Dr Sara Berbel Sánchez

"Gender inequality is still a handicap that we must overcome in the 21st century. In areas like science, women are still far from occupying the space of recognition and experience that they deserve in the labour market. GenPORT is a great platform to share knowledge and investigate barriers that hamper this egalitarian access, providing tools to Universities and policy makers to eliminate the obstacles that women in science find throughout their life.”

Sara Berbel Sánchez is PhD in Social Psychology and postgraduate in Group Analysis and Leadership from the University of Barcelona. Currently she is Managing Director of Barcelona Activa and Manager of Economic Policy and Local Development of Barcelona City Council.

She has been General Director of Equal Opportunities in the Department of Work of the Generalitat de Catalunya, President of the Catalan Institute for Women and Coordinator of Equality Policies, economic promotion and social economy in Barcelona City Council. In 2015 she founded Empowerment Hub, a project for personal, professional and social empowerment.

She received the Aspasia Award in defence of gender equity in March 2014, awarded by the network of Women Managers and Professionals of Social Action (DDiPAS) and the Observatory of the Third Sector.

She was invited by the Department of State of the United States of America, and participated as an expert in gender leadership in the International Visitor Leadership Program, together with 11 European representatives from different countries in 2012.

Her professional interest is focused on research and work in the development of social movements and strategies for economic and social change.

She has published articles, talks and books about the above-mentioned topics. Among the publications it is worth highlighting works such as El cuerpo silenciado y Sin cadenas, Nuevas formas de libertad en el siglo XXI (‘The silenced body’ and ‘Without chains, New forms of freedom in the 21st century’), along with her more recent books Directivas y empresarias. Mujeres rompiendo el techo de cristal (‘Women managers and businesswomen. Women breaking the glass ceiling’) and Ideas que cambian el mundo (‘Ideas that change the world’).