The Role of Women in International Projects on Education Dr. Izabella Petriashvili, Associate Professor Institute of Pedagogy, Faculty of Humanities Tbilisi State University

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 groups 16 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 out o presence of women in decision-making bodies o 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 outcomes distributing leadership roles has been based on ability rather than gender roles women 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 projects 29 women Teachers/professors interviewed altogether:  9 from Georgia (including 1 student)  2 from Israel  1 from the UK  17 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 collaboration new 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

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