International Women's Day 2022
Celebrate this year's International Women's Day with events on campus and elsewhere in York.
The theme for this year's International Women's Day, which takes place on Tuesday 8 March, is an opportunity to imagine a gender equal world, free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women's equality. Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.
Events
We've listed below events organised by the University or YUSU. You can also find details on our Equality and Diversity Events Calendar; subscribe to this calendar, or to individual events, and the details will be added to your calendar so you don't miss the events that you're interested in!
More events will be added below, so please check back. Some events will require booking - follow the links for more details.
Women Leading Innovation Business Event
Wednesday 2 March, 9am - 1pm
The Women Leading Innovation Business Event, run by the Product and Process Innovation (PAPI) project in partnership with Aspire2Lead, will be a celebration of women in business in Yorkshire.
The event will feature inspirational speakers and an interactive "power hour" session covering relevant topics and challenges being faced in the workplace.
Speakers include:
- Professor Kiran Trehan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Partnerships and Engagement, The University of York
- Kathryn Bumby, The Yorkshire Pasta Company
- Cherie Federico, Aesthetica Magazine
The Power Hour interactive session will include:
- Leading Innovation and Business Growth - how can we create more opportunities for women (Sunny Pahal, Innovate Eleven and Anna Hastie, Head of CPD, University of York)
- How to Encourage Ideas From Everyone - equality, inclusion and diversity in the workplace (Audrie Woodhouse, The Opportunity Centre)
- The Menopause and Maternity Leave Pension Minefield (Dawn Patrick, Yorkshire in Business and Alistair McQueen, Head of Savings and Retirement, Aviva).
Places for this event will be limited.
Climate feminism: what on earth is it?
Saturday 5 March, 1 - 2pm, online
Organised by Emily Beasley and colleagues from the Centre for Women's Studies, University of York
This event is an introduction to Climate Feminism, exploring what it is, why we need it and how feminism can be used to fight climate change. The session will also address climate feminism in relation to recent global events and will allow for an open discussion and a distribution of resources to awaken the feminist eco warrior within you.
Discussing trans politics in India: who has rights and who needs reservation?
Sunday 6 March, 10.30am - 12 noon, online
Collaboration between Trans Rights Now Collective and the Centre for Women’s Studies, University of York.
A panel discussion on trans rights, reservations and politics in India by trans and dalit rights activist Grace Banu, lawyer Kanmani Ray, and trans rights activist Negha Shahin, moderated by scholar and cultural practitioner, Aroh Akunth.
Her-story Treasure Hunt
Tuesday 8 March
The Conduct and Respect team are hosting a Her-story Treasure Hunt on International Women’s Day 2022.
Ten portraits of incredible women will be hidden around the University of York Heslington campus.
If you find one of our inspiring women, take a picture and post it on social media, tagging @uoy_svlo on Instagram, or @svlouoy on Twitter, and don’t forget to use #IWD2022. Each photo shared will act as an entry to win one of ten EatShopDrink vouchers up for grabs (one for each portrait found).
When all ten have been found, the University will be making a £300 donation from the Athena Swan fund to local service Kyra Women’s Project.
The making of a feminist library: talk with the artist Aqui Thami
Tuesday 8 March, 11am - 12noon, online
Organiser: Rupsa Nag, postgraduate student, Centre for Women’s Studies, University of York.
Aqui Thami is a Mumbai-based multidisciplinary artist, activist and academic. She is the founder of the Sister Library which is India's only feminist library. She will talk about her work with the Sister Library and how she uses social exchange and community interaction for healing. There will be some time for Q&A.
International Women's Day Panel Discussion: Break the Bias
Tuesday 8 March, 1pm - 2.30pm, online
Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. This International Women's Day, we've invited a distinguished panel to share their experiences on how they have been able to deal with bias over the course of their careers, and discuss how collectively we can #breakthebias.
Panellists include:
- Dr Nisreen Alwan, Associate Professor in Public Health at the University of Southampton and Honorary Consultant in Public Health at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
- Dr Margaret Ikpoh, GP Partner at Holderness Health, a practice for 36,000 patients in East Yorkshire, former Associate Director of Primary Care Education for Hull York Medical School, and NIHR Yorkshire and Humber research champion for early career and trainee GPs.
- Dr Kehinde Akin-Akinyosoye, Lecturer in Population Health, Hull York Medical School.
- Bwalya Bowden, PhD student in Medical Sciences, Hull York Medical School.
Breaking the Bias: Celebrating Women in CAMH
Tuesday 8 March, 1 - 2pm, online
The free event will celebrate this year's International Women's Day theme of #BreakTheBias and will celebrate women’s achievements in child and adolescent mental health (CAMH), and explore how gender bias affects CAMH professionals.
