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Today is International Women’s Day (IWD) – a global day celebrating women’s achievements around the world, both past and present.  This year’s challenging theme is #EmbraceEquity and it’s fantastic and really heartening to see so many of the ºÚÁÏÉç community striking the pose in support of  women: 

Collective activism is what leads to change and IWD is an annual reminder of our role in being part of the movement to drive positive change for women.

This year’s theme highlights the important distinction between equity and equality.  Equity is about recognising that people have different starting points, different advantages and challenges and it’s about acting on this, to give individuals the support, opportunities and resources that they need in order to achieve the equal outcome. Equality remains the goal, equity is the means by which we achieve it.

As you will be aware, we successfully renewed our Athena SWAN Bronze award, given by Advance HE in recognition of an institution’s commitment to promoting gender equality.  Led by co-chairs Professor Nicola Menzies-Gow and Dr. Sharon Kendall, the ºÚÁÏÉç Self-Assessment Team (SAT) worked over a period of 15 months to consider and further develop the ºÚÁÏÉç’s ongoing efforts in ensuring the continued improvement of the recruitment, retention, and promotion of female academic, research and professional services staff. 

In celebration of some of the achievements of ºÚÁÏÉç women today, we are pleased to share the experiences of a few colleagues who have participated in the Aurora Leadership Programme and the South East Action Learning Programme (SEAL) - see below. 

We would also like to share with you some IWD stories, historical information and events list.  Please feel free to add your comments and share any relevant information.

Sally Burton, Infrastructure Operations Director

I currently work as Infrastructure Operations Director within the Infrastructure Services Directorate (IT, Library and Estates). I have worked at the ºÚÁÏÉç since 2002 in various role and began my management career in 2009 following the merger of the IT and Library services. I also mentor ºÚÁÏÉç participants on the Aurora programme which is a national initiative that aims to address the under-representation of women in leadership positions in the sector.

I have been fortunate enough to advance my career from working school hours as a single mum to work my way up and assume more significant responsibilities in line with my children growing up. I have taken on various roles within the organisation and am grateful to the ºÚÁÏÉç that my hard work, dedication, and leadership skills have been recognised.

In 2017, I earned an MA in Human Resource Management, I see continual learning as vital to growing professionally and I have leveraged my knowledge and skills to support the college's staff and students, ensuring they have access to the services and resources they need to excel.

As a woman in a male-dominated field, I have faced challenges along the way, but I have persevered and become a role model for other women who aspire to achieve success in their careers while raising a family.

On International Women’s Day I hope that my story in some way inspires women who strive to balance their personal and professional lives while pursuing their dreams. My hard work, dedication, and commitment to my family and career serve as an example of what is possible when women are given the support and opportunities they need to thrive.

Perdi Welsh, Principal Teaching Fellow
Course Director for Certificates in Advanced Veterinary Nursing

From October 2022 until March 2023, I undertook the Aurora Leadership Programme which aims to encourage women in academic and professional roles in HE to gain confidence in leadership, develop their own style and approach and inspire them to take on more leadership roles.

There were six online attendance days and there’s just about to be one final face-to-face day at the end of March, all of which have been held during my normal working hours and I’ve had the full support of my line manager to attend all of these days. On one or two occasions I had to juggle my workload and switch a couple of meetings around, but, we were given all of the Aurora dates at the start of the programme which allowed me to plan ahead very effectively and keep these dates free.

Having a mentor is one of the requirements of the programme, and I have a wonderful and very encouraging mentor, whom I’ve met with regularly to discuss how I’m finding the Aurora programme and importantly, to nudge me to think about how I’m going to apply the concepts, learning and strategies from the programme to my day to day work and future professional career development.

