In the last week of June 2023, IDS hosted university leaders from across the Greater Mekong Subregion and Timor-Leste. This high-profile visit was part of an ongoing British Council and Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation, Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development project.
This visit formed part of a project: Strengthening Leadership with Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity in Higher Education Institutions in the Greater Mekong Subregion and Timor-Leste The project aims to create a sustainable network of leaders among Southeast Asian (SEA) and UK higher education institutions to promote GEDI issues. It is hoped that this will contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG4 (Quality Education), SDG5 (Gender Equality), and SDG17 (Partnerships).
The workshop was co-funded by the British Council and held at IDS. It was designed to engage the visiting university leaders with the GEDI research and policies at IDS and the University of Sussex. The meeting helped to develop deeper relationships between leaders in the region and enabled them to explore future regional and international collaborations. IDS and the university leaders were able to forge a common understanding of the complexities of gender equity, diversity and inclusivity and the significance of intersecting vulnerabilities, such as age, race, class and location.
Dr Lai Suat Yan, Coordinator of the Master of Gender Studies Programme, Universiti of Malaya said of her visit to IDS: “Being at IDS has been an immersive experience. The dialogues with various scholars working in the field and having the opportunity to experience first-hand the operationalising and practices of some of the resources for persons with disabilities has been very rewarding. I would examine in particular, the relevant policy and programme on gender equality and inclusion of persons with disabilities and compare it with those in my institutions and see how it could be adopted or adapted”.
The visit to IDS was designed to help senior university leaders, whose institutions have committed to opening opportunities for marginalised populations, to address these inequalities. Participants acknowledged that some forms of exclusion are often internal, extremely subtle or hidden, for example, interview panels’ gender attitudes can impact recruitment outcomes.
Shared learning, shared goals
Mai Lan Phuong, Vice Deputy of the Rural Development Department, Vietnam National University of Agriculture said of the impact of the workshops: “this project raises my awareness and has made me explore the current situation concerning GEDI in my university and my country” she continues “I have learnt how to integrate gender and development in instruction and curriculum towards gender harmonisation and development guidance and in policies and activities within my university to promote marginalised students such as those from ethnic minorities, disabled students and LGBT+ groups”.
The visit to IDS gave participants time to reflect on their scope to influence their colleagues in senior management to help shape and implement GEDI policies in university faculties and institutes. Yet they also recognised that such ambitious aims would require allies and partnerships, finding like-minded supporters of GEDI in universities within national boundaries, between SEA countries, with UK universities and globally. Dr Lai Suat Yan continued that “influencing change in the higher management of an institution is a gradual process that occurs incrementally and may take years as the experiences of lobbying to adopt and enact policy and laws on sexual harassment has demonstrated”.
Equitable and inclusive universities
Both IDS colleagues and those visiting recognised the need to ensure that the education services we provide do not perpetuate cycles of inequality and that, in order to transform society, we need to act now, working together towards more equitable and inclusive universities.
Linda Waldman, IDS Director of Teaching and Learning and lead consultant for this project said of the visit: “Hosting this workshop at IDS, which has a long history of tackling gender inequality and which envisions a more equitable and sustainable world, where people everywhere can live their lives free from poverty and injustice, has been a pleasure and a privilege. We have learnt far more about the ambitions of higher education institutes leaders in Southeast Asian, about challenges specific to region and about the different and diverse possibilities for implementing gender equity, diversity, and inclusivity. More importantly, we have met remarkable higher education institutes leaders, built networks and had inspiring conversations which help all of us to improve our work and envision a better future”.
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