Training Workshops on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment

USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform (PHER)

SCOPE OF WORK

Training Workshops on
Gender Equality and Female Empowerment

I. BACKGROUND

The Partnership for Higher Education Reform (PHER) is an initiative to help strengthen Vietnam's leading public universities. The project activities are funded by USAID to support targeted reforms to improve institutional leadership and administrative capacity, improve teaching practices to enhance student learning outcomes, elevate university research capacity to international standards, network Vietnamese researchers to maximize access to global knowledge, enable university graduates to better engage with the labor market, and help university faculty leverage their research for innovation.

To achieve these objectives, PHER activities focus on the following:           

• Governance: This pillar supports the building and strengthening of institutional performance management systems based on agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) supported by a comprehensive Management Information System (MIS) that provides consistent, reliable data for decision making and for accreditation of institutions and programs. This includes the establishment of a robust internal quality assurance (IQA) system at each of the target universities. Improved governance will help the leadership of public universities in Vietnam make better informed decisions as they exercise greater autonomy and focus on academic quality. 
• Teaching & Learning: This pillar supports the growth of faculty professional development opportunities through the establishment of formalized Centers for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) as well as the work of less formal, more specialized faculty-driven affinity groups through Faculty Academies on Excellence in Teaching (FACET). The goals are to support the expansion of faculty capacity to design state-of-the-art courses, digitize curricula, support the development of priority online courses and programs, improve student learning assessment techniques, and develop graduate students in the teaching profession. This pillar will also support technical assistance to help prepare faculty and administration for international accreditation reviews of academic programs and institutions. The objective is for improved teaching and learning at Vietnam’s public universities to increase learning outcomes, enhance recognition of high-quality academic programs, and improve the employability of graduates.
• Research & Innovation: This pillar supports the enhancement of research capacity so that the scientific outputs of public universities in Vietnam meet international standards, increase knowledge sharing among specialists, grow the number of publications in recognized journals, and align research activities to the social and economic needs of the country.  This will take place through faculty exchanges, visiting scholar programs, research conferences, webinars, workshops, and short course training on research methodologies and academic specialties. The key vehicle for this pillar is the establishment of Vietnam International Academic Networks (VIAN) to help scientists across Vietnam connect more readily with fellow experts from around the world. The objective is for VIAN activity to lead to greater knowledge sharing, a broader promotion of research taking place in Vietnam, and enhanced opportunities for joint research and publications with partners abroad.

The PHER project also seeks deeper exploration of policy areas vital to the improvement of Vietnamese public higher education by supporting analytical work on the areas of technology and digitization, as well as gender equity. These cross-cutting policy areas are essential to success across the four pillars and to supporting the long-term sustainability of higher education reforms in Vietnam.  

PHER focuses on reforms at three major Vietnamese public universities, their member universities, and their respective institutes and academic programs:

• Vietnam National University-Hanoi (VNU),
• Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM), and
• The University of Danang (UD).          

II. OBJECTIVES OF ASSIGNMENTS

PHER seeks one Vietnamese consultant to deliver training workshops to raise awareness among leaders and faculty members of the partner universities on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment. The training workshop, targeting educational leaders and faculty members, provides knowledge about policy and practice relating to gender equality and female empowerment in Vietnam's higher education setting. It inspires education leaders and faculty members to apply the knowledge and skills at the partner universities for advancing gender equality in their daily lives and work.

Two (02) in-person 3-hour training workshops will be organized at the University of Danang (UD) and Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCM) [one (01) at each University]. Content areas to be covered in the workshop include:

• Understanding of gender-related concepts (gender equality, gender bias, and stereotyping)
• Work-life balance and organizational culture (inclusive work-life balance policies practices, inclusive work environment, visibility of women, and valued contribution of women in the organization and externally)
• Gender balance in leadership and decision-making (increased number of women in leadership and decision-making positions, adapted processes for selection and appointments of staff on committees, and insurance of gender balance)
• Gender equality in recruitment and career progression (critical revision of selection procedures and remedying any biases, ensuring equal chances for women and men in career development)
• Integration of gender dimension into teaching content and research (inclusion of sex and gender analysis in the research or educational outputs, consideration of gender dimension in research and teaching, and support for development of methodologies that incorporate sex and gender analysis)
• Good practices in the US and other developed countries in supporting and encouraging women to pursue careers in research and education
• Gender issues in the tertiary education environment, especially in Vietnam and VNUHCM and explore the solutions for those issues
• Measures against gender-based violence, including sexual harassment (consideration of taking steps to ensure universities have clear institutional policies on sexual harassment and other forms of gender based-violence).

The resource materials must be in Vietnamese and the training itself should be conducted in Vietnamese language. The summary report will be in both English and Vietnamese. All activities should ensure equitable treatment irrespective of gender, disability, or ethnic background. 

III. TIME AND LOCATION

The timing is negotiable, but the work is expected to commence in March 2024 and complete by April 2024. 

IV. TASKS, DELIVERABLES, TIMELINE AND LEVEL OF EFFORT

V. BUDGET (working time)

The USAID PHER grant will allocate a budget of 10 days agreed with the expert to support the implementation of the activities and deliverables per the SOW above.

VI. SUPERVISION AND REPORTING

The consultant will work under the direction of the PHER team.

VII. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Expertise and experience in the field of Gender Equality and Female Empowerment in higher education in Vietnam and internationally
• Ability to demonstrate expertise and experiences about Gender Equality and Female Empowerment from policy and practice perspectives and be able to plan and deliver an interactive workshop for educational leaders and faculty members to meet the above objectives
• Ability to demonstrate active listening and effective mentoring skills with people at different levels in the university hierarchy
• Experience in successfully delivering similar workshops on the integration of the gender dimension into teaching and learning

VIII. APPLICATION

The application documents include:

• A letter of motivation
• CV with three references
• A tentative workshop agenda
• A list of materials that can be used as references for the training workshop
• Financial proposal, indicating the expected consultancy fee

Application documents should be sent to [email protected] titled “Consultant for Gender Equality” by March 01, 2024. All applications will be carefully considered, but only short-listed applicants will be contacted.