The Role of Women in International Projects on Education

Dr. Izabella Petriashvili, Associate Professor

Institute of Pedagogy, Faculty of Humanities

Tbilisi State University

izabelapetriashvili@tsu.ge

Aims:

o to show the involvement of women in international educational projects

o to describe how the implementation of such projects in Higher Educational Institutions can promote active participation of women in the field of education

Discussion

1. a European Commission funded TEMPUS project on “Development of an International Model for Curricular Reform in Multicultural Education and Cultural Diversity Training (DOIT)"  

2. Turkish women teachers' and academicians' benefits of participating in international projects focusing on supporting women in the field of education to join international projects.

Development of an International Model for Curricular Reform in

Multicultural Education and Cultural Diversity Training

Multicultural Education provides us with the tools, behaviors and values to live within the globalized

world.

Multicultural Societies a fact in our Globalized world

“We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now” (Dr. Martin Luther King

26 Institutions – 21 Official members + 5 additional groups16 Academic Institutions

6 in Israel, 5 in Georgia and 5 in the EU countries.

4 NGOs: 1 in Israel, 2 in Georgia and 1 in Estonia.6 Student Unions: 3 in Israel and 3 in Georgia

Members of DOIT:

Gender Balance

to what extent the principle of equal opportunities has been taken into account in the project implementation

o gender analysis carried outo presence of women in decision-making bodieso balanced percentage share of women among

the teachers or the enrolled students

Gender Balance

Women – 50 Men - 21

How did the project help to promote gender balance and to identify and address factors influencing gender discrimination?

Gender Anlysis outcomesdistributing leadership roles has been based on

ability rather than gender roleswomen are strongly represented in all aspects of

our work and leadership structure. This may be due to the fact that our project is related to the field of education and women are strongly represented in this field in most countries in Europe, Georgia and Israel

Each institution of DOIT has at least one woman member on their DOIT team and most have more

Gender Anlysis outcomes (cont.)

Women have taken on leadership roles that include: Coordinator, vice-coordinator and leaders of 4 out of the 5 academic course development teams

Women lead the working packages of development, pilots, faculty workshop, student activities, and management

Men lead the working packages of portal development, dissemination and quality assurance.

The financial manager of DOIT is a man Women in general outnumber the men participating in

this program by over 2 to 1.

Interviews with women participants of international educational projects29 women Teachers/professors interviewed altogether:

9 from Georgia (including 1 student)2 from Israel1 from the UK17 from Turkey

Interview Questions: What benefits do you have for yourself,

institution and society after your participation in international projects?

What are your motivational reasons to pursue international projects as a student/faculty?

Did you have any obstacles for your participation in international projects due to gender discrimination? If yes, please write what type of obstacles they were

Interview Questions (cont.):

What competencies have supported your success in international projects?

Do you think you gained additional competencies while participating in international projects? Please write what competencies they are

What advise would you give to other women students/faculty about their participation in international projects?

What benefits do you have for yourself, institution and society after your participation in international

projects?

Personal: to have established professional networks that will lead

to new projects and collaboration has provided me with important experience which will

benefit me in future endeavors professional growth enlarges my vision towards cooperation and

partnership with foreign colleagues, enriches my knowledge, broadens my views in many different areas - cultural, social, professional

enriches my knowledge  in the given sphere

to find new contacts with professionals from abroad, which are later developed, leading to new collaboration perspectives

increases the opportunities for international scientific collaborative activities

getting to know other cultures and sharing people’s cultural experiences

For the institution: to provide a model of international networking

that other members of the staff will model to reflect the positive results of international

collaborationnew resources are gained from the project

grants that benefit the institution transformation and modernization of existing

educational programs.

For the society: providing models of empowered competent women increasing and enhancing networks and collaborative

work and developing multiple perspectives new knowledge and experience for institution and

society peoples of different cultures, beliefs, customs and

traditions, educational background meet, exchange their own practices and work together for the further development of society

did my best to help the minority students to involve in the life of our university, make them feel the valuable members of the society; a strong will to do anything valuable for the society 

What are your motivational reasons to pursue international projects as a student/faculty?

The vision that I am promoting to pre and in-service teachers in relations to teacher training - promoting multicultural education and children’s rights through education, are issues that are relevant to all societies. My aim is to promote these objectives through the collaborative process and together with our international partners, benefit from the results

to gain important skills and knowledge about international projects in general, and of higher education reform in particular

financial - as being part of these projects pays my salary at the end of the day

professional development, sharing foreign experience in order to carry out mutually beneficial programs

What competencies have supported your success in international projects?

Open transparent communication, commitment to the objectives of the program, providing a model for work, logistic skills, keeping to a schedule, building a plan but being flexible to enable changes that contribute to the reaching of the objectives

Language skills, organizational skills and people skills have benefited me

Being open to new ideas, new perspectives, new challenges, and a real interest in collaborative work

Knowledge in a subject field, leadership and communication skills

Professional interest, devotion to the professional activities

Do you think you gained additional competencies while participating in

international projects?

Improving my communication skills, understanding the dynamics of building and maintaining these ties

Improving in building collaborative processes and group work

Understanding of how international projects helped me with management skills

Deeper understanding of other socio/political/cultural ways of engaging in education

Better insight into intercultural communication, skill of working as a part of a team

Acknowledge diverse opinions and accept differences

Importance of sharing knowledge and experience

working in diverse international teams, skill of strategic planning and project writing

Awareness of other cultures, customs and traditions; intercultural competence

Advise you would give to other women students/faculty about their

participation in international projects I would emphasize the importance of collaboration and

sharing of knowledge as well as clear, open communication

it is a great opportunity to strengthen contacts with individuals in other institutions and countries which may be able to assist in future work/research

Try to participate whenever you have the opportunity to develop your own networks and understandings – get actively involved !

It is very good to show international links in developing your c.v.

Be tolerant, accept different points of view and at the same time be free to express your own ones

Be confident, have a goal in life and do everything for reaching their aims

Perform duties faithfully and diligently and use the results of the project in professional activities

Establish professional contacts with foreign universities and share their experience

Show the world that a woman can do everything much better than a man

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING