Professor Dame Athene Donald to present ‘Women Progressing, Progressing Women’

The University is delighted to announce that Professor Dame Athene Donald DBE FRS, University of Cambridge, will present the first of a series of seminars focusing on Diversity and Inclusion on Tuesday 3 May.

Our new series of seminars will be presented by leading figures working for diversity and equality, both in the UK and internationally.

The lecture, Women Progressing, Progressing Women, will take place from 2pm until 3pm, at LT1 Chemistry Building, Whiteknights Campus.

Staff across the University are welcome to attend. After the seminar, refreshments will be available in the ground floor foyer of the Chemistry building. To help us plan the refreshments, please inform Frances Raimo if you wish to attend.

Using personal experience and a little well-placed science, Professor Donald will discuss how seemingly small culture changes and heightened self-awareness can have a profound effect on team morale and an individual’s ability to feel encouraged and supported.

Professor Donald is an eminent physicist, working particularly in soft matter physics. She is Professor of Experimental Physics and Master of Churchill College at the University of Cambridge, and amongst her many scientific accolades, was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1999.

She has long been an outspoken champion of women in science, chairing the national Athena Forum from 2009–13, this an organisation which aims to provide a strategic oversight of developments that seek to, or have proven to, advance the career progression and representation of women in science, technology, mathematics, and medicine (STEM) in UK higher education.

Currently she is a member of the BIS Diversity group and the Gender Balance Working Group of the ERC.  From 2006–14 she was Director of WiSETI, Cambridge University’s Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Initiative, and she was the University’s first Gender Equality Champion from 2010–14. She regularly writes on the topic of women in science in both mainstream media and on her personal blog(We have highlighted many of Athene’s blog posts here!)

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Keep Calm & Carry On – Effective Strategies to Manage Exam Nerves

THE WELLBEING CAFE in the RUSU Study (behind Cafe Mondiale)    Wednesday (20th April) – 1 to 2.30

  ‘Keep Calm & Carry On – Effective Strategies to Manage Exam Nerves                           

Exam nerves are natural – the trick is for them not to become disabling…

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work you need to do?

Are you having difficulty getting to sleep at night?

Do you panic that your mind will go blank in the exam?

DON’T PANIC! – come along to this friendly session on how to Keep Calm & Carry On!  Mark from the Chaplaincy will be sharing some simple but powerful strategies to help manage exam nerves and make the whole process of doing exams less daunting.

Come along and have a coffee – and help yourself to exam success…

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Understanding Stress

This week, two talks are on offer to help students through the stresses of the exams period:   ‘Understanding Stress’  will explain what stress is, why it happens and most importantly,  how you can minimise its effects on your academic study and maintain your healthOpen to all students, the talk is taking place on Wednesday 20th  April  at 3.00pm in Carrington 101.  Students who have been to this talk have said it is  “very good for stress management strategies, clearly delivered, good questions and answers” and that the “information given is phenomenal – it is the kind of information all students need to cope”.    

 

This talk is followed on Thursday by:  ‘Stop Procrastination! which will provide students with advice about getting work started and handed in on time.  The talk will be on Thursday 21st  April at 2.00pm, also in Carrington 101.  Students who have attended this talk in the past commented that it:  “is very helpful;  targets specific ‘conflict’ areas and teaches you how to resolve the problem effectively”, “it’s a great short start to a more positive attitude to work.”  One student added, “the talk was ‘spot on’.  It was really what I was experiencing and it was good to get what I was feeling into perspective.”

These talks are both part of the ‘Life Tools’  series run by Student Wellbeing. There is no need to book a place – students should just come along to either talk on the day. 

Further talks will be run in the coming weeks on: Increasing Concentration; Managing exams pressure; Getting a good night’s sleep and Mindfulness for stress reduction

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Henley Business School announce Women in Leadership Scholarship 2016

Henley Business School are delighted to announce their prestigious MBA Scholarship competition which provides the chance to win a fully-funded place on the Henley Executive or Flexible Executive MBA programme starting in September/October 2016.

Now in its fourth year, the scholarship is a collaboration between Henley, the 30% Club and the Financial Times which is designed to pave the way to a greater visibility of women in leadership across all industry positions and reflects Henley’s mission to encourage and increase gender balance.

