Women's Networks in Academia: Practical Advice for Positive Impact

WOMEN’S NETWORKS IN ACADEMIA: Practical Advice for Positive Impact

This guide provides practical tips andrecommendations on how to set up andmaintain a vibrant, strategically relevantwomen’s network in academia. Using ourexperience at the University of Sheffield,the guide provides information on gettinggrass roots support to understand whatmembers want from a network, featurescritical success factors that contribute tomaintaining investment and interest in anetwork, presents a catalogue ofdevelopment ideas from our own networkand good practice from elsewhere, andembeds this with other gender initiativesat the University.

It’s not just a matter ofsaying equality and diversityis important, but it’s criticalto invest in it. The ways inwhich we at the University ofSheffield espouse equalityand diversity is fundamentalto our academic mission.The University-wide launchof the Women@TUoSNETwork is a key componentto the University achievingits equality and diversitygoals and has my personalsupport.Professor Sir Keith Burnett, Vice-ChancellorStatement at the University-wide launch ofthe Women@TUoS NETwork.

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www.sheffield.ac.uk/womens-network

Foreword

Welcome to this Good Practice Guide,provided by The University ofSheffield to other higher educationinstitutes and organisations with aninterest in gender equality. This guidetells the story of our Women’sNetwork – Women@TUoS NETwork –which is providing a fantastic platformto support women’s careers. OurWomen’s Network is just one of manypositive action activities at theUniversity of Sheffield, but it isperhaps the most visible, dynamic andinclusive initiative that we run, and itis becoming an important vehicle forour Athena SWAN agenda.

You will see from our website that theNetwork’s strap line is ‘Advocacy.Inspiration. Progress’. It is a network run bymembers, for members, and it is highlyconsultative. It aims to support women intheir career development, providinginformal mentoring and networkingopportunities, access to a range of rolemodels, a forum for discussion and aunified voice to help raise issues and thusaddress the career challenges women face.

The Network’s primary focus is womenacademics and researchers, and thisfocus has helped to give it a clear identityand purpose. However, the events andactivities are open to all staff, women andmen, and over time we hope to expandour provision to provide more specialisedsupport for other staff groups, such asprofessional services.

In writing this guide we have reflected onour journey, trying to capture our learningand crystallize the ‘best bits’ in the beliefthat they may be of interest and help toother organisations running or consideringlaunching a women’s network. We arelearning all the time and do not claim tohave all the answers but we have analysedwhat we consider to be the criticalsuccess factors of our Network – thoseaspects that work really well and that wewould recommend as good practice. Ofcourse, there is good practice elsewhereand we also have included some of thegreat ideas we have spotted.

We hope you learn from our journey andour best wishes for your own successfulwomen’s network.

Dr Rhonda R Snook, Network Chair 2013–2014

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Why Have a Women’s Network?

Studies in higher education say it all.Women remain under-represented atsenior levels in universities, hitting brickwalls of male cronyism and domesticresponsibility (Fletcher et al, 2007). Fromtheir mentors, they might get help toboost their confidence, but it’s more oftenmen who get the kind of support thatleads to tangible career progression:getting published, winning grants orlanding a spot on an editorial board(Doherty and Manfredi, 2010).

A women’s network can empower women(and supportive men involved in suchnetworks) to change all of this. They can:

• Provide a safe space for women to talkabout things they feel unable to discusswith male colleagues – feelings ofisolation, difficulties in balancing workand caring responsibilities, areas of lowconfidence.

• Become a training ground where youngwomen can meet senior role modelsand practise networking with colleagueswho can empathise with their issues.

• Meet at times and locations that suitmembers’ working lives, tackling topicsthat specifically affect women such asthe gendered nature of leadership, theimpact of unconscious bias and how tocombat such barriers.

The idea is not for women to only networkwith other women. But a women’snetwork gives female colleagues aplatform to talk about issues they cannotdiscuss elsewhere, and gives them thesupport, experience and confidence to geteven more out of their other networks. Byspeaking openly and working together,women can make their voices heard,develop their careers and tip the balancetowards a fairer organisation.

Networking can often be the secret toa successful career. Making links withpeople working in similar fields, orwith similar duties, responsibilitiesand pressures, can help you find newopportunities and get the support youneed to make the most of thoseopportunities. The challenge womencontinue to face, however, is inbecoming as well-connected as theirmale colleagues.

