5th Higher Education Summit on Gender Issues

Dr. Rhodora T. Masilang-Bucoy

Introduction

I would like to thank the Commission on Higher Education Chair, Dr. Patricia Licuanan,

the Commission on Higher Education Gender and Development Focal Point Committee

Chair, Atty Yadao Sison and the Technical Panel on Gender and Women’s Studies Head,

my friend and mentor Dr. Carol Sobritchea, for inviting me to this Summit on Gender and

Higher Education. The Philippine Commission on Women and the Commission on Higher

Education have been partners (“in crime”) in conducting this summit since 2013. We just

closed the two-day ASEAN Summit on Gender Mainstreaming in Higher Education

yesterday. Today, we hold this equally important Higher Education Summit on Gender

Issues – the 5th already! I would like to recognize the university presidents, academic heads

and GAD Focals of higher education institutions, who are here today to express their

commitment to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the academe and for

their proactive response to the CHED MEMO No. 1 series of 2015 calling for gender

mainstreaming in the education sector.

I am happy to speak to fellow educators belonging to the higher education institutions.

As an educator myself, I firmly believe in the important role of education in social

transformation. My own personal narrative exemplifies how access to education and

scholarship empowered me to become who I am today, an accomplished feminist scholar

and activist.

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 Through our commitment to academic excellence and democratic values, respect for

human rights, diversity, social justice and service for the people, we can collectively shape

the minds and hearts of the future leaders of this nation.

Given the transformative role of education among other social institutions that play

varying roles in the socialization of the youth, I will focus my talk today on how higher

education institutions can become an instrument to achieve gender equality and the

empowerment of all women and girls. These are twin goals we are committed to implement

along with the other Sustainable Development Goals and the newly adopted Philippine

Development Plan of 2017-2022. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are

aspirations all states have pledged to achieve when they signed the 2030 Agenda for

Sustainable Development as well as the earlier treaties and agreements like CEDAW and

the Beijing Platform of Action for Women in 1995. Recently, as we hosted the ASEAN

Summit, the member states of ASEAN adopted declarations which enunciated this vision of

inclusive growth, people-oriented, people-centered development.

Why should we remain committed to pursuing gender equality and empowerment of all

women and girls? Why is there still a need for this advocacy? Isn’t the Philippines the only

country in Asia that have narrowed the gender gap? In 2013, the Philippines ranked 5th in

the Global Gender GAP report of the World Economic Forum. In 2015 and 2016, we held the

7th position. But this year, we slipped to No. 10, the lowest rank ever since 2006. Remaining

in the top ten in the Global Gender Gap ranking evinced our significant strides in almost

closing the gap in education and improving gender disparities in health, economic

opportunity and participation, and political empowerment.

We should however not be complacent with our rank. We have to acknowledge that

there remain serious challenges we have to address to be able to claim that we have

achieved full gender equality. We still have to confront the persistent high maternal mortality,

wage disparities, low political participation of women manifested in the fewer number of

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women in the Executive branch and key decision-making bodies, and negative portrayal of

women in the media and gender-based violence.

The decades of work of gender advocates in the civil society, academe, government

and private sector have contributed to the passage of women friendly laws, among which are

the Magna Carta of Women, the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law,

Kasambahay Law, Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law among others. Women’s activism has led

to the adoption of programs and projects which tackle women’s poverty (for example support

for micro and small-scale livelihood projects in the rural areas), multiple burden, maternal

mortality, violence against women and children, political disempowerment, unemployment

and the needs of the marginalized sectors of women. In the MCW, the marginalized include

peasants, workers, urban poor, migrant workers, indigenous and Moro women, elderly

women, solo mothers and women with disabilities.

Gender Issues in the Philippines

Despite our progress towards women’s empowerment, persistent gender issues still prevail

in Philippine society. The gender issues which arise from power relations between men and

women have negative impact on the attainment of genuine development in the society.

Disparities remain as barriers to inclusive and sustainable development not only in our

country but throughout the world. As mentioned earlier, inequalities manifested in unequal

wages between men and women, low labor participation of women, limited presence of

women in politics and decision making bodies, high maternal mortality (one of the highest in

World), increasing incidence of violence against women, are impediments to our goal of

achieving a strong, robust and sustainable Philippines.

