WHEN's Blog
A selection of insightful pieces written by women who work across the breadth of the higher education sector
How we sparked a new direction for our women’s network
By Kayleigh Woods Harley, the incumbent chair of the Birkbeck Astrea network.
Birkbeck Astrea is a grassroots professional development and networking initiative for professional services and administrative staff at Birkbeck, University of London who identify as women or transgender. It is run by nine facilitators from across the College, who for one year volunteer to plan and deliver six events each year.
Having established a women’s network in 2014, and being the seat of Birkbeck Gender and Sexuality (BiGS), Birkbeck is in many ways a university ahead of the gender equality curve. So it was with a sense of achievement that I attended the first forum hosted by WHEN at UCL...
Who am I supposed to be?
Written by an anonymous research manager (professional services) at a Russell Group University
Exposed
Recent controversy and focus on gender issues in the workplace, the disparity with pay between genders in addition to the new D word – diversity, has suddenly made me feel very exposed.
In academia, surrounded by a wealth of hard working and intelligent colleagues, you feel inspired but also insecure that you are not contributing enough as others. The feeling to always prove your worth never leaves your side and is a small voice that unfortunately grows as you grow too.
Just being grateful
Growing up as a woman but also tangled with an ethnic background and faith has made each of...
