In 2021, the Government of the Republic of Serbia proclaimed 11 June as the National Day of Gender Equality, and this year (2022) was the first time such a significant day was celebrated in the national calendar.
To mark this occasion, the Preschool Teacher Training College in Novi Sad and Serbian Association for Women in Science “DOE” organised a symposium dedicated to promoting professions without gender stereotypes, in other words, to open up professions which are still considered professions for just one of the sexes.
The plenary speakers were experts from different professions who opened up on their own views of specific and expert knowledge free from gender issues.
Some of the speakers were very much immersed in the topic of gender stereotypes and made some impressive speeches. These speakers were:
- Mr. Vladimir Popović from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Belgrade (Dean);
- Mrs. Dragoslava Stojiljković from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Belgrade (Professor);
- Mr. Nenad Ivanišević from the Provincial Secretariat for Economy and Tourism (Head);
- Mr. Ivan Sakan from the Maštolend Novi Sad Preschool Institution (preschool teacher);
- Mr. Bojan Milošević from the Preschool Teacher Training College in Novi Sad (Principal) and
- Mrs. Sanja Podunavac Kuzmanović, Faculty of Technology at the University in Novi Sad (Professor), CEO and co-founder of the Serbian Association for Women in Science “DOE”.
The speakers explained how the profession and exceptional knowledge are the one and only relevant topic. Gender is a sociological and psychological category relevant for life, but has no place in employment and professional success. For this article, two of the most interesting segments have been chosen as examples. Other speakers also gave impressive speeches, however, the examples have been limited to two for the sake of brevity.
- Ivan Sakan told the audience that he loved to play as a child, and that he continues to do so. He doesn’t see any difference between a good male and female preschool teacher. A mother of a child in Ivan’s group in kindergarten said that he knows how to nurture and comfort the children, maybe even better than some of the other preschool teachers, as children from other groups often come to him for comfort.
- Dragoslava Stojiljković emphasized that in her professional development she did everything just the same as her male colleagues, making special reference to climbing the tower on oil refineries equipped with all the necessary instruments.
Students from the University of Novi Sad and secondary schools students (high schools) from Vojvodina and Serbia who came with some of their teachers or on their own made up most of the audience. It was very important for them to see and understand the richness of differences, absence of gender issues and presence of gender equality in all professions.
One part of the tribune was dedicated to Living Democracy web materials. Svetlana Lazić, moderator of the tribune and a member of the EDISON team from Serbia, introduced the attendees to the whole range of materials, especially those covering gender equality topics, controversial issues and implicitly to the quality of communication.
This was an opportunity for students to improve their knowledge, not only of the topics mentioned above, but also becoming familiar with wellbeing and quality parenthood, understanding a child’s rights and improving their implementation in educational process and institutions, nurturing competences for a democratic culture.
