Monday 5 March 2012

1600-1800 

 REGISTRATION in the Aspen Room, Cinnamon Grand Hotel 

Tuesday 6 March 2012

 REGISTRATION at entrance to The Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand Hotel

Opening Ceremony
Venue:  The Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand Hotel

Chief Guest:  Her Excellency Ms Hilde Haraldstad, the Ambassador of Norway to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Opening Keynote Address:  Professor Mary Fowler, Professor of Geophysics and Dean of Science, Royal Holloway, University of London;  and Master-Elect of Darwin College, University of Cambridge

Plenary 1: 'Why are women critical to the leadership of higher education?

This session will consider why, from a political / ethical perspective (amongst others) women are critical to the leadership of higher education. It will reflect upon the rights and responsibilities of women to take up positions of leadership and consider why, despite the many development programmes for women in leadership and management in higher education, and despite the advocacy and significant efforts made in many jurisdictions to introduce gender equitable policies and practices, the advancement of women into leadership positions has been less than meteoric.

A research-based paper will be included with the conference documentation to provide an overview of the status of women in higher education leadership and management in the Commonwealth and to demonstrate the extent of the inequalities which exist.

Chair:  Dr Maryam Rab, Registrar, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Pakistan

Speaker: Professor Cheryl de la Rey, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Topic:  Becoming the Subject:  Dilemmas for Women Leaders in Higher Education

Speaker: Professor Savitri Goonesekere, Emeritus Professor of Law, and former Vice-Chancellor, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Topic:  Gender Equality and Higher Education:  Unmet Needs and Expectations

Plenary 2: 'Why are women critical to economic development?'

It has long been argued that the education of women is critical to advancing economic development and this session will provide the opportunity to look at issues relating to women and economic empowerment, health and peace-building; and to consider how universities can work alongside their governments, industry and NGOs to challenge the status quo and inspire both men and women to recognise the capacity of educated women to bring about transformational change in their families and communities.

Chair:  Professor Lindela R Ndlovu, Vice-Chancellor, National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Speaker: Professor Konai Helu Thaman, UNESCO Chair of Teacher Education and Culture, University of the South Pacific 

Topic:  'Women work and Men manage:  continuing challenges to women's economic empowerment in paradise'

Speaker: Professor Cora Voyageur, University of Calgary, Canada

Topic:  The Bannock Winners:  Community Development and Indigenous Women in Canada

 A.  Leadership

Chair:  Professor Louise Morley, Director of the Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research (CHEER), University of  Sussex, UK

1. Presenter:  Dr Hannah Ajayi, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria
Topic:  Breaking the barrier of stereotype and biases

2. Presenter:  Dr Maryam Rab, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Pakistan
Topic:  Women as role models in higher education:  A way forward

3.  Presenter:  Professor Lucienne Tessens, The University of Western Australia
Topic:  Senior university women's perceived development needs

4.  Presenters:  Maria Mathew and Alif Nazrin, St Teresa's College, Mahatma Gandhi University, India
Topic:  The Glass Ceiling:  A challenge to women's participation in decision-making bodies in universities

B.  Economic Development

Chair:  Professor Najma Najam, Vice-Chancellor, Karakoram International University, Gilgit, Pakistan

1.  Presenter:  Dr Faith Ekong, University of Uyo, Nigeria
Topic:  Women and development process:  a study or rural women organisations in community development

2.  Presenter:  Nazima Ellahi, Foundation University Islamabad, Pakistan
Topic:  Empowering women in Pakistan: a way towards achieving a Millennium Development Goal

3.  Presenter:  Susantha Rasnayake, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Topic:  The Role of Informal Women Entrepreneurs in Livelihood Development and Regional Development

Plenary 3: 'What is the benefit to students and to society of ensuring that gender is mainstreamed in universities?

With specific regard to policy development and implementation, the priority of this session will be to challenge universities to recognise, not only from the perspective of natural justice but also in terms of setting the benchmark for society in general, the importance of introducing and implementing policies which ensure that women's rights and interests are represented in curricula, appointments, practices, research and collaborations, so that the higher education sector is seen to be playing a leading role in transforming perceptions about, and overcoming discrimination against, women.

Chair:  Professor John Wood, Secretary General, Association of Commonwealth Universities

Speaker: Professor Teresa Rees, Cardiff University / the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, UK

Topic:  Enhancing excellence by enhancing quality

Plenary 4: 'What are the critical issues relating to women and HIV/AIDS?'

This session will examine the particular impact of HIV/AIDS on women, and how the higher education sector can and should respond to it. In many countries there is still a silence and stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS - even in the university sector - yet there are many examples of strategies which have proven to be successful in mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS not only on university staff and students but also, through engagement with their communities, on women in the wider society. We shall seek in this session not only to raise awareness of the issues but also to encourage commitment to action.

