According to the recent report “Women in the Workplace” by Mckinsey & Company, company profits and share performance can be close to 50 percent higher when women are well represented at the top 5. Beyond that, senior-level women have a vast and meaningful impact on a company’s culture. However, women are leaving the workforce in droves as a result of Covid-19. Accordingly, on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, the ULS Career Center hosted a virtual event on “Lebanese Women in the Workforce: advantages, challenges, and opportunities in a COVID-19 world”.

The webinar took place on March 8, 2021 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. This webinar followed this year’s theme of #ChooseToChallenge and was moderated by Ms. Lara Al Arab the Director of the Career Center and our aspiring leader and Law student Ms. Liliane Abou Chahine.

In this webinar, we heard from women leaders from multidisciplinary backgrounds who have positively impacted our region to help raise your awareness of the challenges they have faced at work. Our speakers the Regional Representative Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Middle East and North Africa Region (OHCHR) Ms. Roueida Adel El Hage, Université La Sagesse President Prof. Lara Karam Boustany, Head of Doctoral Fellowship Program Cnrs-L and National Observatory for Women in Research (DAWReK'n- دوركُنَّ) Dr. Tamara El Zein, Founder of Spica Tech and CEO Wixel Studios Ms. Reine Abbas, and Regional HR Director at Deloitte Middle East Ms. Soughit (Kouly) Abdelnour delved and discussed:

• Advantages of women in the workforce

• Challenges for women in the workforce

• Opportunities for women in the workforce

• Top priority recommendations of change and for the broader enabling environment/ Women Empowerment

During the webinar the attendees had a great opportunity to gain valuable insights into unique ways to support, uplift and amplify the voices of women colleagues, and understand the barriers, trends and actions we can take to continue to foster women’s advancement in higher education, corporate, scientific research, politics, and STEAM sectors aligned with the United Nations Global Compact Sustainable Goals. At the end of the session, all attendees together with the speakers stroke the #ChooseToChallenge pose with their hands high to show their commitment to choose to challenge inequality, call out bias, question stereotypes, and help forge an inclusive world.