Griffith Asia Institute has linked up with the EWHA Womans University in Korea to highlight challenges in front of women achieving leadership roles across the Asian region.
The one-day policy forum in Seoul (on September 12) aims to develop an effective research agenda for the improved representation of women in areas like business and politics.
The forum is expected to uncover insights also relevant in an Australian context.
“While the election of Park Geun-hye, the first female president of South Korea, was a considerable turning point in Korean politics, women on the whole are still widely underrepresented in a range of fields,” Professor Renee Jeffery, Griffith Asia Institute, said.
“A key question is how best can we bring about an improvement in women’s representation in politics, higher education, development and economic participation?”
President Park has outlined a three-year plan to create 1.5 million jobs to promote women’s economic participation.
“We are bringing together researchers, scholars and policy makers to examine the core issues behind gender inequality across the Asian region,” Professor Jeffery said.
“By sharing and exchanging knowledge in this way, we are confident this academic initiative can have a far-reaching and sustainable impact in the empowerment of women.”
Leadership in higher education
The forum will be run over a number of sessions with woman and development, increasing women’s participation in the workforce and women’s leadership in the higher education sector among the central themes.
Griffith University academics including Dr Liz van Acker (School of Government and International Relations), Professor Jenny Martin (Eskitis Drug Discovery Institute), Dr Kay Broadbent (Department of Employment Relations and Human Resources) and PhD candidate Caitlin Mollica (School of Government and International Relations) will address the event.
Professor Eun Mee Kim, Dean of the Graduate School of International Studies at EWHA Womans University, will deliver the opening address.
The Australia-Korea Policy Forum on Women in Leadership is supported by the Commonwealth through the Australia-Korea Foundation, which is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.