ACCELERATING THE BALANCE OF WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN SCIENCE,

TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

@ theHigh Level International Roundtable

for

Women In Leadership Roles In Science And Technology

Getting TherePresented by:

JUMMAI UMAR-AJIJOLA, PHD @ the

Swiss Garden Hotel and Residences, Kuala Lumpur 4 – 5 September 2012

jummaiu@thebusinesspeople.com.ng

INTRODUCTION

Context: Leadership

Women and Leadership in STI: Historical Perspective

Issues confronting Women Scientists in Attaining Leadership Roles in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI)

Prospects: International Legal Basis

Leveraging Culture: The Norwegian Paradox

What Way Forward? Strategies for acceleration

Conclusion

CONTEXT: LEADERSHIP• Leadership is a corner stone of social

advancement in which change is anchored. • How Leaders are made• Identified by followers • Active pursuit of leadership

position• Tiers of leadership

• Administrative• Discipline

• Three determinants• Social Integration• Discipline Expertise• Gender

Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me. But they all seem to. It doesn’t matter what country they’re in or what religion they claim.They all want to control women. They want to control how we dress. They want to control how we act. They even want to control the decisions we make about our own health and our own bodies – Hillary Clinton, 2012

en he du an na

‘The High Priestess, Ornament of Heaven'

EN HEDU’ANNA (BABYLON) - 2354 BC

• Chief Astronomer Priestess

• Granted legitimacy to rulers

• Credited with at least 42 poems some on astronomy

Merit Ptah (Egypt)• First recorded

woman scientist

• “Chief Physician” to the Pharaoh (2700 BC)Agamede (1194 – 1184

BC)• Referenced by Homer

as Physician with healing powers using plants

• Later labeled a sorceress in the 4th Century BC

Agnodike (Agnodice) – 600 BC• First known midwife in

ancient Greece• Studied midwifery/

Gynecology by disguising as a man

• Activist: Successfully fought to abolish law against women studying medicine

WOMEN LEADERS IN HISTORY: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

Hypatia of Alexandria (370 – 415 AD)• First historically noted

woman in Mathematics• Head of Platonic

School at Alexandria

Dorotea Bucca• Professor of

medicine at Bologna University

• Dean of medicine (1390 – aprox.1430)

• Succeeded her father who held the same chair

Maria the Jewess• Alchemist and inventor of

chemical laboratory apparatus including the double boiler

• Author of oldest alchemy books Ibn al-Nadim (Kitāb al-Fihrist), 1100 AD referred to her as one of fifty-two most famous alchemists

• Director, Library of Alexandria• Taught Philosophy and Astronomy• Accused of witchcraft and

murdered by a Christian mob

• Masculinization of power and leadership positions

• Active and Passive Discriminationagainst women scientists

CHALLENGES

• Intolerance - Victimization of women scientists• labeled as witches• Women "mentally incapable of holding a

position of authority” - Thomas Acquinas (1225 – 1274 AD)

• “The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women [but] about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.” - Pat Robertson (1991)

• Leaky Pipe

PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS

• Societal conditioning Established beliefs of women’s lack of leadership capacity• Loss of

bargaining will• Women leading

like men

CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (1979)

Discrimination constitutes “distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of…exercise by women… in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field”Countries responsibility:• ensure gender parity:• education (Article 10)• employment (Article 11) • political and public life (Article 7)

• Provide Progress Reports at least every four years (Article 18)

-1.00 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.000

20

40

60

80

100

120

Progress Report by Convention Country Parties

Number of Reports

Conv

entio

n Co

untr

y Pa

rties

• United States, Iran, Nauru, Palau, Qatar, Sumatra, Sudan and Tonga not signatories to Convention

• Ecuador, El-Salvador, Mongolia, Norway, Sweden and Uruguay up to date with reports

THE ASIAN AND SOUTH PACIFIC SUCCESS

Source: www.masterintelligence.com

LEVERAGING CULTURES: THE NORWEGIAN PARADOX• Tight Cultures do not

support emergence of women leaders - fallacy• Top-down approach &

enforces social comformity

• However, Norway introduced quota system for board room representation of women in 1993• Targeted 40% by

2017• Achieved 42% women

representation in 2010, above EU average and far surpassing other ‘lose cultures’ (i.e. laissez faire)

WHAT WAY FORWARD? STRATEGIES FOR ACCELERATION

• Focus on Impacts and Results• Measure achievements (baseline,

develop matrix, M&E)• Identify Partners• Tight Cultures• Use Champions and National

