The Gender Parity Report: Implications for the HKU Community and Next Steps

Speaker: Professor Peter Mathieson, President and Vice Chancellor, The University of Hong Kong; Impact Champion, UN Women HeforShe Date: 8 November, 2016 Time: 12:30-2:00pm Venue: Conference Hall, 11/F, Cheng Yu Tong Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU

Dear colleagues, students, alumni and friends,

HKU was the first university in the world to launch the United Nations (UN) Women’s HeForShe Initiative on campus in April 2015.

On 20 September 2016, Professor Peter Mathieson, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong addressed the 2016 UN General Assembly during the launch of the HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 University Parity Report, which is the first progress report since 10 global universities publicly announced transformative commitments to improve gender parity by 2020. In HKU’s section of the University Parity Report, the proportion of females at senior leadership level is quoted at 14% (it has improved since the data were submitted, and is now over 20%), tenured professors 18%, full-time Faculty 44%, graduate level 53% and undergraduate level 54%.

Professor Mathieson has been invited to share with our HKU stakeholders some of the HKU gender equity and diversity initiatives that were presented at the IMPACT Report launch at the UN General Assembly meeting. The presentation will follow with an opportunity for Questions and Answers.

Highlights: HKU’s HeforShe Commitments

Specific measures to advance women academics include:

– improving the gender balance of the senior teams (some progress has already been made, although this is not yet adequate); – improving maternity leave provision, addressing the need for breastfeeding facilities, aiming to open our own nursery; – starting to reform our processes around hiring of staff, their promotion and tenure decisions etc to ensure gender equity is part of all decision-making; – trebling the proportion of women in dean-level positions and above; – creating a policy requiring at least one woman on all appointment committees and that these committees include at least one woman on all shortlists.

Measures for students include:

– create HeForShe Impact Scholarships for female students from the world’s most economically deprived nations, as defined by the UN Human Development Index, and fully fund them for study at HKU: 5 in year 1, 10 in year 2, 15 in year 3 and 20 in year 4;

We need culture change, system change, sustainable long-term policy change and the shared commitment to truly make a difference. Join us at the President’s Gender Parity for HKU Forum 2016 on November 8 at 12:30pm.

About Professor Peter Mathieson

Professor Peter Mathieson is the fifteenth President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, and assumed office in April 2014. Prior to this appointment, Peter was the founding Director of Bristol Health Partners at the University of Bristol and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Bristol. Peter has held many senior roles including being Director of Research & Development for the North Bristol NHS Trust and President of the Renal Association. His background is as a medical practitioner, educator and researcher.

Co-organized by Women’s Studies Research Centre HeForShe Initiative