Sabancı University Gender and Women's Studies Forum held a meeting on Thursday, October 15 to announce that the Forum would continue its endeavors as a Center of Excellence. The first event of the Center was a lecture by Professor Yakın Ertürk from the Middle East Technical University Sociology Department and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women on "Fighting Violence against Women in Peace and War."

Sabancı University Gender and Women's Studies Forum will continue its pioneering efforts towards gender equality and awareness as a Center of Excellence. 

The first event of the Sabancı University Gender and Women's Studies Center of Excellence took place at the Cinema Hall on Thursday, October 15.

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Dean Ayşe Kadıoğlu delivered introductory remarks. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences member Ayşe Betül Çelik spoke on the efforts of the Forum to date. Afterwards, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences members Alev Topuzoğlu and Özge Akbulut, Sabancı University Corporate Governance Forum Project Director Sevda Alkan, and School of Management faculty member Nakiye Boyacıgiller provided information about joint efforts with the Gender and Women's Studies Center of Excellence.

The keynote speaker was Professor Yakın Ertürk from the Middle East Technical University Sociology Department and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women on "Fighting Violence against Women in Peace and War."

"I witnessed the conscience of Sabancı University students in the face of the massacre"

Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Dean Ayşe Kadıoğlu began by remembering those who lost their lives in the bombing attacks in Ankara on October 10. 

Ayşe Kadıoğlu then explained the supra-faculty nature of the Gender and Women's Studies Forum and said that the Center of Excellence was prepared to expand the work of the Forum even further.

Saying that male-dominant structure was at the heart of the suffocating environment in Turkey today, Kadıoğlu concluded, "As Sabancı University Gender and Women's Studies Center of Excellence, we will continue to embrace each other and work with other institutions."

"Violence against Women in Peace and War"

Keynote speaker Yakın Ertürk began with saying that violence targeted women in times of peace as well as war. She emphasized that the stance of women changed depending on circumstance.  

Ertürk argued that the concept of gender had deviated considerably from its original meaning, and said that analytical concepts lost their substance as they became popular. She said that people used gender to avoid using the word "woman" and to state that women and men are different. Yakın Ertürk drew attention to the significance of the gender concept with regard to feminism.

Yakın Ertürk also discussed how violence against women was brought to the international platform when it appeared to be an isolated form of abuse. Ertürk argued that explaining violence against women by claiming that the perpetrating men were alcohol abusers or unable to resist violent urges needs to stop, and said that one of the subjects in studies on women's status was violence.

Unraveling of the nation-state and women's rights

Ertürk said that violence against women was fed from the same source as other forms of violence, and that violence began when mechanisms of persuasion collapsed.  Ertürk also commented that the unraveling of nation-states in the aftermath of the Cold War had repercussions that introduced violence. Yakın Ertürk said, “When naming types of violence, ethnic differences, urban violence stemming from shifts in class dynamics, and gang violence are singled out. Patriarchal violence goes unmentioned."

Ertürk noted that globalization brought a change in business conduct while the patriarchal system was also changed due to the demands of the women's movement, which exacerbated patriarchal violence, causing violence to be normalized and widespread.

Ertürk said that the unraveling of nation-states provided people access to universal human rights, arguing that the lack of wider adoption of human rights until the 1990s was the result of nation-state structures. She explained that since the establishment of the United Nations, women have been striving to acquire rights that were denied to them on the national level  by resorting to an international platform.

"Laws are important because they are the basis of women's struggle"

Explaining how laws formed the basis of women's struggle, Yakın Ertürk said that when the CEDAW Convention was being prepared, the article on violence against women was what women had to work most to have included. Ertürk said that the gap was gradually closed in the 90s and a provision on violence against women was included in the 1992 recommendations of the CEDAW Committee.

Yakın Ertürk said that the mechanisms introduced and resolutions adopted in the 1990s brought significant freedom of movement. Ertürk mentioned the Vienna Conference in 1993 when violence against women was incorporated, continuing "In fact, informal courts were established. The issue of 'comfort women' was brought up, for example. A declaration on fighting violence against women was adopted. And a rapporteurship was created to check the implementation of the declaration."

