MODULE 3
GENDER BIAS AND DISCRIMINATION
Session 1: Understanding second-generation gender bias (SGGB)
“The questioning of my capacity is most of the times implicitly, but other times openly. There are
discouraging signs. When I give a comment or a suggestion, although they do not reject it outright, they
would pretend it is not a good idea. And then they repackage the idea and bring it back as their own
idea… The resistance is not always very obvious, rather it is often not so obvious, but subtle. Sometimes it
comes in ways that are not even recognizable.’1(Quote from a female faculty member)
Box 1 Facilitators note on second generation gender bias
What is second-generation gender bias?
“People are quick to conclude that things are not working because it is a woman, while the truth is that
especially male colleagues resist taking orders from female leaders. They are used to seeing them as
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subordinates, not as leaders.” (Quote from a female faculty member)
The Assessment on Female Faculty Members and Leadership in the 13 new generation public universities in
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Ethiopia confirmed that there is high prevalence of sex stereotyped roles, expectations and assumptions about
women’s capacity and leadership skills as well as subtle resistance towards female leaders. Such subtle yet
powerful barriers are called “second-generation gender bias”. In the literature “second-generation gender bias” is
defined as
“…powerful yet often invisible barriers to women’s advancement that arise from cultural beliefs about
gender, as well as workplace structures, practices and patterns of interaction that inadvertently favor
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men” .
Gender biased workplace related norms and practices look neutral from the outside and as a result, they are the
most difficult to pin down and overcome. As the quotes from the female faculty member at the beginning of this
module indicate second-generation gender bias is vague but insidious. Deep structures such as second-generation
gender bias are engrained in our attitude about gender and often remain unquestioned. Assumptions and
expectations greatly influence our organizational practices including the process of hiring, decision-making,
promotion and opportunities for career advancements
It will be difficult to increase the number of female leaders without changes in such elusive workplace norms for
both men and women. Women’s leadership is frequently scrutinized and evaluated based on stereotypes and
parameters that are typically constructed in masculine terms, which seem to suggest that women are simply not
cut out to be leaders.
The social interaction, in which people claim and grant leader identities, do not occur ex nihilo, but are shaped by
culturally available ideologies about what it means to be a leader. In most cultures, the concept is masculine,
1
Eerdewijk et al (2014). Assessment on female faculty leadership and affirmative action in public universities in Ethiopia
Ibid
3
Op cit
4
Calas and Smircich, 2009; Ely & Meyerson, 2000; Kolb & McGinn, 2009; Sturm, 2001 quoted on Ely, Ibarra and Kolb, 2011, p4
2
1
leading to the frequent ascribing of characteristics to prototypical leaders, which are often seen as masculine a
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quintessentially a masculine man; prototypical leaders are often seen as decisive, assertive, and independent.
This shows that women “may face negative reactions, when they are assertive and take charge and yet may be
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considered a poor leader if they fulfill the gender stereotype of being kind and gentle.” SGGB is cultural and
systemic and therefore, efforts in promoting female leadership must not be providing tools for women on “how to
fit in the male culture”, but must combine skills and awareness on how to overcome SGGB. Acknowledging it as a
systemic issue, it is here also suggested that work needs to take place both at individual level (with men and
women) and organizational levels (looking at review of policies, procedures and strategies that may nurture
discriminatory practices in the workplace).
Session Guide
This session seeks to bring participants to an insightful awareness on the importance of exploring
second-generation gender bias inside and outside the workplace. In the meantime, participants will
experiment with skills relevant in leadership including asking questions, providing feedback, listening
skills and personal reflection (through free writing). For this purpose, discussions will be held on the
following




Identify how second-generation gender bias is manifested at different levels
Explore how second-generation gender bias can be a barrier for female leadership
Perceptions about female faculty members as leaders
Explore and examine personal assumptions and expectations
There are six activities under this sub-section; these activities can be conducted independently or
consecutively; or activities can be selected as per need. Review of organizational policies and procedures
related issues are addressed under Module 2 of this toolkit. Therefore, it is recommended to read this
module first, to see whether activities assess in policies and procedures from gendered perspective may
be useful.
5
Bailyn, 2006; Calas and Smircichi, 1991 Dennis and Kunkel, 2004; Epitropaki and Martin 2005; Powell, Butterfield and Parent
2002; Williamsen, 2002 quoted on Ely et.al. 2011: 8
6
Skinner, 2012: 10 All in all, Ely et al (2011)
2
Activity 1: Reflection on manifestations of second-generation gender bias and intentional gender
discriminations at different levels
In this activity, the participants will analyze the effects of intentional gender discriminations and secondgeneration gender bias in higher education institutions household and community.
Time Requirement: 2 hours 45 minutes
 Explaining second-generation gender bias in plenary: 10 minutes
 Group formation: 5 minutes
 Individual reflection: 10 minutes
 Group work 1 hour
 Preparing presentation on a tree: 20 minutes
 Gallery walk: 30 minutes
 Plenary discussion: 30 minutes
Physical setting: Adequate space between groups, so that noises from other groups would interfere
with the group process. In addition the room must have sufficient wall space to post the drawings
separately and easily walk around.
Materials required
 Flip charts, masking tape, markers, wax colors
 Old magazines
 Different colored post-its
 Scissors, and glue
 Note books and pen, pencil
Participants: female and male faculty members
Facilitator: Gender Directorate Director with Gender Expert
Process
1. Provide a quick explanation on what second-generation gender bias is; to do this, the facilitator
may choose to distribute the facilitator’s note for participants to read.
2. Form groups of maximum 9 participants and if working with mixed sex groups, let the groups be
formed separately for women and men (men only and women only group).
3. Ask participants to individually reflect on some manifestations of second-generation gender
bias, their sources and impacts
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4. Then let the group members come together and discuss on the following questions
 Identify some second-generation gender bias issues and how these were manifested in the
work place?
 Describe how intentional gender discriminations at the home front (what we learned from
the culture in our daily lives) contribute to second-generation gender biases at the work
place?
 Describe some of the impacts of such norms, assumptions and attitudes towards female
faculty member’s professional advancement and/or leadership?
