The sociocultural contexts of higher education institutions form the background for gender-based violence in professional structures and environment of academia. The article presents the comparative analysis of sexual violence and the reasons for its (non-)disclosure at the universities in Lithuania and Cyprus. The findings of focus group interviews conducted within the framework of the Ending Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education (ESHTE) project, co-funded by the European Union, have been summarized in the present research. The focus group participants from each partner university involved university teachers, administrative staff, counselors and university students. The research was conducted during a 3-month period between 2017 and 2018. The main aim was to investigate university staffs' and students' experiences in the disclosures of the cases of sexual violence and harassment (SVH) in university environment and campus, as well as their awareness of existing procedures and policies in handling the cases of SVH. Their personal experiences, attitudes and beliefs of SVH, as well as any suggestions they have towards the improvement of disclosures of SVH are discussed in the article.
The sociocultural contexts of higher education institutions form the background for gender-based violence in professional structures and environment of academia. The article presents the comparative analysis of sexual violence and the reasons for its (non-)disclosure at the universities in Lithuania and Cyprus. The findings of focus group interviews conducted within the framework of the Ending Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education (ESHTE) project, co-funded by the European Union, have been summarized in the present research. The focus group participants from each partner university involved university teachers, administrative staff, counselors and university students. The research was conducted during a 3-month period between 2017 and 2018. The main aim was to investigate university staffs' and students' experiences in the disclosures of the cases of sexual violence and harassment (SVH) in university environment and campus, as well as their awareness of existing procedures and policies in handling the cases of SVH. Their personal experiences, attitudes and beliefs of SVH, as well as any suggestions they have towards the improvement of disclosures of SVH are discussed in the article. ; Aukštųjų mokyklų sociokultūriniai kontekstai sukuria prielaidas smurtui dėl lyties ir akademinėje aplinkoje. Straipsnyje pateikiama lyginamoji seksualinio smurto paplitimo, saugumo jausmo ir jo (ne)sukūrimo priežasčių Lietuvos (Šiaulių universiteto atvejis) ir Kipro (Nikosijos universiteto atvejis) aukštojo mokslo sistemoje analizė. Situacijos analizė yra paremta fokus grupės interviu, kuris buvo atliktas įgyvendinant Europos Sąjungos finansuojamą projektą "Seksualinio priekabiavimo ir smurto trečiojo lygio švietimo institucijose mažinimas" (ESHTE), rezultatais. Tyrime dalyvavo abiejų aukščiau minėtų universitetų tikslinės grupės dalyviai: universiteto darbuotojai, įskaitant dėstytojus ir vyresniuosius administracijos darbuotojus, bei universiteto studentus. Tyrimas truko 3 mėnesius nuo 2017 m. iki 2018 m. Pagrindinis tyrimo tikslas – ištirti universiteto personalo ir studentų patirtį atskleidžiant seksualinio smurto ir priekabiavimo (SSP) atvejus universiteto studijų aplinkoje ir universiteto miestelyje, taip pat jų turimas žinias apie esamas procedūras ir politiką SSP atvejais. Straipsnyje aptariama asmeninė dalyvių patirtis, požiūris ir įsitikinimai apie SSP, taip pat siūlymai, kaip mažinti ir keisti SSP situaciją aukštojo mokslo institucijose. Kalbant apie smurtą dėl lyties, vertėtų atkreipti dėmesį į tai, kad jis vyksta visoje Europos Sąjungoje (ES) ir yra žmogaus teisių pažeidimas. Tai yra moterų ir vyrų nelygybės priežastis ir kartu jos pasekmė. Europos universitetuose ir mokslinių tyrimų įstaigose gausu pranešimų tiek