1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,917 (reflective music) 2 00:00:09,860 --> 00:00:12,560 - Look at this beautiful river. 3 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:17,560 Doesn't it look refreshing, inviting, full of life? 4 00:00:17,730 --> 00:00:20,830 Now, imagine you were swimming in it. 5 00:00:20,830 --> 00:00:22,210 But here's the thing 6 00:00:22,210 --> 00:00:25,230 you don't actually know what's underneath. 7 00:00:25,230 --> 00:00:29,430 That's exactly how female academic leaders feel in Vietnam. 8 00:00:29,430 --> 00:00:31,480 Their life is like a river. 9 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,670 It flows on but no one knows what's below the surface. 10 00:00:35,670 --> 00:00:37,933 It's difficult to see the full picture. 11 00:00:39,110 --> 00:00:42,400 My study explores the under-representation of female 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:44,670 academic leaders in Vietnam. 13 00:00:44,670 --> 00:00:49,670 There are 171 universities but only 13 female presidents. 14 00:00:50,230 --> 00:00:53,280 That's the tiny 7.6%. 15 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:55,670 The number can tell us what's happening, 16 00:00:55,670 --> 00:00:58,410 but they can't tell us why. 17 00:00:58,410 --> 00:00:59,610 In the west, 18 00:00:59,610 --> 00:01:01,430 a number of metaphor have been used 19 00:01:01,430 --> 00:01:03,970 to describe female leaders' barriers. 20 00:01:03,970 --> 00:01:06,010 You will be familiar with many of them, 21 00:01:06,010 --> 00:01:08,870 like there's the glass ceiling, sticky floor, 22 00:01:08,870 --> 00:01:10,600 or the labyrinth. 23 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,760 However, they make little sense for an academic leader, 24 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:15,033 like myself. 25 00:01:16,310 --> 00:01:19,170 To understand the challenge that female academic leaders 26 00:01:19,170 --> 00:01:22,730 have in Vietnam requires qualitative study. 27 00:01:22,730 --> 00:01:26,380 I use a method called photo elicitation, 28 00:01:26,380 --> 00:01:30,070 which involved asking participants to bring in photos 29 00:01:30,070 --> 00:01:34,210 that reflected their lived experiences as female leaders. 30 00:01:34,210 --> 00:01:35,740 In doing so, 31 00:01:35,740 --> 00:01:38,800 I learned about their wishes, design, 32 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:43,590 feelings, motivations, belief systems. 33 00:01:43,590 --> 00:01:46,740 I found that my participants conceptualise their career 34 00:01:46,740 --> 00:01:48,090 as a journey, 35 00:01:48,090 --> 00:01:50,380 but that journey is not on land. 36 00:01:50,380 --> 00:01:53,143 It's in the water, in the river. 37 00:01:54,430 --> 00:01:57,090 One dean told me that she found herself swimming 38 00:01:57,090 --> 00:02:00,960 in the river on her own without any life raft. 39 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,810 The other found herself stuck in water wheel 40 00:02:04,810 --> 00:02:07,883 trying to balance between work and family care. 41 00:02:08,820 --> 00:02:11,430 All of my participants saw the uncertainty 42 00:02:11,430 --> 00:02:14,970 of the river's flows, which could lift them up, 43 00:02:14,970 --> 00:02:17,543 drag them down or wash them ashore. 44 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:20,170 For me, 45 00:02:20,170 --> 00:02:23,580 the adverse environment that female academic leaders face 46 00:02:23,580 --> 00:02:26,460 is better understood by researching the language 47 00:02:26,460 --> 00:02:28,220 that they used. 48 00:02:28,220 --> 00:02:32,140 The river metaphor will provide a clearer understanding 49 00:02:32,140 --> 00:02:35,050 of the lived experiences of female leaders 50 00:02:35,050 --> 00:02:37,090 and shed light on the challenges 51 00:02:37,090 --> 00:02:40,653 that they have to navigate in academia in Vietnam. 52 00:02:42,220 --> 00:02:44,880 Vietnamese women are like rain drops. 53 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:49,430 We were born from the water and we die to the water. 54 00:02:49,430 --> 00:02:50,870 Where our life turn out, 55 00:02:50,870 --> 00:02:53,640 depends on where the rain drop fall. 56 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:57,720 And my research is finally telling their story. 57 00:02:57,720 --> 00:02:58,553 Thank you. 58 00:02:59,598 --> 00:03:02,515 (reflective music)