Celebrating International Women's Day 2022

KDI School supports equality, diversity, and inclusion and was recently proud to commemorate International Women’s Day on March 8th. This year’s theme was “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”.

Current data available shows women and girls experience the greatest impacts of the climate crisis as it amplifies existing gender inequalities and puts women’s lives and livelihoods at risk. There is a vital link between gender, social equity, and climate change, and we must recognize that without gender equality today, a sustainable future, an equal future, remains out of reach. 

To celebrate International Women’s Day this year we had an interview with Professor Joeun Kim to share what the day means and what action she feels is required in academia and beyond to help forge a gender-equal world.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

It is a day for me to recognize and celebrate the tenacity of all women.

The theme for International Women’s Day was “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”. How do climate issues fuel gender inequality around the world?

Climate change has the potential to exacerbate gender inequality in a variety of ways.

First, women would have to spend more time and energy in order to obtain natural resources such as water and wood which would have a detrimental impact on both their economic involvement and their health.

Secondly, women are more likely to die in the aftermath of a natural catastrophe because they frequently have limited access to economic resources, knowledge, or instruction on coping strategies that allow them to flee the devastated region.

Thirdly, when economic conditions are strained, women are more likely to be subjected to domestic and sexual abuse.

To summarize, climate change has the potential to exacerbate gender disparity through increasing existing structural issues of gender inequality.

The 2022 campaign theme for Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias. As women, what can we do to contribute to breaking the bias?

It’s simple: all we have to do is be ourselves. For decades, women have done enough to confront prejudice. It is past time for more men to take an active role in combating gender prejudice against women, men, and other genders.

If you could change one misconception about how women are perceived in academia, what would it be and why?

Female professors are expected to be more compassionate, supporting, and engaging with students in academia in general, but male professors are not expected to have similar qualities. Such expectations of female professors may cause them to take on additional mentoring responsibilities. Furthermore, such a double bind frequently results in low student evaluations of female instructors who do not exhibit such characteristics.

How would you address the cultural issues that form the background of the gender pay gap?

To close the gender wage gap in Korea, the culture of overwork should be tackled. Because the workplace is not supportive of work-family combinations, women face considerable trade-offs between full-time job and family. Excessive time demands at work also restrict men’s engagement at home, putting an additional strain on women and reducing women’s chances of continuing hard-won career.

In your view, do you think SDG 5 on gender equality in the workplace can be achieved?

Gender discrimination at the workplace has decreased over time. We are, however, still a long way from attaining gender equality in the workplace.

What advice do you have for women currently pursuing their studies at KDI?

Choose the path that feels right to you. Nobody can live your life for you.