moterų, tiek ir vyrų, patyrusių seksualinį priekabiavimą, kas, savo ruožtu, daro neigiamą poveikį jų asmeninei gerovei ir mokslinei karjerai. Kita vertus, smurtas dėl lyties, įskaitant seksualinį priekabiavimą, Europos universitetuose ir mokslinių tyrimų institutuose dažnai yra nepakankamai įvertinamas, be to labai trūksta ir žinių šiuo klausimu. Keletas kitų autorių atliktų tyrimų parodė, kad nepalankiomis darbo sąlygomis dirbančioms moterims (pvz., doktorantėms) ar mainų programų studentams ypač gresia smurtas dėl lyties ir seksualinis priekabiavimas. Todėl straipsnyje analizuojamu tyrimu buvo siekiama ištirti ir palyginti įvairias seksualinio priekabiavimo formas aukštosiose mokyklose, kiek su tuo susiduria ir kiek tai patiria tiek darbuotojai, tiek studentai Kipre ir Lietuvoje. Antrasis tyrimo tikslas buvo nustatyti universitetų, kurie sėkmingai įgyvendina įvairias šios srities programas, veiksmus ir kolektyvinius institucinius mechanizmus, kurie veiksmingai prisideda prie smurto dėl lyties mažinimo universitetuose. Taigi, tyrimu siekta geriau suprasti smurto dėl lyties universitetuose situaciją, padidinti personalo ir studentų gebėjimą atpažinti ir kreiptis dėl smurto dėl lyties bei sumažinti smurto dėl lyties raišką akademinėje aplinkoje. Tyrimui atlikti buvo naudojamas mišrusis kokybinių tyrimų metodas. Kokybinis tyrimas buvo atliktas atliekant: 1) išsamią literatūros apžvalgą; 2) dviejų fokus grupių interviu Šiaulių universitete (ŠU) ir Nikosijos universitete (NU). Akcentuotina, kad šis interviu buvo paremtas tiesioginę personalo ir studentų grupių patirtimi; 3) taip pat seksualinio smurto ir priekabiavimo situacijos universitetuose analizė ir palyginimas. Nustatyta, kad abi šalys – ir Kipras, ir Lietuva - neturi senų tradicijų ar įsipareigojimų lyčių lygybės klausimais. Abiejose šalyse lyčių politikai didelę įtaką daro ES direktyvos ir konvencijos, skatinančios lyčių lygybę, kaip pvz. CEDAW ir Pekino veiksmų platforma. Kipre, priešingai nei Lietuvoje, nėra jokių nacionalinių teisės aktų, susijusių su SSP, kurie būtų įgyvendinami universitete. Universitetai nenagrinėja SSP atvejų; nėra duomenų apie ataskaitų pateikimo procentą ar atvejų baigtį. Kita vertus, teigiama, kad SSP nėra dažnas reiškinys abiejuose tyrime dalyvavusiuose universitetuose. Įdomu tai, kad yra mažiau informacijos apie SSP ŠU fizinių ir technologijos mokslų studijose, t.y. skirtingai nei Šiaulių universitete, studentai nepraneša apie savo patirtį šioje srityje. Kita vertus, vyraujanti priekabiavimo samprata "neiššifruoja" grėsmę keliančių situacijų. Kitaip sakant, aukštosios mokyklos darbuotojai yra abejingi ir nekreipia dėmesio į SSP, todėl jų atskleidimo konfidencialumo ir anonimiškumo problema yra sudėtinga. Akivaizdu, kad abu universitetai (ŠU ir NU) turi mažai praktinės patirties, kaip užtikrinti konfidencialumą ir neleisti jo atskleisti. Atsižvelgiant į abiejų universitetų studentų susirūpinimą, nėra supratimo, kaip didinti SSP prevencijos iniciatyvas, nėra aiškaus visų SSP formų supratimo ir aiškaus supratimo, kaip į šiuos procesus galėtų įsitraukti kiti asmenys. Vyrauja aiški aukų kaltinimo retorika ir vyraujanti diskriminacija dėl lyties. Abu universitetai linkę seksualinį išpuolį suvokti kaip asmeninį rūpestį. Kiekvienas užpuolimas yra individualus įvykis, o ne traktuojamas kaip platesnio masto, tarp kultūrų, dalis. Abu universitetai seksualinio išpuolio atvejus laiko retais, atsiribojusiais ir atsitiktiniais. Seksualinio išpuolio prevencijos metodai universitetuose beveik visada nukreipti į moteris, į tai, kai joms apsisaugoti nuo atsitiktinio smurto, kuris yra universiteto hierarchijos rezultatas, o ne stipri ir palaikanti lyderio paskata, taip pat smurto lyties pagrindu visuomenės normalizavimas. Seksualinio priekabiavimo prevencija universitetuose turėtų būti pagrįsta tolesniais veiksmais ir tyrimais paremtu vertinimu, remiantis žiniomis apie patirtį. Būtina sisteminė ir esminė (taip pat ir nuostatų) šios problemos sprendimo strategija ir taktika.
