(토요모임) [23. Sep. 2017] Saturday meeting topic

[Scarlet]

Howdy ! 

It's me Scarlett !   

This week we have 4 selections of topics. Do not be obsessed about all the articles too much. Just pick some articles what you have interests and prepare your opinions related to those articles. :) 

Hope you enjoy the topics. 

◈ Philosophy :  Changing The World Starts With You

-------------------------- How to set goals - 3 Questions to ask yourself 

-------------------------- How To Find And Pursue Your Passion

◈ GENDER AND CORRUPTION :  ARE WOMEN LESS CORRUPT?

-------------------------- Are Women Really Less Corrupt Than Men?

◈ Work & Gender parity :  Women in Male-Dominated Careers

-------------------------- The 10 Worst Countries for Gender Equality, Ranked by Perception

◈ Tech. :  These are the 25 most high-tech cities in the world

With luv 

Scarlett 

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Changing The World Starts With You

by Jay Shetty

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How to set goals - 3 Questions to ask yourself 

by Jay Shetty

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How To Find And Pursue Your Passion 

Think Out Loud With Jay Shetty

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<Questions>

Q1. Do you think what the principal ingredients of success are? 

Q2. What is the 'Growth mindset'? Do you think you have one? 

Q3. What is the 'Grit'? Do you have one? 

Q4. How do you maintain your passionate attitude on your life?

Q5. When you face the hardships in your life, how do you react to it? 

Q6. Please share your experiences when you face the hardships such as human relationships, economic situation or etc. in your life.

Q7. What is your life goal? Where are you heading? Do you have something that makes you advance forward like Will smith who was starring as Todd Black in the movie 'The Pursuit of Happyness'. 

  *** 'The Pursuit of Happyness'.

The Pursuit of Happyness is a 2006 American biographical drama film based on entrepreneur Chris Gardner's nearly one-year struggle being homeless. Directed by Gabriele Muccino, the film features Will Smith as Gardner, a homeless salesman. Smith's son Jaden Smith co-stars, making his film debut as Gardner's son, Christopher Jr.

The screenplay by Steven Conrad is based on the best-selling eponymous memoir written by Gardner with Quincy Troupe. The film was released on December 15, 2006, by Columbia Pictures. For his performance, Smith was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

The unusual spelling of the film's title comes from a mural that Gardner sees on the wall outside the daycare facility his son attends. He complains to the owner of the daycare that "happiness" is incorrectly spelled as "happyness" and needs to be changed.

Q8. Did you watch the movie 'The Pursuit of Happyness'? How do you think of the main character Will Smith in this movie? 

Q9. What is the happiness for you? What makes you happy? 

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GENDER AND CORRUPTION: ARE WOMEN LESS CORRUPT?

Women are less likely to pay bribes but are more disadvantaged in corrupt systems. Corruption has a disproportunately negative effect on women, says Transparency International

Issued by Transparency International Secretariat

7 MARCH 2000

Higher levels of women`s participation in public life are associated with lower levels of corruption.

Corruption is less severe where women comprise a larger share of parliamentary seats, a study by the IRIS Centre, University of Maryland reveals. This statement has also been underlined by a World Bank study on "Corruption and women in government". The study concludes that higher rates of female participation in government are associated with lower levels of corruption. It is suggested that women may have higher standards of ethical behaviour and appear to be more concerned with the common good.

In the light of this, a new all-female squad of uniformed patrols has been set up in Mexico last year in the hope of curbing corruption. In northern Mexico (Cuernavaca), the number of women police officers has been increased in the expectation that they would be more honest.

Women in business seem less likely to pay bribes.

A survey of enterprise owners and managers in the Republic of Georgia indicates that firms owned or managed by women pay bribes on approximately 5 % of occasions when coming into contact with a government agency. The percentage is twice as high for firms with a male owner or manager (11%).

While women are less involved in corruption themselves, they are even more disadvantaged from the consequences of a corrupt system.

Gender-Sensitive Budget Analysis proves that men profit much more from public expenditures than women. In many countries, the allocation for programmes focusing on women is only a fraction of the total national budget. In Argentina and in the Dominican Republic, the grant for women`s programmes budget amounts to 0.0046% and 0.002% of the total national budget, respectively.

Corruption decreases national budget resources. It also reduces, for example, the amount of public spending on health and social security, which affects women disproportionately. If there is a cut in public spending, maternal and child health services are more likely to be the worst-hit victims. One survey carried out by the TI chapter of Bangladesh shows that it is harder for female headed households to get their children into school or to get themselves hospital care.

