Tag: International Womens Day

International Women’s Day 2024-Bessie Watson

My honour to open the Bessie Watson Lecture room on International Women’s day.  Beautiful ribbons in green, white, purple and red!  Not yet 100 years. Thank you to Lauren Johnston-Smith Lesley Greer, Katie Grieve Karen Howie Ellen Groen, Susanne Knowles for organising and Gillian Kidd for the fabulous artwork. These women have got the skills we value.

This is now becoming a theme for us to name rooms on-campus after inspirational women. There are so many rooms, buildings and roads named after men in this university it is great to be able to add some women’s names in there too.

We are featuring Bessie as the woman were are naming for today, but we have previously named Brenda Moon, Irene Young, Mary Somerville, Grace Hopper, Eleanor Ormerod, Marjorie Rackstraw, Annie Hutton Numbers, Xia Peisu and Charlotte Murchison

Bessie was born nearby, in the Vennel, which is now a very popular Instagram-able spot with great views up to the castle. She is famous for being a bag-pipe playing suffragette, but she’s also an alumna of Edinburgh. She studied French here and went on to a career as a music teacher and a modern languages teacher at Broughton High school, She married and lived  in Trinity and everyday for the rest of her life she played bagpipes at 11 am, which her neighbours obviously appreciated.  She died at 92.

But before that, when she was wee, played the bagpipes from a very young age. Her parents got her playing in the hope that it would strengthen her lungs against tuberculosis- an early example of proscribe culture.

Bessie and her mother were members of the Women’s Social and Political Union and that’s how she got her most famous gigs. She was invited to play the pipes in the famous procession down Princes Street, in 1909 she was 9. She also played lead the Scottish contingent at the Great Suffragette pageant in London in 1911. The procession was 5 miles long.

Those of you who study the history of the suffrage marches will know that they were difficult to organise because people had different ideas about who should go first and in what order, and which groups were more established, and in America, whether white and black women would march together or separately

In Edinburgh they decided to avoid all that and march in alphabetical order. Christabel Pankhurst was the star speaker at the march and afterwards she gave Bessie a brooch to commemorate the occasion- it was a brooch depicting queen Boudica,

Bessie continued to be actively involved in suffrage, wearing purple, green and white hair ribbons to school. And she piped outside Calton Gaol to raise the spirits of the suffragettes imprisoned there, who were being force-fed. The women were on hunger strike, and force-feeding of women at Calton jail started in February 1914, so around 110 years ago. Most of the force-feeding actually went on in Dundee and in London and She played the pipes on the platform of Waverley station as trains carrying convicted suffragettes departed to Holloway Prison in London.

It’s worth remembering that some of the convictions were for destroying property, damaging paintings of the King, blowing things up, it is hard to know how the campaign would have progressed were it not for the start of the First World War. One of the places they attempted to blow up was the royal observatory up near our campus at King’s Buildings. You can still see part of the bomb in the visitor centre.

Edinburgh University has connections to a number of Suffragettes, and a few years ago for the vote 100 campaign, colleagues and students worked together to create a histropedia timeline on Wikipedia,

The suffragettes and suffragists were campaigning for women’s rights, sex-based rights, struggling to get the right to do things like vote, access to education, the right have a bank account,  ability to get a mortgage in your own name , to not have to leave your job when you got married.

The right for all women to vote was not secured in the UK until 1928.  So we are not yet at 100 years.

The Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 It is sometimes referred to as the Fifth Reform Act.[2][3] The 1928 Act widened suffrage by giving women electoral equality with men. It gave the vote to all women over 21 years old, regardless of property ownership. Prior to this act only women over 30 who met minimum property qualifications could vote.

About 30% of my current staff in LTW are under 30, so the women in our office wouldn’t have been able to vote.

This was Tory reform and one of the reasons that Bessie later gave her Boudica brooch to Margaret Thatcher, the first woman to become Prime Minister. Some of those rights were still not in place until well into the 1970s, and still are not in many countries in the world.

