TLS Program Drives Students Toward STEMinism
LAU STEM students Rawan Hijazi, Ragheda Al Hamedi, Karim Kaouk, Hussein Faour, Hassan Jaber, and Najwa Missilmani chose to apply a gender lens to the many aspects of their field of study. In Fall 2020 they joined Tomorrow’s Leaders Gender Studies Program (TLS) and had the chance to get acquainted with a systematic analysis of the meaning of sex and gender in past and present societies, and produces notions, methodologies, and theories with which to grasp how gender categories are entangled in other categories and practices.
Upon completion of the Fall semester, they teamed up and agreed to work on a research paper under the theme of “Ownership in Sense of Patriarchy”. The paper unraveled how women’s ownership is heavily constrained by patriarchy and shed light on different aspects of this topic with regards to divorce, civil marriage, custody, and inheritance.
To ensure the credibility and transparency of the study, the team synthesized information from a multitude of scholarly resources. They also made use of knowledge acquired from class readings and webinars attended throughout the semester paired with a survey they conducted in Hamra Street whereby multiple nationalities were asked questions about custody and their stance on civil marriage.
STEM TLS students are presenting the highlights of what has been unconsciously impacting them and their field of study. In class discussions, as well as in their group project activity they shed light on the effect of patriarchy and masculinity that extends beyond daily interactions, to enter their classrooms and their future potential career. In their project, they unraveled the intended and unintended impact of a sense of entitlement and how a world defined by men while excluding women has had many negative consequences. Rawan, Ragheda, Karim, Hussein, Hassan, and Najwa will continue their hard work and will make the best of the spring course, the workshops, and webinars in promoting equality.