Global data shows that women make up on average only 27% of members of national parliaments, 13% of top managers in corporations, and 19% of the presidents of the top 200 Universities, with a recent UNESCO report (2021) concluding that inequalities run deep and glass ceilings remain high. Concerns are growing too about the future of diversity, equality and inclusion programmes across many countries, which may further impede progress.
This symposium explores the barriers and facilitators of women’s leadership and career development across the global south and north, with a particular focus on industry and politics. Entrepreneurs and politicians from India, Ghana and Scotland will share their experiences of career development, explore structural and cultural barriers to advancement and consider what steps can be taken now to promote positive change.
Speakers at the symposium include: Rita Aku-Shika Diabah (Founder and CEO of Yesli Ice, Ghana); Dr Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko (Deputy General Secretary of New Patriotic Party and Executive Director of Danquah Institute, Ghana), Dr Naeema Yaqoob Sajid (Founder and CEO of Diversity+, Scotland), Dr Debdatta Chowdhury (CSSS, India) and Baroness Margaret Curran (Scottish Labour Party).
The symposium forms part of a comparative network project, funded by the RSE exploring women’s leadership across three sectors: politics, industry and higher education. It is being undertaken by the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh; the Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) at the University of Ghana; and the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences (CSSS), Kolkata.
The symposium is online only and free to attend. Click here to register on Teams Webinar.
For further information please contact: Professor Lesley McAra, Director of IASH. Email: lesley.mcara@ed.ac.uk
This is the third seminar in our series 'Towards Gender Equality', sponsored by the Royal Society of Edinburgh.