Gender permeates all aspects of human interaction at the level of the personal to the

political, national to international. Gender is a cross-cutting dimension that impinges on

poverty, inequality, hunger, health, social services, agriculture, industries, employment,

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governance, human rights, peace and security, environment and our quest for a sustainable

planet. As long as gender disparities exist, inclusive development remains a rhetoric. Our

development aspiration will be elusive if poverty, a critical area of concern in the BPFA

remains entrenched. We need to address poverty and hunger which has a woman’s face or

what Chair Patricia Licuanan in her keynote at ASEAN GAD Summit referred to as

feminization of poverty in our long term and short term strategies. Poverty is a human rights

violation and its prevalence is a barrier to the enjoyment of a full and satisfying life for all,

which is the overarching goal of gender and development. Eliminating poverty in the long

term will lead to an improved quality of life to millions of people now in the state of squalor

and deprivation.

Magna Carta of Women Imperatives on Education

Of great importance to us academicians is to look closely at gender issues in

education. The Magna Carta of Women has identified these gender issues and obliges us to

address substantially these major concerns faced by women and girls in education. I focus

on the Magna Carta of Women since it embodies the substantive provisions of the CEDAW

and reiterates the strategies in the UN Beijing Platform for Action on Women and Education.

Section 13 of the MCW explicitly provides for equal access to and elimination of

discrimination in education, scholarships and training, promotes gender fair education and

eliminates all forms of sexism and stereotypes in the curriculum and instructional materials.

The law likewise obliges government to ensure that gender stereotypes and images in

educational materials and curricula are adequately revised and gender-sensitive language is

used at all times. (MCW, Women’s EDGE Plan, p. 83)

The Magna Carta of Women (MCW) also mandates the implementation of capacity-

building programs on GAD, peace and human rights education for teachers and all those

involved in the education sector alongside the establishment of linkages and partnerships

between and among stakeholders of the educational system; including the private sector,

churches and faith-based organizations. (Women’s EDGE Plan, p. 83). The MCW

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encourages the enrolment of women in non-traditional “feminine” skills training programs at

the vocational and tertiary levels and prohibits the expulsion and non-admission of female

students and faculty due to pregnancy outside of marriage.

Gender Issues in Education

Gender Stereotypes and Biases in the Curricula

Gender stereotypes and biases are embedded in the curriculum, textbooks and

learning materials have not substantially been addressed.

Observations and anecdotes show that gender biases are not only reflected in

instructional materials (IMs) but also in classroom strategies, including teachers’ use of

sexist language and the design of classroom activities. In this concern, we must make

proactive efforts to review and engender our curriculum, instructional materials, syllabi and

curricular programs. This means integrating gender perspectives and concern in the

programs and offerings. Opening gender and women studies courses in the General

Education program and in our disciplinal courses are steps in the right direction. Our

experience in the UP system indicate that the teaching of gender equality principles and

women’s human rights made a difference in the knowledge, and attitudes of students who

took courses on gender in the general education (GE) program. (Bucoy, 2016). Other

universities which are part of the Women Studies consortium like Miriam College, St.

Scholastica’s College, Philippine Normal University among others, have best practices in

promoting gender-fair education which other universities can learn from.

Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture or Arts and Mathematics

We are happy to note that in recent times, positive educational outcomes are

documented in our effort to achieve universal education. More recent CHED data show that

women comprised more than half of those enrolled in college and trade courses. Scrutiny of

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the data indicates an increased enrolment of women in the fields traditionally dominated by

men like Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture or Arts and Mathematics (STEAM).

On the other hand, we see disturbing evidence that even though more women are taking

graduate and post-graduate studies, this has not translated to women’s occupying key

positions in the field of science and technology. The Commission on Higher Education data

on enrollment by sex and course show concentration of women and girls in service trades,

Home Economics, Mass Communication, Humanities, Education, Commerce/Business

Education, Nursing, Social, Behavioral and Natural Sciences - professions considered

traditionally as women’s field. Those who opt to go to the field of science and technology do

not enjoy equal status with men after graduation. Many women are forced to take a break

from scientific work during their childbearing years resulting in the phenomenon of “leaking

pipes”, the metaphor for the way women disappear from the STEAM career. We thus still

have to confront persistent biases and stereotypes which are barriers to women’s rise in the

fields of STEAM. This is an area of concern which we in the higher education institutions can

interrogate.

