Affirmative action: Lahore College set to appoint male professors

VC says women professors are hard to find for some departments.

LAHORE:

The Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) has decided to hire men as permanent faculty members, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Several men have applied for the positions of associate professor and professor at the LCWU, after the university gave an advertisement declaring men to be eligible for the posts.

A meeting called by the vice chancellor on May 21, the minutes of which are available to The Express Tribune, decided that female applicants will be preferred for all seats in grades 1-16.

The LCWU Service Statute No So (UNIV) 13-2/2006, that prescribes the general conduct and lays down service rules for permanent faculty, uses the pronoun ‘she’ to refer to all faculty members.



The posts of professor for management sciences, public administration, economics, education, home economics, international relations, political science, Urdu, English, applied psychology, Pakistan studies, social work, environmental sciences, mass communication, fine arts, interior design, textile design, graphic design, history of arts, visual arts, ceramics, architecture, city and regional planning and pharmacy have been advertised. The last date for the submission of applications was August 16.

“Dozens of men have applied,” an LCWU official told The Express Tribune.

Openings have also been advertised for associate professors in economics, management sciences, public administration, education, home economics, Persian, botany, Urdu, biochemistry, English, Punjabi, political science, TESOL, applied psychology, geography, international relations, Pakistan studies, philosophy, physical education, social work, Islamic studies, zoology, gender and development studies, interior design, textile design, graphic design, history of arts, studio practice, visual arts, ceramics, architecture, city and regional planning and electronics/electrical engineering.

“The administration wants to take on four men currently serving as visiting professors for city and regional planning, architecture, electrical and electronics department on a permanent basis,” a senior teacher said, “That is a decision even the syndicate cannot take ... the vice chancellor is violating the LCWU Act.”

LCWU Vice Chancellor Sabiha Mansoor confirmed that several men had applied for the openings and were being considered. She said the four visiting professors, she had been accused of favouring, had been teaching before she became VC. She said that the decision to allow male faculty had been taken because it was hard to find women professors to teach certain subjects and the university had to meet the Higher Education Commission’s criteria for appointments. “There aren’t many women professors for departments like architecture, electronics and electrical engineering. Many don’t have the requisite qualification, experience or relevant publications,” Dr Mansoor said, “We prefer appointing women ... if they fit the criteria.”

She said several women faculty members would soon have sufficient publications to qualify for appointment as associate professor and head of department, “Till then, we will appoint men to run these departments,” she said.

Asked if the decision violated the LCWU charter, Dr Mansoor said that the men would serve under the relevant deans, who were all women.

A spokesman for the Higher Education Commission told The Express Tribune that vice chancellors of women’s institutions could not hire male professors on their own.

“The purpose of establishing women’s universities is to promote women in the field of education and to strengthen their expertise. If women are not available to teach a certain discipline, the VC is bound to seek special permission from the governor (chancellor) to appoint male professors.”

He said that the university’s administration could not advertise the post or hire male faculty members without permission from the chancellor. “Guidelines for hiring faculty are issued by the HEC. They haven’t changed and remain the same for all institutions,” the spokesperson said.

While the LCWU Service Statute doesn’t categorically state whether a professor could be a man or woman and uses the term ‘person’, the pronoun ‘she’ is used to refer to all permanent faculty members.

When asked to comment on the matter, a senior Higher Education Department official said, “The LCWU is an autonomous institute with its own act and service statute. If a formal complaint is filed with the syndicate, the Higher Education Department might look into it, but it cannot intervene in the university’s matters on its own.”

The HEC spokesperson said that women’s universities were supposed to hire female faculty only.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2013.