Técnico has developed a range of initiatives to promote inclusion and gender equality across the academic community. These initiatives combine recognition, outreach, student support and institutional measures aimed at creating a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment.

Gender Balance

• Maria de Lurdes Pintasilgo Award Técnico launched in 2016 the Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo Award to recognise her outstanding contribution as an engineer, alumna and public figure, and to highlight the role of women in engineering and society.
• Alumni Talks on International Women’s Day Since 2016, a special edition of the Alumni Talks series has been held each year on International Women’s Day, bringing together students and alumnae to celebrate women in engineering and to share academic and professional experiences.
• Post-Parental-Leave Support In 2017, Técnico has introduced measures to support parenthood, including temporary teaching relief for academic staff returning from parental leave. These measures help promote work-life balance and facilitate a smoother return to academic duties.
• Female Engineers for a Day Técnico played a pioneering role in the creation of the “Female Engineers for a Day” project in 2017. This Government initiative runs in collaboration with the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), school clusters and secondary schools, and the Portuguese Association for Women’s Studies (APEM). The programme, sponsored by IBM Portugal, Microsoft and Siemens Portugal, encourages girls to consider engineering and technology pathways and helps challenge gender stereotypes in educational and career choices.
• Inclusive Language Recommendation Técnico’s official guidelines on inclusive communication, launched in 2021, provide practical recommendations for the use of non-discriminatory and gender-sensitive language in internal and external communication, including forms, templates and institutional documents
• Girls in AI The Girls in AI project highlights the paths of former and current Técnico students who have pursued studies and careers in Artificial Intelligence, showcasing the wide range of opportunities in the field and encouraging more girls to explore them. The first videos were launched in 2022.
• Women in STEM – a MOOC for Educators This course, whose first edition ran in 2022, aims to offer a practical tool to all people willing to create educational content in a gender-conscious perspective.

Diversity

• Support for International Students Técnico promotes initiatives that support the integration of international students into the academic community and into life in Portugal, mainly through its International Admissions Office.
• Support for Students with Special Educational Needs Técnico develops measures to support students with special educational needs and to foster equal access to academic life. Técnico develops a series of actions aimed at supporting students with specific educational needs, focusing on academic integration and psycho-pedagogical support, having created a working group (GENEE) that has been active since 1995 on the Alameda campus and since 2010 at Taguspark.
• Facts and Figures Data  and indicators related to diversity at Técnico are available since 2025 through the OMNES platform.  This data helps inform policy, monitor progress and identify areas for improvement.

Other initiatives

• Expain it like I’m 5 Science Talks at Técnico for Children and Curious Adults (in Portuguese). Researchers from Técnico will answer curious children’s questions on topics ranging from satellites and nanotechnology to radiation, sustainability, trains, the Universe, and the connection between music and mathematics. This programme which started in May 2020 has involved the participation of 45% female researchers so far, as well as a very gender-balanced set of curious children.
• Kindergarten Formally created in 1984, this support structure for early childhood, whose first steps date back to 1975, placed Técnico at the social forefront, clearly distinguishing it from other educational institutions of the time.