"A corrupt legal system reinforces existing gender discrimination in many countries. Women`s civil rights are grossly unfair with regard to marriage/divorce, family law, child custody, financial independence and inheritance and property rights. Often they have no ability to make decisions without the consent of a male relative", stresses Roslyn Hees, Senior Advisor with Transparency International. In many countries, those who win cases tend to be involved with corrupt prosecutors and judges. Women simply do not have the means to compete in this way. Corrupt judicial procedures and the preval‎ence of "old boys networks" makes it in many cases impossible for women to win legal battles in a transparent and open way.

For any press enquiries please contact

Jeff Lovitt

Tel. +49-30-3438-200

Fax:+49-30-34703912

E-Mail: press@transparency.org

Article source: https://www.transparency.org/news/pressrelease/gender_and_corruption_are_women_less_corrupt

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Are Women Really Less Corrupt Than Men?

By Joshua Keating /SEPT. 25 2013 6:35 PM

Joshua Keating is a staff writer at Slate focusing on international affairs. 

China's newly-elected Vice Premier Liu Yandong (2nd R) stands with women delegates

during the election of the new vice premiers, foreign and defence ministers of China 

during the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 16, 2013.

Will electing more women to office make governments less corrupt? One new paper suggests in might—but the reason for that is not necessarily encouraging.

Previous research has suggested an association between a politician’s gender and their likelihood to engage in corrupt behavior. A World Bank study from 2001, for instance, found that “one standard deviation increase in [female participation in government] will result in a decline in corruption... of 20 percent of a standard deviation". This perception has been behind some well-publicized campaigns, such as Mexico City’s plan to employ all-female traffic cops in some areas.

But the new study by political scientists Justin Esarey and Gina Chirillo of Rice University argues that this effect is highly dependent on institutional context. In a political culture “where corruption is stigmatized, women will be less tolerant of corruption and less likely to engage in it compared to men,” they write. “But if corrupt behaviors are an ordinary part of governance supported by political institutions, there will be no corruption gender gap.”

That could be because women face a different level of incentive to not be corrupt. Voters, in general, tend to punish female politicians more harshly for corrupt behavior, and their political positions in general are more tenuous. “When voters find out men have ethics and honesty issues, they say, ‘Well, I expected that,’" Celinda Lake, a U.S. Democratic party pollster told the New York Times last year. . “When they find out it’s a woman, they say, ‘I thought she was better than that.’ "

All this is to say, when you take consequences out of the picture, there’s not that much difference in behavior. Esarey and Chirillo describe an experiment conducted “in the United States and Burkina Faso where they found that, compared to men, women are equally likely to accept bribes in the absence of monitoring but are substantially less likely to accept bribes when being monitored.”

To measure how this plays out at a global scale, the authors compared autocratic countries, where corruption is generally more tolerated, to democracies, where it’s more likely to be punished at the ballot box. (It’s not a perfect split, obviously, there are plenty of corrupt democratic governments, but in general the trend holds true.)

They found that “there is little difference in corruption tolerance between men and women for countries that rank lowest on the Polity scale,” a popular measure of the level of democracy, but “in more democratic countries… men are considerably more tolerant of corruption than women.”

They also found that in 157 countries over a nine year time span, “female participation in government [was] unrelated to corruption in autocracies, but negatively related to corruption in democracies.”

So according to this logic, autocracies might actually be slightly more equitable on this score, albeit in a way generally damaging to society: they give women in government the opportunity to be just as corrupt as their male counterparts.  Of course, another interpretation of this is that in autocracies, women feel more pressure to show they’re on the take. 

Article source : http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2013/09/25/gender_and_corruption_a_study_suggests_context_determines_whether_women.html

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<Questions>

Q1. ARE WOMEN LESS CORRUPT? Why? or Why not? 

Q2. Do you think your organization is ethically encourage the anti-corruption culture? 

Q3. How do you think about the implementation of new anti-corruption law in Korea? 

Q4. Have you ever treated or been treated by others with boozy dinner? Why does boozy dinner matter? 

Q5. Have you ever been damaged by unfair opportunity due to the corrupted behavior of competitors in your community?

Q6. Which sector corrupted the most in our society? Political sectors? Business sectors? or Education sectors? or All sectors? Because they are all connected each other? 

Q7. What is the 'Fair Opportunity based Society' or the 'Inclusive growth based society'? Do you think our society is based on this concept? What is the reality? 

Q8. Why do we need this bill in our society? 

Q9. Why do we need a clean society based on anti-corruption? 

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Women in Male-Dominated Careers

MAY 3, 2017 by JANELLE GAINES

There are many areas of opportunity regarding gender fairness that can be crucial in defining a workplace. Some workplaces tend to be male-dominated due to women employees’ awareness, past experiences, and priorities. Male majority organizations give men the most power and influence over decisions, which in turn could affect women dramatically. Although the past discrimination women have faced has been changing, women may still face a variety of challenges in their male-dominated roles today. Those women who jump feet first into roles predominately held by males seek support from their colleagues while facing challenges of feeling incompetent, mistreatment, and lack of a voice in their workplaces. This article intends to explore these challenges and provide some possible solutions in creating an equal workplace for all employees.

Why Women Do Not Participate in Male-Dominated Careers

Awareness & Settings

There are a variety of reasons that disable women from participating in male-dominated careers: lack of awareness, performance settings, backgrounds, and their ultimate priorities in their lives. Throughout history, most notable scientists were always predominately male. These preconceived notions that women receive at a young age may minimize their participation or interest in science and engineering fields and lead them to more female-dominated roles such as teaching. Another reason that women stray away from predominately male-held careers is because women sometimes set very high standards for themselves that hinder their ability to work well in male-dominated environments. Employees are said to perform better in their own gender-dominated society and career field. Women are seen as role models where they can use coaching styles in female-dominated professions; while men may be better managing in strict command styles. The lack of awareness and perfect performance setting for women may be two large factors pushing them away from male majority careers.

Past Experiences

In addition, a person’s career may be determined by his or her experiences and/or his or her biological nature (nature versus nurture). There are cultural implications that enable or disable female participation in male-dominated fields. For instance, parental and mentor support are large factors in sustaining women in male majority fields. Although many women drop out of careers in male-dominated fields due to lack of support, others might show resilience by using their struggle as a motivating factor to keep going. Although there is evidence that women face challenges that make them hesitant to joinle majority careers, there is also evidence that some women are just not interested and deliberately choose a different route due to their own priorities. There are “sex differences in resources, abilities, and choices” that create a low representation of women in certain jobs, especially those related to academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (or STEM).[i] Men and women can vastly differ in the sponsorship, money, and support they receive in the workplace, which can affect their choice in career paths.

Other Priorities

Lastly, some women choose to put their role as a wife and mother ahead of their career decisions. These women often select part-time careers based on their spouses’ jobs to raise their children. For some, childcare costs are more than what a woman would earn in the workplace resulting in many women not being able to afford to work. Furthermore, women may seek out more free time to participate in valuable activities outside of their career and therefore may choose careers with fewer constraints of them to mitigate the balance between being a mother and working. Women ultimately have the choice to put their careers or family first, while some attempt to balance both equally. A woman can have different priorities for how she wants to spend her time, which may contribute to her choosing a family over a career.

Challenges Women Face

Lack of Support

For those women who choose to partake in a male-dominated career, they may face a variety of challenges such as: lack of support, lower income, a perception of incompetence, mistreatment and unfairness in their role, and overall lack of voice. Two key challenges women face in predominately male careers are a lack of support from their colleagues and a lack of equitable income. Attempting to fix the lack of support, women that do decide to try male-dominated careers may be more concerned with the interpersonal relationships they make rather than the work they are doing. The mistreatment and lack of understanding of women in male majority careers can make women eager to find support within their field. They may try to find support and fit in with the male population majority by adapting to male behaviors. Along with these challenges, women receive lower economic gains than males in the same field.[ii] There are efforts to rectify these negative impacts on women but there is still work to be done to create equality, especially when women choose male-dominated careers.

In the same way, the people in the professions, i.e., men may be unaware of the challenges women face with balancing their work and family. Some women believe that their young children put the most stress on their management of work and non-work roles. They may be the person solely in charge of their children on their sick days and need help during those emergency situations. For instance, when a child has a snow day unexpectedly, mothers may have to miss work to take care of the situation. Together, these significant encounters make women hesitant to participate in male majority careers.

Image of Incompetence

In addition, women may have to work harder than men in their science, technology, engineering and math careers (STEM) to be rated as competent compared to their male counterparts. Women sometimes receive less credit than men for doing the same work in the fields. After interviewing four female engineers, it was clear that some women can feel biases in past male dominated professions. These biases in turn can affect men and women differently throughout their careers, but especially in their performance management. One woman in the automotive industry said the men got paid more and were offered the majority of promotional opportunities.[iii] She believed she worked harder than the men in the industry did and was still not taken seriously. Upon receiving performance eval‎uations, her manager could not provide examples to define what she was doing wrong. Treating this employee differently than the rest and not being able to provide proof for her eval‎uation, her manager lacked consistency; he was not making the decision based on informational justice. The negative feelings the woman expressed, showed that she did not feel respected in this career and had no input in the decisions being made. This woman did not feel welcomed and appreciated in her work atmosphere—eliminating her trust in the company, which ultimately forced her to leave. Women may have to work harder to reach for equitable treatment in male-dominated careers and be considered competent among their male counterparts.

