차세대융합기술연구원

Abstract

The enactment of the law on “Fostering and Supporting Women in Science and Technology” in December, 2002 marked an important turning point in the history of Korea. Women scientists and engineers today are recognized as an important asset for boosting the national competitiveness through the advancement of science. The ten year effort of the WISE program was able to significantly increase the average female/male student ratio in science related departments. In Busan, for example, the ratio of female/male has exceeded 50% recently. Yet in the workforce women scientists and engineers still remain underrepresented. The national institute for supporting women in science and technology (NIS-WIST) was established in 2005 followed by four regional institutes in the Gwangju/Jeonnam (GJISWIST), Busan/Ulsan/Gyeongnam (BIS-WIST), Daejeon/Chungnam (DCIS-WIST) and Daegu/Gyeongbuk (DGIS-WIST) area. Over the past six years, WIST centers have provided women scientists with education and training programs as well as career services, professional development programs, networking opportunities and research for policy making. The establishment of these centers also provided opportunities for women from various fields to form networks which could open up new doors for possible research collaboration. In January 2011, NIS-WIST was integrated with other related centers, establishing the KAIWISET (Korea Advanced Institute of Women in Science, Engineering and Technology) which is expected to further strengthen the national support system for Korean women scientists. In this talk, the history, the current status as well as challenges of women scientists and engineers in Korea will be presented with emphasis on Convergence Science Researchers.

Keywords: Women scientist and engineers, WISE, WIST, WISET, Convergence Science

Biography

Jung Sun Kim received her BS and MS at the College of Pharmacy at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea and her Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry at Rutgers-the State University of New Jersey, USA. She is currently Chair of the Division of Health Sciences at Dongseo University in Busan, Korea.

As a scientist, her current research interest is in developing bioactive quorum sensing inhibitors.

Recently, she has been involved in activities and projects aimed for promoting the increased representation of women in science, engineering and technology (SET) in Korea. She has served as Director of the Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongnam Institute for Supporting Women in Science and Technology (BIS-WIST) from January 2009 to December 2011. She has given presentations on gender issues for women in SET and has presented papers at the International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists (ICWES). In July 2011, she was elected as member of the board of directors of INWES (International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists, www.inwes.org). She also serves as member of the Women Policy Committee of the Busan Metropolitan City Government.

초청자 : 나노융합학과 Prof. Jan Lagerwall (연락처 : 031-888-9165, janlagerwall@snu.ac.kr)