Üsküdar Üniversitesi Center for Continuous Education, Application and Research (USEM) organized an event titled “Global Sustainability and Women in Business” on March 8, International Women's Day. The event discussed the roles of women in society. In the program, where it was emphasized that Turkish women were granted the right to vote and be elected much earlier than in other countries, it was underlined that women should be determined and courageous on the path to success.
The event, held at Üsküdar Üniversitesi Çarşı Campus Emirnebi Conference Hall, was attended by Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Occupational Health and Safety faculty member Assoc. Prof. Müge Ensari Özay, Medeniyet Üniversitesi Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Head of the Department of Physics Engineering Prof. Dr. Emine Can, Demiroğlu Bilim Üniversitesi Dr. Lecturer Didem Söylemez Sur, Dr. Pelin Balı, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Health Sciences Occupational Health and Safety Ph.D. Student Nafiseh Farajırad, Üsküdar Üniversitesi R&D and Innovation Policies Director Meltem Bayraktar, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Corporate Business Development Consultant Ebru Genç, and Expert Clinical Psychologist Büşra Ay as speakers.
Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, also attended the event.
Assoc. Prof. Müge Ensari Özay: “A woman is expected to carry five watermelons at once”
Assoc. Prof. Müge Ensari Özay, a faculty member at Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Occupational Health and Safety, delivered the opening speech of the program on the topic of ‘Women Employees in Business Life’. Özay said; “I want to start my words by saying that women beautify the world. First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who said, ‘Everything you see on the face of the earth is the work of women.’ In our country, women were granted the right to vote and be elected much earlier than in other countries around the world. Women's rights are important because we live in a somewhat patriarchal society. Our traditions and customs are patriarchal. Sometimes we don't even realize it. We also face serious problems in business life. Economically, when a woman does not work, she can experience serious difficulties. When she works, she can experience other difficulties. When a woman starts working, she has to manage both her job and her home. Socially, a woman is expected to carry five watermelons at once. Anatolian women are strong. When we look at the Turkish War of Independence and before, we see that we truly had very strong women. Unfortunately, women are seen as secondary in our society. I want a system where women are subject to the right to equal pay for equal work.”
Prof. Dr. Emine Can: “There are many women who left their mark in history…”
Prof. Dr. Emine Can, Head of the Department of Physics Engineering at Medeniyet Üniversitesi Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, delivered a presentation titled ‘Women Who Left Their Mark Throughout History’. Can, explaining the situations she encountered most frequently during her time as dean at Istanbul Medeniyet Üniversitesi, stated that there were many more female research assistants than male. Prof. Dr. Emine Can said; “In some departments, there are almost no male academics. This also causes serious problems for women during pregnancy. The stronger a country's economy and the more consistent its politics, the more different positions we, as women, can achieve. I think we can be much stronger. There are many women who left their mark in history. However, 2 of them stand out a bit more. These names are people who influenced both the world and our society, one of them is Sabiha Gökçen. Sabiha Gökçen's most important feature is that she was the world's first female fighter pilot. Her determination and courage on the path to success is a role model for us women. The second is Marie Curie, who had a rather challenging life. We know her from her work on radioactivity during our school years. Her most important feature is her excellent knowledge of two difficult scientific fields, both physics and chemistry, and her receiving the Nobel Prize for serious work in these areas. She is the first woman in the world to receive the Nobel Prize, both as a physicist and a chemist.”
Dr. Lecturer Didem Söylemez Sur: “Mimosas are a flower unique to women who defend their rights”
Demiroğlu Bilim Üniversitesi Dr. Lecturer Didem Söylemez Sur delivered her presentation titled ‘Being a Woman in the Health Sector’. Sur, drawing attention to the mimosa flowers on the participants' lapels, said; “I especially want to thank you for the mimosas on your lapels. Mimosas are a flower unique to egalitarian women who defend their rights. I am very happy and proud to be here as a woman; being a woman has many disadvantages, but also many advantages. Let's not ignore them. That's why I am proud to take part here as a woman of the Turkish Republic. I express my gratitude to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. I say, how fortunate we are to be his children. The first women's rights in the world originated from our country; I would have liked to celebrate March 8th with more enthusiasm. Humanity does not have the right to choose its gender at birth. None of us chose to be women. Men did not choose to be men either. Neither are we superior, nor are men superior. The values given to women's rights are in a very important position in determining the development levels of countries. Women can also lead. They possess leadership qualities, but some people suppress women in this regard.”
Dr. Pelin Balı: If a woman is happy, the family is happy, the world is happy
Dr. Pelin Balı, stating that there is nothing women cannot achieve, spoke on the topic of ‘Woman and Ancient Beauty’. Balı, indicating that when a woman is happy, the world is also happy, said; “I received bioenergy training on public health in Moscow and had the opportunity to use my own techniques. Beyond that, I had the chance to apply some different practices. With today's achievements, there are techniques that make natural beautification possible, and the main source of this is women and female beauty. Woman means feminine energy. We are the color of life. As the starting point of ancient beauty, we will develop each other with the lullabies we sing into their ears, with our hugs, with our cries. There is nothing that cannot be achieved on this path. If a woman is happy, the world is happy. If a woman is happy, children are happy. If a woman is happy, the family is happy. If a woman is truly happy, even the apartment building is happy. We, as women, are enough with our existence. Therefore, when you understand this, please make time for yourself. Listen to music that makes you feel good. Buy the gift you saved money for, for yourself first. If you don't buy that flower for yourself, no one else will.”
Nafiseh Farajırad: “We need to live by thinking about the future”
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Health Sciences, Occupational Health and Safety Ph.D. Student Nafiseh Farajırad delivered her presentation titled ‘The Role of Women in Environmental Health and Sustainability’. Farajırad, emphasizing the importance of environmental sustainability, said; “Woman means everything. As a society, we easily forget everything. The United Nations has defined sustainable development as such: we need to live by thinking about the future. Regarding sustainable development, issues such as water and environmental cleanliness are primary concerns globally. When we say environment, difficult definitions come to mind. The environment is where we live. If there is no environment, we don't exist either. Environmental sustainability means every human needs clean air, clean water to live; if these are not there, we are not living; we have forgotten very simple concepts. As the population increases, we lose biodiversity. We experience soil pollution. Plastic waste is everywhere now. We experience temperature changes every day. Actually, these are human creations. Each of us has a share in these. 500 billion plastic bags are collected annually worldwide. This is an example of how much we harm the environment. Very large goals have been set by the United Nations in this regard. The first goal is no poverty. As women, we are in a luxurious position when looking at the global situation.”
Meltem Bayraktar: “We have risen to 2nd place in the number of women's patent applications”
Meltem Bayraktar, Üsküdar Üniversitesi R&D and Innovation Policies Director, discussing the increasing share of women in R&D and the workforce, delivered a presentation titled ‘Women's Power in Project Work’. Bayraktar said; “Atatürk said, ‘Never abandon science and walking on this path.’ Apart from that, I will talk about a very important congress that took place in 1935 regarding Atatürk's perspective on women. It is also very important that the name of this congress was the ‘Women's Union Congress’ and that it took place in Istanbul in 1935. This shows how much importance we have given to women since then. In the 100th year of our Republic, we, as women engineers and our other academics among us, are actually the women of the 100th year. I have not experienced any difficulties or troubles. We were lucky. We never doubted ourselves and our values. We make a great effort to do our best in our profession to the very end. We are aware of the unlimited opportunities offered to us by the Republic. The share of women in R&D and the workforce is increasing. It has now reached 37 percent. We observe an increase in higher education reaching 50 percent. We have also risen to 2nd place in the number of international women's patent applications, leaving many countries behind. The development levels of countries are related to the patents made by women.”
Ebru Genç: “Successful people have achieved success after certain difficulties”
Ebru Genç, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Corporate Business Development Consultant, delivered a presentation titled ‘Woman's Ability to Sustain and Support’. Genç said; “About four months ago, my left leg was amputated due to an illness whose name I do not wish to pronounce. However, I was able to get back on my feet in such a short time. While this stems from a woman's restorative quality, I also believe that being in working life since university contributed to today's Ebru. I have a 3-year-old son. Thanks to one of my son's assignments, I got acquainted with the art of Kintsugi, and it inspired me greatly. This art and philosophy became one of the building blocks for today's Ebru, or a guide in my life's instruction manual. According to this artistic understanding, breaks are not seen as damage, but as experiences. This philosophy says, ‘Breaks and scars are not to be hidden, but rather to be emphasized.’ Many successful people have achieved great successes after difficulties, and people have generally thanked the moments they failed and the people who broke their hearts because thanks to them, they learned to properly repair themselves. At the same time, they were able to feel their true values within themselves.”
Expert Clinical Psychologist Büşra Ay: “Each of us is a different color”
During the program, Expert Clinical Psychologist Büşra Ay delivered a presentation titled ‘Being a Clinical Psychologist’. Ay said; “Our wounds vary; their size changes, their meaning changes; some have deeper wounds, some are superficial, but we all have wounds. I have been at Üsküdar Üniversitesi for 7 years. In 2020, I graduated from the Faculty of Communication, Department of Public Relations. Afterwards, I pursued a double major in psychology. In 2021, I graduated from the psychology department. Subsequently, I completed my master's degree in clinical psychology at our university. I believe everyone has a life motto. For some, their life motto stands out more easily, they recognize it more easily, while others discover it later. I, however, believe that as long as you do what you love, you are not working. There are certain factors that define a person. For example, our social fields. Sociology, psychology, all of these are social fields. Each of our cognitions is different. Each of us is a different color. Every person is as unique as every case. There are some factors that make a person human; work life and school life are among them. I definitely believe that women should study and develop themselves.”
The event concluded after the music recital.