Mr. Samiei with the female staff of the Europe Section
When the IAEA’s Technical Co-operation Europe Section was established in 1993, it consisted of a staff of four, including Mr. Massoud Samiei as Section Head. Over the past 11 years, the Section has grown to presently consist of 20 employees: 10 women and 10 men. This harmonious gender balance did not occur on its own, but rather is the result of one Section Head’s dedicated effort to create a sense of balance and diversity within the work environment. In so doing, Mr. Samiei has acted on the gender policy recommendations of the Agency and furthermore, has recently hired a fairly high number of women in professional positions previously held by men.
This article reflects on the dynamic of our Section in regard to gender balance in the workplace and provides innovative recommendations for enacting positive change. However, the United Nations itself is a keen promoter of gender equality. In fact, one of its’ Millennium Development Goals is to empower women and promote equality between the sexes. It is crucial that we set the example. How otherwise can the UN justifiably promote gender equality without achieving it at home?
Comparisons of the Europe Section’s staff composition versus the IAEA as a whole highlight the Section’s achievement. Consider the statistics as of July 2003. Within the IAEA, the percentage of female staff in the Professional (P) and higher categories represented 18% of the total number of staff in that category (see note). Of the P-staff in the TC Department as a whole, only 10% are women. Within the TC Europe Section, the percentage of women in the P category is 30%, an indication of a sizeable difference.
While other Sections have not achieved such success towards gender balance, the Department of Technical Co-operation is nonetheless exceptional. In January 2003 the Department welcomed Ms. Ana María Cetto as its new Deputy Director General. Ms. Cetto is the first woman appointed to the level of DDG in the Agency’s 47-year history. Since her arrival, she has encouraged others to follow the example set by Mr. Samiei. The Agency has initiated several steps to improve the representation of women in professional categories, but still has a way to go.
Gender equality cannot be tackled in the office alone, and must start in the family early on, as girls are often not as strongly encouraged as boys to be ambitious and confident in expressing their skills. Furthermore, the formation of men’s attitudes towards women begins during childhood.
During a brief interview, Mr. Samiei stressed that beyond cultural circumstances, the role models one has as a child have a strong influence and leave the greatest impact. “Within my family I observed that women are capable of everything they set out to do. My grandmother fought for her right, and later on for her three daughters, to get an education and she succeeded against the odds over 100 years ago in Ferdows, a small town in the eastern part of Iran. Women have or develop special talent for overcoming obstacles in such societies.” The odds were indeed high; Mr. Samiei was raised in Iran, where women’s plight for equality in an unequal society is well documented, and where women have indeed proved their worth. The most recent example is Shirin Ebadi, a female lawyer from Iran who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. Mr. Samiei has three sisters. Two of them are medical doctors and one is a computer scientist.
But employing females only for the sake of obtaining equilibrium or meeting a quota is surely not the underlying reason why a good manager seeks to employ females among his staff. Is gender balance at work necessary for achieving a productive and pleasant work climate? I asked my colleagues what women have contributed to the work environment and sought insight on what, if anything, had changed.
‘Enhanced communication’ was a frequent response. “Our manager is open to all views and opinions, makes sure that merits of all staff in the section are properly recognized, and does not differentiate between male and female staff, or P- and G-staff” remarked Jozef Zlatnansky. Reflecting further, Jozef stated, “my feeling is that women in our Section have more capabilities in solving conflicts in a ‘silent’ way and that is important for the Section and for our work as international civil servants.”
Mr. Jan Stuller commented on the changes he has experienced in Section meetings, remarking that the discussions have taken on a more cooperative tone. Jan went on to say that a revived spirit of collaboration could be felt in the Section. Bridging on the latter comment, Mr. Alain Cardoso stated that a sense of competition has been replaced with increased coordination and collaboration towards the macro goals of the Europe Section and the Technical-Cooperation program in general.
Are all women thus destined to succeed in the work environment of international organizations? Not so fast! While Ms. Marlena Schimanovich, our colleague dealing with the famous radiation protection Model Project, agreed that females are quite apt at tactful and effective communication, she expressed that in other work related traits women often lack important skills more readily exhibited by men. Marlena posits that when it comes to networking and mentoring co-workers, experience leads her to believe that women are not as willing and/or able as their male counterparts. This is a form of competition amongst women or between men that characterizes several work places. On the other hand, “women are used to coping with change and are good at quickly adapting to new languages, stressful situations, and unfamiliar environments. Perhaps this comes from the long tradition of having to travel far and wide in search of men,” Marlena joked.
