Kurdish Women Rising Above the “Glass Ceiling”: Adopting Resilience to Foster Vocations in STEM Fields in Iraqi Higher Education

Conference: The IAFOR Conference on Educational Research & Innovation (ERI2022)
Title: Kurdish Women Rising Above the “Glass Ceiling”: Adopting Resilience to Foster Vocations in STEM Fields in Iraqi Higher Education
Stream: STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts & Math) Education
Presentation Type: Live-Stream Presentation
Authors:
Sonya Sherzad Hassan, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Isabelle Collet, University of Geneva, Switzerland

Abstract:

Despite the fact that today there are many more women holding powerful positions all over the world, yet the advancement of the status of academic women in Iraqi Kurdistan is not satisfactory. Women are immensely underrepresented in the scientific-technical vocations of academia, particularly in STEM fields and among STEM degree holders. Most leadership positions in STEM fields are exclusive to men and the higher the academic ladder rises, the fewer women are recorded. This is an issue related to gender inequality, where the problem of low female access to such positions entails considerable long-term risk for universities, which are unable to remain competitive. The higher the academic ladder rises, the fewer numbers of women are recorded.
However, there is also evidence that women in such male-dominated fields, start to challenge stereotypes and conventions despite negative attitudes and discriminations they are continuously exposed to, they develop resilience and react differently to threatening cues. While women in the Iraqi Kurdistan Higher Education face a visible glass ceiling and various barriers structured by a religiously conservative patriarchal society, a minority group of women succeeded in climbing the ladder and achieved their vocations in the STEM fields in academia. 
This paper focuses on analyzing and understanding the reasons behind the success of a small group of women in overcoming barriers at the individual, institutional and social levels. The analytical sample comprised twelve women from two selected universities. Through a qualitative approach of narrative method, a semi-structured interview was conducted as a technique of investigation.



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