I am privileged to have grown up in a time when I was able to go to university, get a job and pay my own mortgage. It wasn’t until the sex discrimination act 1975 after that banks were required to treat women equally and women were able to get mortgages in their own name without a male guarantor. Still women suffer a structural pay gap.  there is no English region where a single woman on median earnings can afford to rent or buy an averagely priced house.

But now we are allowed to have an education, and we can work in universities and so we do.  This year for the first time, LTW is equally filled with men and women and the pay gap is as small as I can possibly get it.

Our Learning Spaces teams teams’ fit out these rooms, and all the other central teaching spaces on campus- that’s 400 rooms, which a combined collection of around 10,000 pieces of kit.

if you were here last year, I made a tenuous connection between Charlotte’s work finding fossils in chalk cliff and classroom chalk,

This year I am going to make a similarly tenuous connection between playing the bagpipes and being heard.

Microphones and catch boxes.  Not only that presenter should be their microphones, but that students should not be shy in requesting a microphone if they want to speak, we have catch boxes available in every room and they are for students to use. Let your voice be heard.

 

International Womens Day 2024

This year we will be naming of the Bessie Watson Lecture Theatre in the Outreach Centre, Holyrood Campus on International Women’s Day 2024.

Please join me  from 9.15-10.15 a.m. on Friday 8th March to honour Bessie Watson (1900-1992), Scotland’s youngest suffragette.

Bessie marched and played the bagpipes for the Women’s Social and Political Union in the early 20th century, aged just nine. She continued to be involved in the suffrage movement throughout her childhood, piping outside Calton Jail to raise the morale of the imprisoned women. She went on to study French at the University of Edinburgh, and had a career teaching violin and modern languages across the city.

 

 

We will also be editing Wikipedia.  to help write women onto Wikipedia as part of IWD 2024.

“Women in Red” – a Wikipedia editathon will celebrate the lives and contributions of all the inspiring women of Scotland (and around the world) missing from the world’s go-to site for information.

This event will focus on the women activists, past and present, who have campaigned for women’s rights, education, universal suffrage and global justice around the world.

Where and when – Friday 9th March, 1pm-4.30pm in Digital Scholarship Centre, Main Library

Book your spot via Eventbrite here.

International Womens Day 2023

ribbon cutting action shot

IWD2023 is shaping up well for me so far.

We will be be naming a lecture theatre after an inspirational but overlooked woman of science- Charlotte Murchison

The book ‘Dangerous Women’ will be published in the USA

My article has been published in the JPAAP special edition Vol. 11 No. 1 (2023): Special Issue on Breaking the Gender Bias in Academia and Academic Practice https://jpaap.ac.uk/JPAAP/issue/view/34

I am also giving a talk for edtech company Instructure (the people who have sold us our new badging system) about:

“Empowerment through Education: Discussing the importance of education in empowering women and girls.”

so I’d better get some thinking about that.

IWD began in 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. A year later, the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Woman’s Day.

It is lovely to see so many activities across ISG to celebrate International Women’s Day this year as every year. It has been a real team effort to raise awareness, thank you.

International Women’s Day has become a date to celebrate how far women have come in society, in politics and in economics, while we are in the  middle of a sustained period of industrial action in this university  strikes and protests  and events are organised on campus to raise awareness of continued inequality. Striking ( collective bargaining by Beatrice Webb economist , founder of LSE)

The first theme adopted by the UN (in 1996) was “Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future”.The UN’s theme for 2023 is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. This theme aims to recognise and celebrate the contribution women and girls are making to technology and online education.

Some of you may have heard me before going on about the pay gap  ( big) and the pensions gap ( twice as big) . There is also a digital  gap  and the UN estimates that women’s lack of access to the online world will cause a $1.5 trillion loss to gross domestic product of low and middle-income countries by 2025 if action isn’t taken.