Gender Unfairness & Mistreatment

The harsh mistreatment women face in the male-dominated workplace presents a host of challenges. When asked about unfairness in their past male majority careers, the women who were interviewed explained their past mistreatment in a variety of ways. Disparate treatment or sexual harassment may have been occurring if employees are called nicknames or treated inappropriately based upon their gender. Some were called derogatory names like “sweetie” or “honey”, which created tension in their workplaces. Derogatory names ultimately drive a lack of professional conduct, which eliminates the dignity and courtesy in a workplace that all employees deserve. Other women felt they were working harder than some of the males who were getting promoted, claiming they always had to try to impress someone. The women believed they had to set higher standards than necessary just to be recognized. This demonstrates that some male-dominated fields may have lacked distributive justice in their reward systems in the past. These women did not feel they were being given the same treatment and opportunities as other males based upon their contributions.

Lack of Voice

Lastly, some of the women interviewed believed their past careers did not give them proper opportunity to voice concerns. Voice is discretionary communication by an employee of ideas, suggestions, opinions, or concerns intended to help the organization. An employee’s silence can be a result of either the perception that the company will not change from that employee’s voice or that retaliation will occur from their voice. Because the women felt that they were being judged by others, they were discouraged from speaking up, which resulted in decreased engagement and creativity during meeting discussions. The women believed they had higher stress levels and had a lower sense of control regarding their performance and rewards without a voice.

Solutions: Creating Workplace Equality

Although changes are occurring slowly, many companies are working hard to create workplace equality in different ways: networking options, affinity groups, accommodations, better communication practices, work-life balance, and shifting company’s male-centered mindset.

Networking

Many women feed off of others’ support to eliminate the discomfort they face from their male-dominated companies, which makes support and networking very important. When surrounded by valued women, women had higher self-value which suggests that encouragement and support from colleagues impacts women’s way of life in the workplace. Often times, women feel a sense of self-value from the reciprocation they receive from other women. When women or any employee receive little support, but especially in a male-dominated society, they are less motivated and innovative in their work. As a result, women need to network to experience the interpersonal justice they feel they deserve.[iv] Career counselors are available in many workplaces that allow employees to dive deeper into their interests to understand themselves including their decisions with their career, education, and overall life. They provide options and support to those seeking growth or advising. Companies, especially with a male majority focus could ensure their career counselors are emphasizing to their women employees the availability of women’s groups and available networks for women. This can help advise women that they are not alone in the company and there are many role models to learn from on their path to success.

Affinity Groups

In the same way, employees join affinity groups for a host of many positive reasons. Many women engineers spoke highly in support of the Women’s Forum affinity group at FCA US LLC. Affinity groups such as the Women’s Forum have been found to help women with their careers, build a culture of diversity, and ultimately drive community engagement. The Women’s Forum has assisted women in gaining leadership development experiences, participating in lunch and learns, and building mentor circles to drive women engineers’ careers forward. In addition, the affinity group enables women to gain a support system where they can hear one another’s personal struggles which helps shed some light on being a woman in a male-dominated society. Moreover, the FCA US group members believed that this organization helped them to meet new people, volunteer, and learn from one another in a safe environment. After making connections with other co-workers and discussing practical issues together through affinity groups, the women became more visible and valued in the company, and increased their motivation in their work while giving back to the community. Affinity groups like the Women’s Forum have a positive impact on women’s motivation, and ultimately drive a community of support and career development for women in male-dominated careers.

Accommodations

Companies can utilize the power of affinity groups to reduce equality in the workplace and rectify policies of causing mistreatment of all personnel in the workplace. In their own affinity groups, women can feel comfortable communicating their issues. Heads of each affinity group can meet bi-weekly with the managers of the company to discuss those important concerns that women are facing in their workplaces. Managers can improve the workplace by getting involved and showing respect for women employees and by taking care of their concerns. The continuous communication between affinity groups and managers can eliminate stress while creating a more comfortable environment for women. In the same way, some companies are transitioning to policies that show better understanding and comfort to pregnant employees. For example, some companies supply employees a private room and refrigerator to store milk after pregnancy. The meetings between affinity groups and managers can make sure each woman is represented fairly and can bridge the gaps between women employees’ concerns and their managers and company policies.

Better Communication Practices

Companies can change some aspects about their communication and brainstorming tactics to encourage female employees to voice their concerns. Employees can be given surveys to anonymously explain when or why they do not feel they can use their voice in company meetings. Suggestion boxes can also provide a better way for employees to voice their questions and concerns anonymously. Before meetings, the manager can also send out an email with the topic the group will be discussing. From there, those who do not feel they can speak up during the meeting can send emails with their reactions or possible suggestions to the manager beforehand. The manager can announce the employees’ suggestions and it will be the manager’s responsibility to retrieve and speak out for the employees. Another way companies can help add voice is by having conversations circulate through each member of the meeting through a quick “spin”, that way each person’s suggestions are heard. These new ways of communicating are steps in the right direction to changing the overall climate of male-dominated careers for women to be represented fairly and consistently and treated the same.

