Women's Views on News |
| New project: a year of dangerous women Posted: 25 Feb 2016 09:30 AM PST
The idea that women are dangerous individually or collectively permeates many historical periods, cultures and areas of contemporary life – despite, and in some instances in response to, explicitly feminist movements. We may take lightly the label attached by mainstream media outlets to women such as Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty or Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as being 'the most dangerous woman in the UK' but behind this label lies a serious set of questions about the dynamics, conflicts, identities and power relations with which women live today. The Dangerous Women Project will be publishing 365 responses to those questions on a specially designed website linking International Women's Day 2016 with International Women's Day 2017. Each daily Dangerous Women Project post will explore, examine or critique the 'Dangerous Women' theme by inviting reflections from women of diverse backgrounds and identities, including poets, playwrights and other creative writers, academics, journalists, commentators, artists, performers and opinion formers, and indeed anyone with an angle on the theme. The project is being developed at the University of Edinburgh's Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH). The IASH supports open dialogue between the Fellows who visit the university as part of its various programmes, colleagues in academic schools and departments in Edinburgh and elsewhere, and wider civil society, and provides an international, interdisciplinary and autonomous space for discussion and debate. You can add your voice to the Dangerous Women Project. The project is looking for high quality reflections and creative responses to the question 'What does it mean to be a dangerous woman?' Write about historical figures famous or forgotten, a biography or memoir, shine a spotlight on a contemporary issue or event, spin a fiction that is uncomfortably close to the truth, or cut to the chase with research or analysis as sharp as a scalpel. The project is particularly interested in posts with the potential for provoking discussion, and we highly encourage submissions from under-represented, marginalised or otherwise silenced voices. All submissions to the Dangerous Women Project (DWP) will be assessed for suitability and relevance by the IASH’s director and staff, with guidance from a wider Consultation Group from academic staff from The University of Edinburgh. The Consultation Group membership comprises: Mary Bownes, Professor Emerita of Development Biology and Vice-Principal Community Development; Penny Fielding, Grierson Chair of English Literature; Suzanne Ewing, Senior Lecturer in Architectural Design and Theory; Lesley McAra, Chair of Penology and Assistant Principal Community Relations; Fiona Mackay, Professor of Politics and Dean & Head of School of Social and Political Sciences; and Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic and Inter-Religious Studies and Assistant Principal Religion and Society. Please read the submissions page for information on how to submit your contribution. The material will be curated carefully, respectful of the different voices raised and positions articulated. The Dangerous Women Project aims to raise some challenging questions about the nature of our societies in the past and in the future, provoke controversy and raise new questions. You can follow the project on Twitter @DangerousWomen.  |
| Pledge for international women’s day Posted: 25 Feb 2016 09:00 AM PST
The International Women’s Day (IWD) campaign theme for 2016 is to #PledgeForParity. Worldwide, women continue to contribute to social, economic, cultural and political achievement, and we have much to celebrate today. But progress towards gender parity has slowed in many places. The World Economic Forum predicted in 2014 that it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity. Then one year later, in 2015, they estimated that a slowdown in the already glacial pace of progress meant the gender gap would not close entirely until 2133. So how do we want to celebrate International Women’s Day 2016? We say by Pledging For Parity! Everyone – men and women – can pledge to take a concrete step to help achieve gender parity more quickly – whether to help women and girls achieve their ambitions, call for gender-balanced leadership, respect and value difference, develop more inclusive and flexible cultures or root out workplace bias. Each of us can be a leader within our own spheres of influence and commit to take pragmatic action to accelerate gender parity. Globally, with individuals pledging to move from talk to purposeful action – and with men and women joining forces – we can collectively help women advance equal to their numbers and realise the limitless potential they offer economies the world over. We have urgent work to do. Are you ready to accelerate gender parity? We need you to pledge to: Help women and girls achieve their ambitions: The most important determinant of a country’s competitiveness is its human talent via the skills and productivity of its workforce. Organisations must illuminate the path to leadership, showing women the career and advancement opportunities that match their skills and professional objectives and provide the experiences necessary to fulfil their potential. Individuals can commit to advocating for themselves, and when appropriate, becoming effective role models and sponsors of women to help them achieve their goals. Challenge conscious and unconscious bias: Studies show that gender-balanced organisations and teams deliver stronger results, and that inclusive societies are more progressive, but ingrained bias slows the progress of equality. Organisations must build cultures where all people feel valued and included and can contribute fully according to their capabilities. Individuals can commit to learning about their own biases, adjusting their behaviour as needed and welcoming different experiences and points of view. Call for gender-balanced leadership: Companies with women board members outperform in return on equity, net income growth and price-to-book value as well as a host of non-financial measures. Organisations must ensure women are exposed to strategic operations and functions to gain the experience needed for senior positions and set measurable targets for appointing women to leadership. Individuals can show potential or current employers that they value and expect gender-balanced leadership. They should seek out leadership, sponsorship and mentoring programs, exposure to strategic and financial roles and integrated networks designed to help women advance. Value women and men’s contributions equally: Raising the female labour force participation rate to match that of men will have a positive impact on GDP in both developed and developing economies. Organisations must ensure all their talent processes are equitable, fair and that they further their gender parity and diversity objectives. Individuals can seek out perspectives different from their own, prioritise building diverse teams and engage in mixed networks that build trusted relationships. Create inclusive, flexible cultures: After competitive pay and benefits, workers in eight countries rank working flexibly and still being on track for promotion as what they value most in a potential job. Organisations should recognise that lines between career and personal lives are becoming more fluid. They should create progressive policies like flexible working that allow everyone – regardless of age, gender, rank or geography – to manage their personal and professional lives and realise their ambitions. Individuals can create trusting, team-oriented work environments by encouraging flexible working supporting choice about the times, places and ways work gets done. International Women’s Day – March 8 – is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. International Women’s Day has been observed since in the early 1900s – a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialised world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies. Now is a time of change too. Join us. Join in.  |
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