Yakın Ertürk emphasized that women improved their own rights by owning up to the human rights system, and that violence against women becoming an agenda item had transforming power. She said that violence against women opened everyday life and a situation that appeared normal to debate.  She noted that the government's appointment of the man as the "head of the house" was a reflection of the patriarchal system.

Yakın Ertürk reminded listeners that the 90s was very important in terms of human rights as well, and that the strategic use of violence against women in wars in Yugoslavia and Rwanda met with great reaction.  Ertürk said that the Rome Statute was adopted in those days and that the security council of the United Nations adopted resolutions on women, security and defense in 2000. Ertürk said this was a turning point, and continued: "It is based on the protection of women against victimization and their empowerment. Turkey has yet to reach that point."

Yakın Ertürk said that until gender analysis was performed, the war on women would continue, and that separating sexual violence from violence against women in war would lead to fragmentation.  As an example she said that Congo was a poverty-stricken country despite all its wealth and that when she was in Congo as a rapporteur, violence against women was turning into sexual violence even though a peace treaty had been signed.

Yakın Ertürk discussed the significance of the 1980s for Turkey. She explained that during the shift to global politics, the women's movement and Kurdish movement began to question the state, and as the foundations of the state hegemony were shaken, this translated to violence.

Ertürk said that human rights were being sacrificed in the name of anti-terrorism and national security, continuing "Reducing violence against women to war and peace is oversimplifying." She said that war was not in men's nature, but was introduced through politics.

The third Akkök Executive Development Program held by Sabancı University Executive Development Unit EDU in association with Akkök Holding conclded with a certificate ceremony held on Friday, September 4, 2015 at the Sabancı University campus in Tuzla.

Attending the ceremony were Akkök Holding Board of Directors Member and CEO Ahmet Dördüncü, Holding HR Director Şerife Füsun Ömür and a number of executive directors.

20 mid- and upper-tier managers from various functions took the training course between March and September 2015. Each month of the Executive Development Program focused on a key aspect of the subject to create a shared culture of leadership, and support the development of Akkök Group of Companies managers through discussion on strategy, leadership and human resources.

The partnership between Akkök Holding and Sabancı University Executive Development Unit EDU extends beyond two years including the design phase of the program. The partnership continues to evolve and improve. Two executive development programs were completed in 2015 under the partnership. 

Melsa Ararat's recommendation submitted to the W20 Summit regarding flexible quotas for women on corporate boards was adopted.

Sabancı University Corporate Governance Forum Director Dr. Melsa Ararat spoke to the representatives of the member states at the W20 Summit on “Women Leadership in Public and Private Sectors." Melsa Ararat's recommendation was adopted in the W20 summit and will be presented to the G20 Summit. The W20 is an engagement group fully committed to achieve a gender inclusive global economic growth in the G20 countries through the economic empowerment of women.

Speech delivered by Dr. Melsa Ararat, Sabancı University, at W20 at Istanbul Session 3: Women Leadership Both in Public and Private Sector.

October 17, 2015

Madam chair and honorable delegates,

Thank you for inviting me to speak at the very first W20 meeting on women leadership. I am a scholar, a feminist and a social activist. My work focuses on corporate governance, and specifically on the role of boards in determining firm performance. I am also a member of the board of governors of the International Corporate Governance Network, which includes the worlds’ largest institutional investors from 45 countries among its members. As a citizen of both Turkey and the UK, and a resident of the Netherlands, I am involved in various research and advocacy initiatives internationally around the topics of gender diversity and governance.

