A Deep Dive into Gender Equality

During her two years of studies in international relations and economics at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in the United States of America, Mihwa Park spent one summer in Paris, France, studying, with Professor Hélène Périvier, “Gender Equality and Society”. 5 years after her Summer School experience at Sciences Po, we met her again.

Why did you join the Sciences Po Summer School in 2017? and to take Professor Périvier’s course on Gender Equality and Society?

I have always been interested in the topic of gender equality and women’s empowerment. It’s a global agenda, and we need to work together to solve the problem. This agenda is related to all aspects of our lives, and is relevant for both developing and developed countries. For instance, climate change has implications on women and girls, education and girls, and more. Unfortunately, no country in the world has figured out true gender equality yet.

In that sense, as I was studying for my Master’s at SAIS, I wanted to learn more about gender equality and its implication to the society at a global level. Back in 2017, no class was offered at SAIS on the topic. I was looking for some programmes, and found Professor Périvier’s course! I particularly liked the fact that her course examined the issue of gender equality from three aspects — society, economics, and politics. Thus, while my colleagues were out doing an internship over that summer, I decided to study and came to the Sciences Po Summer School.

5 years later, what impact do you think this experience had on your career?

The course had prepared me and helped me to understand the issue that I was passionate about. I was fortunate to meet great professors and programs, to deep dive into a topic of my true passion. I truly enjoyed the course and learned many things. It enabled me to understand the issue of gender equality from many different perspectives. I was able to understand the systematic issue of gender inequality of various social aspects, and especially enjoyed learning about gender inequality and its negative implications when it comes to labor economics.

Having this background helped me to input gender perspectives to the projects I have been working on at my previous job. In addition, I am happy to tell you that what I learned from this course especially helped me when I took my technical exam and interviews to get this job at the UN Women!

Today you are a Women’s Empowerment Principles Coordinator at UN Women, the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. Can you tell us more ?

Absolutely! I work at the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Global Secretariat at the UN Women headquarters. My main counterpart is the private sector. The UN Women has been working together with the private sector to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) #5, gender equality.

The WEPs is a primary vehicle for corporate delivery on gender equality dimensions of the 2030 agenda and the SDGs. The WEPs are composed of seven principles that offer guidance to companies on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community.

The seven principles include topics that are relevant for businesses from all sectors and that affects both men and women. The principles cover topics such as women’s leadership, creating a fair workplace for men and women, career progression and education for women, gender responsive procurement and more. My day to day job involves advocating to the companies why gender equality is good for business, and guide them on how to advance gender equality.

What are your plans for the future?

My plan is to start a family and continue working- and make that possible for all the women who choose to do so around the world!

Coming from South Korea where many women give up their careers due to having children, and most of the time, they make that choice due to systematic problems. It’s not because our generation is “selfish” or “self-centered” that we do not want to have children or get married, but rather, it’s the system that prevents us from having a good work life balance, especially for women. I want to change that. Not only for Korea, but also for the rest of the world so that women can have choices. I have just gotten married, and would like to have children, and would like to continue working! Why shouldn’t we be able to have both?

More

• The Sciences Po Summer School
• Hélène Périvier (FR) is a researcher in economics at the French Economic Observatory and a professor at Sciences Po