Report on the 2nd Hokkaido University Women Professors Networking Meeting

On Tuesday, March 11th, the second Hokkaido University Women Professors Networking Meeting was held in the large conference rooms (A-C) of the university library, with a total of 27 participants (including 10 online).

This association, targeting female professors at Hokkaido University, aims to strengthen the network within the university so that the still small number of women in senior positions can not be isolated and can utilize their abilities to the fullest.DEIThe event was planned and managed by faculty members of the Women Researchers Development Support Division (Promotion Headquarters).

In the first part, Professor Yoko Aoshima of the Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, Professor Kyoko Miwa of the Graduate School of Environmental Science, and Professor Kyoko Hida of the Graduate School of Dentistry will present on "Topics from Female Professors," discussing how female researchers, as a minority group, can manage their laboratories and solve daily problems.DEIIn the first part, Professor Mikako Ogawa of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, who is in charge of supporting the development of female researchers, acted as facilitator, and based on the talks in the first part, participants engaged in group discussions and shared their thoughts with the entire group.
Participants shared comments such as, "For those of us in an environment with few female professors, sharing the experiences and concerns of many people in other fields is encouraging," "It broadened our perspective on diversity and was a great source of inspiration," and "It was good to hear about various cases regarding the employment of administrative support staff."

This was the second time we held this event, and we were pleased to have many first-time participants. It was a valuable opportunity to deepen exchanges across departments and research fields, and the conversations continued even after the event ended, making it a great success.DEIThe Promotion Headquarters plans to continue holding networking meetings for female researchers at our university several times a year.