Advancements in digital technology offer immense opportunities to address development and humanitarian challenges, and to achieve the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals. Unfortunately, the opportunities of the digital revolution also present a risk of perpetuating existing patterns of gender inequality. Growing inequalities are becoming increasingly evident in the context of digital skills and access to technologies, with women being left behind as the result of this digital gender divide. The need for inclusive and transformative technology and digital education is therefore crucial for a sustainable future.

Digital literacy has become almost as important as traditional literacy.

Over 90% of jobs worldwide already have a digital component* and most jobs will soon require sophisticated digital skills. If we equip girls with digital skills through prioritising education in IT subjects,  girls will thrive in places  where digital skills are prized. This is already true.

We can strive to highlight the ways in which the work we do goes someway to addressing inequality and achieving the UNSDGs. Technology and digital education can increase the awareness of women and girls regarding their rights and civic engagement as well as offering careers for those with a range of digital skills.

In Scotland there is still a significant gap in IT education in schools. The recent report from the British Computing Society “Landscape Review: Computing Qualifications in the UK” found that in all UK nations, computer science subjects are the least popular amongst the sciences and male-female balance in class is often six to one.

  • girls are outnumbered six to one by boys in computer science classes across the UK.
  • women  who do choose computing,  outperform their male counterparts on average.

Participation in computer science in Scotland had been falling steadily over recent years but happily increased in 2021, possibly down to the growing popularity of new digitally focused areas of the curriculum, the higher profile of hybrid working and the good work EDINA have done to embed data science in so many schools. When fewer than 20% of the people working in the tech sector in Scotland are women, we must be vigilant to ensure that the kinds of work we do here in ISG is open to all.

“The Digimap for Schools service enables students to develop fundamental digital and data skills as well as increasing teacher confidence through the provision of valuable resources, lesson plans and ideas. Together with EDINA, we are confident that eligible schools will benefit greatly from free use of Digimap for Schools and the many associated learning resources.”

The Scottish Government has included digital technology as one of the six key sectors in which Scotland has a ‘distinct competitive advantage’. With low numbers of women working and girls studying to be in the sector, this competitive advantage is at risk.

Universities are big employers. University of Edinburgh is one of the largest tech employers in Scotland.

On the upside, in both the HE and IT sectors there are national pressures from policy organisations to increase the numbers of women in senior and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) roles. Highly qualified women are likely to be in high demand, and employers who offer visible support for inclusion will reap rewards in recruitment. You can find us on Women in Tech jobs board.

International Womens Day 2023 -Charlotte Murchison

Murchison-Charlotte-1860 We have named the lecture theatre in Murchison House, ‘ The Charlotte Murchison Lecture Theatre’.  We will have its celebratory opening on International Women’s Day 2023. This will follow nicely from other rooms at Kings Buildings which we have named for Mary Somerville and Xia Peisu.

It is from Mary Somerville’s writing that we know something of Charlotte

“an amiable accomplished woman, [who] drew prettily and – what was rare at the time – she had studied science, especially geology, and it was chiefly owing to her example that her husband turned his mind to those pursuits in which he afterwards obtained such distinction.”[1]

if you will indulge me:

IWD

Did you know that IWD began with a strike by the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU)? It was originally called “International Working Women’s Day“, its purpose was to give laboring women a focusing point in their struggle for fair working conditions and pay.  ‘International’ in this context may have meant ‘immigrant’ international ladies, rather than being an international union.

My great grandma Sadie was a member of ILGWU.  A Jewish woman working in dangerous factory conditions as a garment worker in New York.

15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote.

It was first celebrated internationally in 1911. The centenary was celebrated in 2011, so this year we’re celebrating the 111th International Women’s Day.

International Women’s Day has become a date to celebrate how far women have come in society, in politics and in economics, while we are in the  middle of a sustained period of industrial action in this university  strikes and protests  and events are organised on campus to raise awareness of continued inequality. Striking ( collective bargaining by Beatrice Webb)

The first theme adopted by the UN (in 1996) was “Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future”.

The UN’s theme for 2023 is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. This theme aims to recognise and celebrate the contribution women and girls are making to technology and online education.

