Higher Education Newsletter

05/21/2002
Reading Time: 3-5 minutes

Number 21
WOMEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Throughout the 20th century, and especially in the second half, universities narrowed the gender gap. With the university of the masses women came to enter higher education in the same proportion as their male counterparts and in some cases the intake of women was greater than that of men. Some qualifications became predominantly female while others continued to be male domains.
Today, women's access to higher education in the engineering disciplines, and in some countries to university qualifications as a whole, is limited. To see some data about the presence of women in higher education, we recommend consulting the following web page: http://www1.worldbank.org/education/tertiary/.

The World Conference on Higher Education, organised by UNESCO in 1998, addressed the need to extend university education to women and promote non-discriminatory guarantees of access to university. To achieve these objectives, the International Good Practice Guide to Gender Equity in Higher Education was created. Activities in 2000-01 can be consulted on http://www.unesco.org/education/wche/project_studies/women.shtml.

It is in undeveloped or developing countries that the presence of women in higher education is most scarce. This is due not only to economic problems, but also to prejudices and cultural traditions which limit the role of women to the domestic sphere. In some countries universities exclusively for women have appeared, whose objective is to make higher education compatible with the cultural role that is imposed upon women. However, in the majority of cases, they are very elitest universities to which women belonging to lower classes of society do not have access, as in the case of Jinnah University for Women in Pakistan (http://www.juw.edu.pk), and Banasthali Vidyapith University in India (http://www.banasthali.org).

Perhaps the most innovative initiative is the creation of the Ahfad University for Women in Sudan (http://www.ahfad.org/), a private, non-profit university, which strives for women's equality, and which promotes training closely linked to the necessities of the country's development. Part of the financing comes from the Sudan-American Foundation for Education (http://www.sudan.com/safe/).
Another programme which deserves special attention is the Professional Development Programme for Women in Higher Education Leadership in South Africa (http://www.uct.ac.az/org/fawesa/profdev.htm), which forms part of the Forum for African Woman Educationalists, promoted by the University of Capetown.
The Asian University for Women (http://www.asianuniversity.org) is sheduled to open in September 2005. This is a non-profit organisation, started in New York, with the objective of training women to take up political, economic or socio-cultural leadership positions in Asia.

In developed countries, as women have made inroads into higher education, different organisations that act as lobby groups have appeared in order to gain gender equality and influence in the public sector.

In the United States the American Assocation of University Women (http://www.aauw.org) is of special relevance. It promotes women's education and equality, and has influence in the county's public policies. Also significant is the association Women in Higher Education, which has promoted the Campus Women Lead national network with the objective of creating a worknet (http://www.campuswomenlead.org). This is an association focused on the role of women within campuses, with an active presence in all the universities in the country thanks to the publication that they produce (http://www.wihe.com). Finally, in the field of students, we can mention the National Association of Student Personnel Administration (NASPA), with the Women in Student Affairs section (http://www.naspa.org/communities/kc/community.cfm?kcid=12).

Also from the public sector, and thanks to the involvement of clubs and societies, gender equality in higher education is being encouraged with the creation of the Office of Women in Higher Education (http://www.acenet.edu/programs/owhe/), belonging to the American Council on Education.

In Europe there are several associations that work to achieve equal opportunities for women in higher education, and most particularly in the field of engineering and careers guidance for technology graduates. Some significant associations are the Women in Higher Education Register in the United Kingdom (http://www.where.ic.ac.uk/), European Women in Mathematics (http://www.math.helsinki.fi/EWM/), and the Association for Women in Science and Engineering (http://awise.org/), among others. It is important to mention Women in Science, Engineering and Technology, better known as the European association WITEC, a network of universities that develop projects to promote the presence of women in these fields (http://www.shu.ac.uk/witec/).
Framed within this network is the DONA programme of the Technical University of Catalonia (http://www.upc.es/donaUPC/), one of the most pioneering programmes, which for seven years has been working to attract female students to technical and technological studies.

The Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs of the European Commission has developed a series of programmes in this direction: (http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/equ_opp/index_en.htm).
Parallel to this, the public administrations of the various member countries have promoted initiatives designed to fulfill assigned objectives. In Ireland there is the Mentorlink programme to promote the presence of women in the engineering field (http://www.mentorlink.ie/), and in the United Kingdom the Athena programme has been created to promote the presence of women in science, engineering and technology in higher education (http://www.athena.ic.ac.uk/); both programmes cover the whole country.