5. Facilitator: Do not give the second part of this exercise until the discussion on the three
questions above has finalized.
6. Now draw a big tree on a flip chart and show (facilitator please provide colors, scissor, old
magazines and flipcharts to each group)
 Intentional gender discriminatory practices and sources of SGGB - root of the tree
 Attitude, expectations, behavior - trunk
 Practices and manifestations - branches
 Impacts (on professional development and leadership) - fruits
 Make sure to understand how the parts are linked and how one leads to another (in the
presentation the link should be made clear).
 Participants can use pictures cut out from the magazines or colors to present their work
creatively.
7. Gallery walk: Once the groups finish their work, post their work in separate walls in the room,
and let the group nominate one person, who would remain at their respective groups work to
explain their analysis to members of the two remaining group members.
8. Let each group look at each tree one by one. i.e. one group will visit the tree developed by
another group at one time - listening to the presentation for 5 minutes and 10 minutes for
discussion on the presentation) and at the end of the 15 minutes, the facilitator gives a sign so
that the group moves to the next drawing; this way each group will have a chance to look at the
works of the two groups other than theirs.
9. If there are male participants and male groups, please ask participants to make observation on
how different or similar their work is compared to the female participants and open the
discussion on the same during plenary. Allow for further questions and discussions.
10. Reconvene in plenary and discuss (30 minutes)
 Observation, understanding and insight, and if there are male groups compare ideas raised
between male and female groups perspectives and draw learning from the group work.
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Activity 2: Exploring own assumption and biases (personal reflection) (1hr - free writing)
The same participants who participated in Activity 1 will be engaged in a personal reflection process
after engaging in the first activity. They will be engaged in a free writing process in order to process their
assumptions, attitude and learning about women/men leadership based on their understanding of
second-generation gender bias from the above exercise.
Time requirement: (45 minutes)
 Explaining free writing: 10 minutes
 Each prompt: 5 minutes
 Plenary reflection: 30 minutes
Physical Setting: let participants sit comfortably to write easily.
Material: pen and notebook, handouts7 on free writing (see facilitator’s note below)
Participants: those who participated in Activity 1
Facilitator: Gender Directorate Director and Gender Expert
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It will be helpful to distribute the handouts before the workshop and or at least one day before the workshop, with specific
instructions to help the participants prepare before hand
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Tip : Free writing
The Free writing Tool
Letting go of self-judgment
Free writing is an “exercise to undo your own personal silencing … overtime it can address profound issues like
freedom, but its immediate purpose is to strengthen yourself as a writer and thinker both overall and for the task
at hand” For most people it is easier to express he same thought verbally than in writing, even when the idea is
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powerful. According to Dun lap , free writing helps



If you are neglecting your intuition,
If you struggle to combine creative and analytical writing
If English is not your first language
Free writing is an exercise; you do not have to show it to anyone, because you are in an exploratory space, where
you are experimenting with the language to articulate your thoughts and ideas. So relax and write for few minutes
without judging your language, style or the content.
Free writing “rules”:
 Time yourself to write for five minutes to write about some topic.
 Do not try to mentally control what you write, no outline or plan
 Do not cross out or change anything
 Don’t worry about grammar or spelling
 Let your mind go wherever it wants
 Honor your own “craziness” (ibid)
Free writing benefits
 Helps improve writing skills
 End harmful self-criticism (makes writing more comfortable)
 Releases inner tension
 Unleash that powerful voice from within (discover, bring out, articulate… ideas )
 Reflect on ideas, issues, problems, and organize thoughts
Source: Undoing Silence: Six tools for social change writing by Louis Dunlap 2007: 27-52
Process
 Explain free writing and its rules (facilitators can print and distribute the text in the box above
before the session begins, so that participants have time to read)
 Provide the following prompts for participants to help them reflect and take note on their
learning from the previous exercise. Prompts are given to help participant focus their free
writing on a particular topic and in this case second-generation gender biases.
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Dunlap (2007: 27-52)
6
Prompts: Based on our understanding
 Second-generation gender bias is …
 I understand now that….
 I should change…
 I am personally committed to …
1. When time is up, ask the participants to share their insights, questions or ideas, which they want
to explore further, not directly from the notes. Their free writing should be kept for themselves
except if they insist to read directly. Participants verbally share highlights of their insights,
learning or new ideas or questions.
2. If there is a question, try to accommodate it by opening up discussion on the questions later
(20m).
Activity 3: Intentional gender discriminations
We have heard gender discrimination and/or more stereotypical expressions many times in our lives.
Still, we tend not to question on how these contribute to shape our perceptions, or analyze their effect
on women. In many instances, we may even have used them whenever we thought the situation
warranted so. Under this activity participants will explore, together with female and male faculty
members, the implications of such stereotypical sayings on women’s growth and professional
development, how others perceive women as leaders and how they perceive themselves. These and
similar proverbs can be collected in different languages and can be discussed with students also.
Process:
Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
Step 1
Identifying proverbs in other local languages: 15 minutes
Group discussion on proverbs: 30 minutes
Step 2:
Identification of positive proverbs and expressions in different languages: 20 minutes
Discussion on the proverbs and expressions: 30 minutes
Step 3
Personal reflection: 20 minutes
Plenary: 30 minutes
Physical space: A room with adequate space for group work and between groups so that noise would
not interfere with group process.
Materials required: proverbs, notebooks, pen,
Participants: female and male faculty members
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Proverbs
 ሴት በዛ ጎመን ጠነዛ
 አወቅሽ አወቀሽ ቢላÿት መጽሃፍ አጠበች
 ምን ሴት ብታውቅ በወንድ ያልቅ
 የሴት ረዥም እንጂ አዋቂ የለውም (የኦሮምኛ አባባል)
 የሴት ሰባቱ የአህያ ሶስቱ አገር ያጠፋል
 ሴትና ዶሮ ወደ ¹ሮ
 የሴት ልብ እንደ ጡ~ የተንጠለጠለ ነው(የኦሮምኛ አባባል)
 ወንድ ወደ ችሎት ሴት ወደ ማጀት
Description of the steps:
Step 1
 Identify similar proverbs with negative implication for women in other local languages.
