Redefining Excellence in Education System
Dr Mariazeena Johnson, Chancellor of Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, believes that redefining the education system is a continuous process by identifying potential ‘thrust areas’ and creating necessary ‘academic ambience’ in terms of infrastructure and intellectual pool. Innovation in academics and research balance have resulted in a consistent success story of the institution in terms of student placement, successful start-up ventures, and transforming the dreams of students into reality, even before their graduation.
Sathyabama Centre for Advanced Studies is one such pioneering initiatives, designed to fuel progressive academic and research ambience. It entails advanced technological installations such as Metaverse Studio, Drone Laboratories, Advanced Characterization facilities, and Media Centre to create a plethora of opportunities for students to excel in future. At Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, the expansion in research infrastructure is at par with global standards and the outcome of the methodologies and initiatives are visible in the institution’s global alumni presence, its scientists making it to the ‘TOP 2%’ Stanford list, global rankings, and international recognitions such as ABET, USA.
“Innovation has become our new motto of success, we have provided annual Seed Money Grants and encouraged our students and faculty teams with innovative ideas to create new products in the past five years.” Dr Johnson explains.
A compassionate leader and a prominent educator, Dr Johnson, is equally focused on gender equality and women empowerment. In the role of a mentor and a role model for other women, she encourages them to pursue careers in innovation and technology. As technology is chasing human evolution and changing the pace of our lives, gender equality and women empowerment are not immune to the influence of technological advancements. According to Dr Johnson, availability of information at the fingertips and the digital era driving dreams of budding entrepreneurs, are positive signs of a new age revolution in terms of potential start-ups. This technological hand-holding definitely facilitates businesses and mitigates challenges associated with the business.
As an empowered woman, Dr Johnson, strongly believes that determination, undeterred focus on goal and resilience are the key aspects towards making full use of digital technology for empowering the human race. Specifically, towards the concern of women, SHGs (Self Help Groups) are there to take up the challenge of empowering other women in society related to digital literacy, making effective usage of technology. Academic institutions, government and NGOs have the capacity to hand-hold this process at all possible levels.
Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress
Advocating the cause of women empowerment, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology continuously strives to inspire others through its ideology, initiatives at every level of administration and workforce involvement. Due weightage and preference are given to deserving women professionals in terms of recruitment and encouragement to take up leadership roles. Recognising that financially empowered women are not just assets to their families but are also contributors to societal progress, at the institution 70% of the faculty and 85% hierarchical positions are held by women, thus emerging as a model of women empowerment, inspiring others to understand and value women and their work to forge a better world.
Institutions of higher education can be critical facilitators for change, and in this context, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology takes utmost care towards embracing gender equality and gender equity, as well as equal representation. “I always recommend that the value of women is not to be taught theoretically but to be practised for better results in society.” Emphasises Dr Johnson by making the objective of women empowerment one of the key pillars of success for the institution. Periodically, gender sensitization programs are conducted for both students and staff. Women Empowerment Bureau, which conducts several programmes that aid the economic empowerment and social upliftment of underprivileged women, takes special interest in designing programs related to awareness of equality and gender studies. Through implementation of case studies, workshops and projects as a part of the curricula, awareness, accountability, respect for women and the concept of equal opportunities are instilled in the students.
Inspiring Inclusion
Being the Chancellor of Sathyabama, Dr Johnson adds value from the perspective of inclusivity. Marginalized sections of the society and the cause of women are taken into account while drafting any model or policy for implementation. Towards creating an inclusive environment that caters to all forms of diversity, the only way to foster human excellence is through education. Anbu Foundation, is one of her major initiatives towards enabling inclusivity. It was started with the objective of bringing back happiness in the lives of people who are striving to live the life to the fullest. Today, thousands of students, based on their merits, are being provided with a platform to attain higher education through Anbu Foundation. Dr Johnson has adopted 21 Panchayat schools and 7 villages and is contributing to their all-round development. She has recently initiated a project named ‘Madugai – The Strength’, for the girl child, by providing ‘health and hygiene’ kits to female students in the sub-urban areas of Chennai.
Message from Dr Mariazeena Johnson, an educationist and a woman of substance, for the youth of today
"Courage and focus are the combination of qualities that I believe will make anyone the best in their chosen field. My success mantra is my CONVICTION; that I believe is good for others. Time is so precious, that we can’t afford to waste it. I believe that courage isn’t something that we act upon instantly, but it is an accumulated component of belief about our capacity; our past experiences and our nature of not to withdraw. This courage when combined with the real thirst for success makes our life inspiring to many others."
