Advancing Gender Equality in Higher Education Leadership

The President of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Professor Eeva Leinonen, invites you to a panel discussion in celebration of International Women's Day 2024, focused on advancing gender equality in higher education leadership.

• Discover best practices from senior female leaders across the Arqus European University Alliance
• Gain insights from Maynooth's experience as the recipient of the EU Award for Newcomer Gender Equality Champion in 2023
• Explore policy implementation in the context of higher education across Europe
  

With thanks to our host and partner, the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the EU. We look forward to welcoming you to this event and working together to advance gender equality.

Agenda

12.00pm-12.30pm: Registration and Lunch

12.50pm: Opening Remarks

• Professor John O'Brennan, Jean Monnet Chair of European Integration, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

1.00pm: Welcome Address

• Deputy Permanent Representative of Ireland to the EU – Ambassador Barbara Cullinane

1.10pm: Opening Address

• Professor Eeva Leinonen, President, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

1.20pm: Remarks

• Vanessa Debiais-Sainton, Head of Unit, Higher Education Policy, European Commission

1.30pm: Panel Discussion: Advancing Gender Equality in Higher Education Leadership

• Professor Pilar Aranda Ramirez, former Rector, University of Granada, Spain
• Professor Dorothy Kelly, Coordinator of the Arqus Alliance
• Professor Eeva Leinonen, President, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
• Moderated by Professor John O'Brennan

1.55pm: Closing Remarks

2.00pm-2.30pm: Networking Reception

Speaker Biographies

Professor Eeva Leinonen, President, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

Professor Eeva Leinonen joined the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, as President in October 2021, after five years of service as Vice Chancellor and President at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia.

Professor Leinonen was born and raised in Finland, where she completed her schooling. As part of her education in Finland Professor Leinonen spent a year as an exchange student in Michigan, USA, prior to entering university in England, where she studied linguistics and psychology. She obtained a BSc (Hons) in Linguistics and Psychology (First Class) from Aston University, UK; MPhil in Text Linguistics from Exeter University, UK: PhD in Clinical Linguistics from De Montfort University, UK; Docent (Higher Doctorate) from her hometown university, University of Oulu, Finland; and DSc (Honoris Causa) from Aston University, UK.

Professor Leinonen’s academic research focuses on pragmatic language processing in children and young adults with autistic spectrum disorders. She collaborates with colleagues in Finland and Italy.

Professor Dorothy Kelly, Arqus Alliance Coordinator, University of Granada, Spain

Dorothy Kelly is a professor of Translation at the University of Granada (Spain), where she was also Vice Rector for Internationalization from 2008 to 2023.

Her research expertise includes curricular design and delivery in the field of Translation, an area in which she published extensively before devoting her time almost entirely to the internationalization of higher education. In this field, she has extensive experience in joint programme design and delivery, multilateral cooperation, and designing and managing mobility programmes of all kinds. She was Chair of the Executive Board of the Coimbra Group of Universities from 2010 until 2017 and was a member of Spain's national Bologna Experts Team from 2010 to 2013. She has participated intensely in Spanish, European and international advisory boards and events in the field of higher education and in particular its internationalization. She was a member of the Board of the Committee for Internationalization and Development Cooperation at the Spanish Rectors’ Conference between 2008 and 2012, and again between 2014 and 2020; from 2018 to 2020 she was Executive Secretary of the Board and until 2023 acted as a special advisor. She is a member of the Advisory Group on Higher Education to the Steering Committee for Education (CDEDU) of the Council of Europe.

Since 2018, she has been the coordinator of Arqus, one of the first 17 European University Alliances to be approved by the European Commission and composed by the universities of Graz, Leipzig, Lyon 1, Maynooth, Minho, Padua, Vilnius and Wrocław, along with Granada.

Professor Pilar Aranda Ramírez, former Rector, University of Granada, Spain

Pilar Aranda Ramírez was Rector of the University of Granada from June 2015 until June 2023, the first woman to occupy the post in almost 500 years of history.

