On January, 22 the Center for Resource-Efficient and Cleaner Production ( CRECP) which was opened in NTUU "KPI" within the framework of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in resource-efficient and cleaner production, hosted a meeting "Women in Industry ".
The gender issues for UNIDO are one of those aspects that must be taken into account in all its projects and activities. Thus, gender approach is reflected in the policies and organizational practices of United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Besides, its activities are directed towards equality and empowerment of women, in particular economic, and, ultimately, towards achieving of gender balance. That is why CRECP which was set up only last year investigated this subject and has already got some experience in this field.
"I must stress that gender issues are important for our organization - said , welcoming the participants, the Deputy Director of Swiss Cooperation Office in Ukraine , which provides financial Support Center, Petra Vidmar . – This is the reason why we are holding this workshop , where we can discuss some of the pressing issues in this area". The main structure that establishes appropriate projects and facilitates their implementation at the university, is Ukrainian Center for Gender Education at NTUU "KPI ", founded in 2001. The experience of activity and capabilities of the center were the main topic of the presentation made by its deputy Director for Research and Methodology , professor of Faculty of Sociology and Law, PhD, Julia Strebkova . This structure operates in three main areas: research work, teaching and methodical work , educational work , international activities .Therefore, the experience gained is quite considerable . For example , in cooperation with public organization "Women in Industry" KPI regularly holds nationwide conferences on gender issues, a variety of training for women; the professors of the Faculty of Sociology and Law have defended 5 PhD theses on this subject and 3 more theses are prepared at the moment , one of them – DSc thesis; gender modules are included in some educational courses, etc.
The fact that the issue of gender equality in our country is extremely important can be proved by some figures presented in speech of gender expert , CEO of Women's Information Consultative Center and moderator Elena Suslova. According to the gender survey provided by CRECP workers, at the moment 52 % of students and 55 % of university graduates in Ukraine are women. Such discrepancy is not surprising – male more frequently tend to interrupt their educational process, or even quit their studies at all. Besides, the number of girls who enter technical colleges at the moment is much less than before. The number of women working in the industry sector is decreasing every year. For example, in 1989, at the end of the Soviet era, it was 48 %, and in 2012 the number has changed to 37 %! There are many reasons for this decrease, but it is obvious that important factor in the choice of the future profession are the stereotypes that prevail in society. However, they are based on quite concrete realities. And it is not only difficult at times working conditions and inconvenient working schedules , but primarily it is based on economic reasons. It is no secret that women who work in the industry sector used to have and still have worse conditions for career growth and lower earnings compared with men. For example, salary of women working in the chemical industry is on average 82 % of men's salary; in food industry - 79%, metallurgy and metal processing industry - 65%.
At the end of the meeting there was the discussion "Problems of Women in Industry and Their Solutions".
Participants discussed other factors that prevent women from successful activity in sectors of the real economy , and the conclusions were quite interesting. In particular, new to many was the idea that women who work in the industry, among other things, simply experience a lack of appropriate models for themselves. Participants concluded that in order to overcome problems discussed at the meeting it would be helpful to create some kind of networking, which brings together women working in the industry of Ukraine and its individual sectors. Successful examples of such entities exist in some countries, and they were also discussed at the meeting. This network is an extremely powerful tool for uniting efforts of active individuals as to assist women in some specific situations and to achieve common goals. But above all , this project can become a platform for exchange of information in this direction and its accumulation. In this framework it is possible tpo organize seminars and trainings to develop leadership skills of female students of technical specialties; to develop initiatives for increasing the number of women in engineering field of industry and develop their career possibilities; to cooperate with the government in order to provide better consideration of women's needs and decision making toward solving gender issues and so on. So finally, the participants discussed the issues and concrete steps to establish such a network, which can be based on those gender organizations that already exist in Kiev and in particular in NTUU "KPI".