While women are doing more networkingthan ever before, many organisations arestill struggling to topple genderimbalances that prevent women fromachieving their potential. A specificwomen’s network can help femalecolleagues form a critical mass, strongenough to break down historical barriersand build a more representativeworkforce.

“The network has the potential to increase numbers of women I know and this in turn increases the chance that I will meet other people ‘like me’ from whom I can learn.”Attendee at a network visioning session

Back in 2004, McCarthy wrote thatwomen’s networks have a number ofadvantages over other gender equalityinitiatives. These remain true today asnetworks can:

– Bring people together from across alarge organisation or a sector,promoting communication acrossdivisions or silos.

– Create a ‘critical mass’ in support ofwomen’s issues, giving networkmembers visibility and a voice.

– Be flexible and respond quickly tomembers’ needs.

– Exist without heavy bureaucracy.

– Have a participatory and self-organising structure, giving them morelegitimacy with members than top-down initiatives imposed bymanagement.


The Sheffield Experience – getting started

Setting up the Women@TUoSNETwork has given female staff lots ofnew opportunities. We’ve held events,set up a website, launched a writingclub, started a CV review scheme andsupported the organisation of abuddying programme for workingparents. None of this would have beenpossible though, without some keyearly steps.

The idea of a women’s network came outof an earlier project – Developing Leaders:Women in Science and Engineering –which included a series of initiatives fordeveloping women’s research careers.These included mentoring schemes,training departmental gender champions,advising senior managers on genderequality and analysing departmentalcultures. Workshops and one-to-onecoaching for women (and some men)were given on topics such as preparing forpromotion and managing flexible working.

The departments that took part in thisproject showed a marked improvement inmeasures of gender equality, so awomen’s network was suggested as a wayto continue this progress.

To help define what we wanted ourwomen’s network to do, we brought in anexternal team to run a Visioning Workshop.This brought together 25 women ofdifferent ages, from different departmentsand at different stages in their career.They were asked questions like:

• What is great about being a woman atthe University of Sheffield?

• What is challenging about working atthe University of Sheffield?

• Could a women’s network help with anyof the challenges identified?

• What might the priorities of a women’snetwork be?

• How would a women’s networkoperate? (Who could join? Would menbe included? How would it be funded?).

As well as showing the support for awomen’s network, the answers told uswhat women at the University of Sheffieldwanted to achieve and what a women’snetwork should do to help.

When we launched the Women@TUoSNETwork for STEM (Science, Technology,Engineering, Mathematics ) subjects,speakers at the event included ourUniversity’s Vice-Chancellor, who gave ushis firm backing. Attendees were asked tofill in a questionnaire so that we could gettheir ideas and input, and find out whowould be willing to help us organiseprojects and events. Following this showof support, the Faculty of Science allowedProfessor Jane Grasby to set aside time tobecome the first chair of the network, andthe Faculty of Engineering provided a cashbudget for us to work with.

From the beginning, support from theVice-Chancellor, the Pro-Vice-Chancellorsfor Science and Engineering, along withwide consultation of staff at all levels gaveus a strong mandate to set up a robuststructure with resource support.

“The University of Sheffield is committed to providing a workplace that has equality and diversity at its core. The work of the Women’s Network is a key part of achieving this, ensuring that we deliver on our equality goals.”Professor Tony Ryan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Science

After one year, we launched the Women’sNetwork to female staff in all departments,not just science and engineering ones, aswomen were under-represented at seniorlevels across the University. This move wasagain backed by the Vice-Chancellor, andPro-Vice-Chancellors, with the Faculties ofScience providing administrative supportand Engineering providing funding.

Opening the Women’s Network up to thewhole University increased our supportbase, and meant we could be a positiveforce across the University. This also gaveus some authority to advocate forprogress. Recognising the importance ofincorporating the agenda of the Women'sNetwork into the University’s formalgovernance structure, we worked withcolleagues on the development of a newGender Equality Committee as a formalUniversity committee, and successfullysecured 30% representation of Women'sNetwork steering group members on thatgroup. This ensures we are in a strategicposition to help progress gender equality,and are embedded in the development ofthe University's Athena Swan action plan.

Turn to p8 (Critical Success Factors) formore about embedding your network intothe governance of your organisation.