Women in University Governance

We should democratize governance in the universities, by appointing more women in

key academic leadership positions as well as support for women scientists as they balance

life and work. Today we see a number of women chosen as Presidents in HEIs. This is

indeed an encouraging development.

Persistence of Violence Against Women In and Out of Schools

We still have to address continuing vulnerability of women and girls to sexual

harassment and violence in schools. Those who were here for the past two days heard

experiences of sexual harassment and violence against women and girls involving

administrators and faculty members. We need to strengthen our actions to make our schools

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Violence against Women/Children free. We have to install Anti-Sexual Harassment Offices

or Committees on Decorum and Investigation. We need to develop programs and policies

to prevent violence against women including institutional mechanisms for complaints of rape,

sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination against women and provide assistance

to students, faculty or personnel who have been victims of violence.

Sexuality and reproductive health education have been crucial in raising awareness

in sexuality and responsible sexual behavior among students and ultimately reducing their

vulnerability of women and girls to gender-based violence. (WEDGE, 89) Let us expand

sexual and reproductive health education in the context of the increasing adolescence

pregnancy in our country.

Gender Mainstreaming in the Core Functions of the University: Promoting Gender Fair
Education

The universities perform tri-functions: teaching, research and extension or public

service. It is in the performance of these functions where the educational system can

integrate the task of bringing about gender equality and women’s empowerment.

This gathering today provides opportunity to discuss our performance in achieving

gender mainstreaming in our universities and colleges. Learning from the experiences of

leading academic institutions such as UP, (excuse me for highlighting the university where I

spent my best and challenging 28 years), we can exchange ideas about the ways to

mainstream gender and promote gender-fair education (GFE). Through gender-fair

curriculum, we interrogate masculinist biases and stereotypes embedded in our textbooks

and curriculum. This means we have to review what we teach and deconstruct knowledge

and look at inter-sectionalities of gender with other axes of social identities like class,

ethnicity, religion among others. In the field of history, there is a need to correct the

invisibility of women and foreground the role of women in social transformation. As long as

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knowledge on and about women is lacking or “partial” we cannot claim knowledge as

holistic. In this sense, there is some form of “epistemic violence”, a phenomenon when

knowledge is the hegemony of the few. This we have to correct as we engage in promoting

gender-fair education.

Currently the CHED created the Technical Panel for Gender and Women’s Studies

where the Philippine Commission on Women is a member. The panel chaired by Dr. Carolyn

Sobritchea is tasked to prepare draft policies, standards and guidelines for the establishment

of gender and women studies in higher educational institutions. Women and gender studies

(WGS) will promote researches which will expand knowledge about the status of women and

the causes of their marginalization. I look forward to the establishment of women and gender

studies in the universities as a concrete step to promoting gender sensitivity as well as the

empowerment of women and other marginalized groups on account of their gender and

sexuality.

Universities must accept their role as hubs of knowledge on gender and development

(GAD) and platforms for advocacy on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Given

the reservoir of expertise in the universities, it is but appropriate for the academe to share

their knowledge to society and provide answers to plaguing policy questions. Evidences from

action research on gendered impact of policies will serve as basis of our ongoing effort to

reinvent our strategic gender plans.

Best Practices on GAD Mainstreaming in Education

Universities playing its progressive role in societies contribute to changing mindsets

and promote critical thinking in our students. Through courses on gender and sexuality, we

proactively inculcate the values of respect of ones’ identity and diversity; teach tolerance and

commitment for human rights among others. Through our creative pedagogy, we instill

gender sensitivity among our students and their recognition that men and women may be

different yet we can be equal. We deepen their understanding of women’s marginalization

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and help forge their commitment in order to act to end women’s oppression. I propose the

creation of feminists groups in the universities who are imbued with a sense of respect for

differently situated women and men, who recognize the need for shared responsibilities so

women will not be confined to do their unpaid and undervalued reproductive roles.