My informed opinion is that there is a consensus among researchers and investors around the world, that gender diversity does improve the boardroom performance, and consequentially the economic, social and eventually the financial performance of companies. There is also a consensus, based on research and the experiences of the past decade, that severe underrepresentation of women on corporate boards has little to do with the supply, but is an indication of entrenched boards and bad governance. In order to address the problem some countries rely on ‘comply or explain’ mechanisms, voluntary targets and enabling initiatives, while European states are moving along the legislative quota line. Unfortunately most strategies other than legally binding quotas have failed to deliver results, or improvements have not been sustainable.

I agree that legislative measures are controversial, however persistent overrepresentation of men in boards is hardly justifiable. The draft W20 communiqué recommends G20 states ‘to set targets or quotas’ to help women break the glass ceiling. Targets work, but rather too slowly unless they are legally endorsed and enforced. We should also be aware of the big differences between countries with respect to the current level of gender diversity in boards of the member states, varying from 3% to 29% - excluding Saudi Arabia where the women representation on boards is zero percent, and to the level of participation of women in the work force. These differences suggest that the nature and the amount of effort required for improving gender diversity in boards is different for each member state. With this understanding, I propose to expand the wording of the draft communiqué as follows:

‘W20 invites G20 member states to set nationally determined gender diversity targets for the board of directors of economically and socially important companies, without prejudice to the legal nature of the means of achieving that target, that is no less than 25% for the underrepresented gender and at least 25% higher than the current level in the country, that is publicly disclosed in a manner that facilitates the understanding of the incentives and enforcement mechanisms as well as the intended legal instruments and work programs to facilitate the process of reaching that target, by 2025 or until parity is reached. W20 also suggests that the member states establish their targets, legal instruments and work programs, and be prepared to share them at W20 2016.’

Thank you for listening.

Draft Communiqué:

Preamble:

‘Lack of women on corporate boards has consequences for societies. Studies show that corporations with more women on their boards behave differently. They are more consumers oriented, more transparent, more environmentally conscious and have better human resources policies for women employees. Women employees are better motivated if there are women on the board. Companies with women directors also tend to have less structural layoffs. Empowering women fuels thriving economies, spurring productivity and growth. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, various commentators and government ministers have suggested that the tragic collapse of some major institutions might have been mitigated had there been more women on the boards to moderate the financial performance focused risk-taking culture. This view backed up by a number of research studies on the effect of gender on risk-taking, which shows that women are more stakeholder oriented and more risk averse than men.
Women quotas in political representation aim to encourage improving women’s condition through laws and policies, they would not be effective unless they are coupled with the quotas for women in corporate boards, which have the power to allocate economic / financial resources, to develop human capital and have the capacity to influence laws and regulations through political lobbying. Largest companies listed on the stock exchanges around the world play a significant role in global business as well as contributing significantly to the national economies within which they operate. The decisions taken by these companies have ramifications not only for their businesses and their employees but also for the whole economy. Additionally, education, mentoring and support in the careers, and improving working conditions of women are important pathways to reach diversity in boardrooms.1’

The W20 proposal:

‘A quota or voluntary targets for women in decision making roles needs to be agreed. The W20 proposal is to have 25% women by 2020 in top management of the corporations in the boards and in the number of CEOs to build on the next steps of gender inclusiveness.’

1 Sabancı University Corporate Governance Forum (2011), Gender Balance and Women Empowerment at Turkey’s Corporate Boards.

With the invaluable support of Akbank Sanat, Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum is preparing to host “The Sky Event”, a series of conferences and art performences bringing together art, science, technology and architecture on October 23-24, 2015, in conjunction with its latest major exhibition titled “ZERO. Countdown to the Future”.

“The Sky Event” was organized parallel to the revolutionary principles of the German art movement ZERO, which combined cutting-edge technology with art, and will bring together notable names of the art world both in Turkey and the world to discuss ZERO in a variety of aspects. “The Sky Event” will also include an unforgettable performance of the late ZERO founder and Director of Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Advanced Visual Studies Otto Piene’s open-air sculptures, “Inflatable Objects”.

