The UOC strengthens its commitment to the fight against racial discrimination

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 21 March, is a key date to highlight and denounce the many forms of racism that still persist in society. The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Unit of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) is contributing to this commemoration with an awareness-raising campaign that emphasizes its commitment to combating discrimination and promoting diversity in the university. This initiative seeks to highlight, from an intersectional perspective, how different systems of oppression, such as racism, sexism or discrimination based on disabilities or gender identity, are intertwined and reinforce each other, in all sectors, including the academic world.

"We're working to incorporate the perspective of cultural diversity into our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Plan, establishing anti-racist protocols and measures that guarantee the protection of our community and combat discrimination in the university," explained Maria Olivella, director of the UOC Equality Unit. "We promote intercultural activities and raise awareness of interculturality in order to train professionals committed to equality and respect for diversity," she added. The sixth Meeting of the Network of Universities for Diversity (RUD) will take place on 12 and 13 May at the UOC Campus in Barcelona, where academic staff, experts and the participating universities will discuss the challenges of cultural, ethnic, racial and sexual diversity, among other issues, in order to improve their actions in this area.

Manel Jiménez, the UOC's Vice Rector for Alliances, Community and Culture, emphasized the importance of continuing to build more inclusive university spaces and underlined the key role that the university plays in promoting diversity: “At our university we firmly believe that diversity is an academic principle that not only defines us, but also enriches us. We must therefore provide tools for teaching and administrative staff and the entire university community to learn from a global perspective, encouraging discussion and research on racial discrimination".

Indigenous women interconnecting knowledge

In addition to the Equality Unit's initiative, the UOC is engaged in scientific research that addresses these issues, helping to generate knowledge and offering tools to combat racial discrimination and other forms of inequality. One example is the project Indigenous women interconnecting knowledge: bodies, territories and technologies for life (INDIWOMINT), led by Ana María Noguera, a researcher in the Gender and ICT group (GenTIC), at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3). This study, funded by the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie programme, highlights how indigenous women have resisted climate injustice and colonialism, defending their territories and ancestral knowledge.

Stressing the importance of generating dialogue that goes beyond Western knowledge and highlighting the need to raise the profile of this problem on the university agenda, Noguera commented "Racial discrimination in academia is often subtle, invalidating other forms of knowledge production".

Education against racism

Another academic initiative that reinforces the UOC's commitment to equity and the fight against racism is the Crossing Borders to Connect Routes project, led by the Transdisciplinary research on contemporary social challenges (NODES) research group. This study, funded by the Spencer Foundation, analyses the inequalities affecting young migrants in different educational contexts and how policies and practices can improve their situation.

"Understanding and combating racism in the university involves critically analysing the language and narratives that perpetuate it in policies, curricula and institutional culture," explained Adriana Ornellas, from the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, joint researcher for the project, together with Amalia Creus, coordinator of NODES, and Ines Martins, from the Faculty of Information and Communication Sciences. The team is developing a toolkit, a series of digital resources for anti-racist education, which will be integrated into the teacher training programmes offered by the UOC and will be available to the whole educational community.

Amalia Creus emphasized that the university must question epistemic racism: "Non-white and non-Western epistemologies remain marginalized in academic thought. It's essential to promote theoretical and practical work that challenges hegemonic knowledge." She also stressed the importance of making this date visible in the university calendar: "It allows us to open up spaces for debate and reflection that involve the entire community in the fight for anti-racist science and education."

The results of Crossing Borders to Connect Routes will be presented on 29 April at a seminar where participants will share reflections and strategies to promote more inclusive education.

Education of young migrants

The research project Educational and urban trajectories of young migrants in times of pandemic. Contributions to reducing inequality and segregation (MY-WAY), led by Amalia Creus, with the participation of the NODES group, together with Gabriela Fauth from CitiesLab Interdisciplinary urban studies laboratory analyses the educational inequalities that have affected young non-European migrants in the context of Covid.

The study, funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, investigates how the health crisis has intensified educational and urban segregation, as well as reinforcing anti-immigration discourses and narratives. "It's the duty of universities to promote equity, recognizing the plurality of people, cultures and experiences. They must be exemplary spaces for critical debate and collective reflection," said Fauth, from the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the UOC.

The researcher added that "it's important to generate training programmes and resources that reinforce the anti-racist perspective in university education," and that "including this date in the university calendar is key to consolidating a permanent policy of recognition and combating racial discrimination."

Technology against digital bias

In addition to raising awareness and conducting research in education, UOC teaching and research staff also work on the development of technological tools to combat discrimination. In this area, two researchers from the IN3 Systems, Software and Models group (SOM Research Lab), Sergio Morales and Robert Clarisó (who is also a member of the Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications), have developed LangBiTe and ImageBiTe, two tools designed to detect bias in text and visual content generated by artificial intelligence.

Inclusion as part of the UOC's DNA

"We must guarantee policies for inclusion, facilitating access for these groups through grants and tools aimed at students from racialized groups, ensuring that education is fair and flexible," Maria Olivella stressed.

"Making International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination visible and including it in our calendar is crucial to opening up spaces for debate and reflection that promote an anti-racist culture and combat xenophobia, racism and any other form of racial, ethnic, cultural or religious discrimination," Olivella commented.

With this campaign, the UOC reinforces its commitment to equality and the fight against racism, aligning itself with national and international legislation that seeks to guarantee more inclusive and equitable education. "We oppose and condemn any form of racial discrimination, and we reaffirm our commitment to moving towards a society where inclusion and diversity are celebrated and protected,” Vice Rector Manel Jiménez concluded.

These UOC research projects are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 10: Reduced Inequalities.

UOC R&I

The UOC's research and innovation (R&I) is helping overcome pressing challenges faced by global societies in the 21st century by studying interactions between technology and human & social sciences with a specific focus on the network society, e-learning and e-health.

Over 500 researchers and more than 50 research groups work in the UOC's seven faculties, its eLearning Research programme and its two research centres: the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) and the eHealth Center (eHC).

The university also develops online learning innovations at its eLearning Innovation Center (eLinC), as well as UOC community entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer via the Hubbik platform.

Open knowledge and the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development serve as strategic pillars for the UOC's teaching, research and innovation. More information: research.uoc.edu.