From February 13th to March 1st, 2023, the University of Saint Cyril and Methodius conducted a survey entitled "Questionnaire for Monitoring Gender Equality at UCM" among students at all levels of study and employees in all parts of UCM.

The wording of the questionnaire was worked on under the guidance of Assoc. Prof. Mgr. Ildikó Matušíková, PhD., members of the UCM Gender Equality Commission (hereinafter "GE Commission").

The GE Commission and the university management would like to thank all female and male employees and female and male students for filling out the questionnaire, as this represents the first collection of data for further optimization of processes in this area.

The questionnaire aimed to analyze the awareness of respondents regarding issues related to the principle of gender equality and personal experiences with violations of the principles of gender equality at UCM. Some questions were focused on exploring the respondents' awareness of strategies and mechanisms for ensuring gender equality at UCM.

Potential respondents were invited to participate in the survey via email.

A total of 717 individuals completed the questionnaire, including 480 women, 252 men, and 3 individuals who did not disclose their gender. The majority of respondents were female and male students (516 individuals - 9.4% of the total number of 5,520 UCM students). Of the 297 employees who completed the questionnaire (representing 61% of respondents), the ratio of academic to non-academic staff was 5:1.

Out of the total of 322 respondents with university education, 18% (57) achieved a Bachelor's degree and 41% (131) achieved a Master's degree. Among the academic staff, 67 individuals held the position of Assistant Professor, 10 were lecturers, 35 were Associate Professors, and 21 were Professors.

Key findings from the questionnaire:

-   96% of respondents know what "gender equality" or "gender inequality" means.

-   71% of respondents do not know whom to contact in case of experiencing a problem or event related to gender inequality at UCM.

-   54% of respondents are unaware that UCM has developed legislation on equal treatment and protection against discrimination, but are interested in learning more about the issue. 17% of respondents do not keep track of this agenda and are not interested in it.

-   40% of respondents are aware of the existence of the gender equality agenda at UCM, and 11% actively follow it.

-   7% of women and 2% of male respondents reported experiencing unwanted sexual comments, attention or behavior (harassment), with the highest numbers reported from FPV (13%) and FF (12%).

-   14% of women and 4% of men reported experiencing unwanted comments, attention, or behavior related to gender, with the highest numbers reported from FPV (34%), FMK (19%), and FF (18.6%).

-   2.3% of respondents (1.7% women and 0.6% men) believe they have gained an advantage or opportunity in the last year due to being a woman or a man.

-   4.9% of respondents (3.2% women and 1.7% men) believe they have lost an advantage or opportunity in the last year due to being a woman or a man.

-   Women rated gender equality at UCM with a score of 3.8 and men with a score of 4.1 (on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest value).

-   Respondents gave UCM an average rating of 3.6 for its efforts to address gender equality issues (on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest value).

-   63% of respondents perceive various obstacles or negative effects at UCM related to being a woman or a man. The most commonly mentioned were unequal financial or other rewards, unequal opportunities in career advancement, and unequal access to education (multiple options could be selected).

-   Lectures with gender equality experts were considered the most appropriate form of raising awareness about gender equality issues by UCM respondents (54%). 20% of respondents do not consider any form appropriate.

The entire questionnaire along with the results is archived with Prof. Matušíková at the Department of Science and Research.

The material was discussed at the Rector's Collegium on March 21, 2023.
The Gender Equality Commission will propose measures to the university leadership based on the questionnaire findings for a positive shift in problematic areas.