SERVICE AND SELF RESPECT : WOMEN LEADERS IN LATIN AMERICA UNIVERSITIES

This study marks an important milestone in UNESCO's Special Project on "Women Higher Education and Development" which promotes the participation of women both in higher education itself and also in the wider arena of sustainable social development. It links to the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme through its principal modalities of action.

The Organization's commitment to women in higher education is realized through training, research, information exchange and advocacy that help consolidate the contribution made by women graduates to complex development issues. The ultimate purpose is to ensure the implementation of the aims and objectives of the Beijing Platform of Action, adopted at the 4th World Conference on Women in 1994. This crucial document defined an agenda for women in the 3rd millennium which is based on human rights and reaffirms their rich potential as full partners in social development.

Women graduates constitute a particularly significant group in our society because their level of education ensures their empowerment in a changing world. Thus, it is logical that they should be much more present in the leadership of higher education systems and institutions, in their chosen careers and in all areas of civil society. To achieve this, their skills as leaders must be recognized and further developed. Thus, this study, which analyses aspects of feminine leadership in a specific regional context, is timely. UNESCO hopes that this experience will be replicated elsewhere so as to enhance the equitable access of women to decision-making and power-sharing.

Service and Self-respect: Women leaders in Latin American Universities

by Sheryl L. Bond

UNESCO, Paris, 1997 (ED-97/WS-41)

Free copies can be obtained from the Documentation and Information Centre, Education Sector, UNESCO, 7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France