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UNCA students in Dubai are (from left) Oksana Kukharets, Madeline Jaekle, Annalisa Littleton, Mary Catherine Mills, Grace Salzer and Cassie Papaj.

Six UNC Asheville students recently traveled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to attend a three-day conference on “Women as Global Leaders.”

Organized by Zayed University, the conference brings together women from more than 85 countries to build bridges, share ideas and engage in debate on leadership education.

UNCA students Madeline Jaekle, Oksana Kukharets, Annalisa Littleton, Mary Catherine Mills, Cassie Papaj and Grace Salzer attended the conference to participate in workshops and listen to panel discussions and keynote speakers.

Among this year’s speakers were Jane Fonda, award-winning actress and humanitarian; Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York; His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, minister of higher education and scientific research and president of Zayed University; Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Women Establishment; and Anousheh Ansari, first female private space explorer and chairman and cofounder of Prodea Systems Inc.

This year’s theme, “Learning Leadership,” explored the ways in which people learn about leadership. Kukharets, a senior political science major, said she walked away with a more informed opinion about women leaders in general.

“The disparity between the number of male and female leaders is huge and it really made me question why that is,” she said. “Many women don’t hold very high leadership positions. Whether they live in the United States or in other countries, it seems women have to choose between family and career. I think sometimes it appears easier to balance the two in the United States. But regardless of the choice, female leadership is extremely important.”

The UNCA students who attended were pleased to be in a large group of female leaders. “It is so wonderful to know that there are so many women leaders across the world,” Mills said. Kukharets said she felt a sense of solidarity with the women at the conference. “The conference brought together women of different nationalities,” she said. “I realized that even though we live in different parts of the world, we have similar lives.”

In addition to participating in the conference, the students had some time for sightseeing. The six UNC Asheville students said they had enriching experiences exploring Dubai. “It felt a lot like the United States sometimes, and then other times not so much,” Papaj said. “My favorite part was the environment, the expanding skyline beside the desert on the Arabian Gulf.”

UNCA has sent groups of students to the Women as Global Leaders conference in Dubai since it began in 2005.