On October 23, Friday at 14:00, “The Sky Event” will kick off with a series of conferences on the present and future of the ZERO movement by art critic and curator Beral Madra, MIT faculty, artist and the late wife of ZERO founder Otto Piene, Elizabeth Goldring Piene along with Laura Knott, who has contributed to curatorial studies as part of the MIT Museum, and Mark Wigley, Dean Emeritus of Columbia Graduate School of Architecture and curator of the 2015 Istanbul Design Biennial.

“The Sky Event” will conclude on October 24, 2015 at 14:00 with a performance of Otto Piene’s “Inflatable Objects”, created in line with his “Sky Art” concept conceived in 1969, led by a group of artists and volunteer students. With the open air sculptures released up in the air in Sakıp Sabancı Museum’s terrace in Emirgan, the Bosphorus sky will be transformed into a limitless canvas.

About “Sky Art”

“Sky Art”, which stands as an extension of ZERO founder Otto Piene’s academic work at MIT throughout his career and his art practice combining art, science and technology, constitutes a reinterpretation of the artist’s shattering experiences of World War II. 

With the idea that the sky, which was the backdrop of night raids and bombings during the war, may be transformed  into the biggest canvas imaginable, ripe for new and positive possibilities, Otto Piene conceived the notion of “Sky Art”, saying: “The enjoyment of the sky was replaced with fear during the war. When the war ended, the joy arose, the impulse, to celebrate the sky – and with that, sky art as well.” In this way, “The Sky Event”, which will take place at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum on October 23 – 24, will meet students and art enthusiasts as a celebration of knowledge and hope, as well as constructive, hopeful wishes to the future. 

Event Program

• 23 October, Friday

14:00 – 17:00 Conferences: Beral Madra, Mark Wigley, Elizabeth Piene, Laura Knott

• 24 October, Saturday 14:00 – 18:00  “Inflatable Objects” Performance

The knowledge gained in Sabancı University  Advanced Composite Materials and Polymer Processing-Structural Health Monitoring Laboratory has resulted with the first place in the Technology category of the TÜBİTAK University Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competion. Graduate students of Material Science and Nanoengineering Program; Çağatay Yılmaz, Çağdaş Akalın in the advisory of Assoc. Prof. Mehmet Yıldız won first prize with their project titled "  In-situ structural health monitoring of composite materials with embedded fiber optic sensors ." 

About the project

The structural integrity of composite materials (carbon, kevlar or glass fiber-reinforced polymeric materials) used in aviation, aerospace and defense industries can be monitored on a in-situ basis with embedded optical sensors. This enables continues monitoring of deformation and vibration in composite structures, which in turn provides a window of opportunity to take action before structural failure occurs. For example, embedded optical sensors may be used to monitor the structural health of a composite aircraft wing or other part without requiring periodical maintenance and downtime, which may help to reduce operational costs.

Çağatay Yılmaz and Çağdaş Akalın

Çağatay Yılmaz is a graduate of Yıldız Technical University Physics Department and Çağdaş Akalın is a graduate of Zonguldak Karaelmas University Mechanical Engineering Department.  Both students are pursuing a graduate degree in the Sabancı University Materials Science and Nanoengineering program under advisory of Associate Professor Mehmet Yıldız.

Sabancı University School of Management faculty member Can Akkan won the CEEMAN Teaching Award given to one person every year since 2010 to recognize outstanding individuals. As the first and only Turkish faculty member to win this recognition, Can Akkan received his award at the CEEMAN Conference held in Almaty, Kazakhstan on September 25, 2015.

The award is given to an original innovative teaching process or methodology which has been already used, has yielded special benefits, and has potential transferability to other CEEMAN institutions. The judges consider these methodologies with a special eye for how it is especially relevant to the needs of students and/or executives, and how the achievement contributes to the institution’s overall vision and strategy.  Other factors in the selection are a record of the nominee's recent teaching evaluations and how these compare to the averages in the institution or department, and the assessments of the nominee's dean in the letter of nomination.  Can Akkan was chosen for this award for developing computer-assisted active learning methodologies for the MGMT201 and the following MGMT203 courses, disseminating this methodology among other faculty members in the university, and implementing this methodology in MBA and Executive MBA courses as well as trainings provided by Sabancı University Executive Development Unit EDU.

