#WomenEd Blogs

by Nicole O'ConnorTwitter LinkedIn Labels and identity are a staple of Northern Ireland's cultural landscape and are deeply politicised. The use of labels can often be contentious and weaponised, making them a complex form of personal expression. For me, my relationship with labels has been far from linear. For many, their labels are inherited and ...

by Emma Howard @howgeography247 and Gurjeevan Malhi @missmalhislays This is the speech we made at the 2023 WomenEd Unconference with the aim of getting all women to think about how they are raising the women around them. Are we thinking about their strengths and giving them direct feedback on how to get better? Gurjeevan: Well a warm welcome t...

by Avani Higgins @avani_higgins As a child I wanted to have blond hair, blue eyes and be called Anne. It's not surprising, and let me tell you why. Growing up in the '60s in Uganda, I remember sitting in the back of my Dad's Cortina and driving past a leisure club. It was tantalising: a crystal clear blue swimming pool and red clay courts fringed w...

by Yamina Bibi @mysbibi My speech for the #WomenEd Global Unconference 2023 Leadership, particularly Educational Leadership is challenging, complex yet rewarding.  Let's be honest though: it's harder when you look like me. Let me tell you a bit about me. I'm a visibly Muslim woman; I'm British Bangladeshi, I love my family and food, I enjoy re...

By Briony Bowers @BrionyBowers Briony went to #WomenEd sessions at #rEDBerks2023 recently which led to her retweeting her 2021 blog. Sadly, progress since then has been minimal. In 2015 the New York Times published an analysis of the CEOs of S&P 1500 firms revealing the remarkable statistic that there were more men called John leading these big...

By Yasmin Ariff    @AriffYasmin Just before the pandemic started in 2020, I attended my first women's networking event hosted by #WomenEd London at Sarah Bonnell School in London. I don't think I had ever existed in a space like I did that day. I felt: An unspoken kind of safety, knowing that this community embodied inclusivity Increasing...

By beautiful, messy rainbow Parmjeet Plummer @ParmPlummer The 8th of March has become a day that holds significance and power for me in recent years. In the past, if I am honest, it has passed me by. Yet another tokenistic day to recognise something that, all things being considered, should not require it. Every day should be for men and women, all...

By Keziah Featherstone   @keziah70     When I was younger and at the start of my career, I fought for myself and I fought for the kids. Having spent the vast majority of my career serving communities experiencing substantial and layered disadvantage, there was much to fight for. With regards to myself, I was a gobby working clas...

By Sue Prickett    @ruralSBM     The role of School Business Leader (SBL) in schools is often overlooked when describing the make-up of Senior Leadership Teams. Since the growth of the SBL sector joining social media channels, at last colleagues are finding strength and confidence in numbers, but are they finding the right suppo...

By Vivienne Porritt   @ViviennePorritt Our team of Global Strategic Leaders were thrilled we gained Registered Charity status before Christmas. It was even more special as these are the charitable objects we want to achieve: to promote equality and diversity for the public benefit by eliminating discrimination on the grounds of gender by raisi...

By Lucie Ager   @lucie_ager On 30th January, 2023, #WomenEdSE hosted an amazing and inspiring event for #WomenEd at my workplace. I planned the style of the event to a tee, from creatives and catering to the finer detail of purple and grey balloons; the colours of #WomenEd's logo. The room, filled with 70 or so women leaders and two of my male...

By Kiran Satti  @KSunray3 'Intersectional feminism centres the voices of those experiencing overlapping, concurrent forms of oppression in order to understand the depths of the inequalities and the relationships among them in any given context.' UN Women, 2020 Intersectional Feminism at its core invites connectedness. However, there is an hist...

By Clare Erasmus  @cerasmusteach Welcome to the final blog in our series of seven tech blogs from the inaugural meeting of our new private space for #WomenEdTech. Here, Clare takes a look at her path to becoming a digital strategic lead. A few years ago I was Head of the Digital Tech subjects and the Senior Mental Health Lead at my school. In ...

By Bukky Yusuf @rondelle10_b    LinkedIn When it comes to certain aspects of #EdTech (learning platform upgrades, immersive learning tools, AI and machine based learning), changes can happen so rapidly. Yet, consistent 'thorny issues' remain relatively unchanged. 'The Missing Voices in EdTech: Bringing Diversity Into EdTech' by Rafra...

By Lisa Hannay @lhannay1 During the week of March 6-12 #WomenEd networks around the world will host assorted events and activities celebrating International Women's Day.  The theme for 2023 is #EmbraceEquity.  Each Global Strategic Leader for #WomenEd will share a blog leading up to March 8 to create excitement, build knowledge, and explo...