Gender Perspective at the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), Mexico: Building a Culture of Peace

Abstract

The National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) is a Mexican public institution of higher education, currently comprising 102 academic units, founded in 1936 by Lázaro Cárdenas. The teaching staff, predominantly composed of military personnel, established a rigid, authoritarian, and patriarchal culture with gender-based violence. In 2001, the Institutional Educational Model introduced a holistic approach, facilitating the inclusion of a human rights course in the engineering curriculum. Despite the implementation of the current Model 4.0, the institutional culture has largely remained unchanged. In response, a gender perspective was introduced in 2009, followed by the establishment of the Polytechnic Unit for Gender Management in 2012. This unit created the Gender Network to extend its reach across the entire Institute, with the goal of eradicating the prevailing machismo. Today, the IPN is committed to adhering to both national and international regulations, such as the International Bill of Human Rights, the 2030 Agenda, and the CEDAW. In 2019, the IPN became the first national institution to implement a protocol for the “Prevention, Detection, Response, and Sanction of Gender Violence.” The Gender Network at ESIME Culhuacán unit identifies stereotypes that undermine human dignity; to contribute to their eradication, the unit implements denunciation campaigns against violence, harassment, and bullying, while it provides training on Human Rights, Feminism, Masculinities, Gender, and Education for Peace. Research is also conducted, such as the study on Gender Culture in the degree programs at ESIME Culhuacán, IPN (project number 20231736), which employs a postmodern feminist, constructivist approach.