EQUALITY GUIdE - KU Leuven

Chapter 4 ! Scientific communication 221
4.2.4. The career session
In general, the participants were pleasantly surprised: “More interesting than I thought
it would be” and “I got more than I had expected. I expected it to be a theoretical discussion
but it was very practical”.
It is obvious this session was particularly appreciated because it was very specific and
practical. “All typical pitfalls were indicated, based on personal experience rather than
on theory.” Participants formulated it as follows: “Offers practical solutions”, “The exercises
were based on real situations”, “Useful tips for every-day practice”, “Practical
tips” and “Useful steppingstones”.
The typical pitfalls and problems women can encounter were drawn from “recognizable
situations and experiences”, and “the typical obstacles for women are indicated
and were very recognizable”. The session was considered gender-specific enough,
because “as there were only women, things were already gender-specific”. The topic
was in fact not really meant to be gender-specific, but “this was not necessary” because
“in fact it is not about differences between men and women, it is useful for both sexes”.
The “pitfalls women are more susceptible to” were taken into consideration, “the
examples were gender-specific” and “more is not necessary”.
The career topic went down very well with the participants. It was considered very
important and the participants would have liked to spend more time on this topic.
There was suggested to introduce an additional session, which would allow for exercises
about futuring, time management, role-plays, etc. Therefore, the second training
series spent two days on the topic of career and communication.
This session was very interactive and contained many exercises, especially on the second
day. There was “a good mix of input from the participants and the coach”. “The
participants could learn a lot from each other.” One participant admitted she had learned
many new things “which have opened my eyes”. Another participant mentions, “it
was useful to reflect on it”.
One of the participants suggested “using/resolving some case studies”. Another participant
would have loved “to have more room for discussion/interaction”. Finally, a quote
of one of the participants: “I think that you have succeeded in opening the eyes of a
number of younger participants. Let us hope it will lead to some action (and promotion)”.
4.2.5. The presentation session
“I have learned an awful lot and I got many useful tips from the coach and the other
people in the training course. The interaction was particularly enriching.” This quote
characterized the feedback of all participants. Another participant formulated it as follows:
“It was rather confronting to see myself on the screen, but it is instructive. Very
good teacher as a matter of fact”.