Although research has shown that women not only have the necessary education and professional qualifications, but also want and can hold positions in the highest decision-making bodies, gender disproportion in the boards of Lithuanian listed companies is obvious, since women have less favorable conditions than men since the beginning of their careers to pursue top management positions. One of the reasons for gender inequality in company boards is the prevalence of gender-based discriminatory attitudes in the professional environment both in Lithuania and in all EU countries, so women need to overcome many obstacles related to corporate behavior and business culture in order to realize their full professional potential. In order to find out the gender balance in Lithuanian listed companies, the opinion of companies' board members (women and men) about the situation and opportunities to become members of the board, the possibilities of increasing the participation of women in the boards, etc., an empirical study was carried out. Analysis of the results showed that, although in theory most respondents claim that there is no external barrier for competent women to be proposed and elected to the board of directors, publicly available, let there be covert, discriminatory clauses that create limiting factors for women's participation in company boards, the overcoming of which is highly dependent on the activity of women themselves and the change in attitudes and attitudes available. We've summarized the challenges to achieving gender equity on boards and suggestions to address each of the challenges into four broad categories: boards themselves, women themselves, culture, and laws. One more challenge relates to the argument whether this idea of gender equity on Boards of Directors is even worth pursuing.
[only abstract and keywords in English; full article, abstract and keywords in Lithuanian]
Globally, gender equality in the boards continues on an upward trajectory with slow but positive progress – in 2016, nearly 19% of seats on the boards of the largest companies globally were held by women, up from about 14% in 2012, with 3 percent of this growth coming in just the last two years (Zehnder 2017). A leading country in this matter, Norway, has introduced its quota law in 2007 requiring boards of listed companies to have a gender balance of at least 40/60. The ten years result of this quota happens to be an increase in female board members from 6 percent in 2002 to 42 percent in 2016 (CORE 2017). The EU also tries to push for a quota for women on company boards so as to address the slow progress toward gender equality in the senior ranks of publicly listed businesses. Although 62.7% of new university graduates are women (graduating with Master's degrees – 66.5%, and 58.9% graduating with doctorates) in 2014, they are outnumbered by men in leadership positions in the corporate sector in the Lithuania. When looking at the top executive positions, there are no women CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) in the listed companies in Lithuania. From December 2013 to September 2014, the share of women on boards (executives) in Lithuania increased by 2.8% (Šidlauskienė, Pocevičienė 2015). Thus, the current moment offers a strategic opportunity to proactively enhance gender equality and prevent any more widening of the gender and skills gaps. This research was aimed to analyze the theoretical aspects of gender balance on the executive boards of the listed companies and to explore childhood socialization predictors that impede (or facilitate) the increase of successful participation of women in decision-making bodies in the listed Lithuanian companies. The successful career women, or the high flyers theory, has been used to argue that childhood socialization, education, personality and motivation indicated personal traits needed for board level roles (White et al. 1992). Second, the individual career capital theory argues that taking up such a role consists of three ways of knowing: knowing-how, knowing-whom and knowing-why. Research results shows that egalitarian childhood socialization influences successful women's careers in the listed company boards. Certain individual characteristics, such as integrity and honesty, accountability, result-orientation, being a team player, a relationship builder, a good listener and communicator, and genuine commitment and energy, are in demand in such companies as PANDORA A/S, Spencer Stuart, Board Succession etc.
