Enhancing the role of women

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The University of Bahrain’s Excellence Unit has announced its plan to offer more women leadership programmes based on the success it achieved to attract more female leaders from Bahrain and abroad.

The President of the University of Bahrain, Prof. Dr. Riyad Yusuf Hamzah, praised the “She is the Leader” programme, stressing that the university provides all forms of support for women within the policy of empowerment and equal opportunities pursued by the university.

He said: “The University of Bahrain, since its foundation until today, and women in it have formed a central element, both in terms of the number of female students, which has maintained a high percentage. It exceeds 60% of the total number of students. “In terms of academics holding leadership and supervisory positions, the percentage today is close to 49%.

Sixty-three percent of female students and graduates benefit from training opportunities, at a time when working women in the university constitute 43% of the total employees in general.” Prof. Hamzah, said the university continues to enhance the role of women and open up wide fields for them to pursue in obtaining more training, employment and advancement opportunities.

This came at the conclusion of the “She is the Leader” programme, which aims to develop and enhance the skills of women leaders in higher education.

It was introduced by the Excellence in Education and Leadership Skills Unit at the university in cooperation with the Higher Education Institute in the UK, and supervised by the Director of the Excellence in Education and Leadership Skills Unit, Dr Diana Abdul Karim Al Jahromi.

The “She is the Leader” programme focused on developing leadership skills, exploring opportunities and challenges related to professional development.

It was also focused on working to achieve sustainable development goals and future visions that are based on the principle of equal opportunities for both sexes in all skills, including leadership skills in higher education institutions in the Kingdom.

The program targeted the female component. Of directors of departments, units, academic centres, deans, representatives and presidents of higher education institutions.

The programme presented a series of dedicated workshops that have been specially prepared to enhance the concept of leadership in higher education and to refine leadership skills in light of established values, including effective communication, flexibility in dealing, reflective listening, enhancing team spirit, providing guidance and counselling, preparing accurate strategic plans and following up on their implementation.

The programme, which consisted of four separate workshops, was presented by Jenny Jarrett, the award-winning lecturer from the UK Academy of Higher Education, as a professional trainer in the art of leadership.

Present in the programme were 40 female academic leaders from higher education institutions and state institutions in Bahrain, represented by the Supreme Council for Women, Ministry of Education, Royal Academy of Police, Royal University for Women, Arab Open University, University of Applied Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and the Kingdom University, in addition to the University of Bahrain.