Research on gender, social sciences

LAHORE:Speakers at a conference on Friday attached great importance to conduct research in different disciplines of social sciences while keeping gender perspective in consideration.

They were speaking at the first international virtual conference "Gender and Social Sciences: Diversity, Challenges, and Opportunities" organised by the Department of Gender & Development Studies, Lahore College for Women University, (LCWU) and Forman Christian College (A Chartered University) under the US-Pakistan University Partnership Grant Programme (UPGP) funded by US Mission to Pakistan and administered by United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP). The objective of the conference was to understand and unfold the theme of gender across different disciplines of social sciences and promote the theme of gender in researches of other social science disciplines. LCWU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Bushra Mirza while mentioning the commitment of Pakistan vis-à-vis Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reiterated that without understanding the gender perspective, striving for achieving SDGs might become difficult. She said we all should join hands in the journey of achieving gender equality and women empowerment.

Prof and Chair, Dept. Of Psychology, Henderson State University USA Dr Aneeq Ahmed shared historical perspective of researching gender differences in the discipline of psychology. Whereas, Dr Maria Fannin, Prof of Geography, Bristol University, presented her paper on "Giving Birth to Hostile Environment".

Dean of Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences Prof Dr M Afzal appreciated the efforts of the Dept. of Gender and Department Studies on the successful execution of this first virtual conference. Dr Sikandar Hayat, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences at FC College highlighted the importance of social sciences and research to understand the gender dynamics in the society of Pakistan. FC College Rector Dr Jonathan Addleton and Vice Rector Dr Douglas Trimble laid great stress on scholars of social sciences to add gender perspective in researches to highlight the gaps.