Work-Life Balance

Managers in male majority careers can try to be more aware of the challenges women face balancing their work and home life by giving employees the option to manage their boundaries in hours, location of work and even vacation time to fit their preferences. Flexible hours can ease women’s stress of travel, work, and being present in their children’s lives. “Companies are seeing that employees need a greater sense of autonomy in their work”.[v] Autonomy in the workplace means employees would receive more ownership of their work tasks and responsibilities and even may control their work schedules. This concept attracts future employees and motivates current employees to work harder for their company. One interviewee also noted she rarely checks her phone or email on weekends and vacations to keep her work and home-life separated.[vi] Organizations should be more aware of the challenges that women face to support them as best as they can with their work-life balance.

Although many companies are taking action to make sure women can balance both work and family life, there are further steps that can be taken to balance work and parenting. Companies can provide childcare in their facilities to enable women easy access to a babysitter. Companies can also schedule “Take Your Child to Work Days” to make it easier for women on their children’s various days off from school. Managers can show support by allowing employees a certain amount of free time in the workplace per week to make appointments and work around their children’s scheduled activities. Companies can also provide employees with lunch once a week to decrease their number of responsibilities. This would allow parents to focus less on preparing meals and more time working or getting a proper night’s rest for work the next day. Companies and managers can create new ideas to provide women a better way of managing their work and home life.

Cultural Mind Shift to Equality

Many women change jobs due to the challenges they face and lack of equality in male-dominated roles. A great example of a supportive company is FCA US which went through a large cultural mind shift from the old boys’ club mentality to now making all female employees visible and sponsored. The women interviewed said they felt their interests were considered and the support they receive is beyond their expectations. They band together in sharing information and expertise to help educate one another and champion mentorship to funnel more female leaders in the organization. Female employees who have moved jobs to new women-sponsored companies feel as if their ideas and opinions are visible and seen as important. These women feel they give their best efforts because the company values them and their contributions. They have a sense of trust and commitment to their careers for the company’s work in providing them fairness especially when seeing more women superiors in the field. Efforts are being made in male-dominated field to eliminate the challenges women face integrating into their role by placing emphasis on training and orientation for all their employees through a cultural mind shift to equality.

Explore Social Implications: Neutral Activities

The majority of women in male-dominated fields seem to have high confidence and self-efficacy which might be due to the fact that women have to be strong, fearless, and dedicated to what they believe in to push through the cultural and psychological barriers. Companies can eliminate the barriers of unfairness to help create a new world of gender equality within an organization. According to interviews, women felt after-work social events were not inclusive to their interests and thus, not as comfortable asking for support in the workplace due to their feelings of exclusion. While managers cannot necessarily stop male groups of employees from retreating, they can schedule additional social events that are gender neutral. The company or manager of the department can host company picnics to create collaboration, community and teamwork among the group of employees. Employees can meet their colleagues’ families and gain a sense of unity outside the workplace. Women will be able to feel more at home with their job seeing that their coworkers are trying to understand their lifestyles while including them in the fun.  While there are many factors that affect the selection of a career, gender differences play an important role. By exploring the social implications that women face in the workplace, one can recognize why women may feel segregated and alone in male-dominated careers.

Conclusion

Women’s choices, resources, and biases against them are affecting their career preferences. Many who do work in male-dominated careers face challenges of lack of support, voice, and acknowledgement of their balance between home life and their careers. The women, in turn, can create connections through affinity groups to gain support and collaboration. There are various actions companies can take to reduce women’s feelings of inequality. One example is to let women manage their own schedules, which can facilitate women’s balancing act between work and home. Companies can be more proactive to properly create a system in which women are comfortable and valued in their male-dominated careers.  By incorporating some of these measures, women will feel more balanced with their male counterparts in the workplace, thus helping them be more productive to the company, creating a more satisfying and successful workplace experience for all employees. ℵ

Janelle Gaines is a student at Cornell University, pursuing an MILR at the School of Industrial & Labor Relations. Upon graduation, she will be working for General Mills as an Associate HR Manager. Janelle is also working as a Research Assistant at the Cornell Center for Advanced Human Resources at the ILR school.

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[i] Ceci, Stephen, and Wendy Williams. “Understanding Current Causes of Women’s Underrepresentation in Science.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108.08 (2010). Print. 23 Nov. 2014.