Year 4 MB BS student Gloria Cheung will be speaking at this event.
Gloria is currently working as a research affiliate at the Child Oriented Mental Health Intervention Centre (COMIC) at the University of York and has been appointed as Psych Star by RCPsych for the 2021-2022 academic year. She intercalated in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience MSc at the University of York and achieved distinction, and her research interest is around adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
Women researching Women: More than we seem
Tuesday 8 March, 1pm - 3.30pm
Agitated Air: Book Launch and Conversation
Tuesday 8 March, 6pm
BS/005, Bowland Auditorium, Berrick Saul Building, University of York, Campus West
Writers at York is honoured to host the extraordinary poet and translation Yasmine Seale (Arabian Nights; Aladdin) in conversation with University of York Writer in Residence Vahni Anthony Capildeo. Yasmine will reconstellate the voices of ancient women and explore the playful agitation of translation via correspondence. This is a unique glimpse into Yasmine's collaborative work (with Robin Moger) on the legendary Ibn Arabi. The conversation will include readings and the chance for a Q&A.
More details about this event can be found here.
Calibrating the Change: Respect, Resilience & Kindness
Wednesday 9 March
The 4th Annual Women in Research Network Conference 2022 is taking place on Wednesday 9 March. The conference is part of our University IWD celebrations and our theme is 'Calibrating the Change: Respect, Resilience & Kindness' The conference is supported by Professor Kiran Trehan and Professor Mathais Ruth and will include a workshop on Respect, Resilience & Kindness with trainer and coach Hannah Roberts, a talk from Dr Helen Niblock from EPSRC and a session on lived experiences from women researchers at different stages of their careers.
Let's Talk Menopause
Thursday 10 March, 2 - 3pm
Nicaraguan Women: Voices of Resistance to Authoritarianism
Thursday 10 March 2022, 6pm
ARC/014 Alan Maynard Auditorium, University of York AND online
As part of York International Women's Week, CAHR visiting fellow Mónica López Baltodano, a human rights and environmental lawyer, and film-maker Khristine Gillard will discuss the civic struggle against the construction of the Grand Interoceanic Canal in Nicaragua, and the social movements that united to resist authoritarianism. There will be a chance to see clips from Khristine's film "Les Minuscules" which features the voices of women from the peasant, student, and environmental movements.
Book your ticket for Voices of Resistance
Being a woman at University
Thursday 10 March, 7pm
SLB/007, Spring Lane Building, Campus West
Join us for a panel discussion featuring YUSU's Sports President, Activities Officer and Wellbeing Officer where we talk about their experiences of being a woman at university and being a woman in their roles within the Students' Union. We reflect on their struggles and successes and celebrate their achievements during their time as Sabbatical Officers.
Abortion is not a bad word
Wednesday 9 March, 10-11am
LMB/037X, Law and Management (LMB), Campus East.
Organiser: Lina López, of AbortionData.org and Centre for Women’s Studies, University of York
This session will explore the stigma of abortion, facilitated by a researcher from the AbortionData.org project. Participants will be presented with short statements about abortion in order to discuss collective understandings of abortion stigma. According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 3 women have an abortion and the diverse values attached to it can affect the ways women live their lives.
We welcome anyone interested in discussing these ideas openly & respectfully: this session is an invitation to reflect & discuss.
No need to book: just turn up.
Climate feminism? Explorations and reflections with your camera
Saturday 12 March, 10am - 11.30am online
Organiser: Kai Tsao, Equality and Diversity Office, University of York
This event facilitates auto-photography (a practice incorporating photo-taking and self-exploration) to explore individually and collectively what ‘climate feminism’ might mean. Before the workshop, you will receive a simple guideline to play with auto-photography in your own time and space. We will share images and stories to reflect upon ideas together and discuss what actions we envisage for climate justice. No expert skills needed, and a phone camera will do!
Menopause in the Workplace
Wednesday 16 March, 2 - 3pm, online
Professor Jo Brewis from The Open University will join us to present some important facts and figures about menopause, before moving on to explain the four cases for why employers need to take it seriously. The session will also cover how symptoms can make work more challenging, and close with a round up of what employers can do, as well as a review of which employers are acting in this space in the UK.
Professor Brewis has been researching and raising awareness around menopause as a workplace issue since January 2016. She is lead author on a 2017 government report on this subject and an independent panel member for Menopause Friendly Accreditation.
Who makes the decisions during childbirth and how?