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What does our Women’s Network do?

Here is a sample of the events we run:

Women@TUoS TALK SeriesQuarterly small group informal talks overlunch with invited speakers, normallyexternal, who address a range of themesof interest to members.

Talks have included: Pregnancy, Maternity and Motherhood –Dr Annick Masselot, University ofCanterbury, New Zealand.

Why should we strive for a diverseacademia? – Professor AlessandraTanesini, Cardiff University

Training workshops Skills focused events with professionaltrainers – some are pilots that, ifsuccessful, may be moved onto the central‘Development Everywhere’ Universityprogramme.

One example workshop: Preparing yourCV for promotion and using the languageof the next level. A practical workshopcovering aspects such as: • What does your CV say about you?• Using the language of promotion in your CV.

• Assimilating feedback into your CV.

Role model eventsFeaturing a range of external and internalwomen as inspirational role models,speaking about their specialisms and/orabout their own careers.

Events have included:Annual Lectures – featuring high profileexternal women such as Professor DameAthene Donald FRS, University ofCambridge and Professor Dame CarolRobinson, FRS, University of Oxford.

The Leadership Ladder – featuring threewomen (an aspiring leader, a mid-careerleader and a senior leader) talking abouttheir leadership challenges, aspirationsand what they have learned aboutleadership so far.

Speed Networking“I liked the friendly atmosphere, great advice and concrete tips.”Attendee at a speed networking event

In these events, we give junior women achance to seek advice from more seniorcolleagues – participants move betweendiscussion stations at the blow of awhistle, chatting to mentors and advisersabout given themes.For post graduate students discussionstations included: • Keeping your PhD on track.• Building your research and otherprofessional skills.

• Career choices inside and outsideacademia.

For postdoctoral students discussionstations included:• Improving research productivity.• CVs and interview techniques.• Is a career in academia for me?

Parents@TUoS coffee morningQuarterly meetings open to men andwomen who are or who are thinking ofbecoming working parents, and ofteninvolve internal speakers or facilitators.Discussion topics have included:• Changing work patterns to managework and parenthood.

• Finding work-life balance with children.• Preparing for and returning fromparental leave.

• Managing expectations.

“It was really helpful to hear from other academic returners about their experiences. I now feel better placed to plan ahead and manage the expectations of my colleagues and manager.”Attendee at a Parents@TUoS coffeemorning on planning parental leave

Women & the MediaWomen academics are less likely to berepresented by the media. To helpincrease the visibility of University women,we sponsored an externally delivered 2day workshop, co-funded by theUniversity media team, that providedtactical and practical advice about howwomen can handle the media.

• Day 1: A Guide to Working with the Media.• Day 2: Communicating with Impact.

“The Women@TUoS Media Training day changed my view and behaviour with the media. It’s so important researchers communicate their successes and the finding of their work to the public. I feel much more confident now in dealing with the press, and understand how to get the message out that I want to communicate. Essential training for researchers at all levels!”Dr. Alenka Brooks, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a founder of SWIM – Sheffield Women in Medicine

Celebration of InternationalWomen’s DayAn International Women's Day programme,for women and men across the Universitywith invited external guests. One year wedebated the use of quotas including civicleaders in the debate. Another year, wediscussed the relevance of feminism with apanel of distinguished feminists.


As well as our events, we have someongoing activities for members. These are:

Writing Club“As a mid-career academic I have found the women's writing club the most helpful and beneficial initiative by Women@TUoS NETwork. It has enabled me to submit several papers to deadline which otherwise would have dragged on, and triggered a huge improvement in my time management strategy.”Gwen Reilly, Senior Lecturer,Bioengineering

Writing Club operates every Friday and isopen to all members. Writing Clubprovides a quiet, supportive environmentwhere women can come to focus on theirwriting away from interruptions. At thestart of the session women explain theirwriting goals to those present, theneveryone works individually on their ownwriting tasks. Refreshments are providedfor periodic scheduled breaks andinformal networking. Attendees can stayall day, breaking for lunch, or they canleave after either the morning orafternoon session. This initiative is provingso popular that satellite writing clubs indifferent parts of the campus are beingconsidered.

A downloadable set of of guidelines fororganizing and running a Writing Club isavailable on the Network's website.

Parent to Parent (P2P)An informal buddying scheme for workingparents. P2P aims to support staff andpostgraduate students preparing for,taking, or returning from parental leave byproviding an informal mentor orsupporter, known as a buddy.

Buddies are staff or postgraduatestudents with personal experience oftaking and returning from parental leave.They are volunteers from a wide range ofdepartments and career stages. Mostbuddies are female, but men are alsowelcome to participate in the scheme,either as a buddy, or as a member of staffseeking support from others in a similarsituation.

The parent requiring support peruses theprofiles of the buddy volunteers on theParents@TUoS section of the website andapproaches someone they think might besuitable. The two then have an exploratorymeeting to decide whether to worktogether. If they decide to go ahead, theycan make a start straight away and if not anew volunteer buddy can be approached.

A downloadable set of guidelines and tipsfor participants in P2P is available on theNetwork’s website.

CV Plus (CV+) A CV review scheme for academic womenwho are considering or actively preparingfor promotion.

CV+ is a simple, volunteer-led CV reviewsystem through which women academicscan get objective feedback on their CV,and have a one-off, focused careerdiscussion on their readiness forpromotion, and/or the steps they couldtake to improve their promotionprospects. It is intended to supplement,and not replace, the annual reviewprocess conducted with line managers.

The panel of CV reviewers includes maleand female senior academics whounderstand the promotion criteria foracademic posts. Most of the reviewers areserving on promotion panels or have doneso in the past.

The women consider the reviewers’profiles on the University website, thenchoose and contact an appropriatereviewer. If the reviewer is available andwilling to conduct the review, then thewoman emails her CV and the pair have asingle face-to-face meeting to discussreadiness for promotion and actions thatcould be taken to strengthen the case.

A downloadable set of guidelines forreviewers and reviewees is available onthe Network’s website.

“I took away a lot of good tips from the ‘Preparing your CV’ session, and, more importantly, a greater sense of confidence that I could address the requirements of the opportunity in a strong positive manner.”Clare Rishbeth,Department of Landscape

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Critical Success Factors: What has worked in Sheffield?

The background and objectives of anetwork will always have an impact onhow it’s run, but there are a few thingsyou can do to keep your networkrunning smoothly. For example, wehave found that some recommendedbest practice for women's corporatenetworks (Vinnicombe et al, 2004)have been relevant to us in Sheffield.To develop and reinforce the processof sharing good practice, we haveanalysed and captured the ‘best bits’of our Network, and make somerecommendations if you want to startthe rewarding journey of establishing,or reinvigorating, your own.

Ensure your network is run bymembers for members, spread theorganisational load and dosuccession planningAt the time of writing, our steering groupat Sheffield has 21 members, all women,drawn from all five faculties of theUniversity, plus Professional Services. Theyinclude 13 academic staff (from lecturersto professors), a research associate, twoHuman Resources (HR) managers, threeother staff from Professional Services anda member of support staff. Although thisseems a large number, it ensuresrepresentation throughout the University,and includes women who can influenceand articulate the benefits of the Women’sNetwork to a variety of stakeholders. Italso means we have people who are ableto embed some of the Network’s projectsinto other equality and diversity initiativesthat are taking place. The membership isrotational to share out the work andensure a steady stream of new ideas.

By the same token, our Chair is appointedfor one year only and once in position sheselects a Vice Chair to work alongside her.When the Chair steps down at the end ofthe year, the Vice Chair assumes theleadership role and appoints a new deputy.Both the Chair and Vice-Chair are allocatedtime in the University’s work allocationmodel system to fulfil Network duties, andare offered development support for theirrole, if they wish. This way of doing thingsensures succession planning, continuity,sharing of the leadership load andrecognition of the time commitmentinvolved. Steering Group members canserve on standing committees that allowmore detailed planning (see Diagram, p11).We also encourage Network members toserve on standing committees, which helpsto include more people in the Network'sstrategic work.

“A recent survey in the Faculty of Science showed that

75% of female academics are using the Women’s Network and,

somewhat more unexpectedly, so are 30% of our professional servicestaff. This shows the need for theNetwork and its broad appeal.

Professor Jane Grasby, Chair, Faculty of Science Equality and Diversity Committee


targets enable the Network to formallyrequest a budget from HR whereownership of equality and diversitytargets lies.

