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WORKSHOP IMPLEMENTING GENDER EQUALITY PLANS (GEP) AT

UNIVERSITIES OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLITECNICO DI TORINO, SALONE D’ONORE DEL

CASTELLO DEL VALENTINO 29TH MARCH 2019

Role of Leadership in Promoting Gender Equality at Universities of Science and Technology

Prof. Dr. Gülsün SağlamerPresident

EuropeanWomenRectorsAssociation

Torino,29th ofMarch2019

BackgroundSTEMfor All

Policies atEULevelGender Equality inHE

FactsNeed for Change

Change-ResistanceRoleofLeadership inChange processesEuropean Women Rectors Association

Conclusions

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Content

STEMfor All

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“IthinkstudiesinSTEMshouldbemoreattractivethaneverforallyoungpeople, asourplanethasaseriesofverytangiblescientificandengineeringproblems,thatneedverytangiblesolutionsthatwillcontributetobetteringthelifeofourspeciesandothersalikeonthisplanet.”

Sağlamer,G.,2018,STEMFORALL,WOMENINSCIENCE

Recommendationstoimprove #HorizonEU throughagender

perspective" heldon 25Sept2018atEuropeanParliement,

Brussels.

Decline inSTEM

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Starting from the beginning ofthe third millenium decline inSTEMareas hasbecome animportant issue onthe agenda ofEU.

Onevariableunderourcontrolis“interest”inSTEMamongtheyouth

What are the reasons forthedeclineininterest?•The Curriculum isdifficult•The curriculum isdensely packed and inflexible•Other paths to good jobs are easier•Engineers treated ascommodities by employers•Traditional entry level jobs are being offshored•Mediareports indicate instability

Wayne C.Johnson,Russel CJones,2006.,”DecliningInterest inEngineering Studies ataTimeofIncreasedBusinessNeed”p244

Bachelor’s Degree Awards?

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Rapid Rise of China’s STEM Workforce Charted by National Science Board ReportPublication date: 31 January 2018, Number: 10https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/aipcorp/images/fyi/articles_SEI.jpg

WOMENINSTEM-EU

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EUROSTAT Statistics 2015 , File:Distribution of tertiary education students by field and sex, EU-28, 2015 (%) YB17.png

There is a lack of interest in STEM for all among the youth in EU

But we have also additional problems for attracting girls’ interest for STEM

It is obvious that we are trying to solve a twofold problem

Women inSTEM

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Knowledge Center listed the following facts;

• Women Are Scarce in Scientific Research and DevelopmentAveraged across regions, women accounted for less than a third (28.8%) of those employed in scientific research and development (R&D) across the world in 2014.

• Women Are Less Likely to Enter, More Likely to Leave STEM CareersWomen who start out in business roles in tech-intensive industries leavefor other industries at high rates—53% of women, compared to 31% of men.

• Leave rates for women in science, engineering, andtechnology (SET) peak about 10 years into their careers.

Women inSTEM

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• Work experiences impact women’s decisions to leave. Isolation, hostile male-dominated work environments, ineffective executive feedback, and a lack of effective sponsors are factors pushing women to leave SET jobs.

Almost one-third of women in the United States (32%) and China (30%) intend to leave their SET jobs within a year.The intention to leave within a year is slightly less common for SET women in Brazil (22%) and India (20%).

• STEM Fields Have Fewer Women on Boards Than Other IndustriesGlobally, women made up on 12.2% of women on boards in the information technology industry in2015. This is lower than some other industries, such as: Consumer staples: 17.4% Financials: 16.9%

• Women with technology experience may have an advantage in the boardroom. In 2016, women on corporate boards (16%) were almost twice as likely as their male counterparts (9%) to have professional technology experience among 518 Forbes Global 2000 companies.

Knowledge Centerhttps://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/women-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem

Women In Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (STEM)Topics: Women in Leadership, Gender, Race, and EthnicityIndustry: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)

Date: January 3, 2018Data and sources for Global, Australia, Canada, Europe, India, Japan, and the United States.