Some of you may have heard me before going on about the pay gap and the pensions gap. There is also a digital gender gap  and the UN estimates that women’s lack of access to the online world will cause a $1.5 trillion dollar loss to gross domestic product of low and middle-income countries by 2025 if action isn’t taken.

Naming lecture theatres

This year’s IWD theme is #embraceequity, emphasizing the need to challenge gender bias and inequality to create a more inclusive world for all. Charlotte chose to challenge the fact that Charles Lyell did not allow women to attend his Geology lectures. She and her friend Mary Somerville would repeatedly turn up to his lectures and ask to be let in. Eventually he relented and his lectures became a little bit more inclusive after all.

Charlotte Rocks

Charlotte Murchison, Lady Murchison (née Hugonin; 18 April 1788 – 9 February 1869) was a British geologist who traveled widely with her husband Roderick. She was the daughter of a botanist and she was the one who had the passion for science, he was primarily interested in horseriding and fox hunting, but she managed to get him to see this as fun way to spend time and travel with friends.

Charlotte developed a significant collection of fossils during  their travels, and created geological sketches of important features.

She  knew the importance of social networks, she hosted gatherings and parties ( scientific salons), inviting many of the  scientists of the time. She was friends with Mary Somerville, Benjamin Disraeli, William and Mary Buckland, Charles and Mary Lyell, Humphrey Davy and Mary Anning.

What I know of the Bucklands, parties at their house in Oxford would have been quite the thing, as they were Zoophagists – they ate their way through an entire zoological and natural history collection.

The reason we are naming a lecture theatre: In addition to the obvious reasons for celebrating the history of women in scince and having visible role models for our students. She was keen to access higher education and when Lyell initially refused to let women attend his geology lectures ( at Kings College London) Charlotte and Mary Somerville were part of the crowd who turned up to gain entrance. Her lobbying resulted in his change of mind and women were allowed in. This was in 1831. Although Lyell allowed them in, Kings banned them again the following year, and Lyell resigned.

This was not a bad-natured interaction, they were close friends, infact Lyell and the Murchisons travelled together. In 1828 they travelled around Europe. We can find in the Murchison and Lyell papers  information about how they conducted their research as a team.   They divided up the tasks in order to be more productive. Lyell and Roderick Murchison decided about routes and research topics and travelled long distances walking and climbing, taking stratigraphical sections and correlations of structures. Charlotte did most of the time-consuming fossil-hunting, sketching of landscapes and geological structures and, since she spoke French, engaged with local experts. Her fluency in languages and skills in drawing undoubtedly contibuted to the success of her husbands research. (Similar stories for Mary Buckland and Mary Lyell) Like Somerville, she lived to old age, died at 80.

Her work on fossils attracted acclaim and a find in Portree, Isle of Skye in Scotland  inspired Ammonites murchinsoniae to be named in her honor. James Sowerby  named the ammonite after her, which seems only fair as she was the one who found it.

She is widely recognised now as a woman who made significant contribution to the study of geology and fossil hunting but was overlooked in her own time .

Charlotte’s important fossil collection appeared in  William Fitton’s  ‘Strata Below the Chalk’ showing how areas of the earth had been sea, then lake or river, then sea again.

Tenuous link to talking about chalk.

The learning technology teams at University of Edinburgh look after learning spaces and teaching rooms across all our campuses. Information about all centrally managed teaching spaces supported by Learning Spaces Technology. Choose “Room details” to get more detail https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/computing/audio-visual-multi-media/teaching-spaces/teaching-spaces

The room we are naming is in the Murchison Building on the Kings Buildings campus. Kings Buildings is a campus which is rapidly changing. Our most recent big fit out is the new Nucleus building. It is a huge new space. All the lecture theatres are named after trees.

Although we fit a lot of digital technology in teaching spaces now, one of the most poular tools is still the good old chalk board.

