SDG 5 – GENDER EQUALITY

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

UGM demonstrates a comprehensive, system-wide approach to advancing SDG 5: Gender Equality. From application and admission to graduation and transition to work, UGM has embedded gender-sensitive mechanisms that both prevent discrimination and actively promote women’s participation.

Systematic Tracking of Women’s Access and Success

A key highlight of UGM’s SDG 5 implementation is its systematic measurement and monitoring of women’s application, admission, and graduation rates. UGM has integrated gender tracking into its Entrance Examination system, where applicants are required to declare their gender identity during registration. This information is linked with UGM’s internal database for current students and graduates, allowing longitudinal tracking from entry to degree completion. The University Quality Assurance and Reputation Unit has access to a dedicated Data Mart application, which enables easy, real-time monitoring of diversity metrics, including student gender distribution.

Source: UGM admitted 6,346 new female students

Using these tools, UGM has achieved measurable progress in women’s access:

In 2024, UGM admitted 6,346 new female students compared to 4,332 male students.

Since 2023, the female graduation rate has averaged 54%, consistently exceeding the male graduation rate, with women making up more than half of each graduating batch.

Fair and Inclusive Admissions: Policy Foundations for Gender Equality

UGM’s progress is underpinned by a strong regulatory framework that explicitly promotes fairness, inclusivity, and non-discrimination: Rector’s Regulation Number 4 of 2023 regulates the admission of new undergraduate and applied undergraduate students. These regulations demand fair, transparent, and inclusive admission processes, ensuring that opportunities are open to all—regardless of socio-economic status, gender, ethnicity, religion, or region. These principles align with Rector’s Regulation Number 11 Year 2019, Article 9, which emphasizes accessibility of higher education, including specific provisions for regions such as the Province of Papua. At the governance level, Board of Trustees Regulations Number 1 Year 2023 (Strategic Plan 2022–2027) and Number 1 Year 2020 (Strategic Plan 2017–2022) commit UGM to building an inclusive campus that rejects discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, marital status, disability, age, religion, or minority status.

The non-discrimination commitment is reinforced by Rector’s Regulation Number 18 Year 2016 on Human Resource Management, which mandates non-discriminatory treatment in employment, and by Rector’s Regulation Number 3 Year 2023 and Number 4 Year 2023, which ensure fairness in student admissions.

Crucially, Rector’s Regulation Number 1 Year 2023 on the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence includes a strong human-rights-based statement in Article 2a, where UGM aims to:

“Maintain the standard of values and human dignity at UGM, and protect the entire UGM Community from all forms of Sexual Violence.”

Furthermore, Article 3, Verse 2a explicitly prohibits:

“Deliver[ing] speech that discriminates against or harasses a victim’s physical appearance, body condition, and/or gender identity.”

Women’s Access Schemes: Mentoring, Scholarships, and Empowerment

UGM strengthens women’s access and success not only through fair admissions but also through dedicated support schemes:

The UGM Women’s Studies Center, established in 1991, focuses on research, advocacy, and community service related to women’s issues. It functions as a hub for mentoring, critical discussion, and capacity building, and its work directly and indirectly contributes to improving gender equality on campus and in the wider community.

UGM collaborates with the Asia Pacific Women’s Information Network Center (APWINC) at Sookmyung Women’s University in the Sookmyung UNESCO-UNITWIN Digital and Leadership Training 2023. This program targets female students to strengthen their skills in ICT, digital technology, UI/UX design, and digital entrepreneurship, supporting women in pursuing leadership roles in the digital economy. From UGM, 12 female students were selected through a rigorous process.

Scholarships for Women

UGM provides and facilitates multiple scholarship schemes that directly advance SDG 5:

• THIESS Women and Diversity Undergraduate Scholarship Program, which supports female students in engineering and related fields, addressing both gender and field-based inequities.
  
• A graduate scholarship program at the UGM Graduate School (SPs UGM), where 60.87% (28 out of 46) scholarship recipients are women, reflecting both high female competitiveness and targeted support.
  