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Gender Policies in EU

Gender Equality isone ofthe fundamental principles ofEUandEUhasbeen promoting itasacore activity since1957

EUTreaties:TreatyofRome(1957) :equalpayforequalworkTreatyofAmsterdam(1997):eliminateinequalityandpromote

equalitybetweenwomenandmeninallareasofactivity

Treaty of Lisbon (2007/2009):bringing the obligation to eliminateinequalities and and ensuring/promotingequalitybetweenmenandwomenalsoIntroducesgenderequalityasadeterminingfactorforpotentialcandidatesfortheaccessiontotheEU

Gender Equality inHE&R

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Women's careers inscience and university

G. whereas academic careers for women remain markedlycharacterised by strong vertical segregation,with only avery low proportion ofwomen occupying the highestacademic posts;whereas according to the 2012She Figureswomen account for only 10 % ofuniversity rectors;

European Parliament resolution of 9 September 2015 on women’s careers in science and universities, and glass ceilings encountered (2014/2251(INI) )

Gender Equality inHE&R

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Glass Ceiling“…low presenceofwomen inthe highestacademic and decision-making positions inscientific institutions and universities,which indicates the existence ofaglassceiling,that is,invisible barriers based onprejudices which stand inthe way ofwomen accessing positions ofresponsibility;”

European Parliament resolution of9September 2015onwomen’s careers inscience and universities,and glass ceilingsencountered (2014/2251(INI) ) “THEGENDERCHALLENGEINRESEARCHFUNDING:

Assessing the European National Scenes”,2009EC,DGforResearch,Science,Economy and Society EUR23721EN

Gender Equality inHE&R

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K. whereas statistics consistently show that girls become disengagedfrom STEMsubjects atschool and are less likely to pursue ascience-related degree atuniversity;whereas there isno one singleexplanation for the low levels ofwomen inSTEMand reasons include:

o lack ofknowledge about STEMcareers onthe part ofteachers inschools,

o alack offemale rolemodels,o ahigh number ofprecarious short- term contracts,unconscious bias

oninterview panels,o women being less likely than mento putthemselves forward for

senior positions,o atendency for women to besteered into teaching and pastoralroles

rather than research and academia;

European Parliament resolution of9September 2015onwomen’s careers inscience and universities,and glass ceilings encountered (2014/2251(INI) )

Gender Equality inHE&R

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Gender equality inacademic positions

59 %ofuniversity graduates inthe EU-28are women

But…….Fullprofessor are only forming

……..18% SHEFIGURES2012……..21%SHEFİGURES2015…….24%SHEFIGURES2018

Gender Equality inHE&R

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Positive measures

Cultural and institutional barriers have to beremoved

“negative prejudices and conscious or unconsciousstereotypes build onattitudes and standards which arecontinually reproduced,and that institutional changescanhelp remove them”

European Parliament resolution of9September 2015onwomen’s careers inscience anduniversities,and glass ceilings encountered (2014/2251(INI) )

Vertical Segregation STEM

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Representationofwomenatacademiclevels(A,B,Cgrades)AtEUlevel,womenstartwithamuchhigherpercentageofrepresentationthanmenatundergraduatelevelbutthispercentagedecreasesatPhDlevelandendsupataround48%(2018)o C46.4%B40.5% A23.7% (2018)o C45%B37% A21%(2015)(EU27SHEFigures2015,pg.127Fig.6.1).

Inscienceandengineeringwomen’srepresentationisevenlowerthanotherfields:o C33%B24% A13%(2015)o C 35%.B28%A15%.(2018)(SHEFigures2015,pg128,Fig.6.2).

Womenheadsofhighereducationinstitutions(PhD)o 2009 13%o 2015 20%

Thesearebeingexamplesofa“leakypipeline”.

Vertical Segregation inSTEM

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o EU28PhD graduates 47%(F)– 42%insciences– 28%inengineering.

o Research Funding (SHEFigures 2015,Annex 7.1)– Number ofApplications(Female researchers)35.5%– Number ofBeneficiaries (Female researchers 30%

o GenderDimensioninResearch(SHEFigures2015,pg 178)o From2010to2013

o EU28Growthrate :14%o WorldwideGrowthrate :8.5%

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Horizontalandverticalsegregationimpactnegativelyonwomen’sacademiccareers

Inequalityisevenmoredrasticatdecisionmakinglevels

Asymmetricdistributionofresearchfundingstillpersistsamongfemaleandmaleresearchersinmanyfundingsystems

Excellenceinitiativesofvariouskindhavenotbenefitedmaleandfemaleacademicsequally

Academicpromotionsstillpresentspecificdifficultiesrisingfromlackoftransparencyinpromotionprocesses,workandlifebalanceissuesetc.

