FH OÖ’s Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

FH OÖ Compass upholds the 10 guiding principles of the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. Therefore, FH OÖ Compass upholds guiding principle 2, which states: “We represent a value system that does not tolerate any form of discrimination, be it on the basis of gender, ethnic origin, religion, ideology, disability, age or sexual orientation.”

Additionally, FH OÖ Compass upholds guiding principle 10, which states: “We are committed to the fundamental right to education for all people and support people nationally and internationally in acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills.”

FH OÖ commits to creating and maintaining a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning environment for all students. Here you’ll find resources to identify, prevent, and report sexism.

Identify Sexism

According to the Council of Europe, sexism is defined as the following: “a) any act, gesture or behaviour

     i) connected with the sex of a person or considering that person as            inferior or essentially reduced to her or his sexual dimension or

    ii) connected to harmful gender stereotypes

b) committed in a public or private place

c) with the purpose or effect of: 

    i) violating the dignity of a person, or of

    ii) creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or             

        offensive environment” ¹

Sexism is gender-based discrimination, and includes gender stereotypes and prejudiced behaviour patterns, false beliefs and attitudes, and gender generalizations. According to the European Institute for Gender Equality, “sexism is linked to power in that those with power are typically treated with favour and those without power are typically discriminated against.” ²

Discrimination against women is particularly visible in language, for example, women are often degraded or implied only in certain contexts. The so-called generic masculine is used to describe mixed gender groups and includes both men and women (e.g. teachers, students, employees, politicians, etc.). These word forms are referred to as “neutral”, although the connotation is strongly masculine, which contributes to sexist language.

However, it is not only the use of the generic masculine language that reflects sexism at the linguistic level. Words that have to do with the female body, female sexuality or homosexuality are often used as abusive words, and thus discriminate.