The Nucleus Building has five state of the art lecture theatres which offer a variety of teaching styles from traditional 400 seat “eyes front” to collaborative 300 seat “turn & learn” spaces, all equipped with enhanced audio-visual equipment. And nearly 90 sq meters of chalk board writing surface.  Once fitted, easy to maintain, no need for a user guide, lasts for years. probably our most sustainable, lowest impact learning technology tools.

Writing surfaces like chalk boards slow the pace of teaching with speaking and explaining at the speed of writing.  It also keep the lights on, using a chalkboard means the lights in the classroom have to be up.  It’s when the lights go down and the lecture theatre becomes more like a cinema that students start to fall asleep.

Thank you for coming, thank you to the teams in Learning Spaces Teachnology and graphic design ( Lesley Greer and Julie Freeman)  and all the team who help me in getting this done.

Just to return to the fact that The UN’s theme for 2023 is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”.

this requires gender-responsive approach to innovation, technology and digital education which raises  awareness of women and girls regarding their rights and civic engagement and access to education

even as we talk about the university’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals the opportunities of the digital revolution  risk perpetuating existing patterns of gender inequality.  inclusive and transformative technology and digital education is  crucial for a sustainable future.

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/iwd-2021-geologist-charlotte-murchison

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2258592-ammonite-review-heres-the-true-story-of-palaeontologist-mary-anning/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249552095_The_geological_travels_of_Charles_Lyell_Charlotte_Murchison_and_Roderick_Impey_Murchison_in_France_and_northern_Italy_1828

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24136821

https://www.teesdalemercury.co.uk/features/explorer-and-geologist-owed-it-all-to-his-less-famous-wife

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-64723201

Dangerous women

contents page of the book
cover of the book

I am very chuffed to see the publication of this book. Please buy it for all your friends.

It’s been a long time coming. In it I explain why dangerous women edit Wikipedia.

The book is a collection of fifty reflections on power and identity.   The delay has meant that it has arrived at just the time I am reflecting on my power and identity as well as  on being fifty.

I am especially chuffed to find that I am on the first page of contents, on the same page as the First Minister.  I doubt there’s any specific power which flows from that proximity, but it is nice to be identified as a dangerous women alongside so many others.

I’ll be presenting again, on International Women’s Day. This time I’ll be in the online line-up up at University of Highlands and Islands.

 

International Women’s Day 2021

As is now traditional I did some wikipedia editing, and also had some fun with AI animation.

The original weather girl:

And the woman for whom the word ‘scientist’ was invented.

International Women’s Day 2020

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This is the second time I’ve been on strike across International Women’s Day. The UCU strike action two years ago was at the same time of year.

That year, while we were on strike we were also hit by the ‘Beast from the East’ -unprecedented snow.  This year we are hit by Coronovirus and the University is hurriedly making preparations ( but not reparations obv.).

The snow and the virus are acts of G_D and can be seen as business continuity incidents. The impact of both can be mitigated by use of learning technology.

If you are wondering why your university is slow to publish guidance on using tech for remote teaching and working from home. It may be because some of the professional expert teams are on strike.

The strike is not about short term things, it is about long term things and these are things worth recognising on IWD. The lack of equality at the University of Edinburgh is real. The pay gaps are real: gender (16.7%) and race (7.9%).

It is frustrating to not be able to come into work but we have gone for some digital celebrations, most of which do not require anyone to cross any picket lines.

To celebrate International Women’s Day on 8th March 2020, events and activities are taking place across Information Services Group to celebrate women and their contributions to the University and beyond.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, a new training room at JCMB is being named after computer scientist and educator, Xia Peisu.

Xia Peisu (夏培肃) (1923 – 2014) has been hailed “the mother of computer science in China.” After graduating from The University of Edinburgh with a PhD in electrical engineering in 1950, she returned to China where she was recruited by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Xia eventually became a founding professor of the Academy’s Institute of Computing Technology and led the development of Model 107, China’s first locally designed general-purpose computer.