[ii] Lester, Jaime. “Women in Male-Dominated Career and Technical Education Programs at Community Colleges.” Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering 16.1 (2010): 51-66. ProQuest. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

[iii] Gaines, Janelle, personal communication, November 23, 2014.

[iv] Plas, Jeanne M., and Barbara S. Wallston. “Women Oriented Toward Male Dominated Careers: Is the Reference Group Male Or Female?” Journal of Counseling Psychology 30.1 (1983): 46-54. ProQuest. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

[v] Johnston, Katie. “Unlimited Time Off? No Thanks, Some Workers Say.” The Boston Globe. 21 Aug. 2013. Boston Globe Media Partners. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

[vi] Gaines, Janelle, personal communication, 23 Nov. 2014.

Article source : http://www.cornellhrreview.org/women-in-male-dominated-careers/

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The 10 Worst Countries for Gender Equality, 

Ranked by Perception

Most of these are Muslim-majority nations. 

By Deidre McPhillips | Data Reporter March 10, 2016, at 10:00 a.m.

Closing the gender gap could add $12 trillion to global gross domestic product by 2025, according to a report from the McKinsey Global Institute.

Progress, suggests the global consulting firm’s economic research group, depends on the creation of economic opportunity, effective laws, policies and regulations and not least of all, a shift in the global mindset toward women and equality.

Of the 10 countries perceived to be the worst in terms of gender equality – based on data from the 2016 Best Countries rankings that eval‎‎uated 60 countries – eight are Muslim-majority nations. Islamic Sharia law often plays a large role in the governance of personal matters like marriage, divorce and inheritance among Muslim populations.

Cultural traditions can dictate different interpretations of the code, but common gender-based discrimination includes stipulations that women cannot pass citizenship to their children, spousal rape is not illegal, two women are equal to one man in court and women cannot divorce their husbands.

The Best Countries rankings are a characterization of 60 countries based on a survey of more than 16,000 people from four regions. In the survey, respondents answered how closely they related each of the 60 countries to the term “gender equality.” Respondents were given no further specifications of the term, so interpretation of the phrase “gender equality” was left to survey respondents. Here are the top 10 worst countries for gender equality, ranked by perception.

Article source : http://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2016-03-10/the-10-worst-countries-for-gender-equality-ranked-by-perception

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<Questions> 

Q1. If your daughter work in your workplace instead of you, do you think, she could satisfy with her working environment or not? Do you think she would be treated equally? How about a drinking culture with your boss or your colleagues? Would you let your daughter work in your work place instead of you? 

Q2. Do you think your boss encourage gender equality working environment in your company? For example, not just drinking or having a dinner culture after your ordinary working days but having a picnic time with your employee's family members. 

Q3. Many who do work in male-dominated careers face challenges of lack of support, voice, and acknowledgement of their balance between home life and their careers. Do you think what are the major challenges for women at work among above barriers? 

Q4. According to a McKinsey Global Institute, Korean ranked in a 2nd place for the worst gender equality accompanied by a lot of Muslim-majority nations. It sounds pretty shocking, isn't it? What do you think of reality of gender equality in Korea compare to other countries? 

Q5. Do you have discrimination issue in your working field? Could you explain it in detail? 

Q6. Have you ever felt that you are discriminated from others? For instance, gender discrimination, racism, discrimination by your parents wealth status or your social level. How did you tackle this tricky situation?

Q7. How do you feel when you are exposed to discrimination? 

Q8. Do you agree that the social inequality is caused not by economy but by political party?

Q9. What cause the gender inequality in your society? 

Q10. Can you suggest smart countermeasures to deal with those tricky issues? 

Q11. Currently, movement toward equal distribution in opportunity is spreading worldwide. Do you think inclusive growth or equal opportunity concept is available in Korea society? 

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These are the 25 most high-tech cities in the world

16 Aug 2017/ Chris Weller/ Ideas Reporter, Business Insider

WHO have estimated that an additional 2.5 billion people will be living in urban areas in less than 35 years.

Image: REUTERS/Issei Kato

Cities are the way of the future.

In less than 35 years, the World Health Organization estimates that two-thirds of the world population will be living in urban areas. That's an additional 2.5 billion people. The cities that will flourish the most are those that rely on cutting-edge technologies and create opportunities for people to develop new ones.

To get a sense of which cities do that the best, Business Insider consulted 2thinknow, a research firm that specializes in analyzing innovative cities, to rank the most high-tech cities in the world.

The firm chose 10 factors related to technological advancement — including the number of patents filed per capita, startups, tech venture capitalists, ranking in other innovation datasets, and level of smartphone use — weighted them, and ranked a list of 85 cities accordingly.

    Image: WEF

If you want to know what the future will look like, these are the cities to keep an eye on.

