The regional conference for students and young researchers was held on May 10, 2024, at the University of Montenegro, in Podgorica, as part of the Erasmus+ GEAR project. This Conference brought together students of different profiles from four different universities from the Western Balkans, who, each in their own way, presented the way they see gender (in)equality in general, but also in institutions of higher education, and gave valuable, mostly positive, examples from practice and finally pointed us in the directions we should move forward when it comes to this important topic.
On that occasion, 15 works of students and young researchers were presented, which are related to gender equality and equal opportunities, primarily in education but also in other segments of life, all with the aim of raising the awareness of both academics and the general public regarding gender perspectives in higher education and further career development.
The Erasmus+ project GEAR - Gender Equality in Academia and Research arose from the need to pay additional attention to STE(A)M areas in higher education in today's increasingly complex and interconnected world. Namely, bearing in mind that the world is in the fourth industrial revolution, the demand for experts and professionals in STEM fields is increasing. The involvement of women in STEM studies, and of those who later pursue those careers, remains at an extremely low level in most countries of the Western Balkans despite the fact that in the period from 2015 to 2018, the percentage of women in tertiary education was as high as 56% in the region, according to the RCC study. Only North Macedonia and Serbia have a slightly higher level of female students in natural sciences, mathematics and statistics, surpassing the other countries of the Western Balkans.
You can download the proceedings here.
