A female rector to lead the third generation of universities

LleidaCatalonia's oldest university – founded in 1300 as the Estudi General – now has a woman's face. The woman from Lleida. Maria Àngels Balsells Bailón is the first rector of the University of Lleida And one of only three in the entire Catalan university system. She shies away from individual triumphs and attributes it to "a collective advance." "I hope that one day this won't be news and people will simply talk about merit," she says.

But this professor of pedagogy is aware that the glass ceiling persists in her field as well. Women's presence in the highest echelons of academia remains a minority, unlike in other areas, such as teaching. But "we are making progress," both in deanships and department heads, as well as in research groups. "I believe I will see a majority of women," declares a rector who, every day on her way to her office, passes by the portraits of four of the five men who have led the University of Lleida since the early 1990s.

She belongs to the first generation of faculty hired by the University of Lleida, re-established in 1992, and has held virtually every position within the university: professor, researcher, vice-dean, the first female dean of Education, director of the Doctoral School, and now rector with over 80% of the vote. "That gives you more responsibility, but also a lot of strength," she observes. She initially dedicated herself to teaching with passion; she recalls participating in the creation of the Social Education degree program, which she coordinated. Then came fifteen intense years of research. Now the time has come to "give back everything I've learned throughout my career to the University of Lleida and offer it in a more community-oriented way."

Numbers can be capricious, and her first 100 days in office will coincide with March 8th, International Women's Day. In this short time, she has already drawn some clear lines, including a new call for talent to address the difficult generational transition at the University of Lleida (UdL), a commitment for which she is determined to forge alliances with institutions, entities, and the business sector. "We are working hard to create an attractive ecosystem in Lleida," she assures.

In the first division

On the global university map, the University of Lleida is included in the Shanghai Ranking and therefore competes at the highest level. Internal figures also reinforce its social standing: demand increases every year, and entry requirements rise. "The preference for the UdL as a first choice grows year after year in all degree programs," the rector emphasizes. The excellence of the University of Lleida is recognized, "but it can be even more so." From her pedagogical perspective, in six years—at the end of her term—Maria Àngels Balsells envisions a UdL "at the forefront of the third generation of universities in different interdisciplinary fields," with knowledge transfer and commitment to the region as its main missions. She maintains that social challenges cannot be solved solely from a single discipline, and in this sense, "a generalist university, encompassing all areas of knowledge, and small like this one, is well-suited for dialogue between diverse disciplines." The rector emphasizes that "all new degrees will be offered with this perspective," such as the new degree in data engineering science. With a measured approach, Maria Àngels Balsells speaks with the serenity that comes from over thirty years of dedicated service at all levels. When she wants to disconnect from the stifling institutional weight within the walls of the old diocesan seminary, she hikes in the mountains and finds refuge in reading. Her favorite stories feature women who break new ground: from the intersectional feminism of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to the turbulent heroines of the Brontë sisters, Tolstoy, and Flaubert. Her leadership is not a gesture of authority, but rather a sustained perseverance. Seven centuries after the birth in Lleida of the first university district in Europe, the rector's medal hangs for the first time around a woman's neck. And she doesn't want to be an exception, but a precedent.