A CCELERATING THE B ALANCE OF W OMEN IN L EADERSHIP P OSITIONS IN S CIENCE, T ECHNOLOGY AND I...
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Transcript of A CCELERATING THE B ALANCE OF W OMEN IN L EADERSHIP P OSITIONS IN S CIENCE, T ECHNOLOGY AND I...
ACCELERATING THE BALANCE OF WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
@ theHigh Level International Roundtable
for
Women In Leadership Roles In Science And Technology
Getting TherePresented by:
JUMMAI UMAR-AJIJOLA, PHD @ the
Swiss Garden Hotel and Residences, Kuala Lumpur 4 – 5 September 2012
INTRODUCTION
Context: Leadership
Women and Leadership in STI: Historical Perspective
Issues confronting Women Scientists in Attaining Leadership Roles in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI)
Prospects: International Legal Basis
Leveraging Culture: The Norwegian Paradox
What Way Forward? Strategies for acceleration
Conclusion
CONTEXT: LEADERSHIP• Leadership is a corner stone of social
advancement in which change is anchored. • How Leaders are made• Identified by followers • Active pursuit of leadership
position• Tiers of leadership
• Administrative• Discipline
• Three determinants• Social Integration• Discipline Expertise• Gender
Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me. But they all seem to. It doesn’t matter what country they’re in or what religion they claim.They all want to control women. They want to control how we dress. They want to control how we act. They even want to control the decisions we make about our own health and our own bodies – Hillary Clinton, 2012
en he du an na
‘The High Priestess, Ornament of Heaven'
EN HEDU’ANNA (BABYLON) - 2354 BC
• Chief Astronomer Priestess
• Granted legitimacy to rulers
• Credited with at least 42 poems some on astronomy
Merit Ptah (Egypt)• First recorded
woman scientist
• “Chief Physician” to the Pharaoh (2700 BC)Agamede (1194 – 1184
BC)• Referenced by Homer
as Physician with healing powers using plants
• Later labeled a sorceress in the 4th Century BC
Agnodike (Agnodice) – 600 BC• First known midwife in
ancient Greece• Studied midwifery/
Gynecology by disguising as a man
• Activist: Successfully fought to abolish law against women studying medicine
WOMEN LEADERS IN HISTORY: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
Hypatia of Alexandria (370 – 415 AD)• First historically noted
woman in Mathematics• Head of Platonic
School at Alexandria
Dorotea Bucca• Professor of
medicine at Bologna University
• Dean of medicine (1390 – aprox.1430)
• Succeeded her father who held the same chair
Maria the Jewess• Alchemist and inventor of
chemical laboratory apparatus including the double boiler
• Author of oldest alchemy books Ibn al-Nadim (Kitāb al-Fihrist), 1100 AD referred to her as one of fifty-two most famous alchemists
• Director, Library of Alexandria• Taught Philosophy and Astronomy• Accused of witchcraft and
murdered by a Christian mob
• Masculinization of power and leadership positions
• Active and Passive Discriminationagainst women scientists
CHALLENGES
• Intolerance - Victimization of women scientists• labeled as witches• Women "mentally incapable of holding a
position of authority” - Thomas Acquinas (1225 – 1274 AD)
• “The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women [but] about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.” - Pat Robertson (1991)
• Leaky Pipe
PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS
• Societal conditioning Established beliefs of women’s lack of leadership capacity• Loss of
bargaining will• Women leading
like men
CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (1979)
Discrimination constitutes “distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of…exercise by women… in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field”Countries responsibility:• ensure gender parity:• education (Article 10)• employment (Article 11) • political and public life (Article 7)
• Provide Progress Reports at least every four years (Article 18)
-1.00 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.000
20
40
60
80
100
120
Progress Report by Convention Country Parties
Number of Reports
Conv
entio
n Co
untr
y Pa
rties
• United States, Iran, Nauru, Palau, Qatar, Sumatra, Sudan and Tonga not signatories to Convention
• Ecuador, El-Salvador, Mongolia, Norway, Sweden and Uruguay up to date with reports
THE ASIAN AND SOUTH PACIFIC SUCCESS
Source: www.masterintelligence.com
LEVERAGING CULTURES: THE NORWEGIAN PARADOX• Tight Cultures do not
support emergence of women leaders - fallacy• Top-down approach &
enforces social comformity
• However, Norway introduced quota system for board room representation of women in 1993• Targeted 40% by
2017• Achieved 42% women
representation in 2010, above EU average and far surpassing other ‘lose cultures’ (i.e. laissez faire)