“The first thing is that people themselves change,” replied one of my co-workers speaking on the gender equality issue in general. “Men have to adjust to the new situation and when faced with the advancement of women in the professional sphere their reactions may differ. An ambitious woman may be ‘dangerous,’ and some men may feel threatened that the woman is after their job. After all, she is talented and energetic and may have ‘untraditional methods’ to get work done that may be more efficient. By this I mean that women have a tendency to mitigate rather than exacerbate conflicts and competition. But with cooperation this perception often passes and men have a chance to discover new qualities in women and they learn to respect those qualities. In order to succeed in a position traditionally held by men, women also have to adjust and accept certain rules. In today’s climate of logic and technology, it is still predominantly a ‘man’s world.’ Forget exhibiting an excess of seemingly “feminine” characteristics. If you want to succeed as an equal you have to be like a chameleon and assume masculine qualities, as not every woman feels comfortable working with and among several men.”
While overall gender parity in TC Europe exists, an imbalance remains in the General and Professional categories, with the former comprised of a majority of female staff and the latter of mostly males. This is often the case in tech-heavy organizations, and it is therefore all the more relevant to support the recruitment of women in these male-dominated environments provided they are suitably qualified. In addition to supporting recruitment, Mr. Samiei says he would welcome the introduction of a formal, transparent, and merit-based approach to “promote” general staff members to the Professional level. Several G-staff members hold university degrees proving that if there were a comprehensible system, they could be put on line for promotion. “There are many G-staff members who become qualified for jobs in the Professional category but are faced with internal difficulties and discrimination in making the transition because a transparent procedure is lacking. Within the Agency we need to work towards removing endemic biases regarding staffing categories and gender differences and strive to create a capable and professional work environment. These biases also exist among the Member States,” Mr. Samiei continued. “I recall an experience whereby I selected a qualified female candidate only to have her application withdrawn by her Mission and replaced by a male candidate at the time when final approval was requested.”
Mr. Samiei strongly believes that without more competent women, especially in the Professional category, we despair of seeing positive change. He suggests that the Director General may wish to consider the establishment of a Gender Balance Task Force to help maximize the participation of women within the Agency’s work as a whole. He emphasizes that as a leading UN specialized Agency, we must strive to have well-qualified and competent women in positions of power and influence, responsible for leading units, divisions, and departments. Above all, we must educate managers to respect and to treat women on equal terms. Unfortunately, in many of our Member States most work places still remain distinctly 'woman unfriendly' and many women are discouraged from working in such environments. “Although this may be due to ethnic or cultural differences; here in the Agency,” Mr. Samiei stresses, “we should never present it as a culture change issue. It should be part of management training taught and appreciated by way of successful examples.”
With the Task Force, we can seek to proactively make a difference by mentoring and supporting women to recognize and achieve their professional goals within the Agency while encouraging the management to take note of its’ existing stock of valuable female Professionals as well as highly qualified women in the General staff. The contribution of the G-staff of the Europe Section is well recognized. Several former TC female G-staff already work at the P-level.
Mr. Jozef Zlatnansky remarked that as a Country Officer, his work together with Project Clerk Ms. Olga Zvereva is critical to his work in the Section. “I realize that Olga’s high academic qualifications, together with her diplomatic skills, has improved the recognition of our work in the Member States.” Mr. Malcolm Gray, a nuclear engineer of the Waste Technology Section commented,"In 2003, I had the opportunity to start to work with Ms. Julia Kilimnik who helped me, a novice at the Agency, to effect an interregional TC project which provides training for IAEA fellows. The project, like me, is very new to the Agency and suffered many teething troubles. Without Julia's experience, guidance and a lot of patience the project would not have reached the advanced stage where now it is. Her assistance has been a significant contribution in turning a concept into a successful project - with prospects." Mr. Iain Ritchie, the Crosscutting Co-coordinator for Research Reactors in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Materials Section, added this sentiment, “Julia is a gem that we rely on even though we are not in her Section, Division or even Department! She has the ability to organize many different international arrangements simultaneously, some of which include individuals who seem incapable of making up their minds and are continuously asking for last minute changes. Julia copes and somehow manages to maintain her good humour. Where we work, her memory is legendary.”
For new posts, the management would be encouraged by the Task Force to make a deliberate effort to promote its own female staff to higher General and Professional positions instead of opening up the post for outside competition. The middle and higher-level mangers would be asked to use the Performance Review System to give recognition to achievements by women in their units/sections/divisions and to make specific recommendations for possible future promotions for such successful female staff. Traveling higher-level managers would be asked to specifically look for and interview women professionals in Member States with the goal of finding suitable candidates for upcoming open positions. Furthermore, the Task Force might assist in the assessment of G-staff for recommendation to P-level positions using a transparent merit system as mentioned before. Lastly, the Task Force could undertake a review of current policies to make the Agency more “female friendly”. For example, P-level mothers are not granted flexibility when it comes to maternity leave, thus creating difficulties for women who want to work and raise children. The option of “paternity leave” and the possibility of part-time or home-based work for mothers should be considered.
In summary, the Agency should:
With the adoption of equitable policies men and women both are granted the opportunity to work together towards the common goals of the Agency in a dynamic and diverse workplace.
