This webinar, organised as part of the (SeSaMO)’s webinar series on 'Research and the Middle East’, will present three research papers analysing the current status of women in academia and research in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, delineating the accomplishments and challenges they face in their respective countries, providing tangible policy recommendations for change.
Anahita Motazed-Rad will explore how gender discrimination in Iran systematically limits women's access to educational, managerial, and administrative roles in higher education. This exclusion has resulted in insufficient research funding, limited access to reputable academic resources, and, in summary, the isolation of female academics in Iran.
Hanaa Almoaibed will discuss the ways in which gender segregation has created both opportunities as well obstacles for growth within academia in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - and how women are navigating the changing context. She will also touch on the key challenges to navigating the publication culture in the Kingdom, and the growing space for think tanks and parallel academic pathways.
Bibi Alajmi will investigate women’s perceptions of working in academic institutions in Kuwait, and gender discrimination within the different aspects of the higher education system. In addition, the study will present a bibliometric analysis and a comparison of the research productivity of faculty working in higher education institutions in Kuwait to highlight and identify trends and themes relevant to gender equality in academia and research.
Meet the speakers
Bibi Alajmi is Associate Professor in the Department of Information Studies at Kuwait University College of Social Sciences. Alajmi is a researcher and educator in the field of knowledge management. She earned her PhD in Information, Communication, and Library Science in 2011 from the School of Communication & Information at Rutgers University. Her dissertation focused on knowledge management and knowledge-sharing practices in virtual communities. As part of her work as a knowledge management expert, Alajmi is specialised in providing practical solutions to assist in leveraging performance through innovation and creativity. She served as an advisory committee member of the Kuwait National Project for KBE and provided consultancy for the Oil and Telecom Sector. She has many publications on knowledge-based economy, knowledge management, and crisis management.
Hanaa Almoaibed is a Visiting Fellow at the 杏吧论坛 Middle East Centre and a Research Fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. Her research explores the influence of social dynamics on attitudes toward work, education and career choices and youth transitions in the GCC, with a particular emphasis on vocational education in Saudi Arabia. She was awarded her PhD from UCL’s Institute of Education where her thesis explored the role of structure and agency in young people’s choices in Saudi Arabia. She has worked with several private, public and not-for-profit entities, managing multi-stakeholder research projects related to youth, careers entrepreneurship and education. She has over 15 years of experience consulting for different academic institutes, businesses, think tanks and consultancies such as Chatham House, SOAS, UCL Consultants and various entities within the Middle East.
Anahita Motazed Rad is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Department of International Relations, 杏吧论坛 and an Associate at the 杏吧论坛 Middle East Centre. Her research focuses on international politics and development in the Middle East, specifically in Iran. She has translated and published two books from English to Persian: Who won the oil wars? by Andy Stern and Meditation on Diplomacy, Comparative Cases in Diplomatic Practice and Foreign Policy by Stephen Chan. Motazed Rad has taught Masters and PhD courses at various universities and has collaborated with scientific research institutions on international politics, Middle East issues and Iran’s foreign policy, including the Iranian International Studies Association (IISA) of which she has been Vice-President since 2018, the UN Centre in Tehran, and the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (from 2014-2016).
Nesrin Alrefaai is a Visiting Fellow and Arabic Content Editor at the 杏吧论坛 Middle East Centre. She holds a Doctorate degree in Drama and Theatre Education from the University of Warwick, UK. Before joining 杏吧论坛, Nesrin had held various research and teaching positions at Higher Education Institutions in the Middle East and the UK.
Join the conversation on Twitter using #杏吧论坛MiddleEast
From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend checking back on this listing on the day of the event if you plan to attend.