By M. Àngels Cortina Cunill, Global University Network for Innovation (GUNI)

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HIGHER EDUCATION AGENDA

May 21-24th, 2002. Word Education Market 2002. Lisbon. Portugal. http://www.wemex.com

May 23-25th, 2002. Universities building Europeans. The responsibility of the Academic World in European Education. AEGEE-Eureca. Krakow, Poland. http://karl.aegee.rwth-aachen.de/calendar.nsf/ID/KRA0205UNIS

May 24-26th, 2002. ICT European Divide. Oportunity of ttreat for society. AEGEE-Eureca. Berlin, Germany. http://karl.aegee.rwth-aachen.de/calendar.nsf/ID/BER0205THE4

May 26-29th, 2002. ICDE North America Regional Conference. International Council for Open and Distance Education and Canadian Assotiation for Distance Education. Calgary, Canada http://www.icde.org/Events/EventFra.htm

May 26-31st, 2002. NAFSA's 54th Annual Conference: Enhancing Leadership and Learning in a Cultural Mosaic. NAFSA: Association of International Educators. San Antonio, Texas, USA. http://www.nafsa.org/nafsa2002

May 27-29th, 2002. Second International Conference on Technology Supported Learning and Training. Online Educa. Barcelona, Spain. http://www.online-educa.com

May 30th-June 2nd. Institutions, shaping and student's future. The EU reform and its implications for european education. AEGEE-Eureca. Barcelona, Spain. http://karl.aegee.rwth-aachen.de/calendar.nsf/ID/BCN0205A-HE

June 6-8th. Towards Higher Education Market. Education and the private sector. AEGEE-Eureca. Muenchen, Germany. http://karl.aegee.rwth-aachen.de/calendar.nsf/ID/MUC0206THET

June 12-14th, 2002. The Incorporation of Sustanibility into Higher Education in the perspective of European Research Area. Copernicus Campus and Goteborg University. Goteburg, Sweden http://www.mls.miljo.gu.se/copernicus/

June 14-19th, 2002: Strategic Management Seminar in co-operation with the European University Association (EUA), and the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. (www.oecd.org/els/education /higher/)


June 16-19th, 2002. 2002 EDEN Annual Conference. European Distance Education Network. Open and Distance Learning in Europe and Beyond Rethinking international Cooperation. Granada, Spain (http://www.eden.bme.hu/contents/news.html#1)

June 17-19th, 2002.Seminario de La gestion de las relaciones entre las universidades y el territorio. Catedra UNESCO de Gestion de la Educacion Superior de la Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya. Barcelona, Spain http://www.upc.es/unescogestio

June 19-22nd, 2002. EUNIS 2002 8th. International Conference of European University Information Systems. The Changing Universities: The Challenge of New Technologies. University of Porto, Porto, Portugal. http://www.fe.up.pt/eunis2002

June 20-21st, 2002. Jornadas sobre Universidades y desarrollo regional en Europa. CIRIT y Catedra UNESCO de Gestion de la Educacion Superior. Eurocongreso. Barcelona,Spain http://www.upc.es/unescogestio

June 21-22nd, 2002. Conference on New Generation Universities in co-operation with the University of Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia. (www.oecd.org/els/education /higher/)

June 20-23th, 2002. American Association for Higher Education. Assessment Conference, Boston, Massachusetts. http://www.aahe.org/assessment/2002/

June 24-27th, 2002. IAUP XIIIth. Triennial Conference. International Association of University Presidents. Sidney, Australia. http://www.ia-up.org

26, 27, 28 de junio de 2002. II Congreso Europeo sobre Tecnologías de la Información en la Educación y la Ciudadanía: Una visión crítica. Barcelona, Spain (http://web.udg.es/tiec/cast/principalnegran.htm)

1-5 de julio de 2002. International Summer School on Higher Education. University of Twente y Catedra UNESCO de Gestion de la Educacion Superior de la Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya. Barcelona, Spain http://www.upc.es/unescogestio

July 3-6th, 2002. Spheres of Influence: Ventures and Visions in Education Development. The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. http://www.csd.uwa.edu.au/iced2002/

July 4-7th, 2002. Non formal education. The role of NGO's. AEGEE-Eureca. Tartu, EE. http://karl.aegee.rwth-aachen.de/calendar.nsf/ID/TAR0207NONS

July 7-10th, 2002. HERDSA Conference. Quality Conversations. Higher Education Research and Development Society of AustralasiaSunset Coast, Perth, Australia. http://www.ecu.edu.au/conferences/herdsa/welcome.html

July 17-19th, 2002. Information Communication Technologies in Education. INEAG. Samos Island, Greece. http://www.ineag.gr

July 29th. - August 2nd, 2002. Commonwealth of Learning and The National Development of Education of South Africa: Transforming Education for Development. Durban, South Africa. http://www.eventdynamics.co.za

August 22-23th, 2002. Seminar on Managing University Libraries OECD, Paris, France. (www.oecd.org/els/education /higher/)

4-5 de Septiembre, 2002. Congreso internacional de educacion y desarrollo para el futuro del Mundo. Fundacion para la Educacion Superior Internacional. Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. http://www.fesi.org.mx

