Nominations are being sought for a new publication of women’s stories across the University that hopes to share knowledge and inspire female staff.
What makes a successful woman at Cambridge? How should we judge success? And who would you nominate as a role model?
These are questions that the Senior Gender Equality Network are putting to the wider University as part of a project to launch a publication and website that promotes women achievers at the University.
The project, supported by funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, will seek to highlight and explore different meanings of success and excellence. It is intended to inspire a wide range of women to pursue their ambitions and achieve their potential within Cambridge, and will actively seek to represent women from all staff groups and across all parts of the University.
Professor Dame Athene Donald, Gender Equality Champion at the University, said the project hoped to select a wide range of women who will reflect a broad and rich notion of success and achievement. “The aim is that the various narratives will offer insights and stimulate questions about what success means to different people. Women will also be able to pass on the lessons they have learnt along the way to colleagues who are trying to navigate their own careers,” she said.
In the first instance, nominated women will receive an emailed set of questions that will encourage them to focus on their particular achievements, their particular story. Then a process of selection will identify a range of women who will be interviewed in person to further explore their personal or professional stories.
The end result will be a combination of short stories and longer narratives from successful women at Cambridge, combined with observations about emergent themes.