from left to right: Dr Brenda Murphy , Dr Sarah Pule, Prof. Marie Therese Camilleri Podesta, Prof. Mary Darmanin, Dr Sabine Ludwig, Dr Carmen Sammut
A symposium on 'Gender Mainstreaming in University Curricula' was organised by the Gender Issues Committee (GIC) on Wednesday 26 April 2017 at the University of Malta. This event was organised in connection with the celebration of International Women’s Day 2017.
The symposium was chaired by Prof. Marie Therese Camilleri Podesta (Chairperson of the GIC committee). The opening address was given by Dr Carmen Sammut, Pro-Rector for Student and Staff Affairs and Outreach. Dr Sammut emphasised that the EU approach to gender mainstreaming is not to consider it as a policy goal in itself but as a means to achieve the ultimate goal of gender equality.
The keynote speaker of the event was Dr Sabine Ludwig, responsible for Gender and Diversity in Medical Education at the Charitè University, Berlin, Germany. Dr Ludwig began by quoting the CPME (The Standing Committee of European doctors) policy paper which states that “in order to achieve high quality equitable care, it is necessary to reflect awareness for sex and gender based patient needs in medical education, training, research and the everyday patient-doctor relationship”. She then spoke about how this mainstreaming can be achieved and gave the results of a survey carried out among thirty-six medical faculties in Germany. This study showed that sex and gender are not yet systematically integrated in medical curricula in Germany.
The programme continued with three shorter presentations from faculty members at the University of Malta. Prof. Mary Darmanin, from the Department of Education Studies, Faculty of Education, gave an overview of the approach to the issue in her Department in her presentation entitled “Individual Discretion versus Mainstreaming”. She also showed how the current curriculum is being revised in the new curriculum. Dr Sarah Pule from the Department of Technology and Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Education, gave a presentation entitled “Making Technology Education appeal to females. She showed how the titles and images used in teaching resources have been modified to make them more appealing to various learning styles. The last speaker was Dr Brenda Murphy, who heads the Department of Gender Studies within the Faculty of Social Wellbeing. She spoke about establishing a mainstream which was accessible for all, so that all faculties “have gender embedded into each of them” since “every discipline is gendered and all knowledge is gendered”.
Prof. Camilleri Podesta brought the event to a close by thanking all the speakers for their very illuminating contributions, adding that it is hoped that gender mainstreaming will gain momentum throughout the faculties of our Alma Mater.