SettingtheSceneinHigherEducation

What Are the Facts…Are there Solutios?

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• What arethebarrierskeepinggirlsandyoungwomen

toaccessthescientificandengineeringeducation?

• Howtoencouragethemtopursueascientificcareer?

• HowtoretainwomeninSTEMcareers?

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«Lackoffemalerolemodels»islistedbyEP(2015)asoneofthereasonsthatpreventsgirlstobecomeengagedwithSTEMdisciplines.

Business Wire – Research among 12-Year-Old Girls in the UK and Ireland

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150917005029/en/Accenture-Finds-12-Year-Old-Girls-UK-Ireland-STEM

LackofRoleModels

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o «GenderdifferencesinSTEMeducationparticipationattheexpenseofgirlsarealreadyvisibleinearlychildhoodcareandeducation(ECCE)andbecomemorevisibleathigherlevelsofeducation.

o GirlsappeartoloseinterestinSTEMsubjectswithage,andlowerlevelsofparticipationarealreadyseeninadvancedstudiesatsecondarylevel.

o Byhighereducation,womenrepresentonly35%ofallstudentsenrolledinSTEM-relatedfieldsofstudy»(UNESCO,2017).

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0025/002534/253479e.pdf,CRACKİNGTHECODE:GİRLSANDWOMEN’SEDUCATİONİNSTEM,2017.

GenderdifferencesinSTEMeducation

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«GirlsareoftenbroughtuptobelievethatSTEMare‘masculine’topicsandthatfemaleabilityinthisfieldisinnatelyinferiortothatofmales.Thiscanunderminegirls’confidence,interestandwillingnesstoengageinSTEMsubjects.» (UNESCO,2017)

Rolemodels play important roles onthe preferences oftheyoung generations.

Therefore,integrating more RoleModels into the teachingmaterials will encourage girls that they are ascapable asboys inSTEMsubjects.

STEMandImageof“Masculinity”

HowcanRoleModelsHelpYoungGirls?

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Learningaboutrole-modelswillallowthemtofeelthatwomenandmenaretreatedequallyinSTEM.

RoleModelswillbreak-downthe Stereotypes,buildself-confidence and motivate younggirls

RoleModelswillencouragegirlstogetengagedwithmoreSTEMactivitiesinreallife.

RoleModelscanhelpgirlstoremovetheBoundariesintheirDreams!!!

GenderEqualityinHigherEducation

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Barriers to women’s low representation inacademia andinSTEMdisciplines:

o Lack ofTransparency inrecruitment/promotion processeso Unequal Accesstoresearchfundingo TheGapbetween Work - Lifeo LimitedNetworkingand Visibility Opportunitieso ChallengesforGenderneutralawardso LimitedMobilityopportunitieso Unconcious Biaso Resistance

ThesebarriersshouldberemovedHOW?Weneedchange!

Dimensions to Challenges ofGender Equality

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WeneedStructural/InstitutionalChange

THEGENDERCHALLENGEINRESEARCHFUNDING:Assessing the European National Scenes”,2009EC,DGfor Research,Science,Economy and Society EUR23721EN

WeneedCulturalchange.

PierreKroll

We Need Individual Change

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Thethirddimensioncertainlyinvolvestheencouragementandempowermentofwomenacademicsandresearchers.

Removalofthebarriersmaynotbesuccessfultoincreasethefemaleparticipationatdecisionmakinglevelsaslongasreluctancemostlydueto“learnedhelplessness”staysunsolved.

Weneedtopromoteindividualchangebytheempowermentandencouragementofwomen.

Samuel Akinfenwa Onwusa, Spain

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Need For Change

Changecanbedefinedasdoingsomethingnewordifferently.