Speaking on the award, Can Akkan said “CEEMAN is an institution that aims to improve management education in Central and Eastern Europe. The objective of the awards is to increase the prominence of individuals serving this mission and to disseminate innovative education to other schools in the region. Having made significant efforts to implement an active learning approach that is student-centered and ensures more participation and better learning in courses since I started at Sabancı, I am delighted that my work has been recognized outside our university as well."

Sabancı University School of Management Dean Füsun Ülengin said, “The School of Management is composed of extraordinary faculty members who are aware that research and teaching must have equal weights in our quest to become one of the top 40 business schools in the world within the next five years. I congratulate Can Akkan for winning the CEEMAN Teaching Award as a solid sign that we are on the right path, and I am proud of his achievement."

The winners of the Hakan Orbay Research Awards given by the Sabancı University School of Management in honor of faculty member Hakan Orbay who passed away in 2011 were chosen. The award is designed to support young researchers of finance and microeconomics in creating original work.  This year's first prize went to Naveen Jindal School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas faculty Ümit Gürkan Gürün with his paper “Resident Networks and Firm Trade.”

Mehmet İhsan Canayaz from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford came second with “Is the revolving door of Washington a back door to excess corporate returns?” and Koç University faculty Cem Demiroğlu came third with “Indicators of Collateral Misreporting.” 

This year's jury panel consisted of Istanbul Bilgi University Faculty Member Zeki Orbay, Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences members Eren İnci and İzak Atiyas, Sabancı University School of Management faculty member Koray Deniz Şimşek, Aziz Şimşir, Yiğit Atılgan, Melsa Ararat and Nakiye Boyacıgiller.

Winners will receive their prizes at an award ceremony to be held by the faculty in December. 

About Hakan Orbay

Hakan Orbay finished the Ankara High School of Science in 1979 and received a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and Physics from Boğaziçi University between 1979 and 1983.  He completed a master's in Electrical Engineering at the University of Calgary in 1986, after which he returned to Turkey and worked in information technologies in the banking sector from 1988 to 1991. Having never lost his interest in academic studies, Orbay went back to the US in 1991 for a PhD in Economics in the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, which he completed in 1995. Orbay was a member of Koç University faculty from 1996 to 1999, when he joined Sabancı University as one of the founding faculty members.  He continued his endeavors in the School of Management until his passing in 2011.

Times Higher Education (THE) reveals 2015-2016 World University Rankings. 800 universities were evaluated this year, and Sabancı University was within the 351-400 bracket. 

Times Higher Education (THE) revealed the 2015-2016 World University Rankings. 11 Turkish universities entered the rankings this year. The Turkish universities and their respective brackets are: Koç University, 251st – 300th; Sabancı University and Bilkent University, 351st – 400th; Boğaziçi, METU and ITU, 501st – 600th; Ankara, Erciyes, Hacettepe, Istanbul and Yıldız Technical Universities, 601st - 800th.

For this year's THE World University Rankings, 1126 universities from 88 countries were assessed and universities from 70 countries made it in the top 800. 29 new countries joined the Rankings this year. 

THE Rankings Editor Phil Baty said: "Turkey doubled its research budget in the last decade, and is positioned to challenge Asian countries in the rankings provided that investment in universities and research continues. In previous years, some universities in Turkey were achieving higher positions particularly due to their presence in physics experiments. The impact of articles in this field was reduced this year, which led to some Turkish universities losing points."  Another difference compared to previous rankings is the use of the Scopus database, where Turkish universities have limited data and non-English articles are also counted, instead of the Web of Science. 

The expansion of the list means that the dominance of US and UK universities is diluted with new additions from Middle Eastern and Asian countries such as Lebanon, Morocco, Jordan, Qatar, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

The methodology of the rankings is based on the key indicators of research-focused universities around the world. Institutions must have made at least 200 publications per year over the course of 5 years to be included in the list. 

