During the audit, top managers and key actors realized the broadness of gender equality competence. It became evident that they would be willing to attend relevant training seminars.
Encouragement to top level managers and key actors to attend gender equality seminars and training
Problem (evidence)
Aims/objectives
To create and/or increase gender awareness among the members of university administration. To persuade the decision-makers about the necessity and benefits of having an official Gender Equality Plan and a Gender Equality Unit to implement and monitor the progress on the GEP.
Resources
A highly competent and experienced trainer was necessary to implement this action. OzU’s seminar was given by Prof. Yıldız Ecevit who is one of the founding members of the Association to Support Women Candidates in Elections and Women’s Labour and Employment Initiative. Between 1996 and 2017, Prof. Ecevit acted as director of the MA Program in Gender and Women Studies at Middle East Technical University in Ankara and she is currently a member of the National Higher Education Council’s Unit of Women’s Studies in Academia.
Brief outcomes
The academic managers expressed that the Gender Equality and Mainstreaming Seminar was very enlightening and useful. They were familiarized with the GEP and gender mainstreaming as an institutional policy.
Key area
The governance bodies, key actors and decision-makers
Type of action
Training/awareness-raising
Organization
Özyeğin Üniversitesi
Higher education institution
Action level of implementation
Key actors, decision-makers
Implementation
PLOTINA team analysed target groups according to units and tasks. Most suitable training modules and trainers were decided accordingly. Administrative managers attended gender equality awareness seminars. On March 6, 2019, OzU PLOTINA team organized a Gender Equality and Mainstreaming Seminar for the Deans, School Directors and Vice Rectors of OzU. This three-hour-long seminar was developed and given by Prof. Yıldız Ecevit. Before the seminar, the PLOTINA team made a brief presentation about the gender audit process at OzU and the GEP created as a result of the audit. Prof. Ecevit’s seminar was composed of four parts: 1) International Efforts to Achieve Gender Equality; 2) Relevant Concepts and Approaches; 3) Gender (In) Equality in Turkey; 4) Gender Equality and Mainstreaming in Academia.
Challenges
The biggest challenge was to design a content that both appealed to high academic administration and addressed the most important aspects of gender equality in higher education institutions. Another hardship was finding the most suitable date for all the academic managers to schedule this seminar, and this process lasted quite longer than expected.
Coping strategies
The profiles and expectations of participants, which were diverse due to different disciplines they come from, were taken into consideration by the trainer and the PLOTINA team while designing the seminar. PLOTINA Team was also heavily engaged in the conception and execution stages of the seminar both in determining the content and the schedule.
Tips/strategies – Lessons learnt
Organizing a meeting with all academic managers was found to be very time-consuming. Also, finding the right trainer suited to such a group was crucial. It was necessary to establish and maintain close communication with the trainer and the university administration.
More detailed Outcomes/Impact
Gender equality is now a permanent subject on the institutional agenda. This is crucial to achieve gender mainstreaming and cultural change in the institution. It is expected that the academic managers will play an active role in increasing the number of courses and research projects with a focus on or a component about sex/gender dimension.