“We hope to build a supportive university environment to help students achieve their academic and personal goals, enjoy their time at university, and successfully complete their programmes. We also hope they will learn valuable life or self-coping skills and strategies, which are transferrable to a range of post-university settings including workplaces,” said SMU Dean of Students, Prof Paulin Straughan, at the 2021 Forum on Education, Women and Sustainable Development on 21 October 2021.

Jointly organised by the China Education Association for International Exchange and Renmin University of China (RUC), the annual forum focused on the evolving role of higher education institutions in female students’ empowerment and growth. Held as a hybrid event, the forum discussion theme this year was “Development of High-Quality Education System and Female College Students”. The half-day programme was attended by some 100 representatives from China’s higher education sector in Beijing.

In line with SMU Vision 2025’s strategic priority of "Sustainable Living ", where the University seeks to drive solutions in managing sustainable city living and in enhancing the quality of life, Prof Straughan was sharing knowledge and insights through her virtual participation at the Forum. She was joined by international university leaders, Prof Silvia Giorguli, President of El Colegio de Mexico; Prof Francesca Biagini, Vice President of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich; and Prof Paola Severino, Vice President of Luiss University, who delivered video presentations to the audience.

“SMU’s approach is to proactively support students’ mental health and overall wellness through developing the trait and skills of resilience in them,” remarked Prof Straughan. Elaborating on the newly-launched SMU resilience framework, she highlighted a sustainable approach to improving the mental well-being of university students and the various measures that SMU has implemented to build greater resilience in students. Prof Straughan shared that the framework had been formulated with the objective of developing resilience in six inter-related dimensions of wellness in students - Physical, Intellectual, Social, Emotional, Career and Financial through a three-pronged approach of Education, Encouragement, and Experiences.

Prof Straughan cited several SMU initiatives under the resilience framework, including the introduction of an online module on ‘Supporting Students’ Mental Well-being’ to provide a baseline mental health literacy for all faculty and staff members. She also highlighted the development of a mental health support pyramid to promote a supportive community.

In thanking Prof Straughan, Prof Zhang Xiaojing, Party Secretary of RUC’s School of Education, commented that the former’s sharing was timely and informative, as students’ mental health issues have become an increasingly important area of concern among the Chinese universities in recent years.

Prominent personalities from China’s higher education sector who spoke at the Forum included Prof Liu Liqun, President of China Women’s University, who outlined the significant progress and achievements of higher education for Chinese women during the past century. Prof Jiang Hong, Party Secretary of Shantou University, shared her views on how women could seize opportunities and overcome challenges in the post-pandemic era of China in four aspects: country and society, enterprises and organisations, families and individuals, and universities. Mdm Ren Pingping, Vice President of iFLYTEK, a well-known intelligent speech and artificial intelligence company in China elucidated the infinite possibilities of "women + AI" in life, work and family from an industry perspective in her speech.

Renmin University of China has been a close partner of SMU since 2015. Both universities have established a multi-faceted partnership ranging from collaborations in academic and student mobility programmes to joint research and the co-organisation of a Global Forum held in 2019.