スーパーグローバル大学創成支援実証政治経済学拠点は、2022年11月28日に「実証政治経済学を志す女子学生のためのキャリアセミナー」と題する特別セミナーを開催しました。
Career Seminar for Female Students who want to Study Empirical Political Economy
左より座長の奥山陽子助教授、Min Hee Go准教授、Yesola Kweon助教授、Ana Weeks准教授、Wan-Ying Yang教授、政治経済学術院尾野嘉邦教授
奥山陽子助教授（スウェーデン・ウプサラ大学）を座長として、Min Hee Go准教授（韓国・梨花女子大学）、Yesola Kweon助教授（韓国・成均館大学）、Ana Weeks准教授（イギリス・バース大学）、Wan-Ying Yang教授（台湾・国立政治大学）ら、アメリカの大学でPhDを取得した女性教員4名のパネリストが、大学院進学の動機や経緯、TAの経験、在学中の指導教員や友人らと関係、研究と同時並行の子育て、フィールドワークの難しさなど、女性特有の壁や問題点に関し大変貴重な経験談をお話しくださいました。また、大学院進学にあたって知っておいて欲しいことなど、研究者を目指す女性にとって参考にすべき役に立つ情報が提供されました。
女性研究者として活躍する5名の話を熱心に聞き入る学生たち
本学の学部1年生から大学院生のみならず、外部の学生や大学院入学準備中の社会人など幅広く25名あまりに上る女子学生の参加があり、パネリストの話に熱心に耳を傾けていました。奥山助教授が座長として適宜質問するよう呼びかけて下さったおかげで活発に質疑応答が行われ、非常に盛り上がったセミナーになりました。実証政治経済学分野において、男性のみならず女性の大学院進学者の増加や若手研究者のさらなる国際的活躍につながる貴重な機会となりました。
参加者全員での集合写真
本セミナーに参加した学生からは、修士取得後の自分のキャリア形成を真剣に考えていく上で非常に有意義な時間であり、様々な経験を重ね研究者として活躍する諸先輩方のお話からは得るものが多く、またそうした指導者と接点が持てたことを有難く思うとの感想を頂きました。
＜参加学生のコメント＞
政治学研究科修士2年 神長 夏怜
KAMINAGA, Karen： Gender Panel Thoughts
Academia is still a very male dominated field, and in this Gender panel I was very excited to hear the perspectives and thoughts of five very accomplished female scholars. It was especially interesting to hear career pathways and the ways that they had decided upon pursuing their expertise of study, as it is not a topic that one gets to hear in depth very often.
Since all of the five women in the panel had gotten their higher educational degrees from American universities, where many were not only minorities in terms of gender, but also in racial terms, listening in there were situations that I had not even considered that were shared experiences. These experiences really made me think more in depth about what being a female in academia is like. Being a woman particularly held challenges that may not occur for males, such as particularly dangerous situations within field research, often reoccurring micro-aggressions, and just overall the academic field itself is often being skewed towards a more male dominated structure. Especially as a female it is important to understand and to input the quantitative methods, as they are an integral part to appear as you understand what you want to do and are knowledgeable in your particular field.
For me, personally it was particularly reassuring to hear the reaffirmations of being able to back out, to have a non-conventional, non-linear path. As an academic sinks in hours and extra time to gain their knowledge and expertise, it is increasingly difficult to back out, as it may feel too costly to quit. However, hearing that quitting is not failure, and failure is not something that is essentially bad was very helpful. In the same strain, it was also very reassuring to hear that it isn’t anything that has to be rushed. There never is an exact “perfect” time that is the same for everybody, as some women in the panel went straight to graduate school, where other women had taken years of working and then returned to graduate school.
Another particularly important takeaway I had gotten was the importance of environment and the surrounding support that you gain as you go through the graduate studies, with each of the panel speakers emphasizing the importance of community. This community does not necessarily have to be created by those from the same department, but it is important to find a good support system. Don’t be afraid to ask people to help, and to ask people questions. Learning from the seniors, learning from those who have come before, is a wealth of knowledge. This concept of community and finding good connections and systems was one that I felt was particularly emphasized throughout the whole panel both during the discussions and the questionings, which reiterated the importance of it.
Especially as a current female graduate student at Waseda, I am extremely thankful that I was able to attend this panel discussion now, as it would help me in pondering for my future plans after a master’s degree. It definitely gave me a new perspective on what could be done, giving new considerations and ideas, listening to others that have already walked the path.
