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HKU hosts international policy roundtable on gender equality

08 May 2016

 

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) hosted the Asia-Pacific Women in Leadership (APWiL) Policy Roundtable on Gender Equity (April 26-28, 2016), co-organised with the University of Auckland and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), an international alliance of which HKU is an active member.

Launched in June 2013, the APWiL programme serves as a platform for the sharing of best practices in enhancing the institutional competitiveness of APRU universities and advancing the participation of women in academia and research; and aims to contribute to policy development in bridging the gender gap in higher education.

The Policy Roundtable provided an important platform for the preparation of a proposal to be put to APRU leaders at the upcoming Annual Presidents’ Meeting (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 27-29 June 2016) on a suite of principles and suggested policies for advancing gender equity in member universities and in society more widely.

Representatives from 20 member universities joined the international Roundtable and the discussion was both in-depth and broad in its scope.

Delegates were able to share how opportunities for advancing gender equality were different for specific institutions; explore how institutional demographics, diversity and other issues affected recruitment and retention strategies; and examine how understanding and overcoming unconscious bias in a university and its promotions policy and practices could lead to greater for success for women – both for those already in leadership positions and also for getting more women into those posts.

Professor Peter Mathieson, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKU said: “I’m very pleased to see this Roundtable bringing together so many thought leaders from universities across the Asia-Pacific region not only to discuss a range of gender-equity issues, but also how in practical terms, to implement change. Change starts at the top, and the delegates here are all in a position to lead change both in their respective institutions and through the APRU network.”

• The Roundtable has resulted in a number of recommendations to enhance gender equity: for example, principles including the adoption of an evidence-based approach through collection and analysis of relevant data, improved accountability of senior leaders for gender equity etc along with a suite of policies that will enhance working environments of staff e.g. equitable workload allocation, parental leave, training and development for recruitment etc). These will be taken to the 20^th APRU Presidents’ meeting this coming June to be recommended for implementation across the APRU network.

Established in 1911, the University of Hong Kong is the oldest institution of higher learning in Hong Kong and is an active member of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities.