The #WomenEd Representation Campaign
What is the Problem with Representation?
Whilst women are well represented in middle leader roles, they are disproportionately underrepresented in senior roles in educational organisations globally, despite women making up the majority of the education workforce.
What Leading Women are Saying
"If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or representation."
Abigail Adams, Founder of the United States, 1776
"To break a glass ceiling, we must first have the possibility to access opportunities, be given the time to showcase skillset, and know that the other side of the ceiling exists for us to take up space in it."
Sheree Atcheson in Forbes Magazine
Our Goals
Offering events and videos to support women to move forward in their leadership journey
Our Achievements
Published a wide range of blogs and videos about gender assumptions, leadership mindset and gaining leadership posts
Supported school business leaders as leaders in education
Supported middle leaders who aspire to senior leadership
Encouraged women to be board members
Encouraged Early Career Teachers to think about becoming leaders
Shared videos of events about:
being a female headteacher in the UK
female leadership in Middle East and North Africa
Held a panel discussion at our 2021 global unconference asking ‘Is Headship worth it?’ in the UK and globally as well as in our 2020 global unconference
Held a panel discussion on Leadership Development through the lens of a woman at our 2021 global unconference
Hosted a presentation on how educational leaders can make recruitment less biased
Written a chapter in 10%Braver: Inspiring Women to Lead Education
Written about how to attract more women to senior leadership
Our Impact
"I had been shortlisted for several deputy head roles but hadn’t managed to get past the final hurdle - the interview. I reached out for help online and Vivienne Porritt kindly offered me a free interview prep session. This, alongside some free coaching from another fabulous woman, Vanessa Whitcombe, built my confidence in a big way. Vivienne helped me make my application even stronger and gave me valuable advice on how to present my strengths and the impact I had achieved.
I start my new role as vice principal in a great school in April! Thank you WomenEd, I hope I can pay it forward.’'
Madeleine Fresko-Brown @m_x_f
"I watched your webinar on writing effective applications for leadership roles as I had lost my confidence in my letter writing skills after a couple of failed applications. I recently saw an advertisement for a Deputy Headteacher role, so I watched your webinar again.
I followed your advice and, not only did I find it stopped me re-drafting the letter endlessly, but I have also secured an interview for the role. A huge thank you for the advice and guidance as I don’t think I would have had the confidence to write a letter in the way I did without it."
Anonymous
Read our blogs, watch our videos
Watch our advice about writing a job application that gets results
Apply for your next leadership step - watch our Career Clincs videos
Watch 'How to smash through glass ceilings for women leaders in education in England'
Join our #WomenEd Senior Leaders Masters / Apprenticeship
Be an advocate and supporter of women leaders as a male educator and leader, and in 10%Braver: Inspiring Women to Lead Education and Being 10%Braver
Representation Resources for You to Explore
Women in the Workplace study: The state of women in Corporate America
8 key findings from DfE’s first FE workforce data release (feweek, August 2023)
Women @ Work 2023: A Global Outlook (Deloitte, 2023)
New Research: Women More Effective Than Men In All Leadership Measures (Forbes, March 2023)
Increasing Female Representation in School Leadership (NASSP, 2023)
The Power Of Momentum Mentoring For Women In Education Leadership (Vicki Phillips, Forbes, March 2023)
Why Everyone Wins With More Women In Leadership (Forbes, Feb 2023)
How to improve gender equality in the workplace (2022)
Women in the Workplace study: The state of women in Corporate America (2022)All Talk And No Action: Why DEI Efforts Are Falling Short (Forbes, September 2022)
Essays on Equality Covid-19: the road to a gender-equal recovery (KCL.ac.uk, 2021)
Male teachers 'twice as likely to want headship' (TES, Catherine Lough, 27th October 2021)
Academy CEO diversity audit: More women bosses, but work to do (schoolsweek.co.uk, 1st October 2021)
The coded language that holds women back at work (BBC, 4th August 2021)
Women Helping Women? it's Complicated (Forbes, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, 16th July, 2021)
How can we help more women to become school leaders? (TES, Sam Gorse, 1st April 2021)
Research: Men Get More Actionable Feedback Than Women (Harvard Business Review, 10th February 2021)
Future Generations and Female Role Models (ECIS, 7th January 2021)
Women in the Workplace 2021 (McKnsey, 27th September 2021)
Future of work: How female leaders are transforming the workplace (hrdconnect, 16th June 2021)
Diversity and Inclusion in the FTSE All-Share (womenonboards.net, June 2021)
Leading by Example: Where are the Female Leaders in Education? (dodsdiversity.com, 4th May 2020)
How Men Can Help To Advance Women In The Workplace (Forbes, Susan Madsen, 9th January 2020)
Women, we've got to stop saying sorry at work (TES, 25th September 2019)
You Don’t Need to Meet Every Qualification to Apply for a Job (HBR, Art Markman, 20th May 2019)
The Glass Ceiling Index (The Economist, 8th March 2019)
Language in school job ads puts women off headteacher roles (The Guardian, 19th June 2018)
Australia - Barriers & Bias: The Status of Women in Leadership (aauw.org, 2016)
Unentitled Mindset (thefemalelead.com)
Why are women still left out of leadership positions? (Gates Foundation)
The Facts about Women and Leadership in Canada (canadianwomen.org)
Alberta's Teacher Association works to address gender imbalance (ATA News, Kim Clement)
All the #WomenEd Representation Blogs
Gender and middle leadership: A personal reflection (Dr Sadie Hollins, WomenEd, 17th May 2021)
Inspiring women to lead education (Vivienne Porritt, WomenED, 14th April 2021)
When women come together to lift each other up (Christalla Jamil, WomenEd, 14th April 2021)
Is there a glass ceiling in Higher Education? (Lizana Oberholzer, WomenEd, 29th March 2021)
Gender equality in school leadership (mrbarkermhs, 10th May 2019)
Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights by Helen Lewis
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: a life by Jane Sherron de Hart
Too Much: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today by Rachel Vorona Cote
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
10% Braver: Inspiring Women to Lead Education by Vivienne Porritt and Keziah Featherstone
All the #WomenEd Videos on Representation
How to build your confidence -- and spark it in others (TED.com, 2022)
Being 10% Braver: Harnessing the potential of women in international education (ECIS, 28th September 2021)
The rigged test of leadership (Sophie Wiiliams, TEDx, February 2021)
How do we better support career progression in our schools? (Chartered College, 11th January 2021)