WHAT WAY FORWARD? STRATEGIES FOR ACCELERATION
• Focus on Impacts and Results• Measure achievements (baseline,
develop matrix, M&E)• Identify Partners• Tight Cultures• Use Champions and National
Animators• Build Pipelines• Affirmative Action• Other Access Initiatives• Mentorship programs
• Recognize Achievements• Media and Communication• Documentation
• Break down stereotypes
MEASURE IMPACT AND RESULTS
Conduct Baseline Survey• Create Date
Bank• Understand
Current State of Affairs
• Identify Current Leadership Opportunities for women in science
Assessment Matrix• Multiple
Domains and Processes
• Self-Assessment Indicators for countries
Monitoring and Evaluation• Trend
Dashboard• Impact
Assessment
Women-LeaP
Framework
Policies & Strategy
Awareness &
Communication
Implementation &
Organization
Compliance &
Coordination
Monitoring &
Evaluation
WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS - WOMEN-LEAP (STI) ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK - DOMAINS• Women-LeaP
(STI) Index• n-Domains • n-Processes• Applied Across:• Academic-
Education• Research• Technology
Related Professions
• Industry• Political
Leadership• Policy &
Regulation• Media
• Self Assessed
WOMEN-LEAP (STI) ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK - PROCESSES
D-P Process Description
PS 1 N-Women-LeaP (STI) Policy – Recognize need for National policy on accelerating Women-LeaP (STI)
AC 1 National Influencers – National leaders are aware of policy & strategy
IO 1 National Coordinator – Recognize the need for a national coordinator of efforts
CC 1 Legal parameters – Recognize the need for appropriate laws to be enacted
ME 1 Benchmarks – Launch national baseline survey to establish benchmarks
Domain-n and Process-n
Define all processes for all domains at country level
Table Key: PS = Policy & Strategy; AC = Awareness and Communication; IO = Implementation and Organization; CC = Compliance and Control; ME = Monitoring& Evaluation
WOMEN-LEAP (STI) SELF-ASSESSMENT PROCESSES
PS Process Descriptio
n
Level One Level Two
Level-n
Domain 1: Process 1
Recognize the Need for a national strategy
Promulgate and Endorse a national policy on women representation in leadership positions in STI
Domain 2: Process-2
Domain 4: Process -4
Domain-n: Process-n
Surpassed 30% representation of Women-LeaP (STI)
• Simplified assessment table for country partners• Assessment covers all domains and processes
across all four sub-fields• Self-ranking depth (i.e. level) determined by
framework owner• Ranking system developed based on baseline
survey
Nigeria National
Champion - Aliko Dangote
Africa Regional Champion- Mo
Ibrahim
Global Champion - Bill Gates
Steering Committee
IDENTIFY PARTNERS: CHAMPIONS
• Get Women-LeaP on the UN Post-2015 agenda through Office of the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on Post-2015 development agenda
IDENTIFY PARTNERS: Animators
Steering Committee
Africa Regional Animato
r
Nigeria Country Animato
r
Asia Regional Animator
Malaysia Country Animator
Europe Regional Animator
Country –n Country Animator
Region – n
Regional Animator
Country –n Country Animator
BUILDING A PIPELINE: COMBINING ACCESS INITIATIVES• Quota Systems work!
• UK, Canada, United States, Austria, Germany and Sweden already considering quotas for boardroom representation
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2012/05/specials/infographic.women.boardroom/index.html
RECOGNIZE AND CELEBRATE ACHIEVEMENTS
• Document and Trumpet Successes• Champion Best Practices
• Develop recognition parameters for successful individuals and organizations accelerating Women-LeaP
BREAK DOWN STEREOTYPES
•De-masculinize perception of power and leadership•Women scientists exhibit the same professional traits as their male counterparts•Girls can compete
CONCLUSION• Parity of women representation at
leadership levels in Science, Technology and Innovation fields is a necessity for global advancement• Achievements in other spheres of
leadership must be adapted and leveraged to suit women leadership goals in STI• Breakdown psychological barriers to
women parity in leadership position• Partnerships across disciplines,
cultures, gender and ideologies to have a successful acceleration of women representation at decision-making levels
IN CLOSING…To the true woman who possesses exceeding wisdomAlways consulting a tablet of lapis lazuli (or of Samsung and Apple)Giving advice to all landsThe true woman, born of the stylus reedApplies the measure to heavenAnd places the measuring-rope on the earth(For the benefit of mankind)Something has been created that no one has created before(Finally attaining her true place)(In an equitable position in the balance of life)
Adapted from: “The house of Nisaba”, En Hedu’Anna (2354 BC)