The Association of Women Faculty Societies of Korean National Universities (AWFSKNU) gathered for its annual general meeting and a workshop at Kangwon National University, its current chair institution, on January 9th, 2020. Leadership from 15 of its 21 member organizations participated. During the general meeting, outgoing chair Yang-suk Gil reported on the AWFSKNU’s activities in 2019, and the organization’s leadership for the upcoming year was selected. Outgoing vice chair Jeong-hee Park, of Sunchon National University, was chosen as the new chair.

At the workshop following the general meeting, Professor Hee-Sun Chung of Chungnam National University spoke about “Short- and Long-term Plans to Increase the Number of Female Professors in Colleges of Engineering” and analyzed the current status of female faculty and researchers in the natural sciences and engineering. SNU Diversity Council chair Ki-Sun Hong then gave a presentation entitled “Universities’ Vision of a Good Society”, in which she gave a brief overview of the council’s activities and proposed that the council and AWFSKNU work together to change the culture at universities and lead the way in positively influencing society. After the two presentations, there was an hour of free discussion about the common interests of female faculty organizations. The participants talked about a variety of current issues, including the status of each university’s government-mandated Gender Equality Promotion Committee and its relationship with the women faculty society, the necessity of appointing more female faculty to positions in decision-making bodies on campus, and the operational budget and roles of women faculty societies.