Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile: UC’s development program for professional and administrative women launched
In order to advance with concrete measures for the development of women at UC, the Economic Vice-rector and the People’s Directorate recently presented a program to promote the growth and training of professional and administrative women who work in the institution. .
The initiative that considers, among other topics, leadership courses, negotiation and a mentoring program, has its origin in the UC Women’s Commission – focused on the reality of women in the administrative and professional establishment – that was formed in 2019.
This body, which was made up of 33 people, met with the objective of investigating, analyzing and generating proposals that aimed to facilitate an equitable work environment, adjusting to the conditions and expectations of women, in line with the culture and traditions of the University Catholic
With inspiration from the Women’s Table, these two lines of work were developed which, as explained by the economic vice-rector, Loreto Massanés, “aim to strengthen and complement the development opportunities that the university offers to those who work in it”.
“These lines of work will allow us to learn and collect the valuable contributions of those who participate in them, in this way we hope to give impetus to the development of spaces for those who want to feel challenged” – UC Economic Vice Chancellor, Loreto Massanés
Empower women’s leadership in the university
The courses seek to enhance, on the one hand, the leadership and influence of women within the institution, also creating a network of relationships with other UC members who occupy managerial positions, and also train in skills that allow them to address in a effective instances of negotiation and reaching agreements. While the “Leadership for Women” course lasts 16 hours, the “Women and negotiation” course lasts eight hours (both are done through Zoom during working hours).
Meanwhile, the objective of the UC Mentoring program , which will consist of four sessions and a duration of three months, is to create a meeting space for administrative and professional women with people who have a long history at UC and who will share their experience and tips.
“Both lines of work will allow us to learn and collect the valuable contributions of those who participate in them, in this way we hope to promote the development of spaces for those who want to feel challenged,” said the Vice Chancellor Loreto Massanés.
The Director of People, Fernanda Vicuña, stressed that this program is also an excellent opportunity for personal growth and learning. “The development of people is nothing more than stopping the daily operation for a moment and spending some time working with ourselves, looking at our work space with curiosity and listening to what a rapporteur or a mentor has to ask or tell us”, he pointed.
“The development of people is nothing more than stopping the daily operation for a moment and spending time working with ourselves, looking at our work space with curiosity and listening to what a rapporteur or a mentor has to ask or tell us” – Fernanda Vicuña, Director of People
Mónica Rojas, Head of Consulting and Coaching at the People Management, explained that the UC Mentoring Program has had a very good reception. “In this pilot stage only 15 places will be opened, and we hope next year to carry out a program every semester in order to expand the offer to administrative and professional women of the institution,” he added.
On the other hand, this week the “Leadership for Women” course will begin, which will be taught by Verónica Vásquez, UC psychologist and associate professor at the School of Administration . This first version of the course aroused a lot of interest from the audience. 60 applications were received for a course that has 24 places. This response shows us the interest generated by these topics and invites us to continue generating development spaces for the women who work at our university.
The mentors are:
Magdalena Amenábar Folch, Vice-Rector for Communications
María Elena Boisier Pons, Director of Research-VRI
Evelyn Didier Carrasco, Director of UC Libraries
Cristina Fernández Aretxabala, Secretary General
Lilian Ferrer Lagunas, Vice-Rector for International Affairs
María Paulina Gómez Lorenzini, Dean of the Faculty of Communications
Loreto Massanés Vogel, Economic Vice-Rector
Luz Montero Ossandón, Director of Continuing Education UC
María José Pérez Villa, Economic and Management Director – Faculty of Engineering
Camila Rendic Lazo, Executive Director of the Vice-Rectory of Communications
Ana María Sepúlveda, Executive Director of the Assistant Vice President for International Affairs
Ignacia Torres Rivas, Executive Director of the Academic Vice-Rector’s Office
Catalina Valdés Monge, Executive Director of Pastoral UC
Victoria Valdés Vásquez, Director of Commercial Engineering
Fernanda Vicuña Ureta, Director of People