Annual report 2008/2009

Andrea E. Russell, School of Chemistry

Andrea E. Russell, School of Chemistry 
The 2008-09 Academic year was a very active one for the WiSET group and as Chair I would like to start this report by thanking all the members of the Steering Group who made all of our activities possible and such a success.  In particular I would like to thank Gwyneth Skiller for her expert organisational skills in helping to arrange each of our activities and the regular Steering Group meetings.

Group structure/organisation

Of particular importance in the past year was getting greater representation on the Steering Group from across the Schools that represent the SET subjects.  To this end we were very pleased to welcome new representatives to the Steering Committee from ISVR, Mathematics, and the School of Biological Sciences, although in the latter case Roxanna’s transfer to Medicine means that we are still seeking a member from SOBS and volunteers are most welcome. Over the course of the year the Steering Group met almost monthly both to plan events and to discuss means of influencing University policy.

The group continued to have an open approach to membership and welcomed both female and male colleagues to attend all of our events.  The link with Theano was further strengthened by joint hosting of several events and by Pearl’s membership on the Steering Committee.

Aims for 2008/09

One aim for 2008/09 was to determine our level of involvement and the institutions commitment to the Athena Swan Awards Scheme.  We were instrumental in the University being awarded a Bronze award in 2006 and this was up for renewal in 2009.  The Athena Swan organisation had been encouraging the University to put forward individual Schools/Departments for Silver status and as a group we were divided in our opinions regarding the benefits of both the scheme and the strategy of attaining individual awards. In particular we were concerned by both the workload associated with completing the application and the divisive nature of one part of the University getting a Silver award, which may have let the University rest on it’s laurels when it came to spreading good practice further. After meeting with Kamaljit Kerridge-Poonia, the University’s Equal Opportunities Officer, we agreed to support the renewal application for the Bronze award and to work up an action plan that would enable subsequent Silver applications, if such submissions gained enough support at a later date.  The renewal of the Bronze award was confirmed at a ceremony in Birmingham on 29/9/2009.

A second aim for 2008/09 carried over from the 2007/09 academic year.  Philippa Reed, the 2007/08 Chair, had started a programme that targeted postdoctoral workers (both men and women) and other early career researchers, as they are now known, for career support, with the support of WiSET.  Carrying on from her activities in 2007/08 she hosted several further meetings that led to the launch of a mentoring scheme and action learning groups, both funded by Robert’s money.  The scheme appears to have been a great success, with mentees and mentors coming from a number of Schools. Please see Philippa’s report for further details. On behalf of WiSET, I’d like to thank Philippa for all of her efforts.

Events

Open Meeting: January 28, 2009

Prof. Philippa Reed hosted an Open meeting to launch the Early Career Researchers Mentoring Scheme (see above) and we combined this with the annual Open Meeting of WiSET.  This was very well attended by members of the University of both genders and enabled us to provide information on WiSET, its aims and planned activities for 2009, to quite a broad audience. 

I recommend that a similar event be held in January 2010, co-hosted by Theano and with the inclusion of a talk or other networking event to encourage attendance.

Audience with Debra Humphris: March 9, 2009

Prof. Debra Humphris, DVC at the University of Southampton, with responsibility for Education, joined us for an informal lunchtime meeting. The event was very well attended and Prof. Humphris shared with us her vision for a Women’s Day at the University to encourage greater participation by and recognition of Women in the University.  In particular she was interested in getting Women to volunteer to be on University committees and to participate more in the governance of the University.  The Athena Swan award was also discussed at length.

I recommend that we continue such an “audience with” series and seek to get either one of the other DVCs for 2009/10 or even the new Vice Chancellor.

Chair’s talk on career challenges: April 29, 2009

Following on from Philippa’s lead, I presented a talk on my career entitled, “The power of mentoring,” with particular emphasis on both notable mentors and "anti-mentors" I had worked with throughout my career.  Joint hosting of this event with Theano ensured a fairly good audience.

I recommend that we ask the current chairs to continue this “tradition” by sharing their career stories in a lunchtime talk in 2010.

Campbell Lecture: May 6, 2009

The 2009 Campbell Lecture was presented by Professor Jane Plant CBE DSc FRSE FRSM, Anglo American Professor of Geochemistry, Imperial College, London.  Jane described her career in the then male-dominated British Geological Survey (BGS) as the first woman to be appointed as a Scientific Officer rather than in a technical grade in 1967. She then explained how she went on to work on cataloguing other people’s scientific reports and performing routine X-ray fluorescence analysis on ground rock powders before embarking on a path that would see her become the Chief Geochemist and subsequently the Chief Scientist of the BGS.

The choice of Prof. Plant proved to be somewhat controversial, but I believe that we managed the situation very well and that the talk she presented was very well received, with emphasis on her career as a Geologist. The fact that there was such controversy over awarding the Lectureship to Prof. Plant, is evidence of the high regard in which the Campbell Lecture is now held across the University.  Attendance was at lower level than in previous years and the Steering Committee discussed changing the timing of the event, possibly moving it to start of Semester 2.

I recommend moving the Campbell Lecture to early February and that the nomination process be extended to seek formal nominations from Schools as well as the informal procedures of the Steering Committee, to reflect the perceived increased esteem of the Lecture.

First Annual University of Southampton Women’s Day: June 19, 2009

We supported the first University of Southampton’s Women’s Day by hosting an event entitled, “The leaky pipeline.” It was attended by 20 members of the University, representing both Professional Services and Academic Schools, with a particularly good turn out from iSolutions. We started with an ice breaking activity involving tennis balls and then broke into 3 teams to compete a ‘simple’ task of moving marbles from one end of the lawn to the next. This ‘physical’ exercise served both to get the women working together and help break down any barriers as well as serving as the metaphor for our later discussions.  We then returned to the meeting room to have an open discussion about any perceived barriers to the success of women at the University.  The resulting 3 take-home messages were conveyed to Prof. Humphris in a letter I sent to her following the event.

I recommend that we host another such networking activity, choosing a different theme if the Women’s day event is held again in 2010.  The event was very good publicity for WiSET and the unique style of the event compared to the others hosted on that day, gave it greater impact.

Summary

As evidenced by the report presented above, 2008/09 was quite a busy year for WiSET and given the long list of possible future events discussed at the Steering Group meetings throughout the year, I am sure that the events planned 2009/10 will easily top even this successful year.  I wish Pam and Catherine my best as they take over as joint Chairs for 2009/10.