As part of ongoing efforts to broaden the dissemination of the WE4LEAD (Women’s Empowerment for LEADership and Equity in Higher Education Institutions) project, an international webinar of substantial scope was held on January 14, 2026. The event brought together three distinguished experts who explored the challenges related to gender equality and the promotion of women’s leadership within professional environments.

Moderated by Ms. Nathalie Rouphaël, Coordinator of the French Department at the Language Center of Antonine University (UA), the session underscored the importance of embedding these themes at the core of academic and institutional dialogue, framing them as essential drivers of more equitable and inclusive university governance.

In her presentation entitled “Recruitment Without Stereotypes and Current Challenges in Professional Equality,” Ms. Isabelle Regner, Vice President for Gender Equality at Aix-Marseille University and Coordinator of the WE4LEAD project, drew attention to the persistent influence of gender stereotypes in recruitment processes and proposed concrete strategies to identify and dismantle these biases. She also stressed the structural role of initiatives such as WE4LEAD in promoting stereotype-free recruitment practices.

Ms. Roula Douglas, President of the Francophone Press Union in Lebanon and Coordinator of the National Observatory for Women in Research (CNRS-L), spoke on the theme “From Reductive Images to Solidarity Networks: Better Valuing Women’s Success.” Drawing on an extensive analysis of more than 4,500 articles from the Lebanese press, she shed light on the continued underrepresentation of women in media coverage. She likewise emphasized the pivotal role of women’s networks in enhancing visibility, solidarity, and access to opportunities, as well as the contribution of structural initiatives such as DAWReK’n and WE4LEAD.

Taking as a point of departure the necessity for institutions to move beyond symbolic diversity toward genuinely inclusive recruitment strategies to improve gender parity, Ms. Boutheina Ben Hassine, Head of the Gender Office at the University of Sousse and expert in active recruitment, focused on the value of a proactive approach aimed at integrating women into sectors and positions where they have been historically underrepresented. Her intervention was supported by concrete case studies.

By strengthening trans-Mediterranean cooperation through expertise sharing, UA reaffirms, through initiatives such as this international webinar, its sustained commitment to professional equality, women’s leadership, and the promotion of more inclusive university governance, in alignment with its mission and institutional values.