Položaj naučnica u veterinarskoj medicini u Republici Srbiji

Abstract

Veterinary medicine has a long tradition, formerly in the Yugoslav context, and latterly in the Republic of Serbia in particular. This interdisciplinary scientifi c fi eld has always been regarded as a “male” profession, both in the world generally and in Serbia today. There are four institutions where researchers in veterinary medicine, both men and women, are employed in Serbia: 1. The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Belgrade (founded 1936); 2. The Department of Veterinary Medicine within the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Novi Sad (founded 2000); 3. The Scientifi c Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia in Belgrade (founded 1926); 4. The Scientifi c Veterinary Institute Novi Sad (founded 1950). There are also individual men and women researchers engaged in other veterinary institutions outside academia. Today, these four Serbian scientifi c institutions employ 252 researchers – of whom 47% are women and 53% men (the source of these fi gures is the lists of employees on the websites of the instiutions). They are, however, consistently headed by men – Dean of Faculty, Director – with the exception of one Institute, which has had the same female Director for more than a decade. A considerable number of men and women are engaged in this fi eld, with (approximately) 3800 active members of the Veterinary Chamber – the supreme body of the veterinary profession in Serbia. The Assembly of the Veterans’ Chamber numbers (about) 126 members, 83% of whom are men and 17% women. With respect to the leadership functions of the Chamber, 93% (including the President of the Chamber) are taken by men and 7% by women (a total of 3 women). Twenty years ago, the ratio of male to female students at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Belgrade was roughly 80:20, whereas today the fi gure is 50:50 (in terms of the number of enrolled students). These statistics differ from the rest of Europe, where, in all the most famous veterinary faculties, the number of women has increased signifi cantly over the last 20 years, and the ratio is now 80:20 in favour of women. This is the situation, for example, in the veterinary faculties in the Czech Republic and Romania. What should be emphasised is that, while pioneering women in other disciplines have been written about (i.e. monography on women−chemists by Ljiljana Ristić (2012) and doctors such as Draga Ljočić), no female veterinarian has been accorded the same honour, even though they emerged relatively recently in comparison to the other professions. The aim of the paper is to raise the issue not only of how to preserve the memory of the fi rst women veterinarians in Serbia, but also of the (dis)balance of women and men in this interdisciplinary fi eld when it comes to positions of professional and social power. This is because veterinary medicine is one of the most important scientifi c disciplines in Vojvodina but also globaly, both today and in the future, with regard to climate change and its impact on all living beings, especially animals, on this planet.