The XENIA consortium of 7 partners from 5 European countries (Italy, Ireland, Spain, Greece and Slovenia) symbolically chose the commemorating day of May 17th, the International Day Against Homo-lesbo-bi-transphobia, to start the survey administration to students at the “Federico II” University in Naples, University College Dublin in Ireland, University of Barcelona in Spain, Hellenic Open University in Greece and University of Ljubljana in Slovenia.
The date, celebrates the removal of homosexuality as a mental illness by the World Health Organization and it is dedicated worldwide to initiatives to prevent and raise awareness against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The XENIA consortium has developed an inclusiveness index to evaluate inclusion based on gender identity and sexual orientation in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in order to make Universities ‘safe space’ for all.
Students, academic staff and expertises will be asked to respond to a series of questions about their HEI in relation to five key institutional categories. Once they have completed the whole questionnaire they will receive an overall score summarizing the level of gender and LGBQ+ inclusion in their HEI, a report about strenghts and weaknesses and a series of best practices that can guide the progress towards their improvements.
The survey is anonymous and data collected will be processed guaranteeing the anonymity of the participants. Whatsmore the results will be used exclusively for the project’s purpose.
