IRRI empowers women to be bold and positive agents of change

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines—No society, let alone an organization, has successfully overcome challenges and thrive without the contribution of women. For this reason, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) embraced the theme of this year's International Women's Day (IWD),  be bold for change, during the IRRI’s annual IWD celebration on 8 March.

“IWD is a celebration of economic, political, and social achievements of women,” said Dr. Ranjitha Puskur (photo, right),  lead of the Gender Research Program at IRRI. “We work in an organization that works not just towards a prosperous world but towards a just and equal world."

“Gender equality is in the interest of economies, societies, organizations,  men, women and,  children,” she added. “We cannot fully empower women unless we engage men and boys.”

Recent estimates by The World Economic Forum say that it will take another 170 years to achieve gender parity in the workplace, according to Puskur. However, we can catalyse and accelerate change in our own spheres of control and influence and not have to wait 170 years. And we can do that irrespective of whether we are men or women, young or old."

The issues are complex. Family responsibilities are not the only factors that complicate things. For instance, women have a tendency to systematically underestimate their own abilities.

"Men attribute their success to themselves and women attribute it to other external factors,” explained Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook in a  recorded video message (TED Talk) shared during the IWD celebration. “If you asked men why they did a good job, they'll say, ‘I'm awesome, obviously, why are you even asking?’ If you ask women why they did a good job, they'll say, ‘someone helped them, they got lucky, or they worked really hard.”

She also cited the numbers: out of 190 heads of state, only 9 are women; of all the people in parliament around the world, 13% are women; in the corporate sector, women at the top reaches only 15-16%.  “Even in the nonprofit sector—a world many people like to think of as being led by more women—women at the top are only 20%,” Sandberg pointed out.

What does it truly mean to achieve a gender-equal workplace and how do we close the gender gap?

“My grandmother used to say that privilege is invisible to those who have it,” said Dr. George Kotch (photo, left), head of IRRI Plant Breeding.  “The other thing she told me is that God doesn't help those who don't help themselves. I think there's a call for empowerment because what we have within institutions, in a general comment, is that those who are privileged really do not know that they are privileged. What we have to do is create a brand that can break through that.”

“The IRRI brand, for example, is not only leadership but also in the way we work,” he said. “That's one of the things that IRRI will work to strive for, from a personal perspective, people need to be bold and rise and make noise. From an IRRI perspective, we have to make an example to everybody within the global rice community that the way we work here is different. There is a lot of responsibility not only in the science, but on the leadership on how things get better.”

“In the end, a gender-friendly, gender-balanced IRRI is the face we want to show to the world,” said Christine Croombes (photo, right), director of human resources services at IRRI. “Let us be the shining mirror in which our work can be reflected. We must look to the future and take positive steps to encourage equality for both genders and provide support for each other as and when we need it. In the spirit of IWD, we have to find it within ourselves to be bold for change.”

Photos

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IRRI appoints new head of plant breeding

After an extensive global search, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is pleased to announce the appointment of George Kotch as IRRI’s head of plant breeding. Dr. Kotch will assume this role on 19 October 2015.

George brings to the Institute more than 25 years of formidable experience in research and industry. His career has been driven by a combination of excellent leadership, team building, and communication skills. He had led the global R&D agendas of Seminis, Syngenta, and HM.Clause. More recently, he established his own biotechnology consulting company, George Kotch & Associates, based in California.

As regional vice-president of R&D at HM.Clause, he had established the One Company Strategy in the Americas, which revitalized the company’s regional R&D productivity and innovation. While serving as the Head of Global Vegetable Seed R&Dat Syngenta, he improved processes in order to prioritize crop investments and maximize market opportunities.

Dr. Matthew Morell, IRRI Deputy Director General for Research commented that “George will bring to the Institute his demonstrated capacity to provide global leadership in plant breeding as well as his experience in public-private partnerships toward a more demand-driven, efficient, and cost-effective breeding pipeline. We certainly look forward to welcoming George to IRRI next month.”

George Kotch received his PhD in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MSc in Genetics from Pennsylvania State University, and BSc in Biology from the University of Scranton.

Dr. Morell recently announced that the Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology Division (PBGB) will be reorganized from October this year, generating two new divisions, Plant Breeding (to be led by Kotch) and Genetics and Biotechnology. Dr. Hei Leung will serve as interim head of the Genetics and Biotechnology Division. In a recent meeting with IRRI scientists, Morell explained that the evolved organizational structure will enable focused disciplinary leadership at the research division level.

Dr. Eero Nissilä has led PBGB since August 2011 and has been instrumental in restructuring IRRI's breeding pipeline and for many progressive operational changes to improve target setting, efficiency, and use of modern breeding methods. An example of these initiatives is the Transforming Rice Breeding Project, which has set the direction toward a more demand-driven and cost-effective breeding pipeline, and is now used as a model in several public sector breeding programs.

“IRRI is deeply grateful to Eero for his many contributions to IRRI's efforts to deliver on its vision of ‘rice science for a better world’, and we wish him further success in his new endeavors,” says Morell.