 Discuss on the proverbs provided above and the newly identified one in group
 What do you understand from the above proverbs with regard to for instance women’s
knowledge, capacity, ability to work together, leadership and wisdom?
Here the facilitator can assign equal number of proverbs (can be divided based on similarity of content)
to the three groups to discuss on:
 How do these proverbs influence prevailing assumptions and attitude towards women’s
leadership?
 How does this relate to work place biases or SGGB?
 Would these proverbs influence the perception of women as leaders and of women’s perception
of themselves as leaders? If yes How? If not why?
Step 2
 Identify similar proverbs with positive implication on in other local languages.
 How would such positive sayings contribute to the growth and professional development of
women?
Step 3
Personal reflection
 Free writing
 Let participants write on their insights based on the following question
o What was new from the discussion?
o What stood out for me?
o What were some of the things that I was thinking and got confirmed for me through this
discussion?
o Which ones are the ideas that I am taking back and applying in my work?
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Plenary discussion
 Participants discuss on observation, insight, learning, questions…
* These discussions can be a topic of a call-in program on the university radio as part of the Gender
Directorate’s effort to raise awareness to the university community and the general public.
Activity 4: Exploring own experiences with second-generation gender bias (triangle process)
Participants will explore their personal experiences in relation to situations and times, where they have
felt the different manifestation of SGGB in their work place, or while they were students in the
university. This helps female faculty members to explore, how these instances have affected them
personally. One example would be that many female faculty members speak about experiencing subtle
resistance to their ideas or suggestions and how these instances have been psychologically crippling.
Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
 Explaining the process and group formation: 10 minutes
 Individual reflection on own story:15 minutes
 Storytelling and discussion: 30 minutes
 Debriefing in-group: 15 minutes
 Plenary: 30 minutes
Physical setting: Let participants sit comfortably facing each other and there should be adequate space
between the groups in order to avoid noise disturbance
Materials: Pen and notebooks, handouts (Asking Powerful Questions, Effective Listening, Giving
Feedback9. (Please note, that it will be helpful to distribute the annexes and prior to the workshop, and
for the facilitator, please explain each annex before the start of the group discussion).
Participants: Female faculty members and female faculty members
Facilitators: Gender Director and expert (must at the same time participate)
Process:
 Divide the participants into groups of three people and explain the process as the following
 Sit in a group of three people facing each other. In setting the group, participants can choose
whom to work with.
Facilitator: Make sure one group consists of maximally three participants and that each participant gets
the opportunity to take on all the roles in sequence.

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Once the group is formed, one person will be a story-teller, the second one will be listener and
the third person will be observer. Do not forget to inform the groups, that they will rotate these
roles until each one of them has played the three roles.
Please also see Module 2 Annexes 3,4 and 5 for the handouts
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

Explain the roles one by one.
o Story-teller: Tells about her own story of a personal encounter with instances of SGGB
(when, where, who was involved? what happened? how did it happen? What did the
story-teller do and feel because of the incident?)
o Listener: Is there to listen to the story when the story-teller is telling her story, should
not take notes, but rather focus on listening from their heart. The listener should make
sure not to say anything judgmental or ask a yes or no question. They can ask only
questions that can help to enhance understanding of the storyteller and enhance their
understanding. Make sure time is efficiently used.
o Observer: Observes the conversation, never are allowed to speak, can take note on
process related issues such as the nature of the questions the listener was asking, how
she was asking it, on manifestations of SGGB, on how the story-teller communicated the
story, time management, body language, and the like. Later the Observer shares her
ideas and provides feedback to the storyteller and the listener.
o Each participant should sit separately first to think and organize their story. Provide the
question below to guide this purpose:
o Remember a time where you think you have encountered second-generation gender
bias in the workplace (15 minutes) what happened? When did it happen? Who was
involved/, how did it happen? What she felt and why she felt that way? What was the
result?
Let groups find their own space to work and start their discussion. One round of discussion is
where one participant tells her story, one listens, and another one observes and provides
feedback.
Debrief
Once the story telling process ends (one round) the group members debrief each other on “how the
process was for them?”
Plenary
The facilitator can bring them together to a plenary and open discussion on learning, outstanding
issues, experience, insights etc. Do not allow participant start talking about details from the story.
Note:
This activity can be done sequentially, until all the three group members have rotated and played each
role. This may be very time consuming though at the expense of time for other discussions. The exercise
can also be built into the process over three days during the workshop, and each participant can take
turns to do the roles the next day. Since this activity is also meant for participants to exercise asking
powerful questions, experiment with listening skills and provide constructive feedback, which are
important skills in leadership, please make sure each one of them takes all roles, conducts all the
activities and provides feedback.
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Activity 5: Is it possible to overcome SGGB?
Refer back to the results of previous discussions on SGGB and encourage participants to engage into the
question “How can such expectations and assumptions be addressed in higher educational institutions
such as yours?” (Please be as detailed as possible for example, what can be done, who should do it, how
can we know if we are in the right track to change? How can it be followed up? Personally what can a
female or male faculty member and others do about it?
Time: 3 hours
 Summary of insights from previous discussions: 30 minutes
 Plenary: 30 minutes
 Action plan development: 1:30minutes
 Formation of a committee: 30 minutes
Physical space: 2 breakout rooms and large table for each group to work on
Materials required: participants stick two flipchart papers together to have sufficient space to write
their action plan, different colored markers, scotch tape,
Participants: male and female faculty members
Facilitator: Gender Directorate and expert
Process
 Facilitators refer back to findings of the various discussions above and highlight major findings,
insights and unanswered questions.
 Prior to developing an action plan, ask the question below and allow a discussion in plenary on:
o Is it possible to overcome SGGB to facilitate female faculty members’ leadership in higher
educational institutions?
o If yes, what makes it possible to change?
o If no, why not?
 Let participants with both opinions make their points before letting them develop their action plans.
 Divide participants into two groups and discuss the following question and develop their action plan.
They can use the template below. (1 hour)
o What can be done to minimize the impacts of SGGB on female faculty members?
o How can these actions contribute towards building a university environment with 0% SGGB?
