Equality sector’s recap of 2025

HYY’s equality sector coordinates and develops HYY’s work on equality. What has the sector been up to in 2025?

Equality is one of HYY’s values and as such a part of all our work. Our work for a more equal University, student life, society and HYY has been going on throughout the year. This work has been conducted in the University’s administrative bodies, info events for organisations, the streets of Helsinki and many other places.

Together towards a more equal University

The University’s Equality and Diversity Committee is at the heart of our cooperation with the University. HYY’s specialist and member of the Board from our equality sector are both members of the committee. The committee also has two student representatives who we regularly meet with. The composition of the committee changed early in the year with the changing of the term. On the committee, we have discussed matters including multilingualism, the development of teaching and the inclusion of international members of the University community. Several different parties at the University can submit their comments on matters related to equality to the Equality and Diversity Committee. The committee provides a way to relay students’ worries to the rectors, for instance.

During 2025, the University of Helsinki has joined the international Universitas21 university network, which has equality and diversity as one of its focus areas. The network also provides students with many new opportunities related to internationality and equality. This has been particularly exciting!

Another important part of the equality sector’s work is advocating for students who are in various minority positions at the University and other places. This year, we have brought attention to the situation of students with children in particular. Over 12 per cent of university students have children, and the University of Helsinki must do better in taking this into account. At our initiative, the University has compiled information on child care facilities on campuses. We have also discussed the possibility of creating recommendations on children participating in teaching, following the example of the University of Lapland. This work also continues next year.

We have had frequent meetings with the University’s new sustainable wellbeing unit. The unit deals with matters including student wellbeing, equality and sustainability. Special focus in our discussions has been on the need to reinforce communality and engagement and to be more efficient in preventing harassment at the University.

More user-friendly services for HYY’s members

Within the Student Union, we have developed our services for our members. In the future, you can get HYY’s advice with various problem situations, including questions on equality, through our form for reporting problems or misconduct. The centralised form helps us better ensure that leaves or absences do not make it more difficult to get help. You also do not need to know who exactly to contact – HYY will take care of the division of labour.

We have updated our training material for organisations. The ‘Equality in organisational activities’ training and its material will be available in HYY’s data bank for organisations (username jarjesto.info@hyy.fi, password Sitruunapuu1234) during December. The training includes basic information on equality, the basic building blocks of student organisations’ activities and how to act in harassment situations. Due to a lack of resources, the recording of the training could not be subtitled, but a text version of the entire recording is available in Finnish, Swedish and English. The data bank also includes other useful information to help you with different aspects of organisational activities.

Equality today and in the future

Our equality work also includes societal advocacy work and participation. HYY participated in the Women’s Day March on 8 March and organised a meetup for organisations to join the Helsinki Pride Parade together. In addition to organisations operating under HYY, other student-related organisations from the Capital Region also took part in the latter event.

At the end of the year, it is always a good idea to turn our attention to upcoming activities. We want our actions to help ensure a more equal student life. Next year, we will be investing in matters including the development of the accessibility information of our activities and the promotion of HYY’s equality activities in accordance with our Strategy. As the Equality Plan is due to expire, it is also time to assess the realisation of the goals in the old plan and to start planning new focus areas.

Of course, we are not working for equality in a vacuum. We are always happy to listen to feedback, wishes and remarks on equality from HYY’s members. If you have any ideas for development, feedback on the University’s operation or a difficult situation in student life, please contact us!

Best regards,

Viena Pentikäinen

Member of the Board in charge of equality

Tiia Niemi

Specialist in social policy