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Three faculties of VSB-TUO are headed by women

Three faculties of VSB-TUO are headed by women
Since February, the Faculty of Mining and Geology, the Faculty of Materials Science and Technology, and the Faculty of Civil Engineering have been headed by women.

Prof. Ing. Hana Staňková, Ph.D. has become the Dean of one of the founding faculties of VSB-TUO, the Faculty of Mining and Geology (FMG), Prof. Ing. Kamila Janovská, Ph.D. is the highest representative of the other founding faculty, the Faculty of Materials Science and Technology (FMST), and the Faculty of Civil Engineering (FCE), which celebrated 25 years since its foundation this year, has been headed by Prof. Ing. Martina Peřinková, Ph.D. How do they feel in their role, and what do they consider crucial for developing their faculties? Barbora Urbanovská, the editor-in-chief of Akademik, has conducted the interviews.

The academic senates of your faculties, i.e. FMG, FMST, and FCE, elected you to their leadership. How do you feel as a woman elected to such a high managerial position? 

Hana Staňková (H. S.): As a woman.

Kamila Janovská (K. J.): Current modern trends dictate that we evaluate people based on the results of their work, not on their gender. I will, therefore, answer as an elected candidate for the position of Dean since I approach my work with the same responsibility as my colleagues of the opposite sex. In addition, I am entering a position that a woman held before my election, so I assume that this will not be a culture shock to the academic community in this regard either. I see my election as an expression of confidence and appreciation of my work for two terms as Vice-Dean for Study. In this respect, I am delighted with my election, but I am also aware that it is a huge commitment for the future. In general, our society is in a rather problematic situation regarding the consequences of the pandemic, the rising prices of energy and the subsequent production cycles, the debt of society, the level of inflation and other accompanying negative phenomena. All this will be reflected in the life of our Faculty, at least in the first half of the term. However, I want to see these things more as a challenge and an opportunity for new solutions, valuable innovations, meaningful projects, and modernisation of degree programmes.

Martina Peřinková (M. P.): I feel very comfortable in this position as a woman. I am, of course, lightening this question a bit. I am very glad that I have achieved this position democratically and that the elections were held by secret ballot. I appreciate this honour immensely, and I will do my best to live up to the expectations of my colleagues and students. It has been almost eight years since I have been the head of the Department of Architecture, and it is not an easy job either. So I am already a bit used to the intense pressures of colleagues and superiors. However, I believe that my interests and those of my colleagues are pure and honest. Therefore, I find the strength to continue working to the best of my knowledge and belief for this society.

What do you see as the most considerable advantage/added value of being a woman in leadership?

H. S.: I am the first Dean of the Faculty of Mining and Geology in its history, but I consider the fact that I am a woman to be completely irrelevant. The role of Dean or Deaness is to lead the Faculty to be successful and stable and thus to be a quality part of the University in every way. It is important that we work as one team to achieve my vision.”

 “It is important that we work as one team to achieve my vision.”

K. J.: I see a detailed knowledge of the environment, people and processes at the Faculty as my main advantage. I know our main strengths, and based on this, I have identified the priorities I want to focus on in the coming period as part of my election programme. Given that I was elected relatively unanimously, I assume that these are the priorities of other members of the academic community as well and that the support they gave me was primarily guided by these facts rather than by the fact that I am a woman.

M. P.: Our society is made up of women and men. We are made up of young and old. In my experience, collectives work best when they are balanced in all these aspects. The thinking and work of women and men are sometimes a little different. For better or worse. And it is the combination of pluses and minuses that, in sum, leads to optimal results. Therefore, we should work together to develop all sectors. It logically follows that it is not possible for us women not to be in leadership positions. However, it is a free decision for each of us to decide whether we want to enter the challenging world of senior positions. On the other hand, we have the great advantage that no one expects us to do anything of the sort, so we can live nicely without making a career. Unfortunately, men are under pressure to pursue positions, even when they are not cut out for it and do not want it. We often see that men are then unhappy and, therefore, unsuccessful in their work. Perhaps it is the liberalisation of society that will bring much joy to many easy-going and brilliant men. Whether my Faculty leadership as a woman will add value remains to be seen. I trust that I will be sufficiently correct to handle my position without losing judgment or being blinded by power. I wish that above all for my own sake.

 

What issue do you want to focus on first as soon as you take office?

H. S.: It is impossible to say what I will do first. The Faculty has to be evaluated in relation to students, human resources, research and development activities, industry, and the public. I want to devote myself entirely to all these areas and look for their strengths and weaknesses. One of the priority areas is the relationship between the Faculty and the public, where there is a need to promote more Faculty achievements and present the accomplishments of the Faculty's prominent personalities. We should pride ourselves on successes, not hide them.