 Provide the format below for organizing their plan
 Let groups write the detailed plan on a flip chart for presentation (facilitators make sure that each
group actually follow all steps in the template).
 Let two of the groups join together in plenary and each present their plans and discuss.
 At the end of the workshop, let participants organize committee members (both male and female)
to work together in a synthesized action plan and decide on the date and place of their meeting.
(Gender Directorate to follow-up the finalization of the action plan, disseminate to relevant bodies
and monitor based on the identified process).
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Measures
to
change secondgeneration
gender bias
What can be done to overcome SGGB in higher educational institutions?
Expected results or Indicators
of How can it be done? Who should do Resource
outcomes due to change (both
Brainstorm Activities it? (differentiate needed
the measures taken
to help change the between
situation and when?
Personal
role,
institutional,
department …
and stakeholders
such asMOE and
ESC)
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Follow
up
(time, method,
reporting
procedures
and
accountability
measures)
Session 2: Gender based violence
Purpose: to explore and examine
 Understanding the nature and manifestation of gender based violence (GBV) (widely referred to as
harassment in the universities) towards female faculty members in higher education Institutions
 Examining culturally accepted perceptions and practices that seem to implicitly nurture GBV
 Exploring our own reactions to everyday act of violence
 Exploring university response to GBV/harassment
Box 3 Facilitator’s note on gender based violence
Gender based violence is a serious human rights violation. Violence can take several forms; it ranges from
physical, psychological, economic, socio-cultural forms to sexual assault and sexual harassment, (see
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Annex 1 for details ). Perpetrators are not only outsiders, they include close family members, friends, or
relatives and colleagues, who may consider themselves as gate-keepers of disregarded cultural, religious
state or intra-state institution regulations (Reliefweb.int) or who simply want to show their “power over
others”. The root causes are often related to patriarchy and resultant discriminatory practices and
attitudes, which may place women in subordinate positions in relation to men. Women are frequently
vulnerable to violence; still, both women and men can be victims of such violence as part of maintaining
ones social power against the other.
“Violence is a means of control and oppression that can include emotional, social or economic
force, coercion or pressure, as well as physical harm. It can be overt, in the form of physical
assault or threatening someone with a weapon; it can also be less overt, in the form of
intimidation, threats, persecution and deception or other forms of psychological or social
pressure. The person targeted by this kind of violence is compelled to behave as expected or to
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act against her/his will out of fear.”
Violence against women was originally used to express GBV. The term GBV replaced ‘violence against
women’ to show that the violence may be linked to the female individual, but also to the culturally
assigned and expected female (and male) roles. Conceptualization on GBV for instance still continues to
look at women as victims of violence.
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Article 1 of the United Nation Declaration of Violence Against Women (DEVAW) proclaimed defines the
term Violence Against Women as
“any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual or
psychological harm of suffering women, including threats of acts, coercion, or arbitrary
deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life”.
For further explanation please look at some of the websites provided in the references of this module.
10
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/pdf/whatissh.pdf accessed on February 30, 2016
IRIN (UN Office for the Constitution of Humanitarian Affairs)
12
United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 48/104 (1993)
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13
What is sexual harassment?
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
nature when:

Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an
individual's employment
 Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for employment
decisions affecting such individual, or
 Conduct, which has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work
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performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment .
Directly taken from Please refer to the website for detailed explanations and examples.
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The Assessment revealed that problems related to insecurity and harassment affects both male and
female faculty and administrative staffs of universities in Ethiopia. As compared to male, female
colleagues have limited freedom of movement as a result of possible harassment both on and outside the
university campus. The same document indicated that the forms of harassment range from theft,
violence, verbal abuse, sexual harassment, including unwanted comments, proposals, touching, nonconsensual sex, to disrespectful behavior. A female faculty member said that
‘It is an everyday experience to find a student disrespecting female lecturers; if a female
academic staff has to stay in the office in the evening, she faces different kinds of harassments
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from students’.
Female faculty members may also face various types of harassments from male colleagues including
sexual advances. Male colleagues often play the “you are not capable” card, and show resistance to
collaborate with female colleagues in research works or other activities. The community where they live
and rent houses may also harass female faculty members, whilst referring to the way they dressed or
behave. For instance, “[t]here are several indications of harassment against women wearing trousers, or
also an instance of stones being thrown at women in the evening on her way home.”
Gender based violence of any kind affects female faculty members in different ways. Some of the
challenges relates to career advancement, self-esteem and confidence among others. When and where
there is any kind of violence, the workspace becomes intimidating and offensive, which has a detrimental
impact on performance.
Almost all universalities have anti-harassment regulations, but their focus of implementation seems to be
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skewed mainly towards students. The Assessment ) indicated that the actual scopes of harassment in
the universities are not well understood by the management and this will undermine efforts to deal with
the challenge and increase safety and security. EYINDINGS
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14
http://eige.europa.eu/gender-based-violence/what-is-gender-based-violence accessed February 8, 2016.
(Eerdewijk et. al. (2014:21-23)
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16
Ibid. 22
Op cit
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Activity 1: Understanding the nature and manifestation of gender based violence (GBV) towards
female faculty members in higher education Institutions
Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
 Review of the non-violence wheel: 10 minute
 Brainstorming session: 30 minutes
 Group work: 30 minutes
 Discussion on group work: 30 minutes
Physical space: preferably done outside under the shade of a tree or where there is no direct sunlight
Materials: note book, pen, flipchart, marker, masking tape
Participants: female faculty members
Facilitators: outside consultant with gender expert
Step 1
Process:
 Facilitator reviews the non-violence wheel (provide the printed version of the wheel to all
participants. See Annex 2)
 Once the review is over, let participants speak if they have any question or suggestion
 Ask participants to sit in groups of three and discuss for 10 minutes about the ideas raised on
the wheel and how what they know and think about GBV relates to what is raised on the wheel
 Let participants discuss in plenary on for another 20 minutes
 Any new learning, insight, question?
Step 2
Now it is time for the participants to reinvent their own wheel reflecting the realities in their university.