Byitself,Changeisneitherinherentlygoodnorbad.Anychangewillmakepeopledifferentfromwhattheywerebefore. Unfortunately,noteverychangeprocessleadstotheexpectedresults.

“Therearemultiplereasonsforpotentialfailure;

o unexpectedchangesintheexternalconditions,o alackofcommitmentinimplementation,o resistanceofpeopleo alackofresources.”(Recklies,2014)

Letmegiveyousomeshortdefinitionsof“resistance”

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Change-Resistance

Resistance isviewed asbeing anatural and inevitable part ofthechange process and assomething that exists within the individual.

o Resistanceoccursbecauseitthreatensthestatusquoorincreasesthefearofandanxietyaboutrealorimaginedconsequences.(Spector,1989,Morris&Raben,1995)

o Peoplecanresistchangebecausetheydon'thaveconfidenceitwillwork,ortheydon'tbelievetheresourcesareavailabletoimplementthechangesuccessfully. (Hultman,2014)

o To sum up,“Any change inpeople’s lives implies anaturalreaction,considering that the changes mean that the individualsleave the comfort zone inwhich they live for anew and unknownreality.”(Gonçalves &Gonçalves,2012)

Howto design Succesful Strategies

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o It isobserved that male academics may feel uncomfortable tocome across apolicy,which isaddressed towards women only.

o Evenusingthewordof“gender”couldresultwithresistancescomingfromthekeymovers.

o Consequently,aworkplace with equal opportunities should beintroduced asamajor priority rather than specifically promotinggender equality.

o This approach could beapractical way ofmaking apersuasivecase where gender isincludedasoneofthemajorpriorityareastogetherwithotherequalityanddiversitypolicies

Howto design successful strategies

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The words “opportunity”and “diversity”havepositive meanings connoting dynamism andentrepreneurship (Liff and Cameron,1997).

Focussing onthe ideaofopportunities andrunning agender sensitive agenda under aproject would initiate acertain rhetoric,whichwould persuade individuals that itisthe benefitfor all.

Roleof Leadership/Diverse-Inclusive workplace

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Emphasizingtheneedofwomen’sempowermentorcareeradvancementmaynotdirectlyattracttheleaders.

Defininggenderasoneofthemajorpriorityareasintheorganizationdefinitelyneedsthesupportofthemanagement/leadershipteam.

Oneofthepossiblewaysofconvincingtheleadersoftheorganizationmighttointroducegenderequalityaskeyaction/strategytoleadthedecisionmakerstorevealandusetalentswomen/menforthesuccessoftheentireinstitution.

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Roleofleadership inStructuralChangesforGenderEquality

Leadersofhighereducationinstitutionsplaycrucialroleinallchangeprocessesalongwiththeirleadershipteams.

Leaders canplay even a“Change Agent“roleattoplevel while integrating all the efforts coming frombottom up decisions

Weneedleaders(menandwomen)whoarereadytotaketheinitiativeforgenderequalitytocreatecapacityforchangeintheirinstitutions.

Istanbul TechnicalUniversity Case

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ITUCase:ProportionofFemaleAcademics%

94-95 99-00 04-05 09-1014-1517-18Professor 16 20 29 32 37 39Assoc.Prof 31 35 36 42 45 42Assist.Prof. 28 38 46 39 40 38Res.Assist. 20 35 37 45 47 45Total 28 31 37 3942 41

FemaleStudents:34%Total,38%Master,42%PhD

CESAER(2015)Prof.20.03%,Assoc.Prof.23.76%,Assist.Prof.30.68%

ITU Experience

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Actions taken for improving genderbalance inITU(1996-2004)Firstfemale rector,two cycles:

o Setting arolemodelo Improvement inwork-lifebalance

o In campus housingo Nursery-Primary and high

schools incampuseso Flexible working hourso Providing fund for mobility

o More women inrecruitment andpromotion committees

o Achieving transparency inrecruitment and promotionprocesses

o Encouraging womenacademics for promotions

o Inviting more women advisorsthan menand increasing thevisibility ofwomen academicsattopmanagement

o Appointing 3women vicerectors in8years

o Appointing more womendeans and directors forgraduate schools

ITUhashadextensive reforms onteaching-learning,research,serviceto society and administrative structures inthe same period

