IIOE Global Webinar Female Leadership in STEM was successfully held
On October 21st, IIOE held a webinar on Gender Equality for Inclusive Higher Education: Female Leadership in STEM. Overall, 338 attendees of HEI professors, scholars, IT senior executives and those dedicated to promoting female leadership worldwide from 55 countries registered, and 236 participated in the global webinar. Guest speakers included representatives from partner HEIs and enterprises. The webinar developed heated discussions on the current challenges faced by women in STEM and ways to create more opportunities for women in STEM at their institutions in the future.
Watch the Webinar Replay here:
The webinar consisted of two parts: 1) inspiring stories from female leaders in STEM and 2) case study presentations from Lahore College for Women University (LCWU). At the very beginning of the webinar, Prof. ZHANG Lili, Faculty of Education Deputy Director from the Research Center for Minority and Multi-cultural Education at Beijing Normal University delivered the opening speech, giving an overview of the concurrent opportunities and obstacles confronted by women in STEM and support for women from Chinese universities, organizations and individuals as well.
For the inspiring stories, IIOE invited Ms. Pallavi Malhotra, director for Talent Alliance, Huawei Western Region, to talk about her journey and experience as a woman in the field of engineering, including the main challenges and ways out in the workplace as well as the transition from senior engineer to education and enabler. She also put forward her expectations to leverage the power of female role models to encourage more girls to engage in STEM and build a network where women should help women. Dr. Chika Nweke, Lecturer and Biochemical Engineering Deputy Director from University College London shared with the audience her perspective as a female lecturer in engineering science and the ways to lead innovation and promote inclusiveness. Looking into the future, she expressed her willingness to promote inclusive curriculum practice and increase role models to stimulate more girls to pursue their goals in the domain of STEM.
In the case study presentations, Dr. Saima Farhan from the School of Computer Science, Lahore Women's College, Pakistan, then gave a presentation on "Methods and practices of LCWU in cultivating female STEM talents". Dr. Saima Farhan pointed out that higher education institutions should strengthen measures to promote the STEM study of young women, and provide more opportunities for women, enabling them to play an influential role in national economic development by applying innovation, knowledge and critical thinking. Following this, Dr. Asma Shahid Kazi, from the Department of Elementary and Teacher Education of LCWU, shared her insights on the theme of "Breaking Barriers for Women in STEM Education". Dr. Asma Shahid Kazi described Pakistan's efforts in policy initiatives and project opportunities to break the gender stereotype in STEM education and provide more employment opportunities for women. In addition, she suggested that colleges and universities should strengthen teacher training so teachers can adjust, formulate, and implement the STEAM curriculum plan according to the school curriculum. At the same time, it is necessary to create maker spaces and incorporate design thinking and inquiry-based learning methods into teaching.
At the end of the webinar, Professor Bushra Mirza, Vice Chancellor of LCWU, expressed her gratitude for being invited to attend this webinar. She introduced the project promoting women's professional development in STEM education developed by Rajal Women's College in cooperation with other Pakistani higher education institutions. With the complementary advantages of institutions, this project has trained many female teachers in STEM education. LCWU is committed to helping excellent women in STEM disciplines in higher education achieve academic advancement and self-growth.
Professor Saima Yasin, Chairperson of the Chemical Engineering Department, University of Engineering and Technology at Lahore, made a closing speech. Professor Saima Yasin as the first professor of engineering at the oldest and largest seat of higher learning in engineering and technology in 100 years since the establishment of UET as Mughalpura Technical College in 1921, shared her story of overcoming many challenges to enter the field of STEM education and achieve professional advancement. In addition, she introduced the positive role of the Society of Women Engineers in Punjab in promoting mutual support, mutual encouragement, and experience sharing among female STEM professionals. She pointed out that although there are still many obstacles, the career prospects of women in STEM education in the future will be promising if all hold on to their beliefs, potential, and enthusiasm.
Presentation Materials:
Professor Zhang Lili from Beijing Normal University
Ms. Pallavi Malhotra from Huawei ICT Talent Alliance
Dr. Asma Shahid Kazi from LCWU
Professor Saima Yasin from UET Lahore
Moderator:
Ms. Duan Xiaotong
Senior Programme Officer
UNESCO-ICHEI
Event Organiser Facilitator:
Ms. Lan Yang
Researcher
Institute of Higher Education Digital Transformation, UNESCO-ICHEI
Credit: (image: Pixabay)
