In the first part of the paper the authors try to answer what did the concept of meritocracy bring to the system of education and to social mobility, especially for women in the times of socialism and in post-socialist era in Slovenia. In addition, paper reveals weak points and contradictions of meritocratic principle concerning gender equality in the field. In this respect, the authors try to answer the question how gender interferes in the concept of meritocracy and reconsider how and to what degree gender differences can affect the basic definition of excellence. That is why in the second part, they try to demonstrate the main problems and obstacles that women in Slovene academia are facing today. In doing so, we analyse official documents and national strategies concerning the academic field to revel prevailing discourses on the subjects of excellence, meritocracy and gender equity and equality in higher education.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 12129865Liberal feminism has completely overlooked class and other axes of inequality and subjugation, says Metka Mencin Čeplak, as the economically and politically imposed commodification of women comes to the fore, warns Mirjana Ule. What is to be done? In interview, two leading Slovenian feminists consider the options in light of a century of feminist thought.
B.06 Other
COBISS.SI-ID: 35826525In the past decades, it has become impossible to consider educational issues without at least touching upon inclusive education. While equality of participa¬tion and access to curricula, alongside equality of achievements, could without a doubt be a meaningful goal of educational reform, it is less clear how to achieve them. Inclusive education contributes one possible answer to these debates – however, the fact that the notion has been largely appropriated by dominant dis¬courses beyond education has also contributed to confusion about the meaning and content of inclusive education – a confusion, not unfamiliar to those who carry the responsibility for the implementation of inclusion, namely, teachers. In our presentation, we will discuss the attitudes of Slovene teachers towards inclu¬sive education, while also trying to outline some characteristics of their discursive framework by utilizing the notions of the medical and social model of disability. Our findings are based on data gathered within an international research that was carried out between 2011 and 2014 and applied a mixed-methods approach. In the first phase of our research, we collected data using a questionnaire that was sent to teachers from Slovenian primary schools. The final sample is represented by 346 teachers from 30 schools. In the second phase, data were gathered through focus groups and individual interviews in order to improve our understanding of teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education. Results from both phases suggest that while teachers mostly have positive attitudes towards inclusive education, a certain amount of ambivalence towards inclusion among teachers is present. In general, teachers are inclined towards inclusion; however, this inclination does have limits – based for example on the type and/or severity of the child’s special needs, showing the embeddedness of teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion in a medical model of disability. We will conclude our presentation by briefly focusing on some of the limitations of our research and conceptual framework.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 12283977