Aston University holds second Gender Equality in Higher Education Symposium

Aston University has held its second online Gender Equality in Higher Education Symposium, following a successful first event in 2022.

The event, on 13 September 2023, was hosted by Professor Hannah Bartlett, Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor for Diversity & Inclusion, and Claire Richards, Aston University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Partner. Aston University holds the Athena SWAN Silver Award, recognising good practice towards advancing gender equality. The university has a number of international projects relating to gender equality, and the symposium brought together representatives from partner institutions in Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Pakistan, India, Nigeria and the UK, who joined 65 attendees online to discuss the lessons that can be learnt regarding ensuring gender equality.

Many of the speakers reported similar challenges, including male harassment and exploitation, a lack of awareness of opportunities, a lack of training, and societal and cultural pressures. Encouragingly, many also reported support for improving the situation, often all the way to government level.

The keynote speech was given by Professor Zoe Radnor, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean for the College of Business and Social Sciences, and Executive Sponsor for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Aston University. She discussed Aston University’s success in the Athena SWAN scheme and the plan to apply for the institutional level gold award. She reported that 26% of its professors and 38% of the executive team are now female, female students achieved 56% of all research degrees in 2023 and the University is now using its experiences to mentor other universities.

The first speaker was Professor Dr Wening Udasmoro, a professor of literature and gender studies, from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Indonesia. In 2020, UGM set a historic precedent in Indonesia by becoming the first university to set regulations addressing sexual violence. Wening explained that at UGM, they have identified patterns of toxic masculinity, including male students exploiting the intellectual abilities of female students, taking advantage of sexually inexperienced female students and using control tactics such as threatening to share explicit photos or videos.

Dr Thi Thanh Ha Tran’s talk, ‘Women Leadership in Vietnamese Higher Education Institutions: An Exploratory Study on Female University Students’ Awareness and Practices’, looked at the findings and conclusions of a recent study at VNU-University of Education in Vietnam. It found a number of common issues, including lack of self-confidence, lack of support, lack of knowledge and gender bias. Some of the study’s recommendations include specialised training programmes, creating more opportunities for female students to take leadership roles and the use of role models and mentors.

Dewanti Cahyaningsih, a lecturer at Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) in Indonesia, then discussed how gender equality in the light of cultural challenges. Universities like UNS have a responsibility to tackle gender inequality despite challenges with the patriarchal society, she said. UNS has increased the number of women in middle management positions, opened a research centre for gender, and developed initiatives for working mothers, such as a breastfeeding area and a childcare centre.

At Myeik University in Myanmar, they have introduced training courses for those in teaching positions to increase awareness of gender equality, diversity and inclusion, remove implicit bias and create a safe learning environment. Prof Dr Win Win Than explained that most of the local population live in very traditional, labour-based households, with many cultural and religious restrictions on women. A campus survey, however, showed broad support for an inclusive campus, regardless of culture, gender or religion.

Dr Nisha Mendiratta is an advisor at the Women In Science and Engineering (WISE) – KIRAN Division, at India’s Ministry of Science and Technology. India has a real problem with a ‘leaky pipeline’ – while 43% of STEM graduates are female, when it comes to leadership roles, just 24% of those hired are female. Some of this can be explained by societal expectations of marriage and a family, and the difficulties encountered trying to re-enter the workforce. To counter this, the WISE-KIRAN scheme has introduced new government policies and policy frameworks for gender equality, development and financial support programmes for women, conferences and activities.

One such policy framework is Gender Advancement Through Transformation of Institutions (GATI), in which Aston University has been involved, and Dr Shivasubramanian Gopalakrishnan spoke about learnings from GATI at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. IIT Bombay has carried out detailed gender ratio studies at all levels, showing that female participation is much lower. IIT Bombay has introduced affirmative action to reserve places for females and early indications are that it is improving the situation.

Madiha Sajid from Imperial College London and Dr Hazir Ullah from Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan, both discussed their studies and listening exercises about safety on university campuses in Pakistan. Madiha organised listening exercises in Islamabad and Peshawar, designed to create a safe space for staff and students attending. Matters such as bullying, harassment and safety are culturally sensitive. Hazir’s studies in Islamabad, like Madiha’s found that lived experience can be very different for different groups, and many students felt vulnerable and nervous of reporting for fear of a lack of confidentiality. Madiha and Nazir are working with Aston University to create a policy document for safety for women on campus.

The final session of the conference was presented by Dr Olawunmi Oni-Buraimoh, a senior lecturer at Lagos State University in Nigeria. She has been leading a large project studying gender equality on Nigerian university campuses. In her talk, she focused on stereotypes which disempower women. This includes stereotypes relating to respect for elders, stereotypes relating to beliefs, and stereotypes relating to proximity with the opposite sex.

Hannah said:

“We were delighted to welcome so many of our international gender equality partners to this symposium. It provided the opportunity for researchers and equality, diversity and inclusion practitioners to come together in an international forum to share experiences and best practice. In line with the Aston 2030 Strategy, we are creating a community of practice that embraces the challenges of inequality and seeks innovative solutions. The international dimension of our network promotes a truly intersectional and global approach.”

The team plan to host a third symposium in 2024.