On July 15, 2021, the Veterinary Medicine Research Institute hosted the "Hokkaido University FD/SD SeminarThe event was held online.
This seminar was made possible through support provided to the Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine under the "Support Program for Departmental Initiatives to Promote a Diversity Research Environment."
Below, we present the report.
*Regarding FD/SD
FD: Faculty Development SD: Staff Development
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This Faculty Development (FD) and Staff Development (SD) program was held to raise awareness among faculty and staff, given the low percentage of female faculty members at the Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine and the International Joint Research Institute for Zoonosis Control, and the expected increase in the number of female faculty members in the future. Widespread publicity through the university's website and other channels resulted in participation requests from a broad range of individuals, both within and outside Hokkaido University, not just from veterinary departments.
Professor Rika Yano, Director of the Hokkaido University Diversity Research Environment Promotion Office, gave a presentation titled "Understanding the Current State and Future of Diversity at Hokkaido University Through Data," in which she explained the current situation at Hokkaido University and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, based on numerical data. Furthermore, she introduced specific examples of unconscious bias within ourselves, and explained that flexible working arrangements are not just "for women," such as the desire and reality of male faculty members' participation in childcare and elder care, and that designing systems that do not disadvantage people with various challenges will lead to an increase in the attractiveness and value of the university.
Professor Kaoru Tamada, Vice President and Deputy Director of the Office for Gender Equality at Kyushu University, gave a lecture titled "Creating an Organization That Doesn't Pinch Women's Wings," in which she discussed Kyushu University's advanced initiatives toward gender equality and how to overcome unconscious biases by making women's achievements visible. Kyushu University has implemented many innovative model projects, such as hiring faculty with quotas for women and the Diversity Super Global Faculty Development Training (SENTAN-Q). Through these advanced initiatives, departments with little experience in hiring women have gained experience, and at the same time, the environment has been improved by further resolving the problems that have emerged. It was also introduced that the unconscious bias that female faculty members perform worse than male faculty members has been shown to be not true through analysis of research paper performance by gender, and that this is being used to identify problems in departmental personnel decisions.
During the Q&A session, many questions were asked, and Professor Yano and Professor Tamada gave frank answers, leading to a lively discussion and demonstrating the high level of awareness among the participants.
The Headquarters FD Committee plans to continue addressing related topics in FD/SD sessions in the coming years, in order to foster an environment conducive to diversity promotion at the Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine and the International Joint Research Institute for Zoonosis Control.
Professor Kaoru Tamada, Kyushu University
The Office for Promoting a Diversity Research Environment supports the costs of training and seminars on diversity promotion planned and hosted by various departments at Hokkaido University as part of the Diversity Research Environment Realization Initiative (Leading Type) "Support Program for Departmental Initiatives to Promote a Diversity Research Environment."
Please see the following page for details.
Support Program for Departmental and Organizational Initiatives to Promote a Diverse Research Environment(Applications for the 2021 academic year are available here.）
