Today (Friday 8 March) is International Women’s Day, and the 2019 campaign theme of #BalanceforBetter is a call-to-action for driving gender balance across the world.
To celebrate, we’re highlighting students, staff and alumnae whose work and drive for balance make them our chosen #IWD2019 superheroes.
Much of Dr Cheryl Metcalf‘s work is focused on interactions between engineering and health through technology innovation. In addition to teaching and research in Health Sciences Dr Metcalf is also Associate Director of Enterprise within our Faculty of Environmental & Life Sciences.
Why is gender balance in the workplace important to you?
“Men and women bring different perspectives to research, as in everything else. I work across various disciplines and I find that the more variety of perspectives in a team, the better the ideas.”
As well as being Dean of the Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, Professor Rachel Mills is a deep-sea oceanographer who has led research expeditions using submersibles and remotely operated vehicles to remote and unexplored parts of the ocean.
How can we promote gender-balance in the workplace?
“Ensuring we have gender balance every time we set up a panel of speakers, examiners or reviewers is hugely important to all involved. It is particularly important to signal to the next generation that gender is not a barrier to success and that women can succeed and still maintain a work-life balance.”
Law student, Avila Chidume, is hoping to overcome stereotypes and change the world’s perceptions – one greeting card at a time with her brand ‘Avila Diana’. Avila has created a range of greetings cards featuring her own original artwork, depicting marginalised groups including those with disabilities, identifying as LGBT+, ethnic minorities or problems with mental health.
How important is gender balance to you, particularly in your passion for human rights as well as referencing your greeting cards?
“Female leaders continue to prove time and time again that they are just as capable as their male counterparts, they are capable of identifying and tackling issues which may be disregarded generally but greatly impact half the world’s population. They are the reason that girls and women, such as myself, are capable of receiving education and going onto to become business owners or lawyers because they have fought and continue to fight for our rights to live as we want to.”
Read the full interviews and find out their dream superpowers.
See them transform into superheroes via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Our Student Comms Team will also be sharing some amazing student stories throughout International Women’s Day on their Facebook page and Snapchat (add:unisouthampton), follow the pages to find out more.
Discover more extraordinary #UoSWomen here and share your inspirational stories using #UoSWomen.
