UoB holds 1st Women Scientific Forum “STEM”

Patronized by Secretary General of SCW
UoB holds 1st Women Scientific Forum “STEM”
Al-Ansari: SCW aims to strengthen women’s lifelong learning trends
Prof. Hamzah: We include the forum on the University’s work plan to discuss the challenges of Bahraini women

Ms. Hala Mohammed Al-Ansari, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) said that the Council seeks to consolidate lifelong learning trends for Bahraini women and to develop its mechanisms, channels and technologies in order to adopt them as value-added programmes within the framework of education and work, in partnership with educational and academic institutions and in the various sectors of civil work.

Al-Ansari spoke at the opening of the 1st Women Scientific Forum of the University of Bahrain, entitled “Promoting Equality and Empowerment of Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics” (STEM). The event was organized by the University’s Equal Opportunities Committee (EOC) on Monday.

Al-Ansari praised the Bahraini women who studied various engineering disciplines in the face of the challenges faced by many countries, namely the reluctance of females to study science, engineering and mathematics. She added, “The national statistics of the General Secretariat of the Higher Education Council in Bahrain indicate that about 533 female students graduated from the colleges of Science and Information Technology and Engineering. This number represents 57% of the total graduates of these colleges for the academic year 2013-2014, which is a positive indicator of women’s desire to study these disciplines.”

According to the statistics from the Civil Service Bureau, Al-Ansari said that 31% of the engineers in the leading positions in the public sector are women. In the private sector, the statistics of the Social Insurance Organization indicate that the percentage of female engineers is 16% of the total number of leading Bahraini engineers.

Al-Ansari stressed that it is necessary to work towards renewing plans and programmes to preserve the human resources that are the foundation of sustainable development. In addition, it is necessary to intensify scientific studies which identify the causes of unacceptable gaps between the outputs of education and the changing employment opportunities and develop solutions to harmonise them in view of the rapid development in the world, including the required new skills in science, engineering and technology.

The Secretary General of SCW said, “The role of national universities needs to be more flexible and faster to respond to current and future labour market requirements. We need to think of two- or three-dimensional disciplines that combine scientific specialisation, technological skills and business management skills in order to expand the choices of female graduates and to rapidly integrate them and increase their ability to adapt to the labour market. We hope to create a comprehensive national framework for academic and career guidance that adopts advanced mechanisms and non-traditional methods.”

For his part, the President of the University of Bahrain, Prof. Riyad Y. Hamzah, praised the achievements of Bahraini women, declaring “We are proud of the great achievements made by Bahraini women in the blessed era of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the important role of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of the King, President of the SCW, in enhancing the role and status of Bahraini women in the social and developmental fields.”

During his speech, Prof. Hamza announced that the forum will be included in the University’s work and activities plan to continue year after year, highlighting the developments, changes and challenges facing Bahraini women in all fields that contribute to their development.

Regarding the role of women in the University, Prof. Hamzah noted, “The presence of women in the University has been a solid foundation for the history of this national institution, whether as a student, academic or administrative.” He added that the figures of the last ten years indicate a distinct presence of women in a number of scientific fields related to the subjects of the forum. “We found that females exceed their male colleagues in the specialisation of Information Systems, and they are very close in number in Chemistry, Biology, Civil Engineering and Architecture, whereas they vary in number in other scientific disciplines,” he said.
Prof. Hamzah also expressed the aspiration the University to empower women more, which makes their presence in these areas more powerful and influential. He stated, “From universities change begins and new ideas are created.”

Professor Hamzah stressed the importance of continuing effective cooperation and partnership with the components of our local community, and beyond that explaining, “This is what we have been keen on in our development plan which extends to 2021.”

The first forum was patronised by Hala Al-Ansari, Secretary General of SCW, and sponsored by Tamkeen and the Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) to celebrate women’s achievements in the engineering field.

The themes of the Forum highlighted women’s achievements in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, in addition to the need to create women leaders and models, identify and close gaps in these areas. Participants held panel discussions with SCW and other relevant institutions on women.

The speakers at the sessions of the forum included Prof. Samira Al-Sayed Omar, Director General of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR); Dr. Chitra Sinha, visiting professor at the Centre for Gender Research at the University of Uppsala (Sweden); and Engineer Asma Jassim Murad, Assistant Undersecretary for Sanitary Affairs at the Ministry of Works, Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning.

The speeches were followed by four panel discussions, the first of which was titled “Women in STEM – From Participation to Achievement”, with the participation of Dr. Fatima bint Mohammed Al-Baloushi, Former Minister of Social Development and Chief Executive Officer of “White Palm”; Engineer Maryam Ahmed Juman, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Communications for Land Transport and Post at the Ministry of Transport and Communications; and Shaima Al-Hamed, Executive Director of BIS.

The second panel was entitled “Women in STEM from the Industry Perspective” with the participation of Dr. Abdulrahman Abdul Hussain Jawaheri, Chairman of GPIC; Mohammed Al-Qaed, CEO of Information and e-Government Authority; Abdulrahman Al-Awadhi, General Manager of BizExcel; and Hiba Nayef Harara, Executive Vice President of Electricity Production and Transmission at the Ministry of Electricity and Water.
The third session discussed “Women in STEM from the Academic Perspective”, with: Dr. Mazen Juma, President of the Royal University for Women; Prof. Wahib Issa Al-Nasser, Vice President of the University of Bahrain for Academic and Graduate Programs; and Dr. Mansour Al-Ali, President of Ahlia University.

As for the fourth panel, it focused on “Women in STEM from the Government Perspective and the Community Perspective”. Participants included Dr. Ebrahim Mattar, Associate Professor from Electrical Engineering Department (University of Bahrain), Head of IET Bahrain; Engineer Huda Sultan, Director of Bahrain Society of Engineers; Najwa Abdullatif Janahi, Director of the NGO Department at the Ministry of Labor and Social Development; and Amal Al-Buflasa, Head of the Department of Nursery and Childhood Development at the Ministry of Labour and Social Development.

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