1

 

WOMEN ACADEMICS AND SUSTAINABILITY IZMIR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Professor Semra UlkuFormerRector

Sustainable development ◦ the progress that meets the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

◦ combines environment-friendly solutions with economic efficiency and social justice, taking into account democratic political issues as well as global and cultural aspects.

three interdependent pillars of sustainable development Economic sustainability Social sustainability. Environmental sustainability

Sustaınable Development and Women

Sustainable development can’t be achieved unless all segments of the society, with equal contribution of woman and man starting from childhood, are involved

Empowerment of woman is a prerequiste for sustainable development and the achivement of MDG

Education -- which is a right that should be enjoyed by all - is the most powerful tool through which to achieve the goal of global sustainable development

global sustainable development emphasizes gender equality.

Institutions of higher education educate people that will shape the futue societies

• They have a crucial function in the attainment of sustainable societies and global development.

• UN announced 2005-2014 Decade of Education on sustainable development• New goal of higher education in terms of learning outcomes

• Gender Equality• Organizational structure,• Program curricula,• Course syllabi,• Learning (Teaching methods)

Faculty trainig centers Institutions of teacher education

•

ESD is based on values of justice, equity, tolerance,sufficiency and responsibility.

ESD promotes gender equality, social cohesion and poverty reduction and emphasises care, integrity and honesty, as articulated in the Earth Charter. ◦ Promote the active participation of women in all aspects

of economic, political, civil, social, and cultural life as full and equal partners, decision makers, leaders, and beneficiaries

ESD starts during the early childhood where the basis for future learning is laid out and continues in during the entire life

ESD aims to enable people to acquire the values knowledge and skills required to shape their life and society in a sustainable way

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

The forgotten priority::Promoting gender equality in Education for

Sustainable Development (ESD)

• Noteworthy achievements have been made throughout the world with regards to awareness raising and the implementation of ESD in educational systems.

• Gender equality is clearly at the heart of the overall development agenda and is critical in achieving the MDGs

• gender inequality remains poorly addressed in education sector strategies, policies, planning and implementation.

• ESD should • actively promote gender equality,• create conditions and strategies that enable women to

share knowledge and experience of bringing about social change and human wellbeing.

Balancing between the career and the family is a general problem for all the women.• How do women manage the conflicts between family and

career?’ which raises the question of ‘how work/family conflicts influence the choices women make?

• How can cultural barriers and sterotypes about the role of woman in society be overcome?

• Women find that it is not good enough to be as good as men, but are pushed to establish their credibility by being better than men

• They work harder than their male counterparts in administrative positions and feel that they still have to prove their worth in a male-dominated environment.

Position of women in higher education and research cannot be treated in isolation from the general status of women.

• Traditional expectations exacerbate the problems for women,

• Being married and having children create career barriers that are unique to women

• For many women a professional career is dependent on the grace and favour of the spouse.

• Balancing career and family demands rise as constraints that affect women more than they affect men.

• Lowing down in their careers unless they have supporting family members or hired help.

• Feeling some kind of guiltiness, especially for their traditional roles for their children, and trying" doing all, doing best, even more than enough " rather than setting appropriate limits on both work and family expectation magnifies the stress.

women frequently face cultural barriers in the form of their own internalised view of their roles and the expectations which others have .

• Women are not daring enough• Women do not take the risk to apply for something if there is a chance that they might fail. • Men are more prepared to fail than women.

• Their self confidence and motivation is higher• Men have stronger networks than women. • Women network with those they like, • Men connect with people who could be useful to them.

• in conferences,• women more likely to go to bed early and prepare

their talks• go for a drink and negotiate jobs among themselves.

The academic careers are built in the critical years after completion of the undergraduate degree (the years which for women are most likely to be interrupted by child-bearing and domestic responsibility)

Academic life is demanding( the average professor works 55 hours per week).

When child care and home responsibilities are added, a woman should work 70 or more hours per week.

The concentration and energy needed to fulfil work expectations is likely to conflict with demands for attention from children and/or spouses.

The expectation will be fulfilled by sacrificing from the leisure, relax or sleep time.

Women are as capable and as productive as men in the academic arena and do perform at the highest levels when given the same opportunities and encouragement as men.

The under-representation of women is even more striking in the field of science and engineering The engineering culture as well as the cultural norms and gender role expectations and attitudes, which limit women’s participation in science and technology, are under transformation.Female Percentage

The proportion of women among full professors humanities 28.4 %

social sciences 19.4 %,lowest in engineering and technology 7.9 %.

She Figures 2012

• 59 % of EU graduate students • 31% of EU science and engineering students• 20 % of EU senior academicians

• Engineering was an exclusive men’s club until the late 1800s but still women don’t even consider engineering as option

• Young women are socialized to believe that math and science are the province of males, and that discourages them from pursuing engineering.

• There is a lack of role models and opportunities that inspire and cultivate interest.

• Furthermore, there is a lack of fundamental math and science standards in high school curricula in most of countries.

.

Global Gender Index2013 two extremes 47% in Turkey,

12.7% in Japan

women faculty feel well supported within their departments and most do not believe that gender bias will impact their careers differently from those of male colleagues

Why are there so many female academics in

Turkey?

In Turkey, women are more successful in enrolment at universities and in attaining positions then most western countries after 1920s Republican period, due to the reforms realized for gender equality, including opportunities for higher education, with the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to establish a modern and secular society

In Turkey ,the educational system, with intensive math and science courses throughout high school and a highly competetive university entrance exam with equal chance for girls and boys allows the women to represent themselves better in engineering and science.

Contrary to Western stereotypes, Turkey has a surprising proportion of

women scientists.

Today women occupy is above 40% of the all the academic positions in

Turkey.

The percentage of female academics in Turkish engineering disciplines is

above 30%.

In Turkey around 25% of the professors in engineering are female (In USA

10%)

In Izmir Institute of Technology total percentage of academics in engineering

is 40%

In comparison to other countries, women are very well represented in Turkey in the academic world

This is thanks largely to reforms in favor of gender equality realized under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – the founder of modern Turkey

Long history of female lecturers in Turkish higher education as early as 1920s (Tradition of female faculty)

Gender stereotypes (that women would be less capable of doing research than men, or less qualified for some forms of research) do not play a large role

Academia is regarded as a female appropriate career choice.

Transparency in promotion system Availability of domestic help.

 

Prof Dr Sümer Peker (Retired Chemical Engineering)....Women academic members receive more understanding when confronted with problems related with their gender, such as birth and baby care right after birth, in institutions where they are in the majority, especially if managed by another woman.

If women in the academic world think they are being held inferior to the male academic members, other factors should be questioned, again related with gender. The first is related with the social values of the community. In a community where male dominance is not questioned, the female academic members carry over these concepts to the academic world: they will prefer a male department head or a dean, out of sheer respect to the superior capabilities of men, injected to them throughout the years by their family and society they live in. They will not vote for a woman academic member, for example. Another outcome of the values of the society is the aspiration of male academic members to leadership positions such as department heads, deans and rectors. The same goes for the aspiration of male academic members in giving “prestigious” courses ...  

What women academia think

..I believe motivation is another important factor in gender differentiation in the academic world. Motivation in women academic members is not very strong, especially if she is working with the aim of “supporting the family by working in a socially acceptable environment”. Another factor causing the inferiority of some of the women academic members is their fear of meeting challenges. This may result simply from their self-respect, lack of interest or motivation. Those who have this confidence and motivation succeed under all conditions.

In summary, in the academic world where the intellectual level of the members are supposed to be higher than the general level of the population, the inferiority of the women academic members, if any, mainly stem from their lack of motivation in meeting challenges. Perhaps, meeting challenges and motivation are other criteria that should be examined in the CV of candidates applying for a position in the university.

 

Prof Sümer Peker

Gender equality in academia can be achieved by several ways:   It is so important how the university responds to both individual and

institutional forms of discrimination. It could be done to engage in overt political responses that would actively challenge the structure of the academy and university policy. 

Since there is a relationship between familial responsibilities and gender discrimination due to duties of child, and home , it may be needed for a new model of Professional life, one that accommodates both women and men who want to be more involved with their families. Therefore, these responsibilites can be shared by women and men.

  Flexibility can be applied for both women and men. Flexibility in terms of

how people can be successful, and demonstrate excellence at the end. For example universities can allow longer time before tenure and full professorship.

Prof. Dr. Funda Tıhmıllıoğlu Dean (Engineering)

Assoc Prof.Dr Şebnem Elçi (Vice Eng. Dean , Civi lEng.. I don’t belive there is discrimination in our country and gender bias

will impact careers differently from those of male colleagues....For rising the number of female acedemics precautions should be taken for making the life easier for them during child-bearing parental periods.

Prof.Dr.Fehime Özkan (Dept Head Chemical Eng ) Since women can do numbers of things at the same time they also

become succesfull in academic world in addition to household responsibilities : ...Women are satisfied and happy in academic world ... there seems an increase in number of women in management positions it is more diffucult to keep their positions although they work harder than their male counterparts in administrative positions .

Prof Aysun Sofuoglu (Enviromental Engineering) I beleive ithat the countries shoul be classified in their nature

such as undeveloped, developing and developed. Their cultural differences and woman percetions shoul be cleared. Then,

Undeveloped countries due to poverty and problems in gender equality, women do not have chance to have education. Therefore the education should start from begining with some support and then these women should be use as a role model . Cultural barriers that discourage women to get in scientific careers

Unfortunately in the developing countries, women are one of the workforce even though not in management much, due to globalism, the established cultural habits and perception in education changes the cultural structure . Generally tendency to luxury, enjoyment in life changes the women perception in education, especially in science. Instead of spending too much time on science, they start to focus on the hobbies or the work they can create from their hobbies. Responsibilities in home also do not help woman to put much time into scientific career. In this way the tendency to science decreases like in developed countries...