Rankings are based on scores in 13 parameters collected under 5 categories. The THE rankings are the only global university performance tables to judge universities across all five of their core missions.

The five categories assessed by THE are learning, research, citations, industry support and international outlook.  THE officials note that while all criteria need to be balanced, the number of citations and international recognition of the university play a larger part in determining the rank of the university. 

When preparing the 2015-2016 rankings, more than 100,000 pieces of data from 1128 institutions in 88 countries were assessed. The invite-only "Academic Reputation" survey was sent to more than 10,000 senior academics. 

THE rankings collect the said 13 parameters under five categories whose scope and weight are provided below:

• Learning: the learning environment (worth 30%)

• Research: volume, income and reputation (worth 30%)

• Citations: research influence (worth 30%)

• Industry support: innovation (worth 2.5%)

• International outlook: staff, students and research (worth 7.5%)

World Economic Forum reveals Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016. Turkey declines 6 places due to issues with the macroeconomic environment and institutions, becoming 51st among 140 countries.

Key Findings:

1. According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016, countries need to increase efficiencies to combat the decline in growth worldwide and high unemployment.

2. Report findings suggest that the failure to improve competitive strength causes countries to be vulnerable against stagnation and other shocks.

3. Switzerland, Singapore and the United States continued to support innovation, topping all 140 economies studied.

Switzerland-based World Economic Forum revealed the results of the Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016 compiled in association with the TÜSİAD – Sabancı University Competition Forum. 140 countries were assessed in terms of competitiveness this year, and Switzerland took first place once again. Singapore and the United States were second and third, respectively, same as the previous year. The top 10 competitive countries are listed in the table below. 

The largest emerging market economies of the world continue facing challenges in improving competitiveness. Saudi Arabia ranked 25th, Turkey 51st, and Brazil 75th, all having declined since last year. India put an end to 5 years of decline and made a significant leap, ascending by 16 positions to 55th place. 

China remained in 28th place this year, being the highest-positioned of the BRICS countries.

Comments on Turkey:

The comments of the report on Turkey point out that Turkey has a GDP of 806.1 billion US dollars according to 2014 purchasing power parity, a per-capita income of 10,482 US dollars, and that Turkey's GDP accounts for 1.40% of the global total.

According to the Global Competitiveness Index 2015-2016 calculations, Turkey ranks 51st among 140 countries. Turkey was 45th among 144 countries in 2014, and 44th among 148 countries in 2013. As in the previous year, Turkey's best performance among the pillars of the Global Competitiveness Index was in the Market size component with 16th place.  Turkey's largest drop was in the Institutions index where it ranked 75th. According to the report, the volatile political environment (June 2015 elections) and geopolitical strife merged to create an environment of uncertainty, which led to the decline of private investments, particularly international investments, which play a large part in the development of Turkey. Investments slowed down also because of high inflation rates and decreasing effectiveness of and confidence in the local financial sector. Turkey's loss of position was in part due to an adverse macroeconomic environment.

The table below shows Turkey's position in some of the pillars used in the calculation of the Global Competitiveness Index. As seen in the table, there is sharp decline in competitiveness index components, with the only increase being in Labor market efficiency, and the Market size component staying the same.

RePEc (Research Papers in Economics), the leading academic index in economics, included Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Faculty Members Eren İnci, Remzi Kaygusuz and Hakkı Yazıcı in the “Top 40 Economists Under 40” rankings this year. 

Known for world-leading studies on the impact of parking spaces in the economy, Eren İnci focuses on urban landscape, transportation and public economies, and industrial organization.  Remzi Kaygusuz is a leading economist working in macroeconomics, and Hakkı Yazıcı in macroeconomics and public economy. 

About RePEc: 

RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) is a collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in 85 countries to enhance the dissemination of research in Economics and related sciences.   Over 1,750 archives from 84 countries have contributed about 1.7 million research pieces from 2,100 journals and 4,000 working paper series.