25. Washington, DC

The US capital has been rapidly expanding its tech scene over the last decade, growing its overall number of tech-related jobs by 50%.

In addition, more than 1,000 startups call DC home. The proximity to the federal government mixed with the deep pockets of nearby venture-capital firms makes starting a world-changing company an appealing prospect in the city.

24. Barcelona, Spain

The Spanish city cracked the top 25 for the first time since last year's ranking, in particular for its growing population of industrial designers and prominent smartphone use.

Smartphone infrastructure is so sophisticated, in fact, that electrical boxes strewn around Barcelona contain computers that capture noise levels, traffic patterns, and how many selfies people take.

23. Copenhagen, Denmark

What Copenhagen lacks in startup culture and venture capital, it makes up for with innovative urban planning and a strong contingent of industrial designers — factors that 2thinknow praises as signs the city prioritizes smart manufacturing.

By 2025, the city plans to sever its dependence on fossil fuel, due in large part to harnessed wind energy. Its robust bike culture and fleet of architecture firms allow Copenhagen to be a city that's not just green, but beautiful.

22. Hong Kong, China

Rather than excel in one particular category, Hong Kong hits just about every box in terms of its advancement.

The city devotes enormous amount of moneytoward research and development and city-wide innovation, boasting some of the fastest Internet speeds in China. Its high-tech exports total $243 billion, or 51% of the total exported goods.

21. Berlin, Germany

Not to be outdone, Germany's capital city boasts a strong start-up culture and has some of the highest rates of venture capital investment in Europe.

Berlin is also the locus for much of Europe's automobile industry. It is the only city in the world where all of the major automative brands are represented.

20. Shenzhen, China

Patents are flying out of Shenzhen, a city in southern China that boasts a population of 11 million.

As part of the country's push toward manufacturing, Shenzhen has grown significantly over the last several years as a hub for factories and robotics. Multiple telecom and electronics giants have found a home base in the city.

19. Bangalore, India

No other city in 2thinknow's ranking climbed as far compared to 2016's ranking as Bangalore, which moved from 49th place to 19th.

The change is due to an influx of IT companies and the city's enormous population of programmers. Half of India is under 25, and many are entering the growing tech space, creating a virtuous circle of growth.

18. Montreal, Canada

If you want to be an industrial designer or programmer, you should consider moving to Montreal. If you want to work in wearable technology (or virtual reality), even better.

Montreal is home to Vrvana, a VR headset manufacturer, and the companies Hexoskin and OMSignal, which both make clothes that measure wearers' biometric signals. The city also has a fairly strong startup culture.

17. Shanghai, China

The closest Shanghai has to Silicon Valley is the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park. It houses more than 100,000 workers split between thousands of tech companies.

Like most of China's high-tech cities, Shanghai excels in patents and venture capital. That may be because manufacturing has become a top priority in China, and companies are eager to protect (and invest in) their intellectual property.

16. Beijing, China

Though it may lack the startup culture of other high-tech cities, Beijing is renowned for its city-wide use of smartphones and the number of patents filed per capita. It venture capital scene has also grown rapidly over the past several years.

The city climbed 15 spots since the 2016 rankings.

15. Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Amsterdam's combination of financial technology, energy efficiency, and startup culture make it a powerhouse in Europe, despite being much smaller than its neighbors. (It has only a third of Berlin's population, for example.)

In April, lawmakers announced they wanted to ban gas and diesel cars by 2025 in favor of electric vehicles — perhaps the city's most visible sign of its look toward the future.

14. Vancouver, Canada

In 2014, the CBC called Vancouver "Silicon Valley North" in recognition of its strong start-up culture.

There are more than 600 digital media companies that generate more than $2 billion in revenue. Tech-focused universities and low corporate tax rates, meanwhile, make the city attractive for both up-and-coming engineers as well as established executives.

13. Stockholm, Sweden

With missions to go cash-free and oil-freewithin the next five years, Stockholm is fully embracing the digital and environmental revolutions.

The city also has the most billion-dollar startups in Europe and the world's second-fastest-growing market for venture capital investments. It's no wonder that programmers are flocking to the Swedish capital.

12. Tokyo, Japan

The largest city in the world doesn't achieve that feat without impressive levels of infrastructure — transportation in particular. Tokyo's subway system, for example, is used by 2.3 billion people every year.

Tokyo excels in venture capital investments, and is home to a dizzying number of tech giants, many of which are already preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games.

11. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

Just within the last couple years, Dallas has established itself as a startup hub.

In 2thinknow's analysis, the Texas city climbed from 28th in 2016 to just outside the top 10 because of its rapid growth in the number of venture capitalists and integration of technology into the city landscape.

