Prof. Deborah Best Discusses Gender Issues in Poland

16 March 2011

Prof. Deborah Best Discusses Gender Issues in Poland

Gender studies expert Professor Deborah L. Best highlighted Women’s History Month in Poland with a visit to Gdansk and Warsaw on March 6-12.

Professor Best, a psychology professor at Wake Forest University, North Carolina, was a keynote speaker at the 6th “Woman in Culture” conference held at the University of Gdańsk.  She also met with women NGO representatives at the American Corner Gdańsk, where she and Professor Marta Fulop of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences discussed issues related to gender stereotypes and rivalry between the sexes.  In Warsaw, Professor Best met with students at Lazarski University and the Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities to speak about her research – conducted in 30 countries worldwide - on the changes in gender stereotypes over the last three decades. She also discussed changing stereotypes and challenges of women in business with women professionals and entrepreneurs who participate in initiatives of the Professional Women Network and the Vital Voices Chapter Poland mentoring program. The meeting was hosted by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC), whose Country Managing Partner, Olga Grygier, is one of the mentors in Vital Voices.

Professor Best conducts research on gender stereotypes and cross-cultural psychology.  She has held several leadership positions, most notably as the first female dean of the undergraduate college at Wake Forest University.