For this purpose, let participants be grouped into three groups and proceed as follows:



First let them brainstorm on the nature of GBV in their university and how it is manifested
And then start listing in their wheel.
Present their wheel
Step 3
 Let two participants facilitate the compilation of the findings in one wheel
 This wheel to be printed and posted all over the university as part of the awareness raising
campaign; it can be translated and posted outside of the university in local languages
 The outcome should be used as source document for radio discussion
 The outcomes should be presented to the university management and shared to be discussed
on and plan for action
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Activity 2: Culturally accepted perception and practices that seem to implicitly nurture GBV (Exploring
Proverbs)
Time: 1 hour
 Identifying more proverbs and folklores in local language: 30 minutes
 Discussion on the same: 30 minutes
Physical space: organize coffee ceremony and discuss informally
Materials: flipchart, markers,
Participants: female and male faculty members, gender focal persons, gender directorate staff and
experts, university police
Process:
Identify proverbs in local languages that seem to support/nurture violence against women for example
o ሴትና አህያ ካልተገ ረፉ አይሰሙም
Discuss
On how these kinds of proverbs seem to lead to GBV and what can be done to change their impact
Additional Activities



Try to identify proverbs with negative implications for men and hold similar discussions,
Try to identify proverbs signifying women’s dignity, wisdom, knowledge …
This can also be part of the regular discussion on the radio to address wider range of people
both in and outside the university.
Activity 3: Examining our own reactions to everyday act of violence,
Time: 4 hours
Step1: 1 hour 30 minutes
 Case presentation: 15 minutes
 Group discussion 45 minutes
 Plenary 30 minutes
Step 2: 1 hour
 World café: 40minutes
 Plenary: 20 minutes
Physical space: participants sit comfortably in a circle in a spacious room with adequate natural light.
Materials required: pen, notebooks, flipchart, pen, cases from previous GBV/harassment cases (if the
Gender Directorate has examples at hand)
16
Participants: female and male faculty members, university radio hosts, public relations office
representatives, gender directorate staff, and focal persons etc.
Facilitator: outside consultant with ample experience in working on the issue of GBV
Step 1: Exploring victim-blaming
Process:
There is a tendency to shift responsibility on victim than on the perpetrator, which is called “victimblaming”.



Gender Directorate representative presents actual case (that happened in or outside of their
university), where ‘victim-blaming’ occurred.
Divide the participants into two groups. Explore the occurrence of victim-blaming based on the
following questions
o Please list some of the typical reactions to different forms of GBV that you have heard in
the university on the radio and elsewhere?
o How do these reactions place blame on the victim, rather than the perpetrator?
o What are the words used to express such violence?
o And how does the language we use contribute towards blaming the victim than the act of
violence and the perpetrator?
o How do such ‘victim-blaming’ tendencies affect the mitigation process?
Once the discussion is over, have the groups bring their insights, questions and learning to the
plenary
Step 2: World café
Process
 Choose two participants (volunteers) as café owners to facilitate the group discussion
 Divide the rest of the participants into two groups
 Let the café owners choose one question (provided below) for discussion in their café and write
the question on top of a flip chart
 Each group goes to the respective café spaces to discuss on the questions provided
 Café owners take notes and make presentation later.
 Once the 20 minutes (one round) are over, the facilitator to give a signal, so that participants go
to the next café, where they have not yet worked in.
 Give 10 minutes for the café owners to synthesize the report
Questions
 How does GVB affect female faculty members?
 What does gendered socialization have to do with GBV ad how we react to it?
 What can be done to stop victim-blaming? (Who should be involved? How? …)
Plenary
Each café owner brings a synthesized report from the discussion.
17
Note: The Gender Directorate makes sure the findings are communicated at a wider level and the issues
are topics of continuous conversation among the university community whenever the opportunity
arises.
Activity 4: Exploring the various types of GBV female faculty members are facing
Time: 45 minutes on each
Physical space: participants sit facing each other in circle or discuss over traditional coffee ceremony
Materials: printed versions of the paragraphs below
Participants: female faculty members, gender focal persons, gender Directorate staff and experts
Facilitators: Gender Director and gender expert
NOTE: the following paragraphs are all taken from the Assessment17 please discuss them to help expand
your understanding of GBV and impact on female University staff.
Like their male colleagues, women face difficulties in accessing literature. For women, this access can be
even more constrained though, since they make less use of lounges and facilities with internet
connection because these are male-dominated spaces. Women also have less access to internet and
computers, because they tend to avoid working evening hours in the office, due to harassment in and
outside the campus18 (page 20).
Transport in the evenings is often inadequate or missing, and women do not feel safe walking the
streets at night. There are also a few cases reported, where landlords of female faculty commented on
women coming home late from the university office, suggesting that she should go back to where she
had been all evenings she can also sleep there (page 21).
Harassment includes disrespectful behavior, and this can stem from men both within campus and in the
community. There are numerous references to disrespectful behavior of male students toward female
staff. ‘It is an everyday experience to find a student disrespecting female lecturers; if a female academic
staff has to stay in the office in the evening, she faces different kinds of harassments from students’.
Male staff can also contribute to a women-unfriendly atmosphere in university facilities, such as libraries
and internet spaces (page 22).
In many settings, female staff members face harassment in the communities, where in some cases there
is resistance against women, who are perceived as unconventional. There are several indications of
harassment against women wearing trousers, and on one occasion stones were thrown at women in the
evening on their way home (page 22).
When female academic staff does not live on campus, they rely on the surrounding community for
housing facilities. In many cases, female faculty have difficulties finding a safe place to live and are
17
18
Eerdewijk, et. al. (2014: 20)
Ibid (2014:20-23)
18
confronted with negative attitudes from the community and landlords towards their work, and for
instance the way they dress and behave (page 22).
A more general aspect in university infrastructure concerns the way the campus and buildings are
constructed. There is an example of a building constructed with ‘open stairs’, and students posting
under these stairs to look up when women climb them. Construction issues also include the extent to
which campuses have been fenced, and the extent to which lights have been placed, as both affect the
security in the compound (page 23).