I feel very positive about my experience. It was inspirational to be taught by so many encouraging and motivational female leaders during the programme. During each of the online Aurora days, we were on Zoom with almost 300 other women also working in academic and professional roles across universities in the UK. Being part of this forum and being given the opportunity to share, discuss and learn from each other through the guided break-out room activities means I’ve also been able to build up a network of colleagues involved in a wide range of courses and roles within HE. I’ve developed more confidence in leadership and am not afraid to develop my own style of leadership. Importantly, I now have a hugely supportive and talented network of people I can contact to share ideas, or concerns or for support.

Beth Reilly, Teaching Fellow in Small Ruminant Health and Flock management

I was fortunate enough to be allowed to participate in the South East Action Learning (SEAL) programme in spring 2022. I initially signed up to the course as I wanted to work on ways to improve my leadership approach/style. Although not in a leadership role as such, I felt it would be very helpful for teaching having previously developed an interest in this area following completion of the NHS Edward Jenner leadership course.

My line manager supported me to attend all the meetings and was flexible with arranging cover or allowing rearranging of teaching commitments so I could attend all the meetings.

Flexibility in student tracking rotation teaching allowed me to attend meetings around seminars and farm visits, with colleagues taking on some teaching for me to cover my absence.

The SEAL course provided me with a safe environment, with a group of amazing women from a variety of universities and areas to discuss challenges that we were encountering, no matter how small or trivial they may seem. I think it was a fantastic course, and really emphasized how to question challenging situations and actively listen.

The importance of full attendance (with no emails/phone distractions) to these meetings was stressed prior to the start of the course. The two hours per month allocated to SEAL sessions provided thinking space for reflection, allowing for consideration of peers’ situations onto similar challenges. I think ensuring that we had no distractions was really important to get the most out of the course which would not have been achievable without a supportive workplace.

This course has significantly impacted my career, as well as others in my group, giving us the confidence to speak up. The majority of my SEAL peers progressed into new positions or were promoted which was fantastic to see everyone growing and developing together across the course. I am fortunate that my group continued, after the course ended, with our own self-run meetings. However, attendance is more of a struggle now across the board due to all our other commitments. A great opportunity provided by ºÚÁÏÉç to help early career women in leadership. Thank you!

Androniki Psifidi, Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Clinical Genetics

In 2017, I moved from Edinburgh where I was working as a post-doc, to London to start a lecturer position at ºÚÁÏÉç. I moved with my husband and two young children.  The transition was not easy since we did not have a support network here. The plan was to start my own research group and start writing grant applications. Indeed, in a short period I was managing a team of 6. At that point, I realised a transition from a post-doc to a PI responsible for many people and projects. Although, I was very well supported by my more experienced ºÚÁÏÉç colleagues, who made me feel welcome, I sensed that I would benefit from formal management and leadership training.

At that point, the AURORA leadership programme was launched and I applied with the support of my line manager and selected to attend. That was a very inspirational course where women in different leadership positions from the academia were discussing their challenges and achievements. This was a good opportunity to interact with colleagues from other universities, share experiences, discuss difficulties, and create a network. The AURORA programme made me aware of the unique skills of a woman leader, raised my confidence and, with that in mind, I managed to fast-track my probation. Moreover, the experience in the AURORA programme inspired me to get involved initially in the Equality and Diversity Committee at ºÚÁÏÉç and later in the Athena Swan working team. Subsequently, I attended a number of internal management courses including “Developing the Confidence to Lead”, which was excellent and made me even more aware of how much energy and time one needs to invest and what kind of soft skills to build in order to successfully lead a happy team.

More recently, I applied for the SEALs programme which is addressed to more senior staff and I was selected. This programme follows a coaching approach where I discussed specific work-related problems with colleagues from other universities towards finding realistic solutions That was an amazing and empowering experience, which made me understand that the issues a woman comes across in the working place are universal, and if you have a support network and think through properly you can come up with a workable solution for all involved. With the support of this course as well as my line manager, head of division, and other colleagues at ºÚÁÏÉç I am now a Senior Lecturer, have a wonderful research team and tutees and feel strongly about the importance of women in academia and how much we can offer if we have the opportunities.