The UBC Status of Women Committee, the UBC Faculty of Science, and Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science & Technology are pleased to present:

Should Gendered Work Practices in Academia be a Personal Responsibility?
Dr. Ita Richardson, University of Limerick

April 17, 2012
Beaty Biodiversity Museum (Please bring UBC ID for admission to the museum)
3:00 – 4:00 pm
Reception to follow

RSVP required by April 16 to wwest@mech.ubc.ca.  Space is limited.

Should Gendered Work Practices in Academia be a Personal Responsibility?

The Gender Audit within the University of Limerick was funded through Science Foundation Ireland.  Data was drawn from four sources: an interview-based survey 101 Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) faculty (45% of SET faculty population, male and female), an interview-based survey of 25 researchers (20% of research population, including post-doctoral researchers), three focus groups comprising 23 faculty and researchers, and Human Resource archives.   This data was analysed to elicit factors that may contribute towards gender bias in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET).  This talk will discuss some of the findings from this research and the differences noted in the work practices between women and men, allowing us to consider how much personal responsibility we, as female academics, need to take.  It will also present actions which have been undertaken within the University of Limerick to support the outcomes from the audit.

Dr. Ita Richardson
Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, University of Limerick and Lero – the Irish Software Engineering Research Centre

Dr. Ita Richardson is Senior Lecturer with the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems at the University of Limerick and a Principal Investigator in Lero – the Irish Software Engineering Research Centre.  Since joining the University of Limerick in 1992, Dr. Richardson has developed and maintained an interest in Women’s issues, particularly those of Women working in Science and Engineering disciplines.  She campaigned for the on-site custom built UL crèche, is a member of the Equal Opportunities committee, has been a co-recipient of funding to support positive actions for female UL employees, developed courses for women studying Science, Engineering and Technology, and was Principal Investigator on two grants received from Science Foundation Ireland to carry out a Gender Audit in the University of Limerick.  She is a Principal Investigator with the University of Limerick on the EU-funded project FESTA: Female Empowerment in Science and Technology Academia, which commenced in February 2012.