MSU and University of Hull Implement Joint Project on Women's Leadership

International partnership offers the Mariupol State University (MSU) community opportunities for meaningful and transformative changes. One of such initiatives was the joint project between MSU and the University of Hull (United Kingdom), entitled "Advancing Women’s Leadership in Ukrainian Higher Education: An Intersectional and Culturally Responsive Perspective."

The initiative was developed for a year through the collaboration of Associate Professor of Romance and Germanic Philology Nataliia Marakhovska and Senior Lecturer at the School of Politics and International Studies Stella Gonzalez-Arnal.

The key event marking the project conclusion was the international workshop "Women’s Leadership for Resilience and Transformation: A Global Dialogue." The event was held in a hybrid format to engage a wider audience in discussions on pressing issues.

The in-person venue for live communication was the University of Hull, providing the invincible university’s community with an excellent opportunity not only to participate in an international event but also to reconnect with their British colleagues. A delegation traveled to Kingston upon Hull on a partnership mission, including Irina Sikorska, Director of the Center for International Education; Nataliia Pyrlik, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages; and project author Nataliia Marakhovska.

The workshop served as a platform for exploring issues of women’s leadership and gender equality. It combined academic discourse with the practical experiences of non-governmental organizations and enabled the identification of necessary steps for building inclusive environments both in academic settings and in society at large.

Presentations by MSU associate professors sparked great interest among participants. As Chair of the Board of the Ukrainian Association of Teachers and Researchers of European Integration, Irina Sikorska highlighted the importance of cooperation between educational-scientific institutions and civil society organizations, using Ukraine as a case study. Nataliia Pyrlik addressed the topic of women in power. Her speech prompted an active discussion about the role of women in decision-making and their influence on shaping national policy.

For her part, Nataliia Marakhovska shared the results of the professional development course "Inclusive Leadership through Cultural Immersion," which she developed and conducted within the framework of the project. Forty representatives from domestic and foreign educational institutions completed the training at the MSU Human Potential Development Center. The knowledge they gained was successfully applied to revise the content of academic disciplines and educational programs, embedding principles of inclusivity and cultural diversity.