The university is monitoring the process of admission and completion of studies by gender, but without establishing a policy in this area, as according to statistics (related to the application, acceptance and completion rates), the number of females is systematically higher than the number of males.

ASE has developed a Plan for gender equality for the period 2022-2030, in which action measures were proposed for ensuring gender balance in leadership and decision-making, recruitment and career advancement, research and teaching, work-life balance and organizational culture, avoiding gender-based violence, including sexual harassment. There are no problems related to gender equality as regards the recruitment process, as the recruitment/employment process follows national legislation and internal regulations, which explicitly provide for non-discrimination on the basis of gender. 

ASE pursues the principle of non-discrimination for:

• Accessing the university for students, according to the Admission methodology of the University.
• Accessing the university as employee and developing the working activities, as the Collective labour agreement restricts the dismissal of employees based on gender considerations. 

Several tools provide support for women in accessing and encouraging their participation at the university:

Mentoring is provided by the Centre for Counselling and Career Orientation, the main point providing specialized support and vocational or career counselling on non-discriminatory basis, for the academic community, the administrative staff and students.

The scholarship methodology states that the university grants non-discriminatory scholarships to under-represented categories (orphan students or students coming from children’s homes or family placement or suffering from different types of chronic diseases). Private scholarships are granted in collaboration with companies, also based on non-discriminatory criteria related to gender.

Other targeted support is provided through the rector counsellor, which is chosen among the students. In addition, 25% of the members in the University Senate are students, for better representing their interests, without discrimination related to gender, according to the methodology.

ASE was an academic partner in the “Women in Data Science (WiDS) DATATHON” competition, supported by Stanford University, with the theme “Climate Change & Energy Justice”. ASE participated with 40 students in this competition. The solutions offered by the participants are meant to alleviate the problems associated with climate change, with an emphasis on energy security. Participants were students, teachers, government workers, members of NGOs or members of other industries, the only condition being that at least half of each team is female.

Recognition for the activity of women belonging to the academic community of ASE:

• One of ASE’s professors received the “Woman of the Year in Education” award, during the “Woman of the Year Awards” Gala, a gala honouring women who are actively involved in society, through the activities and programs they organize. Associate Professor Andreea Paul Vass is also president of INACO (Initiative for Competitiveness) and is involved in the development of the SmartLab project, the first intelligent laboratory in a Romanian school, where students learn using multifunctional educational robots, virtual reality glasses, pencils, scanners and 3D printers. 
• The Capital magazine has introduced, for the first time inthe 2022 edition, a “Top 100 Successful Women” in the “Education and Research” category. Among the 10 women nominated in this category, there was Professor Daniela-Luminița Constantin, member of the ASE community. (Details here, p.52)

Involvement in activities that deal with gender equality – training, knowledge transfer and project development:

• The Centre for Counselling and Career Orientation representatives participated in the online workshop on the topic “Discrimination among teachers/students”, supported by Prof. Mădălina Tomescu – president of the European Center for the Promotion of Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunities – NEDES
• Group counselling session on the topic “Horizontal principles in project management, especially equal opportunities”, with the students of the Faculty of Management, the Master of Project Management
• Developing the project “Data Science in Human & Social Science for Women Empowerment”, conducted by professor Claudiu Herțeliu within ASE, in which the university is part of a consortia, the project coordinator being the University of Salento, Italy. (Details here, p.85)

ASE and the “Rabindranath Tagore” Cultural Centre organized the International Conference Confluences: Indian Studies and Romanian Perspectives. From Cross-Cultural to Feminist Approaches.

 Gender studies provided by the university:

• Disciplines in the the Master study programmes (the Master in International Business Communication, 1st year of study, second semester);
• Disciplines in undergraduate study programs: “Communication, Gender and Business”, courses on Adults’ education, Work psychology, The management of human resources, Personal development or Ethics.
• Gender-related research can form the topic of the final undergraduate or master theses.
• Professors within the Faculty of Law in ASE Raluca Dumitriu runs a course on protection against discrimination at the Academy of European Law, several times a year.

Promoting ASE experience in gender studies in international conferences:

• The presentation Gender and Sustainable Development Discourses in the programme Feminist Foreign Policy: Praxis for a Peaceful and Gender Just World Order, organized by IMPRI Gender Impact Studies Center (GISC) and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), India Office, New Delhi, prof. Marinescu, R. E., invited professor.
• Keynote speaker at the international conference Confluences: Indian Studies and Romanian Perspectives. From Cross-Cultural to Feminist Approaches, with the presentation of Considerations on the Future of Feminism within the Postcolonial and Postcommunist Frameworks
• The presentation Feminist interventions to challenge gendered structures and systems in the European Union in the 3-day Immersive Online Certificate Training Course on Feminism & the Global Social Transformation, IMPRI, New Delhi, India.