K. J.: As I have already stated in my previous answers, we are facing a difficult period generating a whole set of fundamental changes that we need to make for the successful development of the Faculty. It is difficult to describe which area will come first or second; there will be many innovations. Above all, we need to react quickly to achieve effective Faculty development.

M. P.: I want to do my job as the Dean as part of a team. I very much appreciate that my colleagues that I call the smartest of the smart have accepted the offer to work with me. With a team of Vice-Deans and heads of departments, we want to lead the Faculty to increase quality in study and science. I wish that the Faculty of Civil Engineering will also become the centre of civil engineering in the region! I also hope that as we are small, we can be better! That is the advantage of departments with fewer students. However, it is then more challenging to breakthrough in the field of research and development. We have to follow the path of cooperation within the Czech Republic and abroad. We will work hard on this.

“I want to do my job as the Dean as part of a team.”

What is crucial for you in the development of the Faculty? What would you definitely like to change or, on the contrary, maintain during your term of office?

H. S.: Students, activities in research and development, and cooperation with industry are crucial for the Faculty. In the field of education, I will strive to involve excellent students in the Faculty’s research activities, promote mobility, and systematically prepare our Faculty graduates for their transition to practice. In terms of research and development activities, I plan to ensure that the research carried out at our Faculty is based on high-quality technical equipment. It is necessary to set priority directions in which our Faculty is exceptional and seek new industrial partnerships in the sense of the Faculty’s exclusivity in the Czech Republic and within Europe. The staff are also essential for the Faculty, and I am aware that the image of the Faculty is a successful academic staff member.

K. J.: People must always come first for the Faculty because education, research and project activities are activities directly dependent on the quality of people, so I want to create such conditions for the Faculty staff members so that they can engage in all activities without any obstacles, to ensure their qualification growth and a dignified environment for work with adequate financial compensation. I can also talk at length about supporting the improvement of the quality of studies, internationalisation, support for publishing and project activities. Still, all this can only work with a quality team of experts. Therefore, for me, the Faculty = the people who make it up.

“People must always come first for the Faculty.”

M. P.: The Faculty of Civil Engineering is an excellent department with quality teachers and wonderful students. We need to build on this trend and build on the work of all previous Deans. There is no point in making radical, non-conceptual changes that will crash the whole system and bring the Faculty into chaos. It is also worth mentioning that I have been the guarantor of one of the two degree programmes taught at the Faculty of Civil Engineering for almost ten years now. For many years, I have also been the head of the Department of Architecture, so I am actively involved in the development of the Faculty and can intervene in it. Therefore, I am in line with the current development and intend to further it with my colleagues. We know where we have to go. The question will be which way. We will continue to look for suitable ways, in cooperation with other universities in the Czech Republic and abroad.

What do you think are the strengths of your Faculty, and what would you like to work on in your position?

H. S.: In my opinion, the strengths of the Faculty of Mining and Geology, based on the exclusivity of the field of study, include the high employability of our graduates, good interconnection of academic activities with practice, which is facilitated by a strong project background and special-purpose workplaces of our Faculty, which are the Ostrava Planetarium and the Geological Pavilion of Prof. Pošepný. In my term of office, I want to develop the strengths of the Faculty and work to eliminate weaknesses, turn opportunities into strengths that we will develop together, eliminate threats and not let them become weaknesses of the Faculty.

K. J.: I do not want to give an incomplete answer. I have presented my idea of the Faculty development in detail in my election programme, which I do not want to recite here. Therefore, I will be very brief and would only like to say that I want to build on all the positives in the development of the Faculty of Materials Science and Technology so far (and there are many of them, as the readers of Akademik know from many articles presenting our achievements). At the same time, I want to create conditions for all academic community members so that all of us together can maintain the important position of our Faculty as a modern educational institution within VSB-TUO and among other faculties in the Czech Republic and abroad.

M. P.: Architecture and engineering are unique fields. Building houses and putting them in a suitable environment is a dream come true. I know several of my former classmates who have gone to other fields. They all remember building structures and being able to see the work they had accomplished. They are still moved when they drive past the buildings they had created. And these are the strengths of our Faculty. That is, study that opens the door to beautiful, meaningful, and fulfilling work. It is just a question of finding your own level! It is also remarkable how diverse our field is. How many specialisations do we need to build something! That is why our professional public is so rich and the work so energising. People with such different dispositions working together in a common interest create friendships and life bonds. Pure joy! And that is what we need to offer and clarify to young people, bringing them to the path of knowledge.

Created: 8. 3. 2022
Category:  News
Department: 9920 - Public Relations
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