Swansea University celebrates International Women’s Day 2014

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Swansea University celebrated International Women’s Day 2014 in sparkling style by hosting a range of inspirational events aimed at highlighting the integral roles and achievements of women across the world.

I‌nternational Women’s day (celebrated each year on 8 March) is a global event encouraging advocacy for women’s advancement everywhere in every way.  This year the theme was Inspiring Change, aimed at maximising the vast array of communication channels, supportive spokespeople, equality research, campaigns and corporate responsibility initiatives that mean everyone can be an advocate inspiring change for women's advancement.

International Women’s Day events at Swansea University commenced with a lecture on Wednesday 5 March hosted by the College of Medicine at which Dr Ruth Hussey (Chief Medical Officer for Wales) and Professor Alexandra Blakemore (Professor of Human Molecular Genetics, Medicine, Imperial College London), spoke about their career journeys, the challenges they have faced, and the compromises they have made to achieve their ambitions.

Christina SladeOn Friday 7 March the College of Arts and Humanities held a day conference on Gender Equality and Career Development, sponsored by the British Academy.  One of the highlights of the day was a keynote speech given by Professor Christina Slade, Vice Chancellor of Bath Spa University, (pictured) who reflected on her fascinating career and some of the eminent women she has met, including Germaine Greer and Benazir Bhutto.  She was introduced by Swansea University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Equalities, Professor Hilary Lappin-Scott, who also spoke about her own career path.

‌The day also included sessions on women's career paths, CV writing, flexible working, speaking to the media and asking for promotion.

‌On Friday afternoon, the College of Human and Health Sciences hosted an afternoon workshop session aimed at local Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) girls to encourage them to take up careers in health and social care.  Professor Joy Merrell from the Public Health and Policy Studies Department (far left in picture below), and Chantal Patel, Head of Interprofessional Studies at the University collaborated with the University Reaching Wider team, Swansea African Community Centre and the Swansea Ethnic Youth Support Team (EYST), who brought 20 of their girls’ group (aged 11 – 16) to the event. The girls learnt about the range of health and social care programmes provided by the College, listened to inspiring stories of high achieving BAME women and enjoyed and participated in a variety of international dance performances.

BAME IWD 2014Charlie James, Athena SWAN Officer and Equal Opportunities Assistant at Swansea University, who was instrumental in organising the week’s events, said: “This year, more than any other, there has been a real buzz surrounding International Women’s Day. 

“The events we held here at the University were incredibly well-received and well-attended. We hope that the inspirational speakers we hosted helped give other women the confidence to reach for their goals. It was also good to see the Students’ Union participating with a stand outside Fulton House. 

“More generally, we hope this year’s events are a sign of increasing global awareness of women’s roles and activities in society, and we look forward to focusing on the progress of women at next year’s celebrations.”