Activity 5: Exploring university response to GBV/harassment
Use the “Emergent Learning Process” (see module 2 Annex 1 and follow steps as shown in activity 1 step
two of the same module) to explore the actions taken so far to mitigate acts of violence/harassment in
the university. A framing question is provided below to help facilitate the process.
How can the university contribute towards ensuring women’s safety and security both in and outside
the university compound?
19
Session 3: Work-life balance
Purpose:
 Exploring work-life balance issues
 Understanding the impacts of work-life balance on women leaders and would be leaders
 Strategies to address work-life balance to facilitate female faculty’s involvement in leadership
Box 4 Facilitator’s note on work – life balance
Work-life balance
Individuals have different roles and the competition for time and energy to fulfill these roles according to Mc Auley
F. et al (2013) is called work-life balance. Traditional gendered roles, especially for female professionals, affect
productivity both as professionals and care-takers of the household, due to work burden related stress, fatigue and
ill health.
Women in patriarchal society such as Ethiopia are valued more for their care-giving role-- as mothers, wives, sister
and daughter. Hence, their professional occupancy is often overlooked and not adequately supported or
recognized even by family members. As academician, female faculty members already have multiple roles,
including teaching, supervising, and doing research. At home, they still continue to work as they are expected to
fulfill their gendered role of taking care of the house and the family including the young and the elderly. They also
have social roles such as visiting relatives, attending social events (weddings, funerals) in which they are expected
to carry over their domestic roles.
“The family responsibilities and demands affect women in a number of ways. Women often have fewer
hours available to work in the office, and in particular can face challenges to work in evening hours.
Working at home in the evenings is also often challenging for women, as it coincides with their household
responsibilities and care for children. The key difference between male and female academics is hence the
amount of time they have available for their careers, with a considerable part of women’s time being
19
consumed by their household demands.”
Working hours are a critical issue for female academics, as they also have to work on their professional
development. To occupy higher leadership positions they have to be able to fulfill requirements such as published
materials.
Women may not be perceived as ‘ideal’ candidates for leadership positions, because they may get married and
need transfers, they may get pregnant and need to take extended period of absence to raise the child or quit
altogether to raise her children. They tend to need taking time off sometimes frequently to take care of family
issues or social responsibilities, because most women are still responsible for such household and social
responsibilities. Women tend to multitask all the time. Organizational plans and strategies often disregard these
20
multiple responsibilities. The Assessment clearly indicated the lack of gender sensitive planning and its
consequence on female faculty members as follow:
“The late hours at which formal meetings tend to take place also complicate women’s uptake of leadership
positions. It is reported that for instance Senate meetings can continue into the late evening hours, and this
poses specific problems for female faculty in terms of safety. Transport in the evenings is often inadequate or
missing, and women do not feel safe walking on the streets at night. There are also a few cases reported
19
20
Eerdewijk, et. al.(2014, 19)
Ibid (23)
20
where landlords of female faculty commented on women coming home late from the university office,
suggesting that she should go back to where she had been all evening as she can also sleep there”.
A healthy work environment is believed to enhance productivity and commitment. Still, it should be stressed that
achieving work-life balance is not only the women’s responsibility. Universities must work to bring lasting change
in the status quo (which expects sex stereotypes roles) that contributes to women’s multiple roles, plan in a
gender sensitive way, and provide platforms for vigour and focus.
Activity 1: Understanding work-life balance and impact on female leaders
Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
 Preparation time for debate: 10 minutes
 Group debate: 1 hour
 Plenary: 30 minutes
 Free writing: 20 minutes
 Plenary reflection: 30 minutes
Physical setting: have three breakout rooms, for each group to sit comfortably facing each other
without worrying to disturb the other groups.
Materials: printed discussion point, note book, pen markers, flip chart,
Participants: male and female university employees
Facilitators: 2 facilitators (can be done by outside facilitator to allow Gender Directorates to be part of
the discussion)
Debate Point 1
Teaching women to adopt better strategies to deal with work-life balance may not be effective as long
as the status quo remained untouched
Debate point 2
Work-life balance issues affect female leaders in the same way as male leaders.
Debate Point 3
It is difficult for pregnant women and women having their monthly periods to stay in campus for long hours
thereby affecting their work
Debate point 4
Lack of gender sensitive planning challenges female staff’s work-life balance more than male staff
Debate point 5
Work-life balance is only women’s issue.
21
Process:
 Divide participants in two groups and let each group take one printed version of the discussion point
and debate on the same for 45 minutes.
 Each group will occupy one room.
 Each group will be given 10 minutes to prepare for the debate based on their assumed position
(supporting or opposing the discussion point).
 Let participants sit facing each other and be given 5 minutes each to state their position.
 After hearing each position, let the debate start.
 The facilitator moderates the discussion and takes notes.
 At the end of the one hour discussion, the facilitator will summaries and revise major points raised
from both sides and both sides are given chance to comment
 The outcome will be presented in the plenary for further discussion
 In the plenary, each group will present the highlights of both debates (not more than 5 minutes
each) and the participants will ask questions and give insights.
 At the end the prompts below can be given to consolidate learning from this discussion
 If need be explain free writing (see 4.1 Activity 2 of this module) Ask participants for personal
reflection (free writing, 2-3 minutes for each) on
Prompts
 This discussion confirmed to me that….
 New things I learned from this discussion are…
 I never realized …..
 My role I changing this would be …
Optional step: If need be, the facilitator can provide time to participants to reflect on their free writing
for new insights (10 minutes)
NOTE: make sure that participants work on all four debate points at different times so that the issues
are explored as part of understanding and opportunity is given to explore the issue better.
22
Activity 2: Personal reflection
Purpose: reflection on personal practices, work place challenges.
Time: personal reflection 20 minutes
Physical space: let participants reflect on these questions at home when they are relaxed
Materials required: notebook and the reflection questions
Process
 Print the reflection questions and distribute them to each participant.
 Ask them to work on these reflection questions during the night for discussion in the morning
 In the morning of the next day, start with reflection. Do not ask participants to read from what
they wrote. Encourage them to be free in their reflection.