Throughout her long career, Xia made numerous contributions to the advancement of high-speed computers in China and helped establish both the Chinese Journal of Computers and the Journal of Computer Science and Technology. A devoted educator, she taught China’s first course in computer theory and mentored numerous students. In 2010, the China Computer Federation honoured Xia with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her pioneering work in China’s computer industry.

LinkedIn Learning playlist

The Digital Skills and Training team have compiled a LinkedIn Learning collection of International Women’s Day themed videos and courses. The collection includes videos in a wide range of topics, presented by women who are experts in their field, and will be available from Monday 24th February. To access this playlist, make sure you are logged in to LinkedIn Learning with your University account, and choose My Learning > From Your Organization > International Women’s Day 2020. Alternatively, you can view the collection at https://edin.ac/37Nhs1N.

In addition to this collection, you may also be interested in the following Learning Paths on LinkedIn Learning: Women Transforming Tech: Navigating Your Career and Women in Leadership.

For more about LinkedIn Learning, see www.ed.ac.uk/is/linkedinlearning

Digital Wall in the Main Library

The Main Library’s Digital Wall is showcasing images and videos of women who are shaping the University and those who have had a significant impact in their field. These range from content from our historic collections including L&UC digital images collections and videos have been curated from the Media Hopper media asset collection.

Visit the Main Library to see the Digital Wall, which will be live until the end of March 2020 as part of Women’s History Month.

Data-Driven Innovation – Women in Data campaign

The Data-Driven Innovation Women in Data campaign aims to showcase the rich landscape of women working with data science, technology and innovation across a diverse range of industries, fields and sectors in the City Region. From students to government ministers, chief executives to lab technicians, the campaign captures their achievements, careers and hopes for the future in our 60+ eclectic interviews.

Women in Data aims to show women and girls that others ‘just like them’ are thriving in these areas, including from atypical and ‘non-scientific’ backgrounds. The campaign sheds light on their stories and talents, and supports long-term, critical conversations about the ongoing journey to gender equality.

See the Data-Driven Innovation website for more information.

 

 

will I strike on International Women’s Day?

Sadie, Beatrice and Joanna. 3 generations of international women.

Will I be on strike for International Women’s Day?  Well yes, I’ll have to if the UCU action carries on as planned.

But I have some questions.  The UCU strikes are on chosen days. How and why were these chosen?  We don’t strike on Friday, but we do on Thursday.  International Women’s Day is not, presumably, a surprise to UCU. Why not chose that as a non-strike day so that we can attend our events? IWD has its origins in the women’s labour movement, but to commemorate it at our university events this year is to ‘betray it’? I wish my union had not put me in this situation.

A nearby ancient institution has already got itself in a tangle by linking E&D initiatives with the pensions strike * . I fear this is why we can’t have nice things.

For me IWD is part of a bigger picture, I understand that women are disproportionately hit by pension changes, but lets use this day to talk about that and the many other inequalities. I am pleased that my University supports IWD and that there are events to raise its profile for staff and students and I want to be part of it.

I am told that there are ‘lots’ of IWD events being held by academics off-campus so I can go to those (please send more details). Or I can go to the UCU march.

Academic colleagues are not the only people who hold, attend and value IWD events,  and academics colleagues are not the only people in UCU, and they are not the only people who work at the University.

I would encourage staff who are not on strike to organise, attend and enjoy the University IWD events. It’s a great way to show your support for IWD and a healthy attendance will help to ensure that we get to do them again next year.

Here’s the post I was going to post for International Women’s Day:

The Red Thread

Did you know that IWD began with a strike by the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU)? It was originally called “International Working Women’s Day“, its purpose was to give laboring women a focusing point in their struggle for fair working conditions and pay. This year International Women’s Day 2018  themes is #PressforProgress.

My great grandma Sadie was a member of ILGWU.  A Jewish woman working in dangerous factory conditions as a garment worker in New York.  My grandfather Stanley often complained later that he had missed out on jobs because his mother-in-law was ‘a communist’**. Occasionally I find ILGWU labels inside my vintage dresses. They are always well made. Here’s a picture of Sadie, and a picture of the ILGWU label in my dress today.

