Dr Despina Charalambidou-Solomi, President
Dr Despina Charalambidou-Solomi
Dr Despina Charalambidou-Solomi studied English at London University – Queen Mary College (BA Hons), Comparative Poetry at Birmingham University (MA), Education at E. Michigan University (MA) and holds a PhD in English from the University of Athens.
She taught English language and literature and professional communication skills at the British Council in Athens (1976-1978) and the Higher Technical Institute (1978-1998). After 2004, she has been working as a free-lance lecturer, consultant, researcher and project manager. She also taught short courses at the Mediterranean Institute of Management, the University of Cyprus and the Pedagogical Institute.
She was appointed Member of the Education Service Commission in 1998 by the Council of Ministers for a six-year period and in 2006, Member of the Pedagogical Council for the restructuring of the Cyprus Education System (2006-today). She is the first President of the Cyprus Gender Research Centre (2006-today), which was founded in 2006 to promote gender equality and more democratic values and citizenship through research.
Her academic interests include comparative literature, aestheticism, Cavafy's poetry, educational policy, gender and women's issues. She is the author of two books: The Education System in Cyprus 2008-2009 (2010) and Γυναίκα και Ιεραρχία στη Δημόσια Εκπαίδευση της Κύπρου (2002). She also wrote The Cyprus Dossier 2004-2005 (2006), a EURYDICE electronic document and updated it in 2008, 2009 and 2010. She contributed to another three publications: Η Ποίηση του Κράματος (2000), Gender Differences in Educational Outcomes (2010) and Grade Retention during Compulsory Education in Europe (2010). She participated in international conferences and published articles in academic journals and conference proceedings in Cyprus (Citizenship Multiculturism Cosmopolitanism), in Greece (Παρουσία University of Athens) and in USA (Journal of Modern Greek Studies and Modern Greek Studies Yearbook).