10. Chicago, Illinois

You might not think of the Midwest as a startup magnet, but Chicago is quickly proving that assumption false. A recent report found Illinois was among the top five in high-tech jobs in the US, with the Windy City making up a big chunk of those spots.

Brookings Institute also finds Chicago is a hotbed for urban planning innovation, driven largely by City Digital, a project designed to solve problems related to energy transfer and transportation.

9. Toronto, Canada

Rife with startups and innovative infrastructure, stemming from places like the Cisco Innovation Center, Toronto is home to 30% of Canada's IT firms, the majority of which have fewer than 50 employees. That means there's a crop of young companies poised to make an impact in the next decade.

Overall, the city's firms account for approximately $52 billion in yearly revenue.

8. Singapore

Aside from being a giant, rain-absorbing sponge, Singapore boasts an extremely high number of programmers and venture capitalists. The city-state is constantly introducing new infrastructure and high-tech high-rises, including one with an entire forest in the atrium.

It has partnered with MIT to build smarter transportation that relies less on private carsand more on public trains and light rail.

7. Boston, Massachusetts

A huge number of exciting technologies have been coming out of Boston over the last several years from STEM elites like MIT, Harvard, Tufts, and Northeastern — many of them in the biotech and robotic fields.

The city has a handful of venture capital firms (Battery Ventures, Atlas Venture, Bessemer Venture Partners, Matrix Venture Partners) that pour money into innovation labs and university startups. And big-name companies like Facebook and Amazon have set up R&D offices in Boston to pull from this growing pool of talent.

6. Taipei, Taiwan

According to 2thinknow's analysis, Taipei is the far-and-away leader when it comes to industrial design. This has been the case for years — the city much prefers to delve into hardware rather than software. Some of the largest PC companies call the city home, including Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, and Acer.

According to 2thinknow, the city also scores highly in its number of venture capitalists.

5. Seoul, South Korea

Seoul has been called the city of the future, and rightfully so. Innovation is practically baked into its design, as its metro system may even have New York's subway beat.

According to 2thinknow, Seoul files more patents than just about any city in the world. It has developed technology that is already ubiquitous — such as the LTE beamed to our smartphones — as well as tech still in its infancy, like virtual stores where you scan pictures of items to be delivered later.

4. Los Angeles, California

Film isn't the only industry in LA.

In 2014, a report by the LA County Economic Development Corporation suggested that LA had more high-tech sector jobs than any other region in the US. The report also found the total wealth output hovers around $58 billion. When 2thinknow performed its analysis, it found the same: Startups and venture capital play a major role in LA's tech sector boom.

3. London, England

London has become a public transportation dream over the last year with the introduction of its Crossrail project. By 2018, 10 new train lines will connect 30 existing stations with brand-new tunnels. At $20 billion, it's the largest construction project in Europe.

2thinknow finds London has more startups and programmers than almost any other city in the world. By some estimates, there may be more IT jobs in London than all of California.

Some estimates say there will be 11,000 new tech jobs added within the next decade.

2. New York, New York

New York is a special kind of tech heavyweight. It is both extremely dated in its infrastructure, but at the same time, unbelievably progressive.

According to the state comptroller's office, nearly 7,000 high-tech companies in New York City provided more than 100,000 jobs during the third quarter of 2013. In addition to starting companies, the city also launches integrated, citywide technology: LinkNYC, a free Wifi service, has over 500 kiosks around Manhattan available for public use, and many experts believe the city is just getting started.

1. San Francisco, California

If every city claims to be the "Silicon Valley" of its particular home country, you can guarantee Silicon Valley is the gold standard for tech.

Since 2thinknow defines the region by its largest neighboring city, San Francisco takes the top spot. It is the undeniable epicenter of all things tech, from its gigantic startup culture to its venture capital scene to its population of designers and programmers.

Silicon Valley wins in just about every category because the supply chain of innovation has made its home there, even as smaller contenders claw at the title.

Article source : https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/08/these-are-the-25-most-high-tech-cities-in-the-world?utm_content=buffer99d24&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

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<Questions> 

Q1. Where are you living now? Do you live in urbanized area or rural area? Do you satisfied with your life in your city? 

Q2. Do you know what the 'SMART CITY' is? If you have a chance to live in those city, would you live in this city? 

Q3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in the SMART CITY?

Q4. Do you have any city you want to visit? What is the reason for that? 

Q5. While you are living in the city, you will experience some moments that make you feel satisfied with your living in there. And sometimes you want to escape from your city because you feel frustrated with lives in a city. Compare to other urbanized area, what are the merits and demerits of lives in your city? 

Q6. Do you think technology is always right solutions for challenging situations? 

Q7. When you are getting old, where do you want to live?