Gender Equality Without Transformation? A Comparative Study of University Gender Plans in Mexico, Peru and Italy

Abstract

This article examines how gender is conceptualized and operationalized in institutional policy frameworks through a comparative qualitative document analysis of three major public universities: the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), and the University of Bologna (UNIBO). Official institutional gender policy documents – including gender equality plans and strategic development plans – were analyzed using a theory-driven framework organized around five analytical categories: conceptualization of gender, subjects of gender policy, policy domains, policy instruments, and underlying gender paradigms, drawing on feminist, intersectional, and organizational theory.

The findings reveal that, despite distinct national governance contexts and institutional cultures, all three universities frame gender equality predominantly through managerial and procedural logics. Gender inequality is understood primarily as a problem of representation, participation, and risk management, rather than as a structural power relation embedded in academic labor, governance, and knowledge production. Intersectionality is formally acknowledged across all three cases but remains additive and programmatic rather than analytically integrated. Symbolic and procedural instruments dominate, while redistributive measures are largely absent. The article identifies a shared tension between institutionalization and transformation: while current paradigms facilitate policy legitimacy and compliance, they simultaneously constrain the transformative potential of gender equality initiatives.