Equalities @ EECS

From https://www.un.org/en/observances/women-and-girls-in-science-day:

Science and gender equality are both vital for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Over the past 15 years, the global community has made a lot of effort in inspiring and engaging women and girls in science. Yet women and girls continue to be excluded from participating fully in science.

At present, less than 30 per cent of researchers worldwide are women. According to UNESCO data (2014 – 2016), only around 30 per cent of all female students select STEM-related fields in higher education. Globally, female students’ enrolment is particularly low in ICT (3 per cent), natural science, mathematics and statistics (5 per cent) and in engineering, manufacturing and construction (8 per cent).

Long-standing biases and gender stereotypes are steering girls and women away from science related fields. As in the real world, the world on screen reflects similar biases—the 2015 Gender Bias Without Borders study by the Geena Davis Institute showed that of the onscreen characters with an identifiable STEM job, only 12 per cent were women.

In order to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, and further achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/70/212 declaring 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

Full article at UN website.

A call for applications for Springboard Women’s Development Programme has opened with a deadline for submission of midday 26^th February 2020.

Springboard is a four month personal and professional development programme for those identifying as women. It offers participants the opportunity to undertake a substantial review of their work and personal life and shape the change they want in practical and realistic ways by helping them to reflect on their goals, develop their strengths and learn and practice skills such as assertiveness and goal setting. More information on how to apply can be found here.

A briefing session for potential participants, will be held on Thursday, 13th February 2020, Queens E303, Mile End Campus, between 12 – 1 pm.

If you have any further questions about the programme please do get in contact with contact Lauren Hall  on 0207 882 5702 or Carol Malcolm on 0207 882 5519.

Queen Mary is proud of its diverse staff and student body and recognises the significant contribution LGBTQ+ people have made to the University and the wider community. The University is proud to be part of the annual celebration of LGBT+ History Month, joining universities, schools, local authorities, voluntary organisations and employers, with a programme of events and activities to highlight the history and achievements of LGBTQ+ communities.

LGBT+ History Month takes place annually and aims to promote equality and diversity by:

• increasing the visibility of LBGTQ+ people, their history, lives and their experiences,
• raising awareness and advancing education on matters affecting the LGBTQ+ community and,
• working to make educational and other institutions safe spaces for all LGBTQ+ communities.

The theme this year is Poetry, Prose and Plays in memory of Lyra Mckee 1990-2019. Get involved and mark the start of LGBT+ History Month at Queen Mary by coming along to the Flag Raising Ceremony at 11.30am on Monday 3 February outside the Queens Building on the Mile End Campus. Colleagues and students from across the University have worked hard to put together an incredible programme of events to celebrate the contributions of LGBTQ+ people in society.

This LGBT+ History Month we are making our commitment to support and champion trans and bi staff and students that are often underrepresented and discriminated against both inside and outside the LGBTQ+ community.

So please do get involved wherever you can, by coming along to a film screening, a talk or LGBT+ History Month stall. The full programme of events can be found here.

We look forward to seeing you there, and happy LGBT+ History Month to all.
Shamima Akter
Students’ Union Vice-President Welfare

Sheila Gupta
VP People, Culture & Inclusion

Philippa Lloyd
Vice-Principal, Policy and Strategic Partnerships

The University of Cambridge is hosting the 7th annual Oxbridge Women in Computer Science conference on the 12th March 2020. This event is free and open to anyone in STEM, regardless of gender identity or career stage, and will have a keynote from Dr Hatice Gunes and an evening social dinner. There will also be contributed talks and a poster session, for which the abstract submission deadline is the 6th February 2020.

From the event page:

“The Oxbridge Women in Computer Science Conference is an annual conference that brings together junior and senior female computer scientists at Oxford and Cambridge*, encourages collaboration through formal and informal discussion, and provides a perfect opportunity for young researchers to present their research and get valuable feedback in an open, friendly and informal environment.”

*but is open to all UK universities.

For further details, please see the event page here.

The second annual conference of the Institute of Coding (IoC) will take place on 24-25 February 2020.

The conference will have a packed programme of sessions from employers and educators and the IoC is particularly pleased to share that one of the keynote speakers will be founder and CEO of the Stemettes, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, who will be discussing the importance of diversity in tech.

