AUS collaborates to celebrate International Women’s Day

American University of Sharjah (AUS) partnered with General Electric, Cartier and American University of Ras Al-Khaimah (AURAK) in a series of virtual and on-campus events to celebrate International Women’s Day, yesterday, March 8.

AUS is also planning to mark the occasion by celebrating its women leaders at the Women's Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai on March 11. Sponsored by Cartier, the event will feature welcoming speeches by Dr. Susan Mumm, AUS Chancellor, and Lana Farouki, Women’s Pavilion Manager. Dr. Narjess Boubakri, Dean of the AUS School of Business Administration, will deliver a keynote speech. A panel discussion will follow, moderated by Dr. Nawar Golley, Professor in English, with the participation of Dr. Virginia Bodolica, Professor in Management and Said T. Khoury in Leadership Studies at AUS, and AUS alumnae Hanin Bayari, General Manager of Brand Development at Majid Al Futtaim; Najla Al Ansari, Serial Entrepreneur; Hadeel Shaheen, Vice President Design at Aldar; and Eman Al Awadhi, Vice President of Cyber Security and Resilience at Expo 2020 Dubai. The event will also offer opportunities for networking.

As part of an ongoing research collaboration project called Women in Leadership UAE, the AUS School of Business Administration and AURAK released a bi-weekly podcast and relaunched the project’s website, which serves as a virtual center for women and organizations. Led by Dr. Norita Ahmad, Professor in Marketing and Information Systems and Director of the Center for Innovation and Teaching at AUS, and Dr. Linzi Kemp and Linda McLoughlin from AURAK, the project promotes professional women taking up leadership roles. It is supported by a research grant from the Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research and an AUS Faculty Research Grant.

“We wanted to celebrate International Women’s Day with three main initiatives under this project. The podcast promotes women’s achievement, particularly leading women in the Northern Emirates, through personal interviews where listeners can learn about their fascinating life journeys. We are very happy to have Chancellor Mumm as our first guest on the podcast with a list of leading women to follow in the weeks to come,” said Dr. Ahmad.

The Women in Leadership UAE podcast and center can be accessed at www.wiluae.com.

Dr. Ahmad explained that the Women in Leadership UAE portal provides opportunities for women by promoting the expertise of women in various fields through its expert list. “This one-stop-portal provides rich resources to trainers, teachers and individual women. This resource helps locate women with knowledge and experience to assure gender balance for all audiences and in all endeavors,” she added.  

The Women in Leadership UAE project also hosted a social media competition for students, which called on students to create content based on the International Women’s Day theme of #BreaktheBias. 

Chancellor Mumm also took part in a discussion on the Morning Majlis at Sharjah’s Radio Pulse95, where she discussed leadership and education in a changing world.

“If we are looking at achieving sustainable leadership in education or any other industry, we need to ensure that we have an inclusive and diverse culture that stands for equal opportunities and enhances competencies to create leaders who can make a difference in the world. International Women’s Day is a great opportunity to remind ourselves--men and women-- of what we need to do and to work together, hand in hand, to make this world a better place,” said Chancellor Mumm.

The College of Engineering (CEN) also hosted the webinar “Gender Equality for a Sustainable Tomorrow,” featuring talks about the importance of diversity in academia, and a discussion panel comprising students and faculty on breaking biases in the field of engineering.

The AUS community also had the opportunity to attend a lecture hosted by Chancellor Mumm with Dr. Dalya Al Muthanna, President and Global Chief Strategy and Operations at General Electric International Market, as part of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Lecture Series organized by the Office of Advancement and Alumni Affairs (OAAA). Held under the theme “Leadership in Today’s World,” Chancellor Mumm and Dr. Al Muthanna discussed the challenges of leading through change and disruption, the role of organizations in achieving sustainability, and the importance of being inclusive and diverse in the culture of organizations.