Throughout March, we will be celebrating Women's History Month, raising awareness of the contribution’s women have made to events through history and society. As well as Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day (IWD) will take place on Friday 8 March. IWD marks the importance of acknowledging the achievements of women whilst raising awareness about discrimination and gender inequality and this year’s theme is #inspireinclusion.
March will give us an opportunity to reflect, celebrate, and honour the remarkable achievements and contributions of women throughout history. As a University, we’re very lucky to have such a rich history of supporting women’s rights and suffrage, and we’re very proud that Emily Wilding Davison was a former student at Royal Holloway and Bedford College.
We will be celebrating by hosting several events, including a talk on what learnings we can take from Audre Lorde, and discussing women in academia - as Professor Margaret Watson discusses her new book. The Students’ Union will also be holding their own events throughout March, and invite you to join them in celebrating extraordinary women who have shaped our past, present and future.
Let's celebrate diversity, promote inclusion, and empower each other to create a world where all women can thrive.
We look forward to seeing you in March!
The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team
Events
Organised by Women in Cognitive Science - Europe, this event aims to showcase women who have been working to promote equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within cognitive science, and who can share with the audience some specific actions they have been leading. We thus hope to inspire and empower the audience to replicate similar actions within their research areas/countries/departments and help promote EDI more widely.
Our inspiring panel from different countries and career stages, will discuss actions to promote EDI at various levels, from departmental, to institutional, to international:
- Professor Mª Carmen Herrera – Vice-Dean of Students and Equality
Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Spain
Cognitive Science Department (DEC), Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS), Paris, France
- Professor Marisa Matias – Active member of the EU funded RESET project (Redesigning Equality and Scientific Excellence Together)
Faculty of Psychology, University of Porto, Portugal
- Professor Željka Krsnik – Chair of the ALBA Network, a global network of neuroscientists committed to promoting equity and diversity in the brain sciences
Croatian Institute for Brain Research, University of Zagreb, Croatia
The talks will be followed by a Q&A, and you can sign up here.
Each month the Gender Institute showcases the gender research of one of its members. In March our Scholar is Dr Amber Lascelles and her speaker session on Thursday 14th March at 1pm via Teams: “Learning from Audre Lorde: Embodied solidarities in contemporary Black Women's fiction".
To celebrate International Women’s Day, the Psychology Department and Gender Institute invite you to join them to hear Professor Margaret C. Watson discuss her new book, “Women in Academia”, taking place at the Shilling Lecture Theatre on our Egham campus.
The book integrates the literature with the experience of the author and of 25 scholars interviewed, and provides a range of practical suggestions, and resources, that can support successful careers. Chaired by Professor Amina Memon (who was interviewed for the book), the talk will be followed by a Q&A, as well as refreshments and time for informal discussion and networking. Please register here.
Get to Know
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Dr Shzr Ee Tan, Vice Dean (EDI) for the School of Performing and Digital Arts
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Professor Anica Zeyen, Vice Dean (EDI) for the School of Business and Management
Research Stories
To celebrate Women's History Month, we will be sharing the research of academics across our University which is linked to the experiences of women both past and present.
Dr Dilara Scholz - a shared community of grief for Victorian women
Dr Dolara Scholz shares her research on the shared community of grief for Victorian Women
Find out more
Women's History Month research - Teaching Medieval Women
Professor Jonathan Phillips, explains the importance of a collaborative project between several academics and teachers.
Find out more
More Opportunities
The SU has its own calendar of events over the coming month which can be found on t
heir campaigns page on their website. Please do check out their amazing events!
Our Equality groups are open to both students and staff, and we are always looking for new student members to join, to understand concerns across a range of diverse lived experiences. These groups are responsible for identifying University-wide inclusion issues in these four areas, and creating actions for Strategy Working Groups to address them in an intersectional manner. All groups meet once a term.
If you are interested in joining, please email equality@rhul.ac.uk.
In 2023 Royal Holloway received a Gold Award, recognising activity and support for trans and bisexual inclusion, supporting two of the most marginalised groups within the LGBT+ community. You can read more about our LGBT+ equality activities and network here.