To enter, participants need to provide:

  • An 800-word opinion piece entitled, ‘How will women shape the future of business over the coming ten years?’ The article should consider factors such as globalisation, technology and evolving societal attitudes.
  • A video clip (maximum 60 seconds) which answers the following: ‘Which words tend to be those used to describe successful women versus successful men? How does the vocabulary differ? Does it depend on whether a man or a woman is speaking? Do the age, level of education, nationality and background of the speaker or person being described matter? What impact do the words used have on the advancement of women in the workplace?’ The video can include several speakers. Videos should be shot on a smartphone and will only be judged on content and the creativity displayed in using this medium.

The deadline for entry is 5pm on Tuesday 3 May 2016. Entries should be sent to mba@henley.ac.uk entitled ‘Women in Leadership Scholarship application’. Up to 10 finalists will be shortlisted from all entries received by the deadline. A panel of judges will choose the winning entrant who will be notified by the end of June 2016.

For further information, see the Women in Leadership Scholarship page.

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What have I got to Lose?

Today I would like to highlight a recent blog post by Athene Donald What have I got to Lose? Once again Athene asks the questions which we should arguably all be considering.  This blog post has certainly given me a lot to think about!

……What had I got to lose?’ was also the phrase that went through my head many years ago when I made the switch – that in essence made my career – from working on metals to polymers. It felt like a radical thing to do, but given that I was going nowhere, was bored with the field of research I had been in for the last 5 years, I couldn’t see a downside in switching to something new for which I held a postdoc offer. I couldn’t have foreseen how it would turn my life around, but I did believe it couldn’t make things worse………………….’

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National Women in Engineering Day, 23 June 2016

National Women in Engineering Day (NWED) is an International awareness campaign to raise the profile of women in engineering and focus on the amazing career opportunities available to girls in this exciting industry. It takes place annually on 23 June. It’s your day! In 2016 the country will be celebrating NWED for the third year. Are you going to get involved……?

 

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Manifesto for Change

Published on the 28th March, Athene Donald has written a new blog post discussing women in science, discrimination, and the recent L’Oreal/UNESCO For Women in Science awards.  Athene also highlights a new initiative – the L’Oreal Manifesto.What do you think about the manifesto?

‘There is no point getting angry, since this too often is simply misplaced energy and a waste. But there is every point in highlighting transgressions – small and large – whenever possible to emphasise the structural inequities that exist. The sad fact is, however, that too often circumstances mean that speaking out can backfire. Every genuine supporter of equality has to walk that tightrope. In the meantime, signing the L’Oreal Manifesto is one small action to spell out that enough is enough. We need to shout about the deep-seated societal problems and we need to do it loudly and persistently.’

Do you feel like you are walking a tightrope when you highlight equality issues?

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Women held back by ‘old boys’ network,’ says report

Published on the BBC News website on 23rd March – ‘Nearly a third of the UK’s biggest companies largely rely on personal networks to identify new board members, the study by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found. Most roles are not advertised, it said. “Our top boards still remain blatantly male and white,” said EHRC commissioner Laura Carstensen. The study, which looked at appointment practices in the UK’s largest 350 listed firms, which make up the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250, found more than 60% had not met a voluntary target of 25% female board members.’

Relying on personal networks to identify new members is not just limited to the UK’s biggest companies.  What can be done to change this?

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THE WELLBEING CAFE – ‘Revision First Aid – How to Revise Effectively’

THE WELLBEING CAFE in the RUSU Study (behind Cafe Mondiale).  This Wednesday (23rd March) – 1 to 2.30

Have the right intentions but end up leaving revision to the last minute?

Make revision plans but never stick to them?

Concerned about whether you are revising the right things?

Worried that nothing is going in?

DON’T PANIC! – come along to this friendly session on how to make your revision more effective and efficient. Michelle from Study Advice will be sharing some tips, strategies and planners to help you set realistic revision goals and make the whole process more manageable and motivating. Come along and have a coffee – and help yourself to exam success…

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How Not to Chair a Committee

Today I would like to highlight a recent blog post by Athene Donald (Professor of Experimental Physics University of Cambridge) on How Not to Chair a Committee

‘Whether as a student or a professor (or indeed at any level in between) I would suspect there isn’t a reader of this blog who hasn’t had to sit through a meeting of some type or other where the Chair has intensely irritated them somehow. There are of course a huge variety of ways to fail to chair a committee well………..’

I suspect we can all think of examples!  Do you have any advice for how to chair a committee?

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