The main role given to engineering research and innovation towards a smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth in the world, means that academic and scientific institutions make full use of their human capital, thereby involving both men and women. Evidence shows that promoting gender equality at all levels contributes to achieving excellence and efficiency in research and innovation performance. Although some initiatives have been developed in Europe and the US for several years, they have proved to be insufficient and have not helped to address the structural barriers contributing to the leaky pipeline phenomenon. This has led to a shift in focus towards addressing the structural transformation of institutions, using a systemic, comprehensive, and sustainable approach. An exhaustive analysis of the role that scientific and academic institutions must play to enhance integration of academy and society for a structural change is made, so that decision making is more transparent, unconscious bias is removed from institutional practices, human resources management is modernized, excellence is promoted through diversity, and research and innovation are improved by the integration of diverse perspectives. While a lead is required from government institutions, a wider range of actors also need to play an active role in renovating the way in which research and innovation is conducted in all countries.