*St Andrews.

**Family lore is that she wasn’t actually a member of the Communist Party, but she voted for one, and that was enough to get her and her children on a list.

my week as an international open education woman

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It is a source of great pleasure for me that in recent years the celebrations of International Women’s Day have co-incided nicely with Open Education Week. This makes it easy for me to find authentic and useful things to do as my contribution.

This time last year I was visiting a number of tech partners in California and the theme was #makingithappen  This year the theme is #pledgeforparity and I’ve stayed at home.

I don’t find it difficult to see connections between feminism and open education movements. Both seek to give equality of access, challenge traditional structures and ways of doing things; and involve a diverse community of people in thinking about the greater good. Both also have outspoken advocates with strong opinions and sometimes end up arguing amongst themselves. Nonethless it’s been a fun week.

Saturday: A lovely day doing pleasant writing tasks at the Modern Scottish Women wikipedia editathon #artandfeminism. Working towards parity of coverage and parity of esteem with Jo, Gill, Sara and Mary.

Monday: I ate retro sweets with Charlie and Susie near our #OpenEducationWk display stand and attended the launch of Jo and Peta’s Dangerous Women Project to which I have contributed a blog post to be published later in the year.

Tuesday: On IWD2016 I spent some enjoyable time searching the digital archive of Spare Rib at the British Library to find images to use in my OER16 keynote. I was surprised to find that Spare Rib itself is not particularly well described in Wikipedia, so I spent some time on that too. I added a section on design to continue the #artandfeminism theme.

It seems to me that the big libraries are missing a trick if they are spending time making digitised collections open to the public and not taking a moment more to get a good article on the topic in Wikipedia. They probably need a Wikimedian in Residence.

Wednesday: While my teams were launching our new University of Edinburgh Open Educational Resources policy  to #OEPS in Stirling, I was presenting online in Croatia for Sandra. Our policy is largely based on one crafted by Rebecca for Leeds.

Thursday: I worked with Dominique, our ISG gender equality intern to refine once more our ISG gender equality plan and with Sonia, Yujia, Susan and Lauren to edit the ’embracing openness’ double page spread for our upcoming BITS magazine.

Friday: Today I am working from home, fortified by jam by Anne-Marie and coffee warmed by Maggie’s bespoke knitwear.  I see that all but one of the women artists we were editing on Saturday now have their own wikipedia page, and Lorna, Viv and Catherine are giving it a bit of welly in an ALT OER-SIG webinar to promote our April conference.

A good week’s work all.

my week as an international woman

IMG_2166
Picture taken at The Oakland Museum. No rights reserved by me.

I am spending much of International Womens Day this year on an international flight. I have been in California for a week  buzzing about at various meetings and gathering good ideas.

Last year on this day I wrote a blog post too.

This year at work, in my new role and new division I am involved in a new set of gender equality initiatives. I am the only female Director in Information Services, I am a mentor within the department and an Aurora role model for the Leadership Foundation.  Information Services is exploring approaches to using an Athena Swan-like framework to improve the working environment for all and my teams are working hard to figure out how we can usefully make it a success.

In the last few weeks we have carried out a staff survey in my division to gather feedback from colleagues. I am very pleased to say that despite having gone through a number of restructuring experiences and quite a bit of change, the majority of LTW staff say they are are satisfied with their jobs; receive appropriate praise and recognition; are treated with equality and respect and understand their role within the organisation.

In my new role I have been at pains to ensure that I do not send email to my staff outside of working hours. This is a deliberate attempt to send a signal that balancing work with family or home commitments is expected and ok.  When I travel I keep my wrist watch tuned to UK time to help me remember what time it is at home and to ensure that the experience of working for, or with, me is one based on mutual respect. I admit I have lapsed occasionally, mostly by mistake because the email conversation is interesting, so I apologise to my team leaders for that.

I feel like I am continuing to do my bit to ‘Make it Happen’. Do you?