.

The University of Bucharest offers various facilities and support services for students with disabilities and special educational needs. These include:

1. Counselling and Guidance: Students can access psychological counselling services and educational guidance tailored to address specific disabilities-related needs.
2. Accessibility Services: The university ensures accessible learning environments by providing accommodations such as adaptive equipment, accessible study materials, and support for students with visual, auditory, or mobility impairments.
3. Inclusive Infrastructure: Efforts have been made to improve campus infrastructure to accommodate diverse mobility needs, including ramps, elevators, and adapted restrooms.
4. Specialized Support Programs and a dedicated Office: Personalized assistance is available through a dedicated office that helps students navigate academic life and access necessary resources. Thus, the Inclusion Service was designed and organized as an access hub for students facing various difficulties, including disabilities.

These services are designed to promote inclusivity and ensure all students have equitable access to education and campus life. More details are available here. Other initiatives include:

• Measures were taken to facilitate blind people’s access to information on the UB website, including on the admission platform. To centralize all these actions, a dedicated webpage was created detailing everything available at the university for students with special educational needs and disabilities that can be accessed here.
• The University of Bucharest has developed facilities for people with disabilities (access ramp in the building) in the teaching, research and other activities areas. UB dormitories have been equipped with rooms for people with disabilities, elevators, and facilities for people with disabilities. Also, according to art. 17 of the Methodology for accommodation in the University of Bucharest hostels, students with severe or accentuated disabilities have priority in the selection process for accommodation, according to law 488/2006.
• Project Diversity and Equity at the University of Bucharest (UB4all)- CNFIS-FDI-2023-F-0379, had three relevant objectives: 1. Complete and develop infrastructure for students with special needs to increase comfort and increase inclusiveness; 2. Ensure a safe and discrimination-free academic environment by creating educational modules and clips designed to increase awareness and responsiveness to the needs of atypical students, and 3. Develop and promote UB’s academic services and offerings to the academic community and prospective students.
• The UB implemented the BlindHUB project (between October and September 2022), in partnership with the Romanian Association of the Blind, which aimed to facilitate access of blind and visually impaired people to the labour market and the university education environment. The project team proposed:
• The development of an IT application (BlindHUB) to provide information, guidance, career counselling, and digital mediation on the labour market and university environment for blind and partially sighted people;
• training in self-presentation and job interview skills using BlindHUB for at least 200 blind and partially sighted people by organising 10 seminars at the national level with the participation of employers and universities;
• setting up and equipping with IT and accessibility technology of two BlindHUB Centres – professional development communities for blind and partially sighted people.
• At the beginning of the academic year 2020, the CONNECT volunteer network was launched as part of the project “Quality inclusive education in the academic community of the University of Bucharest, with a focus on people with disabilities”. The main objective of the network is to support young people with disabilities in the process of accessing administrative and educational services offered by the university. They benefit from the support of student volunteers within the network. The project team has also set itself the target of carrying out accessibility and modernization works in the UB faculties’ premises from the academic year 2020-2021. At the same time, the aim was to extend the step-hear technology guidance system for the visually impaired in the faculties. The project also provides accessibility interventions in educational and housing spaces for students with disabilities. More information on the objectives of the project is available here.
• The administrative departments of the UB are responsible for various aspects of student life (Department of Dormitories and Student Activities, Department of Counselling and Career Guidance), as well as other UB units (Clinic for Psychological and Educational Assistance and Intervention, University of Bucharest Learning Centre) ensure the welfare of all students, including those with disabilities.

The University of Bucharest offers mentoring services in the admissions process and is also available to candidates with disabilities. Other candidates have access to these services as well. As previously outlined, visually impaired candidates have access to admission documents and similar information in a format adapted to the screen readers they use. The Inclusion Service offers tailored support for students with special needs, including disabilities. Finally, the CONNECT volunteer network also provides support in this direction.

The University of Bucharest implements a consistent accommodation policy towards people with disabilities.

• The university dormitories include rooms specially prepared for this category of students, and the university buildings have been modified to allow for easy access (10 rooms equipped for students with mobility impairments – special bathrooms with shower chairs, wide entrances for wheelchairs, adjustable furniture). Students with severe disabilities and their companions can benefit from free accommodation.
• The University of Bucharest has set itself several objectives through the Development Strategy 2020-2023, aiming at ensuring minimum rights and conditions for students (Ob.I.2), social involvement of the University and inclusion of disadvantaged groups and individuals (Ob. II.5), with the following associated indicators: I.2.8. Total number of accommodation places for people with disabilities (with accessible bathrooms); II.5.1. Number of accessible buildings for people with disabilities/year; II.5.2. Number of people with disabilities accessing educational resources/year (e.g. participating in UB events, study programmes, etc.). In this way, the UB aims to ensure that in the coming years, students with disabilities will be able to enjoy university life on an equal footing with other community members. Such spaces and resources are already accessible at the University of Bucharest, and their number will increase in the coming years, with projects being developed to this end.