 Let participants speak about their personal change plan and issues beyond their personal
capacity to deal with
 Facilitator to take notes on this issues and make sure subsequent discussions take this into
consideration especially (activity 5)
Reflection questions
 What is my workplace culture and discipline? How much time do I spend on social media,
responding to e-mail, internet, talking with colleagues on non-productive matters? Texting?
 What more things take attention away from your work?
 What activities derail you from your daily routine and how often are these? Are these personal
activities?
 Do you feel that your family understands your work? Do they support you? If not, what can you
do to get their support and understanding?
 Let individual participants refer to their personal reflection (activity 2) and work on their
personal plan on how to change their practice to help with work-life balance and identify issues
that can be beyond their personal capacity to change
23
Activity 3: Gender responsiveness of infrastructure and administrative rules/procedures
The table below contains a collection of direct quotes from the Assessment21 on work–life balance issues
in the universities. These issues brought out that among others transportation, infrastructures such as
toilets (availability or the lack thereof,) family responsibilities, insecurity; gender biases are affecting
women’s work-life balance. These quotes are selected and compiled in this box for the purpose of
discussion. All of them should be discussed in detail in terms of






Reasons (why the issue raised is a work-life balance issue and needs to be addressed)
How the issues affect women and their performances and career advancement
What can be done to overcome these challenges (brainstorm)
Who would be most likely to solve this problem and how can they be made
accountable?
Who else can contribute to the solution?
How can the suggested actions be followed up?
Also continuously try to identify additional work-life balance issues whenever possible and continue to
hold discussion on the same as part of the awareness raising and efforts towards sustained changes.
These issues can also be part of the Gender Directorate’s advocacy effort towards creating an enabling
environment in the universities.
Therefore, issues such as these should be part of the everyday conversation of the university staff. For
that purpose, Gender Directorates may use the quotes to initiate discussion in workshops, on the radio
and during Women’s Day celebrations (for example March 8), during staff meetings etc.
Box 5 Facilitators note on gender responsiveness of infrastructures and administration rules/procedures
‘Working hours are a critical issue for women academics, because teaching, research and related responsibilities
are to be fulfilled your professional side of life, while all the expectations of social life and related to the household
22
are waiting for you from the home front’ (page 19).
Women often have fewer hours available to work in the office, and in particular can face challenges to work in
evening hours. Working at home in the evenings is also often challenging for women, as it coincides with
household responsibilities and care for children, which are perceived as female responsibilities. The key difference
between male and female academics is hence the amount of time they have available for their careers, with a
considerable part of women’s time being consumed by their household demands (page 19).
Family responsibilities, which are perceived as female responsibilities, also affect the mobility of women, and
especially the extent to and the frequency at which they can travel, both within the country and abroad. It does
not mean that female faculty members with families are not available for travel, but it might require more
planning and organization, and requires the availability of relatives or friends to assist (page 20).
The challenges of balancing demands from the academia with those from the household imply that there is a
considerable difference in the positions of married and single women in universities. Younger female faculty who
21
22
(Eerdewijk et. al.2014),
Eerdewijk, et al. 2014:19-23; 28
24
are not married face less problems in balancing their professional and private lives. In most cases, the challenges
start with marriage and birth of the first child. Work-life balance is a concern for all, but specifically also for female
faculty, as most do aspire both a professional career and continued education, [as well as] having a family (page
20).
The late hours at which formal meetings tend to take place also complicate women’s uptake of leadership
positions. It is reported that for instance Senate meetings can continue up to the late evening hours, and this poses
specific problems for female faculty in terms of safety. Transport in the evenings is often inadequate or not
available, and women do not feel safe walking on the streets at night. There are also a few cases reported where
landlords of female faculty commented on women coming home late from the university office, suggesting that
she should go back to where she had been all evening as she can also sleep there (page 21).
There is a profound effect on the mobility of women in and around the university; the harassment and lack of
safety when commuting to and from the university in early morning or the evenings, affects the working hours
they can be available on campus (page 22).
University office holders admit that women’s choices and opportunities are affected by their family
responsibilities. These make that women have less time available, as they have to balance work and private
responsibilities more than male colleagues. Some office holders also note that the late office hours required for
management positions and for instance meetings of decision-making bodies are challenging for female staff. It is
noted by some office holders that the university does not have incentives to offset women’s higher family
responsibilities (page28).
In many places, women leaders face problems with toilet facilities, and we should be ‘ashamed to of this in the
21st century’. Toilet facilities might either be absent, badly maintained, or lacking proper water supply. In other
cases, toilets were locked and access restricted to a selected few, often higher office holders. Lack of toilet
facilities impedes women’s ability to work in campus, especially when they are pregnant or during their monthly
periods when they need toilets on a more regular basis (page 23).
25
Activity 4: The work environment challenges
Purpose: to understand some of the general work environment challenges and opportunities
Time required:
 Group discussion: 1 hour
 Plenary: 20 minutes
Physical space: two rooms with adequate chairs where participants discuss separately
Materials: discussion questions, flip chart, markers
Facilitators: two external facilitators
Process
 Divide participants into two groups and each work in separate rooms
 Let each facilitator take one group and facilitate the discussion and take notes for reflection in
plenary
Questions
 What are the challenges to keeping the 8 hours per day limit at the work place for top position
leaders? Why?
 Do faculty members work overtime including nights and weekends? Why?
 Does working late at night and during weekends affect male and female leaders differently?
How?
 Are there policies, programs, or initiatives that can be designed to address work-life balance? If
there are, how reflective are these of the work-life balance issues of male and female staffs?
Make sure to include issues such as mobility, professional development, transfer, breastfeeding,
day care, etc.
In the plenary discussion facilitators present a synthesized report of the discussion
Activity 5: Gendered roles and work-life balance
Purpose: to understand how gendered roles affect work-life balance for men and women differently.
Time: 2 hours and 5 minutes
 Drawing: 45 minutes
 Presentation: 20 minutes
 Plenary: 1 hour
Physical space: a room with plenty of space for group work and walls large enough to accommodate the
drawings of the three groups
Materials needed: wax colors, flip chart papers, pencils, markers, masking tape
26
Participants: both male and female faculty members, middle level managers
Process:
 Separate male and female participants in male and female groups.
