OzU Gender Office and AÇEV Collaborate for a Gender Equality Workshop

Özyeğin University, a longstanding advocate for gender equality, has joined forces with the Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV) for yet another meaningful collaboration. As the first step of this initiative, a workshop was held on February 7, 2025, in partnership with Equimundo—an international applied research organization founded in 2011 to engage men in advancing gender equality and preventing violence. AÇEV is one of the advisory members of Equimondo.

Led by the OzU Gender Office and hosted by Özyeğin University, the event welcomed Dr. Gary Barker, the founder and president of Equimundo. The workshop was moderated by Associate Prof. Çimen Günay-Erkol, a faculty member from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Özyeğin University whose research is centered on important topics such as nonviolent masculinities, “incel” culture, and gendered language. During the event, Dr. Barker shared global strategies for increasing male engagement in gender equality efforts. Entitled “Engaging Young Men in the Advocacy for Gender Equality: Drawing a Roadmap,” the workshop brought together academics from 11 different universities, representatives from various high schools, and delegates from international organizations such as UN Women and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as well as multiple units of Özyeğin University that spearhead new gender equality initiatives.