Animators• Build Pipelines• Affirmative Action• Other Access Initiatives• Mentorship programs

• Recognize Achievements• Media and Communication• Documentation

• Break down stereotypes

MEASURE IMPACT AND RESULTS

Conduct Baseline Survey• Create Date

Bank• Understand

Current State of Affairs

• Identify Current Leadership Opportunities for women in science

Assessment Matrix• Multiple

Domains and Processes

• Self-Assessment Indicators for countries

Monitoring and Evaluation• Trend

Dashboard• Impact

Assessment

Women-LeaP

Framework

Policies & Strategy

Awareness &

Communication

Implementation &

Organization

Compliance &

Coordination

Monitoring &

Evaluation

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS - WOMEN-LEAP (STI) ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK - DOMAINS• Women-LeaP

(STI) Index• n-Domains • n-Processes• Applied Across:• Academic-

Education• Research• Technology

Related Professions

• Industry• Political

Leadership• Policy &

Regulation• Media

• Self Assessed

WOMEN-LEAP (STI) ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK - PROCESSES

D-P Process Description

PS 1 N-Women-LeaP (STI) Policy – Recognize need for National policy on accelerating Women-LeaP (STI)

AC 1 National Influencers – National leaders are aware of policy & strategy

IO 1 National Coordinator – Recognize the need for a national coordinator of efforts

CC 1 Legal parameters – Recognize the need for appropriate laws to be enacted

ME 1 Benchmarks – Launch national baseline survey to establish benchmarks

Domain-n and Process-n

Define all processes for all domains at country level

Table Key: PS = Policy & Strategy; AC = Awareness and Communication; IO = Implementation and Organization; CC = Compliance and Control; ME = Monitoring& Evaluation

WOMEN-LEAP (STI) SELF-ASSESSMENT PROCESSES

PS Process Descriptio

n

Level One Level Two

Level-n

Domain 1: Process 1

Recognize the Need for a national strategy

Promulgate and Endorse a national policy on women representation in leadership positions in STI

Domain 2: Process-2

Domain 4: Process -4

Domain-n: Process-n

Surpassed 30% representation of Women-LeaP (STI)

• Simplified assessment table for country partners• Assessment covers all domains and processes

across all four sub-fields• Self-ranking depth (i.e. level) determined by

framework owner• Ranking system developed based on baseline

survey

Nigeria National

Champion - Aliko Dangote

Africa Regional Champion- Mo

Ibrahim

Global Champion - Bill Gates

Steering Committee

IDENTIFY PARTNERS: CHAMPIONS

• Get Women-LeaP on the UN Post-2015 agenda through Office of the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on Post-2015 development agenda

IDENTIFY PARTNERS: Animators

Steering Committee

Africa Regional Animato

r

Nigeria Country Animato

r

Asia Regional Animator

Malaysia Country Animator

Europe Regional Animator

Country –n Country Animator

Region – n

Regional Animator

Country –n Country Animator

BUILDING A PIPELINE: COMBINING ACCESS INITIATIVES• Quota Systems work!

• UK, Canada, United States, Austria, Germany and Sweden already considering quotas for boardroom representation

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2012/05/specials/infographic.women.boardroom/index.html

RECOGNIZE AND CELEBRATE ACHIEVEMENTS

• Document and Trumpet Successes• Champion Best Practices

• Develop recognition parameters for successful individuals and organizations accelerating Women-LeaP

CREATE A SANCTION REGIME

?

BREAK DOWN STEREOTYPES

•De-masculinize perception of power and leadership•Women scientists exhibit the same professional traits as their male counterparts•Girls can compete

CONCLUSION• Parity of women representation at

leadership levels in Science, Technology and Innovation fields is a necessity for global advancement• Achievements in other spheres of

leadership must be adapted and leveraged to suit women leadership goals in STI• Breakdown psychological barriers to

women parity in leadership position• Partnerships across disciplines,

cultures, gender and ideologies to have a successful acceleration of women representation at decision-making levels

IN CLOSING…To the true woman who possesses exceeding wisdomAlways consulting a tablet of lapis lazuli (or of Samsung and Apple)Giving advice to all landsThe true woman, born of the stylus reedApplies the measure to heavenAnd places the measuring-rope on the earth(For the benefit of mankind)Something has been created that no one has created before(Finally attaining her true place)(In an equitable position in the balance of life)

Adapted from: “The house of Nisaba”, En Hedu’Anna (2354 BC)

ShukranTerima kasihThank you

MerciObrigado

Ma Gye Bo