After the ratification of 1979 United Nation (UN) Convention in regard to the elimination of all forms of women discrimination, since 2000, reports are periodically submitted to the UN discrimination elimination committee concerning the situation of vulnerable women groups. These women are one of the most sensitive groups of society because they suffer from multiple discrimination (gender as well as disability, ethnicity, age, etc.). In addition they fall into an unfavourable situation in comparison to men in the labour market, education system and cultural life, thus they are more susceptible to poverty and social disjuncture. On the basis of the submitted reports, the Committee propose recommendations in respect to vulnerable women groups. The reports that were submitted were not comprehensive enough; the status of these women groups was not explored sufficiently. Thus the Committee asked to increase the efforts on eliminating vulnerable women group discrimination, including countryside women, women with disabilities, ethnic minority women such as the Roma, migrant and older age women in communities and Lithuanian society. The Committee encouraged taking effective means to include these women into Lithuanian labour market. Furthermore, the Committee recommended performing regular and thorough inter-sectional discrimination research on vulnerable women groups, collect statistical data in regard to their education, employment and health security situation and possibilities for them to participate in political decision making. In our country a lack of complex research of vulnerable women groups' that suffer from multiple discrimination on gender inequality, disability, ethnicity, elderly position in the employment area. [.]
After the ratification of 1979 United Nation (UN) Convention in regard to the elimination of all forms of women discrimination, since 2000, reports are periodically submitted to the UN discrimination elimination committee concerning the situation of vulnerable women groups. These women are one of the most sensitive groups of society because they suffer from multiple discrimination (gender as well as disability, ethnicity, age, etc.). In addition they fall into an unfavourable situation in comparison to men in the labour market, education system and cultural life, thus they are more susceptible to poverty and social disjuncture. On the basis of the submitted reports, the Committee propose recommendations in respect to vulnerable women groups. The reports that were submitted were not comprehensive enough; the status of these women groups was not explored sufficiently. Thus the Committee asked to increase the efforts on eliminating vulnerable women group discrimination, including countryside women, women with disabilities, ethnic minority women such as the Roma, migrant and older age women in communities and Lithuanian society. The Committee encouraged taking effective means to include these women into Lithuanian labour market. Furthermore, the Committee recommended performing regular and thorough inter-sectional discrimination research on vulnerable women groups, collect statistical data in regard to their education, employment and health security situation and possibilities for them to participate in political decision making. In our country a lack of complex research of vulnerable women groups' that suffer from multiple discrimination on gender inequality, disability, ethnicity, elderly position in the employment area. [.]
The sociocultural contexts of higher education institutions form the background for gender-based violence in professional structures and environment of academia. The article presents a comparative analysis of sexual violence and the reasons for its (non-)disclosure at the piloting universities in Lithuania and Cyprus. The findings of focus group interviews conducted within the framework of the Ending Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education (ESHTE) project, co-funded by the European Union, have been summarized in the present research. The focus group participants from each partner university involved university teachers, administrative staff, counselors and university students. The research was conducted during a 3-month period between 2017 and 2018. The main aim was to investigate university staffs' and students' experiences in the disclosures of the cases of sexual violence and harassment (SVH) in university environment and campus, as well as their awareness of existing procedures and policies in handling the cases of SVH. The results of this study discovered both universities' academic and administrative staff and students' personal experiences, attitudes and beliefs of SVH, as well as any of their suggestions towards the improvement of disclosures of SVH are discussed in the article.
The sociocultural contexts of higher education institutions form the background for gender-based violence in professional structures and environment of academia. The article presents a comparative analysis of sexual violence and the reasons for its (non-)disclosure at the piloting universities in Lithuania and Cyprus. The findings of focus group interviews conducted within the framework of the Ending Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education (ESHTE) project, co-funded by the European Union, have been summarized in the present research. The focus group participants from each partner university involved university teachers, administrative staff, counselors and university students. The research was conducted during a 3-month period between 2017 and 2018. The main aim was to investigate university staffs' and students' experiences in the disclosures of the cases of sexual violence and harassment (SVH) in university environment and campus, as well as their awareness of existing procedures and policies in handling the cases of SVH. The results of this study discovered both universities' academic and administrative staff and students' personal experiences, attitudes and beliefs of SVH, as well as any of their suggestions towards the improvement of disclosures of SVH are discussed in the article.