We just don’t teach students knowledge per se, since facts and data could readily be

accessed from the internet, but what is important is the development of critical thinking

necessary for them to contribute to social transformation.

I am not arguing here that the work to empower people and marginalized groups like

women will be solely addressed by education reforms through mainstreaming gender

equality in teaching, research and extension work. But I likewise see the need for

complementary structural, political and economic changes for a comprehensive social

change anchored on equal distribution of resources, benefits and outcomes. But raising the

level of understanding and awareness of social and gender issues is a step in the right

direction. As we envision a society where women exercise power, agency and control over

access to resources and benefits, we thus contribute towards the attainment of sustainable

and inclusive development.

Some Conclusions

In closing, I encourage all state universities and colleges and private higher

education institutions to join in the gender and development mainstreaming challenge. For

those who have started in this daunting but meaningful process, persevere to undertake

innovations in your gender and development work. Policy enunciation on GAD is the

beginning. The next stage will be the formation of your GAD unit or center managed by your

advocates and champions who will implement your GAD policies. Appointing full staff

complement to perform the gender and development functions is necessary to manage the

day to day activities of the gender and development unit.

The Philippine Commission on Women has developed guidelines and tools which

you can use in planning, programming, budgeting, implementing and monitoring. The

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)’s Harmonized Gender and

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Development Guidelines will be your easy guide to ensure that your plans are gender

responsive. More than the tools however are the presence of passionate women and men in

the universities who will passionately carry out the gender and development advocacy in and

out of the academe. These champions whether they receive honoraria or not, have made a

difference in our vision to achieve gender equality and women empowerment.

I strongly urge you to create enabling mechanisms such as the constitution of your

GAD Focals and technical working groups in your institutions and the Committee on

Decorum and Investigation (CODI) or Committee on Anti-Sexual Harassment within your

schools and conduct continuing education on how to prevent violence and to actively engage

men and boys in this campaign to end VAW.

With regards to your primary role in teaching, research and extension, I call on you to

take concrete steps to enGender your curriculum. I have mentioned this earlier to respond to

correct stereotypes and misogynist thinking. This means a regular review of syllabi and

instructional materials to remove all forms of biases and stereotypes that rationalize unequal

treatment of women and discrimination.

Specific Actions That Need to be Taken to Address These Gender Issues

This higher education summit is an opportune time for us to reflect on how the

education sector can play a leading role in advancing gender equality and empowerment of

all women and girls. The theme of the Summit highlights the pivotal/ critical role of the HEIs

in mainstreaming gender equality and women empowerment in the University’s vision,

mission and goals. The Magna Carta of Women provides us the legal framework to guide us

in GAD mainstreaming work. It obliges us to address situation of the marginalized sectors of

women: peasant, workers, urban poor, migrants, IPs, Moro, elderly and person of diverse

sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. The PCW together with our partner

agencies in government and in collaboration with the NGOs have taken various initiatives

and strategies to address the persistent gender disparities as well as emerging ones. Given

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the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination such as class, ethnicity, and age, we

face complex challenges to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment. We thus

need collective action to promote and protect women’s rights enshrined in the Constitution,

the CEDAW, the Beijing Platform for Action and the Magna Carta of Women.

I also reiterate here the need to conduct gender sensitivity trainings (GSTs) and

researches that address women’s and gender concerns. Sex–disaggregated data is

constantly needed as we need to understand emerging issues and draft new policies.

Research studies can provide evidence for government’s policy formulation. Higher

education institutions can develop extension programs where faculty and students could

provide services for capacity building on gender awareness, entrepreneurship, reproductive

health, violence against women, environmental and ecological protection, disaster risk

reduction activities, legal and psychosocial assistance to VAW victims including trafficked

women and children among others.

Closing

Today’s event is another step in our gender and development journey to bring about

inclusive development where no woman is left behind. Through our collective action, we can

make a difference in the lives of the marginalized women.

Here’s to the success of our initiative that would bring us closer to an inclusive and

sustainable development we all aspire.

Daghang salamat! Mabuhay tayong lahat!

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