She is full professor of Physiology at the University of Granada, is the principal investigator of numerous national and international projects and research contracts, and has published in prestigious and high impact publishers and journals.

She has held positions of responsibility in university management and research policy at regional and national level in Andalusia and Spain. Prior to being Rector, at the University of Granada she was Director of the Student Affairs Agency, Vice-Rector for Students, and Executive Secretary of the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies. At the regional level, she was Executive Secretary of the Andalusian Research Plan from 1996 to 2009.

In addition, she was President of the Tordesillas Group of Universities of Brazil, Portugal and Spain from 2017 to 2018, and Vice-President of the Spanish Rectors’ Conference from 2018 to 2019. She served as President of the Board of the Granada Health Sciences Technology Park. She has been a member of the Cervantes Institute Board since September 2020.

She has received numerous awards, prizes and distinctions for her dedication and commitment to higher education, research, regional development and in particular the promotion of gender equality. These include the Gold Medal of the Province of Granada, the Meridiana Award from the Andalusian Regional Ministry for Equality and Social Policies, the Gold Medal of the City of Granada, and the “Flag of Andalusia” recognition from the Regional Government.

Ambassador Barbara Cullinane, Deputy Permanent Representative of Ireland to the Perm Rep, Brussels

Barbara Cullinane, from Mullingar, is Ireland’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the European Union.

Prior to taking up this post she was Director of Policy Coordination in the Office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, 2019-2021. She was Director of Strategy, Governance and Change at the Department’s headquarters from 2017-2018, and served as Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Ireland in London from 2012 to 2017.

She has covered Brexit and Northern Ireland issues, and also worked on multilateral affairs and international development at HQ and at the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the UN in New York.

She is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and UCD Smurfit School of Business.

Vanessa Debiais-Sainton, Head of Unit Higher Education, DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC), European Commission

Vanessa Debiais-Sainton is Head of the Unit in charge of European higher Education policies and programme at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. The unit is the lead service for the development of the European Education Area's higher education dimension, including the European Strategy for Universities presented in January 2022. This includes the development and implementation of flagship initiatives such as: ‘European Universities’ alliances, a joint European degree, the European student card initiative, a European Approach to Micro-credentials, the automatic recognition of higher education qualifications, tracking graduates and the higher education strand of Erasmus+. In previous posts in the European Commission, Vanessa has worked in DG Research and Innovation. Before moving to the European Commission in 2006, Vanessa spent eight years working for several chemical companies.

Professor John O'Brennan, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

Professor O'Brennan is affiliated with the Department of Sociology and holds the Jean Monnet Chair in European Integration at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Additionally, he serves as the Director of the Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies, designated as a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (2020-23). His research focuses on European Union institutions and politics, with a particular emphasis on the process and politics of the EU's Enlargement policy. He also investigates Ireland's relationship with the European Union and is currently completing a monograph examining Ireland's experience of EU membership over 50 years since accession in 1973.

Professor O'Brennan holds positions as a board member and Vice-President of the Irish Association for Contemporary European Studies (IACES) and is a member of the Irish government's Brexit Stakeholder Group since 2017. Additionally, he is a member of the Irish Institute for European and International Affairs' 'Global Europe' group. Previous roles include serving as a Lecturer in European Union Politics at the University of Limerick (2001-2007), holding Irish Research PhD and Post-Doctoral awards, serving as a Visiting Fellow at the European Union Institute for Security Studies in Paris (2005), and as an Open Society lecturer in Politics at the Varna Economics University in Bulgaria (2000-2001).

His contributions to national and international media on European Union issues include appearances on Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, BBC News, The Irish Examiner, Irish Independent, The Irish Times, LBC radio, Newstalk, Open Democracy, RTE Radio, RTE Television, Sky News, Today fm, Virgin News Media, and various other outlets.

Recent research work also includes a focus on the societal impact of gambling in Ireland and Europe. He serves as co-PI (with colleague Prof Aphra Kerr and Dr. Paul Kitchen of Ulster University) on a new (2022-24) project examining the impact of gambling advertising on young people in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (YouGamSi), funded by the HEA's 'Shared Island' scheme.