The sociocultural contexts of higher education institutions form the background for gender-based violence in professional structures and environment of academia. The article presents a comparative analysis of sexual violence and the reasons for its (non-)disclosure at the piloting universities in Lithuania and Cyprus. The findings of focus group interviews conducted within the framework of the Ending Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education (ESHTE) project, co-funded by the European Union, have been summarized in the present research. The focus group participants from each partner university involved university teachers, administrative staff, counselors and university students. The research was conducted during a 3-month period between 2017 and 2018. The main aim was to investigate university staffs' and students' experiences in the disclosures of the cases of sexual violence and harassment (SVH) in university environment and campus, as well as their awareness of existing procedures and policies in handling the cases of SVH. The results of this study discovered both universities' academic and administrative staff and students' personal experiences, attitudes and beliefs of SVH, as well as any of their suggestions towards the improvement of disclosures of SVH are discussed in the article.
The sociocultural contexts of higher education institutions form the background for gender-based violence in professional structures and environment of academia. The article presents a comparative analysis of sexual violence and the reasons for its (non-)disclosure at the piloting universities in Lithuania and Cyprus. The findings of focus group interviews conducted within the framework of the Ending Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education (ESHTE) project, co-funded by the European Union, have been summarized in the present research. The focus group participants from each partner university involved university teachers, administrative staff, counselors and university students. The research was conducted during a 3-month period between 2017 and 2018. The main aim was to investigate university staffs' and students' experiences in the disclosures of the cases of sexual violence and harassment (SVH) in university environment and campus, as well as their awareness of existing procedures and policies in handling the cases of SVH. The results of this study discovered both universities' academic and administrative staff and students' personal experiences, attitudes and beliefs of SVH, as well as any of their suggestions towards the improvement of disclosures of SVH are discussed in the article.
The sociocultural contexts of higher education institutions form the background for gender-based violence in professional structures and environment of academia. The article presents a comparative analysis of sexual violence and the reasons for its (non-)disclosure at the piloting universities in Lithuania and Cyprus. The findings of focus group interviews conducted within the framework of the Ending Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education (ESHTE) project, co-funded by the European Union, have been summarized in the present research. The focus group participants from each partner university involved university teachers, administrative staff, counselors and university students. The research was conducted during a 3-month period between 2017 and 2018. The main aim was to investigate university staffs' and students' experiences in the disclosures of the cases of sexual violence and harassment (SVH) in university environment and campus, as well as their awareness of existing procedures and policies in handling the cases of SVH. The results of this study discovered both universities' academic and administrative staff and students' personal experiences, attitudes and beliefs of SVH, as well as any of their suggestions towards the improvement of disclosures of SVH are discussed in the article.
Science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) are fields substantially crucial for innovation and development. Nevertheless, the gender gap in these areas is significant also in European countries. Considering the underrepresentation of STEAM women's leadership, we provide insight into the common characteristics that led Lithuanian women to become referents in their fields. We identify elements of leadership in discursive social representations, professional ideologies, gender identity and role congruency in connection to power structures from a gender perspective within organisations, considering the mediations of the social context. We conducted the research in two phases: an online questionnaire and in-depth interviews. We performed a critical discourse analysis of Lithuanian Women's testimonies to understand gender social representations. Parenthood highly influences building leadership and choosing STEAM careers, whereas self-efficacy and creativity are essential elements. High co-responsibility at home confirms that family context is vital. In STEAM careers, a male-centric perspective still constrains female leadership. There is still work to be done regarding active politics, programs, and law enforcement to create equity and social justice relationships between men and females, especially in STEAM areas.