The title of the 2020 conference is ‘Thinking Differently’ and the theme is lifelong learning. The question that will be asked at the conference is how a new focus on lifelong learning would change the United Kingdom.

The IoC has announced the conference sessions will look at:

• Diversity of participation (diversity and inclusion)
• Diversity of delivery (place-based learning and personalisation)
• Diversity of destination (different outcomes for a wider variety of learners)

Full conference programme

Designed for a diverse audience, including policy makers, employers, educators and learners, the objectives of the conference are to:

1. Bring together high-profile speakers to find collaborative ways to address and respond to topics of national interest, including the digital skills gap and the need for better diversity and inclusion.
2. Create spaces and opportunities for debate in order to disrupt the traditional approach to digital skills higher education provision in the UK.
3. Share information and showcase the IoC’s recent work by providing concrete examples of our innovative delivery.

300 delegates attended the Institute’s inaugural conference last year. You can find out about some of the great work that the IoC and the consortium is doing via the videos, podcasts and presentations from the 2019 conference and via the school website.

Computer Weekly as created a round up of women in tech stories in 2019. Computer Weekly writes,

Despite efforts to increase the diversity in the technology industry, little progress has been made over the past decade. The percentage of women in the tech sector remains low at 16%, with many women still feeling a glass ceiling stands in the way of their tech industry success. While the annual Computer Weekly and Mortimer Spinks diversity in technology event focused on achieving inclusion to attract and retain diverse talent in firms, other advice for shifting towards a more diverse sector included building diversity into a firm from the top down, and ensuring those in the majority are acting as advocates and allies for others.

Read the full article: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252475444/Top-10-women-in-tech-and-diversity-in-tech-stories-of-2019

Application deadline: 27 January 2020. Application page: https://www.forwomeninscience.com/en/fellowships/563719035

The awards have been designed to provide flexible and practical financial support to ensure these women further their research and careers. With the flexible grant, winners may choose to spend their fellowship on buying scientific equipment, paying for childcare, travel costs or indeed whatever they need to continue their research. In addition to financial support, each year past and present fellows receive training and networking opportunities supported by L’Oréal.

In response to this poll and its own research undertaken with Deloitte, the Institute of Coding (IoC), a consortium of universities and employers whose mission is to develop the next generation of digital talent, has launched a new campaign CTRL Your Future. The campaign aims to shift the dial on diversity and inclusion in digital across the UK.

Events, inspiring panel workshops and short films will be rolled out over the next several months, promoting the diverse face of the industry, showing the creative opportunities that exist through emerging tech and calling for more young people to get involved.

CTRL Your Future will first partner with DIGI-GXL. Led by Cat Taylor, DIGI-GXL is an inclusive community supporting women, trans and non-binary people looking to reshape the world of 3D design and animation – seen through recent collaborations with Selfridges and Nike x Trippin.

Other partners will include London Gaymers, the UK’s biggest LGBTQ+ gamer community providing a safe and inclusive space for gamers and the STEMettes, the social enterprise inspiring young women to pursue a career in STEM, founded by Anne-Marie Imafidon.

Find out more about CTRL Your Future campaign and the background to the campaign launch.

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03784-x

Last month, top scientific journal Nature made a commitment within its code of conduct to make its conferences more inclusive, as part of a wider move across the journal to promote diversity. This follows studies within Nature which have shown that women, for example, are underrepresented within Nature authors and referees. New policies within the code include having equal numbers of men and women as invited speakers and no all-male panels, or ‘manels’. 

“The code commits us to having no male-only organizing committees for Nature Conferences planned from this point. We will invite equal numbers of women and men as speakers, whether we’re selecting for keynote presentations or from abstract submissions. We also commit to having no manels at our events, and to monitor and report progress against these goals at the end of each calendar year.”

Nature also aims to support diversity more broadly and change its code of conduct over time to do this explicitly.

This conference will be held in Central London to promote women in STEM subjects. The welcome address is by Dr Hayaatun Silem, CEO, Royal Academy of Engineering. The full program is available here.

From the conference website:

The Women in STEM Conference 2020 will offer a leading platform to assess the next steps for employers and education providers to support the recruitment, retention and advancement of Women in STEM.