Calligraphy, Writing and Scripting

Program

Tuesday, 23 October 2007

Wednesday, 24 October 2007

Conference Opening Session: general overview

Presentation by Ismail Serageldin
Manju Sharma, Nina Federoff, Rafia Ghubash, Farkhonda Hassan

Plenary Session 1
Education and Social Change

Chair: Nadia Haidar
Panelists: Zohreh Tabatabai, Michael Cernea, Farida Allaki

The key questions of societal biases have to be addressed. From segregating schooling to co-education, from the streaming into arts and sciences at an early age to general societal and cultural emphasis on moving girls away from the sciences.  This last is apparent in certain biases. Education and health are among the sectors where relatively large numbers of girls specialize. Whereas fields such as engineering, science and mathematics are not.
Some of these general observations tend to transcend countries and to be general global patterns, others are more specific.

In the Middle East Region, from Iran to Morocco, we have surprising figures that show a much larger percentage of girls in the sciences than in many other places. Will this trend be maintained?
How does society influence girls to choose arts over sciences, or to choose certain disciplinary preferences such as education and health?
Are these gender roles entrenched? Are they supported by the social discourse, public discourse, religious discourse?
What can and should be done to ensure that talented girls find their way in the sciences, engineering and mathematics as much they do in other areas?

Session 2
Universities and the Nurturing Future Generations

Chair: Heba Nassar
Panelists: Sheikha Bint Jabor Al-Thani, Christine Pernelle, Hossam Badrawi, Ciryaque  Sendashonga, Sudha Nair

Universities are where the formation of future scientists takes place, based on foundations established in school.   A major effort needs to be undertaken in providing mentoring and encouraging girls in their final choice of career. Yet during and immediately after graduation from the universities girls confront many problems that include inadequate facilities and a variety of societal pressures against scientific careers and supporting early marriage.

Yet in Egypt, as in some other countries of the region, we now have higher percentages of girls going not only into the sciences but also into the teaching positions at the university because the placement system emphasizes grades, and girls get better grades.
Is it sufficient to rely on such a placement system?   Will girls pursue with the same intensity, careers that will lead them to be leaders in science, mathematics and engineering or will we see a gradual drop off as they move onwards into their careers?

Research and Development, Public and Private 

R&D today is where most of cutting-edge scientific work is being done. Increasingly it is dominated by the private sector.  Two thirds of global funding for R&D is provided by private sources.   Do women find a place or is there a glass ceiling?
Do women have the opportunities to flourish in the competitive environment of cut-throat competition and short-term emphasis on profit-making?
What can and should be done to mentor by role models? Is there a special interest in outreach to women and minorities? Are there particularly successful programs to be considered for such outreach?

Plenary Session 3
Women in Executive and Managerial Positions

Chair: Effat Badr
Participants: Jocelyn Webster, Adel Beltagy, Margaret Cartley Carlson

A group of eminent women and men such as these participants who are in leadership positions in executive and managerial roles should be able to address the following topics.
Is there a glass ceiling that prevents women from being promoted into the top ranks of managerial positions?
If so how do discriminatory processes operate?
Is there a special need for affirmative action or is it sufficient to adhere to existing leagal standards?
Are there differences between those who work in academic or educational environments and those who work in commercial institutions, NGOs, or the private sector?
Are there differences that require different strategies to ensure greater presentation of women or at the very least to ensure that those who want to pursue such careers are not discriminated against?
Child rearing and other family obligations put enormous pressure on women in the key formative years of career progression.  What can be done to reduce these pressures to ensure that women can fairly compete for the top positions?

Plenary Session 4
Libraries of the Future

Chair: Laura Campell
Participants:  Sohair Wastawy, Michael Keller, Noha Adly, Ann Okerson, Carol Mandel.

Libraries are a domain where women have traditionally excelled and women are represented in very significant numbers among librarians.
As the libraries of the future move more toward ICT based techniques, as they are involved ever more in technical and scientific content, will these past trends continue? 
The distinguished panel will address the emerging patterns of libraries of the future and where and how in each of these a particular niche has been formed that links women with the IT on the one hand and with greater efforts to teach science and math to an ever larger public on the other.

Plenary Session 5
Applications of Science to benefit Women

Chair: Venice Kamel Gouda
Speakers: Mona Marei, Marcela Villarreal and Magdy Madkour

Sometimes it is the content of the R&D that is in question. To maximize the participation of women, not only is it important to have an overall gender-sensitive atmosphere, conducive to scientific R&D; it is also important that the content of the R&D be one that is of interest to women.   In this case we should address how in fact the application of science and technology in the developing world can benefit women in rural and urban areas, and also find ways of addressing broader questions of empowerment and employment as well as environment and surroundings.

Concluding Session:
A special presentation:

Susanah Clary, winner of the Intel award, will discuss how she engaged with Science

Recommendations for action:

Participants: Cynthia Schneider, Gabrielle Persley, Amani Khayri

Drawing on the discussions in the preceding two days, the closing session will try to summarize the key findings of the sessions as well as drawing and linking these discussions to the Inter-Academy Council report on Women for Science.

Book Launch:

The Arabic Version of the Inter-Academy Council report on Women for Science.

Concluding remarks:

HE Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak

Special  Session :
The Arab Network for Women In Science and Technology (ANWST)

The Arab Network for Women In Science and Technology is a new institution and it has to face formidable odds in a region which is markedly patriarchal.   The conference hopes to reinforce ANWST in its efforts to expand the space where the talents of women will flourish in their chosen domains specially in the areas of science, mathematics and engineering.