In order to encourage women’s access and not only, the university is involved in several activities: 

The project Developing and strengthening students’ skills through internships in accounting and finance was focused on encouraging the access of women in the fields of accounting and finance. The target group was made up of 82% women and 57% people from rural areas or belonging to the Roma minority.

ASE submits to the action initiated by the Ministry of Education for promoting positive discrimination in allocating study grants to underprivileged / underrepresented categories from the rural area or Roma ethnicity.

• ASE has special activities for promoting the educational offer in colleges / high schools in Bucharest and in the country, under non-discriminatory basis related to gender. (Details here, p.166)
• ASE launched the project “Open Doors “, part of the campaign to promote the educational offer of ASE. Future ASE candidates dialogue with ASE faculty and student-volunteers, attend presentations, visit points of interest for a future student life.
• Several programmes targeting equity and equality were developed either with public support (such as the project “ProASE! Inclusion, equal opportunities and equity for ASE students”) or in partnership with the private environment.

ASE encourages publications on gender topics. ASE’s professors were involved in studying the impact of gender diversity:

• The Entrepreneurial Leader: A Feminine Perspective Case Study (2022), Authors: Șerban Pătrîntaș, C.G., Negruțiu, C. and Tăchiciu, L., DOI: 10.24818/BASIQ/2022/08/062
• The Myth of Motherhood in Communist and Postcommunist Romania. From Pro-Natalist Policies to Neoliberal Views (2022), Author: Marinescu, R. E., DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-4511-2.ch022.
• Feminism in Post-Communist Europe. Challenges and the Way Forward (2022), Author:  Marinescu, R. E., Research Horizons, Maniben Nanavati Women’s College, Mumbai, India, Vol. 12, noiembrie 2022, pp. 83-93.
• Aborted Motherhood and Traumatic History. An Analysis of Some Contemporary Romanian Novels by Women Writers (2022), Author: Marinescu, R. E., DOI: 10.24818/SYN/2022/18/1.05.

ASE is against discrimination in any form.

Any form of discrimination is prohibited, gender or sexual orientation included (article 7 and 22, Internal Regulation). Measures to promote gender equality and to eliminate direct and indirect discrimination based on gender are to be promoted according to the law, (article 23). ASE assumes the obligation to ensure equal opportunities and treatment among employees, women and men, in the framework of working relationships of any kind (article 24).  

Dismissal based on gender, sexual orientation, genetic characteristics, age, nationality, race, colour, ethnicity, religion, political option, social origin, disability, family status or responsibility, union membership or activity is prohibited (Internal Regulation, article 76(1)). The collective labour contract also states that dismissal is forbidden on gender criteria. 

The violation of the dignity of other employees through direct discrimination (difference of treatment of a person over another, due to belonging to a certain gender or due to pregnancy, birth, maternity or paternity leave), indirect discrimination (application of apparently neutral practices that, by consequences, affect persons of a particular gender) or sexual harassment (any form of gender-related behaviour that the guilty person knows to affect the dignity of the person if that behaviour is denied and is the motivation for a decision affecting that person) is a disciplinary misconduct that is sanctioned (article 103(12)).

A temporary suspension of the labour contract based on maternity or paternity leave, care of the sick child or leave for raising and caring for the child is possible (Internal Regulation, art. 35 a(i), b(i)(iii)). In addition, the dismissal is forbidden during the period when the employee is pregnant or during the maternity/paternity leave (Collective labour agreement, articles 67(2) c, d, e , f)

The Internal Regulation states that:

• Employees benefit of maternity or paternity leave (Art. 35 1(a)i)
• It is prohibited to fire employees: during the period in which the employee is pregnant, during maternity leave, during the leave for the upbringing and care of the child aged up to 2 years, respectively 3 years, in the case of the disabled child, during the leave for the care of a sick child aged up to 7 years or, in the case of a disabled child, until reaching the age of 18 (Art. 76 (1)c-f).
• It is considered disciplinary offences the violation of the dignity of other employees, through actions of direct discrimination (different treatment of one person in favour of another, because of his belonging to a certain sex or because of pregnancy, birth, maternity or the granting of paternity leave) (Art. 103(12)).
• At the request of pregnant women, the employer will allow medical checks to be carried out during working hours, according to the recommendations of the doctor who monitors the progress of the pregnancy, without affecting their salary rights (Art. 70(1)).

The Collective labour agreement adds that:

Employers are obliged to grant pregnant employees time off for prenatal consultations up to a maximum of 16 hours per month, without affecting their salary rights (Art. 24(1)).

Based on the recommendation of the family doctor, the pregnant employee who cannot fulfill the normal working hours due to health reasons, her own or that of her fetus, has the right to reduce the normal working hours by a quarter, with the maintenance of the salary income, supported in full from the employer’s salary fund (Art. 24(3)).

In addition to paternity leave, the father has the right to a leave of at least one month, out of the total period of leave, for raising the child. The mother also benefits from this right, in the situation where the father is the beneficiary of child leave (Art. 30(1)).

Childcare facilities for students

• Free:

Students could benefit of social assistance scholarship for maternity, which is granted to the student whose spouse does not receive any income or an income higher than the net minimum salary on the economy, and consists of a scholarship for the birth of a child and a scholarship for the purchase of the new-born child’s clothing, which is granted only once during the academic year for each child born (Methodology for awarding scholarships, art. 2(11b)).

• Paid:

Families composed of students will be accommodated in appropriate spaces, with priority being given to families where both parents are students (the Methodology regarding accommodation of students in ASE hostels, article 1(3).

Childcare facilities for staff and faculty

The educational staff benefit from nursery vouchers, according to the law (Internal Regulation, art. 88(2)).

Teaching staff and administrative staff from ASE benefit of accommodation facilities (reduced rates for accommodation) at the Predeal Complex “Ion Gh. Roșca” Training Center and at the Professional Training Center Covasna. (Details here, p.128)

ASE provides reduction of registration fees for the children of ASE employees who decide to follow the courses of the university. (Details here, p.128)

The project Developing and strengthening students’ skills through internships in accounting and finance (September 21, 2020 – September 21, 2023) offered students from the target group (made up of 82% women, 57% people from rural areas or belonging to the Roma minority) vocational counselling and professional counselling. These activities had the role of giving students the opportunity to become more aware of what assets they have in terms of vocational skills and competences, but also what would be the most suitable professional roles that they could approach at a future job.

All students and employees could benefit from the mentoring and support activities of the Centre for Counselling and Career Orientation, without discrimination.

The Centre for Counselling and Career Orientation is annually developing a study related to the labour market insertion of ASE graduates, where graduation rates and comparisons on this topic between men and women are assessed. According to statistics (related to the application, acceptance and completion rates), the number of females is systematically higher than the number of males:

• Socio-professional insertion of ASE graduates. (Details here, p.219)
• Evaluating the opinion of employers, regarding the quality of graduates and study programs offered by ASE (Details here, p.255)

The conclusions of the study carried out regarding the admission and graduation of the bachelor’s and master’s cycles for the last 3 (three) cohorts of students showed that:

ASE provides all categories of staff access to facilities and forms of training that allow an adequate response to all the requests specific to the positions and functions they perform. Therefore, ASE developed “The annual staff training and professional development plan”, taking into account the training needs in the context of the annual evaluation of employees and the follow-up of their career evolution. (Details here, p.126)

Professional training was ensured for both staff and faculty, by participating in internal programs such as university and postgraduate courses, external mobility programs (for example, Erasmus Plus), doctoral and postdoctoral programs, as well as conducting courses through external providers. (Details here, p.126)

ASE provides facilities regarding the payment of school fees for its employees. 34 teaching staff and auxiliary teaching staff from ASE have benefited from the tuition fee exemption in 2022, for various study programs, such as participating in the Romanian-Canadian MBA, at the university master’s degree program Communication in English for economic teaching and research (EDURES), or at the psycho-pedagogical training programs, organized in the postgraduate regime. (Details here, p.128)

The persons reporting discrimination are protected.

The University Ethics and Deontology Commission confidentially deals with complaints in order to protect the identity of the persons who are considered victims of such behaviours, in order to minimize the fear of persons facing (sexual) harassment that there will be repercussions if they will file such complaints (ASE Charter, article 87). The identity of the author of the complaint is kept confidential throughout its analysis by the University Ethics and Deontology Commission (art. 19(1)).