 Before drawing, let the groups agree on a metaphor that explains
o Female group: a day in a female leader’s life
o Male group: a day in a male leader’s life?
 Let them explain each part of the metaphor as to what it represents and how (ask participants to
discuss their picture/metaphor seriously before they draw it and how it represents their respective
work-life balance)
 Once they finish their work: post it on separate walls and have each group visit and discuss on the
representation.
Plenary
 Allow participants to, debate; question and discuss on the drawings and the ideas raised.
 Ask what they suggest are the reason for such representations and try to link the issues with
ideas raised under activity one to help enrich the discussion.
Activity 6: Potential solutions and actions
Purpose: Identify potential solutions and actions to work-balance related issues
Time: 2 hours
 Brainstorming session: 1 hour 30 minutes
 Discussion: 30 minutes
Physical space: two separate rooms with table to work on and space to spread the flipcharts to easily
read and work on.
Materials: flipchart, marker,
Participants: female faculty members
Facilitators: two facilitators
Process:
 Follow steps in Activity 3
 Before the start of the brain storming session, each facilitator to make a presentation on the
understanding and key points raised under each activity
 Participants brainstorm on ideas/action son how to deal with challenges in relation to work-life
balance, and make sure the ideas touch a wide range of issues, try to ask question including those
below
o How can we encourage families (husbands) to become proactive in the life front?
27
o



What can the university and others stakeholders do?
Once brainstorming is over, let participants revisit the ideas, and discuss on how a particular
idea/action would lead to a lasting solution
Make sure the ideas are categorized according to who should be responsible for that particular
action
Identify expected results in relation to the actions taken and indicators (for monitoring to
understand whether we are on the right track)
In plenary
 Facilitators change rooms while the groups remain in their place
 Facilitators present their group’s action plan to the participants, i.e.
o The first group will look at the second group’s action plan and the second group will look at
the action plan developed by the first group and enrich, question, and discuss the ideas
raised.
 Facilitators take note and consolidate the action plan
 Gender Directorates to follow up on the action plan
 Personal action plans can be followed up through informal reflection sessions (by organizing
traditional coffee ceremonies where female faculty members have time to relax).
28
Annexes
Annex 1: Sexual harassment
Annex 2: Non-violence wheel (source: Partnership Against Domestic Violence, PADV)
Annex 3: Learning Journal
A learning journal helps participants to summarize learning from the discussions. At the end of a day’s
session, please ask the participants to work on the following questions during the night as homework or
before you close the day. It is also possible to give time for participants to share their reflections in
plenary at the end of each day to help them consolidate their thoughts.




What happened today? What was raised during each session?
What was new?
What stood out for me?
Which ones are the ideas that I am taking back and applying in my work?
It is also helpful to start the day with reflection, based on similar questions. Doing this at the beginning
of the next day will help to summarize issues raised and main learning taken.
During the morning, for reflection purpose, you can also



Let participants work in a group of three or four sitting among a row.
Ask them to reflect on the previous day,
Have them bring up new thoughts, questions, or suggestions?
In the plenary, make sure to give sometime for the reflection and start the day with it.
29
Additional References
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Dec. 18, 1979,
1249 U.N.T.S. 13, 19 I.L.M. 33 (entered into force Sept. 3, 1981
Our Bodies – Their Battle Ground: Gender-based Violence in Conflict Zones. Source:
http://www.Irinnews.org/webspecials/GBV/print/p-Definitions.asp
Dunlap , Louise (2007), Undoing the Silence: Six tool for social change writing , ISBN978_0_9766054_9-2
pbk, New village press, Oakland, California
Eerdewijk et. al.(2014). Female Faculty and Leadership: Affirmative Action and Gender equality in new
public Universities in Ethiopia (assessment), 2014, NICHE ETH-015, University Leadership and
Management Capacity development Project
Ely, Robin, Ibarra, Herminia, Kolb, Deborah (2011), Taking Gender into account: Theory and Design for
Women’s Leadership development Programs (Faculty and Research working paper) INSEAD- the
Business School for the World, 2011/69/OB(revised version of 2011/57/OB),
Mc Auley F et al (2003), Modelling the Relationship between Work-Life Balance and Organizational
Outcomes. Paper
Presented at the Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology. Orlando,
April 12, 2003,1-26. quoted in Zahir eta al (2016).
Skinner, Suzette (2012). Coaching Women in Leadership of Coaching Women Leaders? Understanding
the Importance of Gender and Professional Identity Formation in Executive Coaching for Senior Women.
(thesis, M.Appl.Sci. Coaching Psychology, Institute of Coaching, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical
School Affiliate).
SturmS. (2001), Second generation employment discrimination: A structural approach, Colombia Law
Review, 101: 458-568.
Zaheer, et al (2016), Occupational Stress and Work-Life Balance: A Study of Female Faculties of Central
Universities in Delhi, India, in the Journal of Human Resource Management, 2016; 4(1): 1-5,Published
online October 21, 2015 (http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/jhrm) doi:
10.11648/j.jhrm.20160401.11 ISSN: 2331-0707 (Print); ISSN: 2331-0715 (Online) Accessed on January
30, 2016.
Marcus, R. and Harper C. (14 January 2014), Gender Justices and Social Norms – process of change for
adolescent girls ; towards a conceptual framework 2. Shaping Policy for development, Odi.org
Morrison, A., and M. B. Orlando. 2006. “The Cost and Impacts of Gender-Based Violence in Developing
Countries:Methodological Considerations and New Evidence.” Policy Research Working Paper 36151,
World Bank, Washington, DC.
United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW), General Assembly
Resolution 48/104, 20 December 1993 Article 2 (a).
http://wwww.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/s/40B847015485B34749256BFE0006E603 accessed on
December 20, 2015
30
http://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-organisations/conquering-gender-bias2924#tj8SbUisT2fbsHkb.99 Accessed January 16, 2016
http://eige.europa.eu/gender-based-violence/what-is-gender-based-violenceaccessedFebruary 8 2016
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/--travail/documents/publication/wcms_187306.pdf ILO work life balance in developing countries,
accessed on February 6, 2016
31