• Participation in the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards, where UGM researchers such as Widiastuti Setyaningsih from the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering have been recipients, highlighting UGM’s role in supporting women in science.
  
• Support for British Council Scholarships for Women in STEM, enabling women to pursue advanced degrees in the UK, and the Gadjah Mada International Fellowship (GMIF), which opens master’s-level opportunities at UGM for international female students.

Encouraging Women in Underrepresented Disciplines

Although UGM proudly notes that men’s and women’s applications are broadly balanced across fields, it recognizes that some clusters—particularly Engineering and Technology (Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science)—tend to have fewer female students, mirroring global trends.

UGM’s strategy includes; scholarship programs specifically benefiting women in engineering and STEM fields, such as the THIESS Women and Diversity Scholarship, mentorship and support networks to help women navigate academic and professional trajectories in male-dominated disciplines, outreach and engagement activities in collaboration with community groups, government agencies, and NGOs to promote STEM education for girls and young women.

Source: Third Southeast Asian Women Mathematicians Meeting 2023 

One notable example is UGM’s involvement in the Third Southeast Asian Women Mathematicians Meeting 2023 (SEAMS-UGM 2023), hosted at UGM. This event fosters networking and visibility for women in mathematics, signalling UGM’s broader commitment to women’s representation in advanced STEM fields.

Supporting Women’s Progress: Leave, Childcare, and Work–Study Balance

UGM recognizes that gender equality requires structural support for caregiving responsibilities, both for students and staff.

Rector’s Regulation Number 22 of 2021 on Employee Leave regulates various leave types, including maternity leave and paternity leave. For maternity leave, Chapter III sets eligibility, duration, and procedures—including submission of a leave application form (downloadable at http://ugm.id/formcuti) and a medical certificate confirming the expected delivery date. For students, UGM’s Academic Regulation allows academic leave on specific grounds. While students generally cannot take leave before four semesters, exceptions are explicitly made for pregnancy/childbirth and serious illness, with the rector’s approval. In such cases, the leave period is still counted toward study duration and evaluation. The Academic Guidebook for Undergraduate Programs 2023 of the Faculty of Forestry formalizes maternity-related academic leave as an exceptional circumstance, enabling women students to balance family and study commitments without being forced to abandon their education.

UGM has built a network of childcare services that make it easier for student parents and staff to be physically present and fully engaged on campus:

Tunggadewi Day Care, managed by the UGM Women’s Association, serves children aged 2 months to 5 years and is located at Sekip Blok M-5 Bulaksumur, within the campus. Established on 7 January 1986, it has more than 1,600 alumni. The Masjid Kampus UGM Kindergarten and Play Group offers early childhood education for children aged 2.5 to 6 years, focusing on holistic development in a nurturing environment. The Family Wellness Center at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences operates on a co-parenting concept and serves children aged 3 months to 5 years. It offers daycare and half-care programs, occasional drop-off services, and health screening in collaboration with the Gadjah Mada Medical Center (GMC), including regular medical and dental checks.

Mentoring, Protection, and Safe Reporting Mechanisms

UGM established a Task Force for the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence under Rector’s Decree Number 925/UN1.P/KPT/HUKOR/2022. The regulations include clear service pathways for victims, including access to counsellors, psychologists, psychiatrists, legal assistance, and other forms of support. UGM organises regular events and socialisation activities through the Task Force and provides guidelines on reporting, prevention, and handling sexual violence cases.

A Whistleblowing System (WBS) is also provided in the form of a digital reporting mechanism for violations and discrimination, with policies ensuring reporter anonymity. This helps protect students and staff who report misconduct from retaliation in academic or employment contexts.

Tracking Women’s Graduation and Transition to Work

Beyond admission and study support, UGM also monitors women’s progression into the labor market. Through the Data Mart dashboard, UGM tracks the number of female and male students registered each semester and the number of graduates for each graduation period. Women consistently constitute over 54% of graduates, reflecting UGM’s success in retaining and graduating female students.