Prof Ann Frary Dogan (Biology)Turkey is much better than most countries on this issue but, of course, work still needs to be done. I think one area requiring change is gender education. Boys and girls should learn from an early age that they are equal and equally capable in every subject and that every possible career is open to them. As in much of the rest of the world, girls tend to be steered/scared away from certain fields (engineering, for example). One idea could be to arrange career days in schools where strong women in business, engineering, etc. talk about their experiences. Children need to have more exposure to such role models. Gender bias is another area needing improvement. People need to be more aware of what gender bias is and taught that it is wrong. For example, when hiring a specialist, it is not ok to think 'well, she's married and will probably get pregnant soon so we better not hire her.' I have heard such things here

Assoc. Prof .Dr Gulnur Aygun Ozyuzer (Physics) ....There is discrimination in Physics Dept...Male academics

don’t want female faculty..  Assit. Prof Gülüstan Meşe (Biology)...women are interrupted

by child-bearing and domestic responsibility  support for child bearing and parental period and availability of high quality affordable child care facilities are important...

.

• Activities to provide young women with role models, promoting an ‘if they can do it, then so can I’ attitude.

• Various pre-college strategies, such as• mentoring,• internships, • workshops, • and career field trips, emphasize subjects that align with these students’ values

  Strategies to increase the percentage of women in engineering

• Women are much more likely than men to choose engineering through the influence of a role model

• Women in leadership positions serve as role models to help attract other women to engineering positions

female gender composition in education is in turn reflects in academia

Masculine Engineering Departments <female students< 10%• mechanical • civil • electrical-electronics.... Feminine Engineering Departments female students >50% • food, • chemical • environmental.....

Food Chemical Computer Electronic Civil Mechanical0

20

40

60

80

100

120

50 50

0 0 0

17

100

0 0 0

25

0

30

80

38

30

40

11

88

73

17 1722

13

77

66

24

31

22

12

Percentage of Academics at Engineering in Iztech

Prof. Assoc. Prof. Assist. Prof. Rsch. Assist. Total

%

Food Chemical Computer Electronic Civil Mechanical Industrial Environment0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

35

45

1013 12

5

21

36

43

37

14 12 10 11

35 37

6257

2017

2016

37

57

71

65

33

23

31

16

54 54

47

53

25

1821

12

41

49

Percentage of Academics at Engineering in Turkey

Prof. Assoc. Prof. Assist. Prof. Rsch. Assist. Total

%

30

• School visits with proper role models• Modification of the engineering courses for sustainability

• Courses with sufficient depth and breadth • Integrating research and education (student’s motivation,

creativity, teamwork) • Inductive learning instead of traditional lectures • Flexible engineering curriculum (with technical elective

courses , directions for the interests and talents);• Nontechnical electives in humanities and social sciences.

what we have done

• Mentored bright, hard working students and created opportunities for them to study for PhD in the best universities in USA.

• Encouragement of students for applying graduate programs• Supervising their training Encouragement of faculty for applying • positions • grants Transparency in • hiring • promotion• funding

• Attractive enviroment• Exceptional resarch ,education ,leisure atmosphere• Availability of in campus housing

With perception of • women as capable academics • and gender equality

32

Attractive Research and Education and Leisure Atmosphere

)

transformation process in gender equalty cannot work without a corresponding change in mentality

Are policies such as: • Gender training in universities• Mandotory legal quaotas • Return to work after parental leave• Paid parental leave • Availability of high quality affordable child care facilities• Availability of faculty housing • Family frendly flexibil working arrengements • Encouragement of parental leave sharing (Parental

leave that cannot be transfered to the partner..., man and woman should find work balances that suit themselves)

• Attractive working and leisure enviromentwill solve the problem????

Family settings have strongest influence in gender role development

• Gender equilibria cannot be achieved with a top-down,centrally controlled strategy.

• It is the task of education to put people in a position to shape their personal, social and global development for gender equality .

• How can influence of the social values of the

community, cultural bariers be changed ? • How can self-respect, confidence motivation of

woman be increased ?

• Can (ESD) be effective ?

there is no country that can act as definite role model for others as there is still so much work to do

• For faculty positions• a perception of women as capable academics • rol models• transparency in hiring and promotionare more important

Women are still underrepresented in the management levels of research institutes and universities ◦ Mandotory legal quaotas can be effective in board or management

positions

,

. 

37

I am honoured of being a member of this young university and leading almost from the ground up.