Thursday 17 March, 6.30 - 7.30pm, online
Who makes the decisions during labour and birth and how do they do it? This online event showcases findings from new research on this question. Conversation analysis (CA) of real-time video and audio recordings of labour and birth shows how interactions between women in labour, midwives and birth partners take place in midwife-led units. Join Dr Clare Jackson from the University of York and the Study Team to find out more about the research findings and discuss how decisions get made and why the detail of talk during birth matters.
A Celebration of Women in Computer Science
Friday 18 March, 11am - 5pm
RCH/037, Ron Cooke Hub, Campus East
As part of our International Womens Day celebrations, we are hosting a series of talks by women working in the field of Computer Science.
We are excited to be joined by Professor Julie A. McGann from Imperial College London who will be speaking about cyber-physical interaction. We are also joined by Meghna Asthana from the University of York who will deliver a talk on Face Modelling in VR Communication.
Speakers include:
- Professor Julie A. McGann - "Finding Rubies in the Dust" (A conversation about Cyber-physical Interaction)
- Meghna Asthana - "Face Modelling in VR Communication - VR as a remote social interaction tool"
- Qurat Ul Ain Ali - "Lowcomote: Scalable Low-Code Engineering Platforms"
Closing the Gender Gap III: Open-Access Analysis of Amy Beach's Gaelic Symphony
Friday 18 March, 8.30pm, online
Undergraduate music students at University of York have been invited to join Dr Elizabeth Marvin (Eastman School of Music), Dr Sarah Marlowe (Eastman School of Music), and Dr Mark Gotham (TU Dortmund University), who along with students from Eastman (located in New York state) will be doing an "analysis-a-thon" of Amy Beach’s Gaelic Symphony. Work will be done in breakout groups over Zoom.
More information about the event can be found here.
Students at the University of York who are interested in participating should contact tom.collins@york.ac.uk before noon on Monday 7 March to register interest.
Uncontrollable Women: In conversation with Nan Sloane
Friday 25 March, 6.30 - 7.30pm
BS/005 (Bowland Auditorium), Berrick Saul Building, Campus West
In celebration of International Women's Month, we will be joined by Nan Sloane as she discusses her new book Uncontrollable Women.
Uncontrollable Women details the history of the radical, reformist and revolutionary women between the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 and the passing of the Great Reform Act in 1832.
Nan Sloane brings to light the stories from the women who were supposed to leave politics to men but instead they spoke, wrote, marched, organised, asked questions, challenged power structures, sometimes went to prison and even died.
History has not usually been kind to them, and they have frequently been pushed into asides or footnotes, dismissed as secondary, or spoken over, for, or through by men and sometimes other women.
These women and many others played a part in developing political ideas and freedoms as we know them today, and some fought battles which still remain to be won or raised questions that are still unresolved. These are their stories. This talk will be followed by a book-signing.
More information about this event can be found here.
Breaking the Bias? Trans navigations in the workspace
Thursday 31 March, 10 - 11am, online
Claire Birkenshaw, University of Hull alumna, lecturer and inclusion campaigner, will discuss her experiences of navigating the undulating terrain of the workspace from a minority stress perspective.
Claire is a member of two advisory panels for Leeds Beckett University that relate to child mental health and LGBTQ+ inclusion in education, and is patron for the Lincolnshire based social enterprise organisation Think2Speak. She is an Honorary Fellow of Bridgend College and a recipient of the Lord Mayor of Kingston upon Hull and Admiral of the Humber’s Civic Crown Award (2020) for promoting equality, diversity and inclusion.
Related activities and news
The Centre for Women's Studies is supporting and contributing to the programme of events offered by York International Women's Week (YIWW), which runs from 5 to 13 March. Find out more in this year's full programme, or follow the YIWW social media feeds for updates.
Resources and more
- The University Women in Research Network provides a space for women from all backgrounds to discuss the particular issues they experience in the research domain. The Network has a programme of events and organises the annual Women in Research Network Conference to celebrate International Women’s Day.
- Find out more about how the University is supporting women and working towards gender equality
- There are a number of policies, guidance documents and resources available via the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion web pages
Watch again
We have a some recordings from previous International Women’s Day and other related awareness day events, that are available for you to watch again via the University's ED&I YouTube channel:
- Athena SWAN Forum with Dr Kate Thomas, Birmingham City University, 05/06/19
- Festival of Ideas event: What works for women at work - Joan Williams 13.06.18
- Athena SWAN Forum with Professor Pat O'Connor, University of Limerick 14/03/2017
Athena Swan events from York Festival of Ideas 2021 - via the University's York Ideas YouTube channel:
- Entitled: How male privilege hurts women - Kate Manne
- Labours of Love: The crisis in care - Madeleine Bunting
The University Events team have compiled an International Women's Day playlist with 15 talks from the York Festival of Ideas.