September 4-8th, 2002. Planning Meeting Action Europe. AEGEE-Eureca. Cagliari, Italy. http://karl.aegee.rwth-aachen.de/calendar.nsf/ID/CAG0209PLA8

September 6-8th, 2002. Jubilee International Conference: Higher Education in the 21st. Century: its role and contribution to our common advancement. UNESCO-CEPES. Bucharest, Romania. http://www.cepes.ro

September 8-11th, 2002. The 24th EAIR Forum - Crossing National, Structural and Technological Borders: Development and Management in Higher Education- Prague, (http://www.org.uva.nl/eair/prague/theme.asp)

September 8-11th, 2002. 30th. SEFI Annual Conference: The Renaissance Engineer of Tomorrow. Universita degli studi di Firenze, Firenze, Italy. http://www.sefirenze2002.unifi.it

September 9-10th, 2002. 6th Session of UNESCO-CEPES Advisory Board and Second Meeting of the World Conference on Higher Education Regional Follow-up Committee for the Europe Region. Bucharest, Romania. http://www.cepes.ro

September 11-14th, 2002. European Association for International Education: 14th Annual Conference. Porto, Portugal. http://www.eaie.org

September 16-18th, 2002. IMHE General Conference - Incentives and Accountability: Instruments of Change in Higher Education. (http://www1.oecd.org/media/upcoming.htm )

September 16-19th, 2002. International Society for Engineering Education: Engineer of the 21st. Century. Saint Petersburg, Russia. http://www.isee2002.spmi.ru

September 18-21st, 2002. Globalisation: What issues are at stake for universities? Universite Laval, Quebec City, Canada. http://www.ulaval.ca/BI/Globalisation-Universities/

September 19 - 21st, 2002. University of Laval, Quebec City, Canada.
Theme: Globalisation. http://www.unesco.org/iau

September 29th - October 2nd, 2002. ATEM 2002 Annual Conference. Excellence = Managing Colleagues, Customers and Core Values. Association for Tertiary Education Management. Brisbane, Australia, (http://www.atem-aappa2002.qut.edu.au/)

October 3-6th, 2002. Global Employee Final Conference. Minorities. AEGEE-Eureca. Rotterdam, Nederlans. http://karl.aegee.rwth-aachen.de/calendar.nsf/ID/ROT0210GLO1

October 11-12nd, 2002. Credit Transfer and Accumulation - the Challenge for nstitutions. ETH Zurich EUA/Swiss Confederation Conference on ECTS Zurich, Switzerland, (http://www.unige.ch/eua/)

October 14-17th, 2002. International Society for Human Values: Conference and Workshops on "Youth and Human Values". Geneva, Switzerland. http://www.humanvalues-is.org

October 23-26th, 2002. The European Studies Centre of the University of Navarra holds a multidisciplinary Conference: VII Conference "European Culture". Pamplona, Navarra. Spain. http://www.unav.es/cee/viicongre.html

October 30th. - November 1st, 2002.'Transforming Quality', the 7th Quality in Higher Education International Seminar, organised jointly by the Centre for Research into Quality and the Centre for Management Quality Research to be held in Melbourne Australia. http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com

November 2-7th, 2002. Strategic Management Seminar in co-operation with the Association of Universities of Asia and the Pacific (AUAP), Manila, The Philippines. (www.oecd.org/els/education /higher/)

November 25-27th, 2002. EDU-COM 2002: Higher Education without Borders, Sustainable Development in Higher Education. Khon Kaen, Hotel Sofitel, Thailand. http://www.chs.ecu.edu.au/org/int_comm/

December 2nd, 2002. AEGEE-Eureca Final Conference. Quo Vadis Europa? AEGEE-Eureca. European Parlament, Brussels. http://www.aegee.org/quovadis/

December 2-6th, 2002. Globalization and Catholic Higher Education: hopes and changes. Congregation for Catholic Education and International Federation of Catholic Universities. Vatican City. http://www.fiuc.org

December 10-12nd, 2002. The SRHE 2002 Annual Conference. Society for Research into Higher Education. Students and Learning: what is changing? University of Glasgow, United Kingdom (http://www.srhe.ac.uk/indexevents.htm)

December 10-13th, 2002. World Summit on Information Society. Geneva, Switzerland. http://www.geneva2003.org

June 1-5th, 2003. 2003 World Conference, The 21st ICDE World Conference will take place in Hong Kong, SAR, China, hosted by the Open University of Hong Kong. (http://www.ouhk.edu.hk/hk2003/)

©The Higher Education Newsletter and the Higher Education Agenda are made by the Conference of Spanish University Rectors and the Global University Network for Innovation, in cooperation with UNESCO Chair of Higher Education Management.