“In terms of equality, many things are moving in the right direction”

“Advancing respect, equality, accessibility, diversity and inclusion”: EPFL’s 2025–2028 DEI Action Plan reaffirms its commitment to building an ever healthier, more stimulating and inclusive environment. It continues efforts undertaken for more than a decade to transform institutional culture, strengthen representation, and promote respect within the EPFL community. Helene Füger, Equal Opportunity Delegate, answers a few questions here.

What is your assessment of the past four years?

There has been a lot, and the work continues today within the new organization. In terms of psychosocial risk prevention, for example, we can note the Respect campaigns at each academic year’s start, the development of the Trust and Support Network since 2022, as well as various training programs. Among these, the Respect e‑learning module is now part of the Essentials, and the "Protection of employee and student's health and personality" training for supervisors, available both online and in person, is very well attended.

Regarding inclusion, we launched the EPFL Without Barriers project with a transversal team that produced a self‑assessment report on the School’s accessibility for people with disabilities. Since last year, we have had a colleague dedicated to developing this project, doing remarkable work with all stakeholders.

On diversity, the themes we addressed expanded to include visibility, integration of needs, and respect for the rights of LGBTIQ people, notably with the completion of the Inclusive Name Change project.

The focus on developing institutional culture also took shape through new awareness methods, such as Theatre-Forum during the Action Week Against Racism or to raise awareness about harassment. Promoting inclusive communication was another major and successful project, making a huge difference in institutional culture.

Another priority, which will continue, concerns work‑life balance and support for parents. Progress over the past four years includes extending paternity or second‑parent leave from two to four weeks, automatically extending doctoral and postdoctoral contracts to compensate for maternity leave, and introducing teaching relief for all professors—women and men—who welcome a new child.

Can you give one or two striking examples of EPFL’s progress in equality, diversity and inclusion?

I would highlight the increase in the proportion of female students and women professors. Two schools now have 50% or more female students, and none has fewer than 20%. Among faculty hires, 39% over the past four years were women. Overall, they still represent only 26%, but the new EPFL Management continues to prioritize and strengthen these efforts.

What remains to be done in the coming years?

Biases and stereotypes still strongly influence study choices. There is more work to do to advance gender equality across study programs. Diversity must also improve in leadership roles and across all professions. With the adoption of a detailed action plan for EPFL Without Barriers, inclusion of people with disabilities will be further enhanced. Among underrepresented social groups at EPFL are first-generation students. The same phenomenon is seen in science tracks at the high school level, particularly among girls. These inequalities deprive society of the talent it needs. In this perspective, we must pay attention to the EPFL community in all its diversity and understand the resulting needs—whether for LGBTIQ communities or regarding diversity of origins. Needs may also vary depending on age and career stage. Finally, artificial intelligence—whose impact on equal opportunities is not yet fully understood—must also concern us. The Gender and Digital Technologyconference held at EPFL earlier this year highlighted this issue.

What are the strengths of the 2025–2028 Action Plan?

This plan aims to strengthen the cross‑cutting nature of diversity, equality and inclusion themes at EPFL. It is closely aligned with the mission and strategy of the top Management. For example, in its commitment to integrate ethics into students’ core training: DEI issues are part of that. We can hope that in the future, EPFL’s curriculum will incorporate social sustainability broadly, just as it recently integrated environmental sustainability.

Your team is now part of the Vice Presidency for Human Development. What has this changed for the Equal Opportunity Office?

We now have greater proximity, collaboration, and alignment with those responsible for the various domains and professions formerly grouped under “human resources.” This allows us to develop synergies to improve parental support, integrate DEI aspects into recruitment processes, collaborate on skills and career development, and link DEI ever more closely with well‑being—different but connected themes. For example, neurodivergent individuals express the need for quiet spaces on campus. We see that the needs of specific groups can spark projects benefiting the entire community: everyone’s daily life improves when infrastructure accessibility is enhanced.

On a personal level, what is your next challenge?

I have been tasked with working on EPFL’s values definition project, which will be a major topic in 2026, in collaboration with several EPFL entities. The goal is to identify and define, through a participatory process, the values that characterize EPFL, enabling it to excel in its missions and respond to current and future challenges. The participatory process will seek community buy‑in and engagement, so these values are collectively shared and lived.

What would you like to wish for the EPFL community in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion?

A great deal is happening and moving in the right direction. We are surrounded by highly committed people, which is wonderful. At the same time, we live in a context of change at many levels, which creates stress. I hope that the reflection on values will bring serenity and help us focus on our strengths, to address challenges constructively.

And in Switzerland?

Ultimately, the same. People often say things move slowly in Switzerland. That is true, especially regarding equal opportunities. Yet I prefer change that may be a bit slower but is solid and genuinely inclusive.