About Up-Jordan project

One of the world's most significant challenges still prevails - gender equality.

We firmly advocate that a diverse workforce/student cohort is more productive and imaginative, and that embracing diversity will allow the flow of new ways of thinking and approaches to STEM challenges and accelerate economic growth and STEM advancement. Our goal is clear: to improve the support and nurture of STEM females within both Higher Education (HE) and the workplace, to address the longstanding deficit of female practitioners - we recognise that the key is not only to enable access but to ensure females have the right support, experience and opportunities once they are working so that they can thrive.

The nature of this Project is expected to have a comprehensive impact on the Environment considering published research advocating the role of females as environmental stewards, as featured in ecofeminist and "women and environment" literature (OECD, 2021). Females are more likely to integrate sustainability issues and prioritise environmental concerns into their organisation by contributing to water, energy, transport, housing, and digital sectors, amongst others. They can also integrate these issues into organisations' and institutions' vision and strategies if they take leading roles. Women have a lot of potential in the green economy to work in green industries and contribute to green innovation, but only if supportive policies are in place. This is particularly pertinent in the STEM sector.

Project Objectives

The objectives of this project are to:

• Collate and analyse gender-disaggregated data to challenge policies at both institutional and sector levels in STEM

• Develop dialogue and networking opportunities amongst Higher Education scholars and organisations across Jordan and the U.K. on gender equality

• Understand the organisational, cultural, and self-imposed barriers for females in making educational and career choices

• Understanding how to support access, progression, and achievement of girls and women in STEM education and employment

• Determine improved STEM guidance for vocational education and technical training

• Propose the development of career frameworks that support diverse workforce and skill sets

Our Six Funded Projects

In the built environment sector, one of the world’s most significant challenges still prevails – gender equality. UCEM is proud to have won SIX externally funded research grants from the British Council, which will explore this topic and could influence and champion change for gender equality. UCEM is one of the most prominent universities to research gender quality when it comes to externally funded projects, and has now received five research grants from the British Council on this topic. What’s more, through partnerships with other universities based across the world, this project has effectively become a nexus of six countries collaborating to investigate gender equality in detail.

Research is vital and is an answer to many growing issues around us today but it is extremely difficult or sometimes impossible to pursue it without dedicated funds. Therefore, the 6 prestigious and very competitive grants that we have won from the British Council worth £150,000 on the extremely important topic of Gender Equality, specifically in Brazilian, Egyptian, Jordanian, Pakistani and Vietnamese education and industry sectors will ensure the projects are delivered in this complicated area along with capacity building to create awarenessa and wider impact in these countries. These projects will set up consortiums of critical stakeholders who will investigate, collect and analyse data from partner countries, publish outcomes, build the capacity of relevant people, and ensure that this project delivers substantial and lasting change in gender equality.

Please Find more information about our current and previous projects by visitng: 

Click here to locate our Global partners on the Google Maps: Link

Our Project Team

Find out about our project Team at:

The team consists of UK and Jordanian PIs:

Prof Angela Lee (UK): a.lee@ucem.ac.uk

Dr Ahlam (Jordan): ahlam_sh@hu.edu.jo

Dr Muhammad Rana (UK): m.rana@ucem.ac.uk

Our Recent Publications (Free Access)

Explore our latest publications, results, and relevant articles in the area of Gender Equality

1. "Exploring the Underlying Barriers for the Successful Transition for Women from Higher Education to Employment in Egypt: A Focus Group Study" Social Sciences 13, no. 4: 195. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13040195

2. "Factors Impacting Women Gaining Leadership Roles in the Jordanian Construction Sector: Architects and Civil Engineers" Buildings 14, no. 4: 944. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14040944

3. "Gender Equality in Architecture and Construction: An Assessment Framework at the Institutional and Sectoral Levels in Jordan" Buildings 14, no. 3: 764. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14030764

4. "Sustainable Gender Equality: A Comparative Perspective on STEM Education and Employment in Jordan" Sustainability 16, no. 6: 2273. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16062273

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