Chair:  Professor Barnabas Otaala, Uganda Martyrs University, Uganda

Speaker: Professor David Plummer, James Cook University and Queensland Health, Australia

Topic:  'When HIV + Masculinity = Risk:  why addressing masculinity will be required for genuine, sustainable, widespread progress against HIV'

Speaker:  Ms Mary Crewe, Director, The Centre for the Study of AIDS, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Topic:  Pouring the Tea:  Beyond roles and rhetoric

Parallel Discussion Sessions led by presentations on topics related to Gender Mainstreaming and Health

A.  Gender Mainstreaming

Chair:  Dr Anne Gold, Consultant to the ACU's Gender Programme and formerly of the Institute of Education,University of London

1. Presenter:  Professor Steinunn Helga Larusdottir, University of Iceland
Topic:  Gender:  The lost dimension in teacher education

2. Presenter: Professor Jane Onsongo, Catholic University of Easter Africa, Kenya
Topic:  Promoting gender equity in selected public universities in Kenya:  an examination of sustainable interventions

3. Presenter:  Professor Lucienne Tessens, The University of Western Australia
Topic:  The Leadership Development for Women Program:  Change for women and culture

4  Presenter:  Ms Hemamalie Gunatilake, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka
Topic:  An analysis of the impact of gender roles on female managerial level employees:  a case study on the Sri Lankan garment industry

B.  Health, with special reference to HIV/AIDS

Chair:  Dorothy Garland, Director, Professional Networks (and leader of the ACU's Gender Programme), Association of Commonwealth Universities

1. Presenter:  Professor Nyokabi Kamau, St Pauls University, Kenya
Topic: Silence, Invisibility and Absence:  Experiences and effects of HIV/AIDS on senior women staff in Kenyan universities

2. Presenter:  Dr Tolulope Monisola Ola, Ekiti State University, Nigeria
Topic: Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Prevention Programme implemented by students and staff in tertiary institutions in Ekiti State, Nigeria

3. Presenter:  Ms Elizabeth Mills, PhD Candidate and Commonwealth Scholar, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex
Topic: Voice, Vulnerability and Visibility:  Reflections on academic accountability, power and participatory photography with HIV-positive women in South Africa

Plenary 5: 'Why is it critical that women are active in research and that research is gender sensitive?'

There will be three core elements under discussion in this session: how important it is, for women in universities, for their students and for the society they serve, that they are given the space, opportunity and encouragement to make full use of their critical faculties in research; how important it is for women's careers (notably in academia) that they are active in research and publishing; and the critical importance of ensuring that all research proposals / projects are gender sensitive.

Chair:  Dr Jasbir K Singh, Consultant to the ACU's Gender Programme and former Professor of Education, University of Malaya

Speaker: Professor Louise Morley, University of Sussex, UK

Topic:  Knowing Women:  Gender, Power and Research

Speaker: Professor Maithree Wickramasinghe, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

Topic:  Strong Validity:  Conceptualising Gender/Social Analysis & Reflexivity as Validity in Evaluating Research

Plenary 6: Universities engaging with gender issues in their societies

This session has been arranged with the support of The Talloires Network - an international association of institutions committed to strengthening the civic roles and social responsibilities of higher education. It will seek to explore ways in which universities, by identifying and grasping opportunities to address inequalities and injustices pertaining to women in their wider communities, can significantly enhance their engagement with those communities while changing lives for the better. The session will take the form of a panel of speakers from different parts of the Commonwealth.

Moderator:  Dr Lorlene M Hoyt, Director of Programs and Research, Talloires Network

Speaker: Professor Dr Samina Amin Qadir, Vice-Chancellor, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Pakistan

Speaker: Professor Janet Beer, Vice-Chancellor, Oxford Brookes University, UK

Speaker:  Professor Tan Sri Dato' Wira Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin, Vice-Chancellor, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 

Parallel Discussion Sessions led by presentations on topics related to Research and Community Engagement

A.  Research

Chair:  Professor John Wood, Secretary General, Association of Commonwealth Universities

1. Presenter:  Kanchana S Bulumulle-Illankoon, the Open University of Sri Lanka / PhD candidate, University of Adelaide, Australia
Topic:  Gendered micro-politics:  Experiences of Sri Lankan and Australian academics

2. Presenter:  Professor Steinunn Helga Larusdottir, University of Iceland
Topic:  A gender sensitive leadership research.  What does it take?  Where does it lead?

3. Presenters:  Professor K A L A Kuruppuarachchi and Dr Aruni Hapangama, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
Topic:  The burden and impact of caring for the mentally ill on female caregivers

B.  Community Engagement

Chair:  Ms Christine Gunson, Manager, Strategic Human Resources, Edith Cowan University, Australia

1. Presenter:  Professor Dr Najma Najam, Vice-Chancellor, Karakoram International University, Gilgit, Pakistan
Topic:  Mountain communities, mountain university women linking for futures

2. Presenter:  Dr Frances Owusu-Daaku, Associate Professor, Social Pharmacy, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana
Topic:  KNUST Community Impact Programme  -  Where is the Gender Perspective?

Drawing on the questions and recommendations which have arisen during the plenary and parallel working sessions, this final session will seek to identify how the ACU itself, its member universities and other interested parties can most usefully contribute to the advancement and monitoring of women's progress towards equity and equality in the higher education sector and thus, by example and extension, in society.

The business will not end there, however. Thanks to the shared interests of the British Council and the close proximity of their conference, Going Global 2012 (London, 13 - 15 March), the key messages and issues arising from the ACU's conference will be given further voice at their Women in Leadership Forum (London, 12 March) and then taken on to an even wider audience at Going Global. We have, therefore, a unique opportunity to work together to send a powerfully argued message to a global audience of those who have the influence to bring about transformational change for the women in our societies.