EWORA-Background

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Asleaders/leadershipteamplayimportantroleinallchangeprocesseswedecidedtoestablish

EuropeanWomenRectorsAssociation(EWORA)

Itisa Full-fledgedInternationalNon-ProfitassociationEstablishedinBrusselsunderBelgianLawinDecemberin2015

o topromotetheroleofwomeninleadershippositionsintheacademicsector

o toadvocategenderequalityinhighereducationandresearchatEuropeanandinternationalscales.

EWORA-Background

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EuropeanWomenRectorsAssociation(EWORA) isaFull-fledgedInternationalNon-ProfitassociationEstablishedinBrusselsunderBelgianLawinDecemberin2015o topromotetheroleofwomeninleadershippositionsintheacademicsectoro toadvocategenderequalityinhighereducationandresearchatEuropeanandinternationalscales.

ThefoundingBoardMembers ofEWORAareCarmenFenoll,KristínIngólfsdóttir,HelenaNazare,UrsulaNelles,GulsunSaglamer(President),ChristinaUllenius, KristaVarantola.www.ewora.org

EWORA-Vision and Mission

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Vision:

EWORApromotesgenderequalityinhighereducationandresearchwithspecialreferencetoleadership.

Mission:

o EWORAisestablishedtodevelopstrategiesforincreasingwomenatdecisionmakinglevelsinhighereducationandresearch.

o EWORAiscommittedtoprovideopportunityforwomenrectorstosharetheirexperiencestoimprovethesituationofwomenacademicsandtoremovethebarriersforhorizontalandverticalsegregationinacademia.

EWORA-Goals

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Goals:o EWORAaimsto developstrategiesandpoliciesthatwill:

§ encouragewomenacademicstotargetleadershippositions;§ createopportunitiesforincreasingwomen’srepresentation

inhighereducation&research;§ beproposedtodecisionmakersatinstitutional,national

andEuropeanlevelso toensureabalancedparticipationofwomenandmenin

academicleadership;o toestablish anew Europe-widenetwork totransferandspread

knowledgeandexperienceamongwomenleadersinacademia;o toobserve,evaluateandanalysethegenderdifferencesin

academiaindifferentculturesatEuropeanlevels;o toconductresearchongenderequalityinacademiaatEuropean

andinternationallevelso tobecomemoreeffectiveandefficientforachievingsubstantial

changeacrosstheworld.

Conclusion

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Wearecommittedtoaddressgender-basedstructuralinequality,withregardtoacademicleadershipandweinviteyoutojoinusby

o Raisingawarenesso Providingopportunitieso Encouragingandempoweringwomenacademics&researchers

forleadershippositions.

Conclusions

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Informingallstakeholdersaboutthegenderdisaggregated data forcreatingawareness;

convincingleadershiptogiveprioritytoachievinggenderbalanceandtotaketheactionsformakingthenecessarychanges

couldbelistedassomeoftheessentialstepsdevelopinggenderequalityasoneofthemajorpriorityareasintheinstitution.

Let’smakeithappen

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EWORAinvites you to Discover HERstory !And ...Create opportunities for NewOnes inSTEM

JocelynBellBurnell (1943- )Astrophysicist,discoveredpulsars

LisaMeitner(1878-1968)PhysicistDiscoveredNuclearFission

RosalindFranklin(1920-1958)Chemist,DiscoveredthestructureofDNA

MariaSibyllaMerian (1647–1717)Biologist,discoveredthatbutterfliescamefromcaterpillarsviaametamorphosis

GraceHopper(1906-1992)ComputerScientist,inventedthefirstcompilerforacomputerlanguage

Encourage and Empower Women Scientists and Engineers

Maria Sklodowska1867-1934) Marie Curie became thefirst woman to wina Nobel Prize andthe only woman towin the award in two different fields(physics andchemistry).

THANK YOU&

“Education is education. We should learn everything and then choose which path to follow." Education is neither Eastern nor Western, it is human.”

― Malala Yousafzai, youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize