It is a positive revolution in the present academic sector where, we are witnessing more number of women researchers globally in all domains of knowledge. It is a matter of privilege that some of them are leading researchers in their fields.
Jain (Deemed-to-be University) has always encouraged women researchers wholeheartedly, and hence the number of women guides and research scholars are increasing day-by-day. To encourage and empower the women researchers at Jain (Deemed-to-be University), Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences celebrated International Women’s Day by exchanging thoughts on ‘Women Researchers – Challenges and Perspective’ on 8 March 2016.
The seminar was inaugurated with an invocation composed by Sharada Dasi, a woman composer and rendered by Shivashankari, a research scholar in Music. Dr. Soumya Manjunath Chavan introduced the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences to the audience, putting across the fact that there are around one hundred M.Phil and Ph.D scholars pursuing research under this faculty, amongst whom 62 are women researchers. This was followed by the keynote address by Dr. Sharada Srinivasan, Professor, Humanities, NIAS, where she mentioned about a few women personalities like Andal, Akkamahadevi and Kalpana Chawla who have been a role model for generations. She also articulated her vision on inter-disciplinary research which has given scope for many women researchers. Dr.Pushpa Dravid, Artist and Art researcher shared with the audience some of the challenges which she faced during her research.
This was followed by two panel discussions. The first discussion was on the topic of the seminar- "Women Researchers – Challenges and Perspectives". Women guides Dr. Meera Rajaram Pranesh, Dr. Rekha Jagannath, Dr. Shobha Shashikumar, Dr. Karuna Vijayendra and Dr. Soumya Manjunath Chavan shared their thoughts and experiences and the various challenges they faced as women researchers. The session was presided over by Dr. Choodamani Nandagopal , Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Jain (Deemed-to-be University) and with her concluding remarks the next session was initiated.
The next panel discussion was on the topic "Women Researchers – Issues and Possibilities". This session was moderated by Dr. Vibhavari Kumar, the first woman researcher from Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Jain (Deemed-to-be University), to receive a doctorate. The panelists Dr. Shailaja Shastri, Dr. Rajani Jairam, Dr. Prakriti HN and Dr. Choodamani Nandagopal shared their thoughts on various issues faced by women researchers and the number of possibilities that lay before them. This session was chaired by Dr. Sandeep Shastri, Pro Vice Chancellor, Jain (Deemed-to-be University). The seminar concluded with this reciprocal deliberations between the research scholars and the panel members.