Include menWhen surveyed, Network members werevery clear that they did not want toexclude men: they did not want toperpetuate the exclusionary practices thatAthena SWAN is trying to dismantle. Thereis also a strong recognition that men mustshare the responsibility for achievinggender equality in universities. Most of theCV+ reviewers and a proportion of theattendees at Parents@TUoS coffeemornings are male. Men come to theInternational Women’s Day lunch, and thespeed networking events include malementors and experts. Men are welcometo come to any Network event, althoughthe advertising for events is targetedprimarily at women.

Consult members regularly toensure you know their needs andinterestsFrom the outset, the Network has aimedto regularly consult its members. As wellas the initial Visioning Workshop, thequestionnaire given out at the launchevent and a broadly representativesteering group with focused sub-groups,our Network runs an annual AGM wheremembers are invited to review the year’sactivities and present ideas and opinionson priorities for the following year.

We also produce an Annual Report thatsummarizes our activities and is distributedeither in paper or pdf form to seniorleaders, including Heads of Departments, atTUoS. Copies of our Annual Reports can befound on our webpage.

Ensure your network’s objectivesalign with your organisation’sgoals and that it is embedded inyour organisation’s governancestructure Rather than being a supportive talkingshop, the Women’s Network at Sheffieldhas given itself a vital strategic role fordelivering positive action. We noticed thatsome networks are ‘free-standing’ ie, theyoperate outside the formal structure oftheir host organisation. We also noticedthat this limits their power and impact.

At Sheffield, we have purposely positionedour Network as being a deliverymechanism for gender equality, and wehave worked with the University to embedthe Network into the University’s formalgovernance structures (see Diagram, pg11). This involved working in partnershipwith HR and other stakeholders to createthe Gender Equality Committee (GEC), asub-group of the University’s Council LevelEquality and Diversity Board.

The GEC is tasked with progressinggender equality at a strategic level,including having responsibility for theUniversity’s Athena SWAN action plan, andworking specifically with the widerUniversity on its gender equality work.

In recognition of its role in implementingpositive action, the Network’s steeringgroup has 30% membership on the GEC.Thus, the activities of the Network arevisible, monitored and joined up withother equality and diversity initiatives. It isexpected that the Network’s activities onleadership and promotion will help theUniversity achieve its key objective ofincreasing the number of womenprofessors. This concrete position inUniversity governance and monitoredcontribution to the organisational gender

Your network needs a clearpurpose and focusOur Network aims to support women intheir career development, providinginformal mentoring and networkingopportunities, access to a range of rolemodels, a forum for discussion and aunified voice to help raise issues and thusaddress the career challenges womenface. This is clearly stated on our websiteand in our annual reports. We aim tocreate an inclusive environment and awelcoming atmosphere. However, indesigning activities and events, werecognise that we can rarely catersimultaneously for women academics,researchers, teachers, students,technicians, professional services andsupport staff. We cannot be everything toeveryone. Our programme thereforefocuses primarily on academic womenand the significant career challenges theyface, not least because they are at thecore of the Athena SWAN agenda. We dorecognise, however, that we need to be asinclusive as possible and are consideringintroducing activities specifically aimed atother groups, such as professionalservices staff.

“The writing club has been an invaluable support for me. It forced me to protect some time to write and gave me the opportunity to meet a group of inspiring and supportive women. It is difficult to put the feelings about the experience into words but for me it has been a very positive and stimulating experience.”Laurence Pattacini, Part-time University Teacher, Department of Landscape

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Get support at senior levelsThe organisational importance of genderequality has been widely discussed andaccepted at the University of Sheffield sothere is a good deal of senior level supportfor this initiative. The Vice-Chancellor hasattended key Network events and has,more than once, verbally promised hissupport. The Pro-Vice-Chancellors, maleand female, attend the annual InternationalWomen’s Day lunch, and have suppliedadministrative support for the Networkand cash from their budgets to fundNetwork activities. Heads of Departmentand senior professors have agreed to actas CV+ reviewers. This senior buy-in givesthe Network strength and credibility withmembers and it gives weight to thesteering group’s requests for resources.

Be inclusive in your event planningNetwork activities are held on differentdays of the week and normally within corehours to increase the numbers of part-timers and flexible workers that canparticipate. Many of our meetings are 90minutes long. This seems to be longenough to address a subject with somerigour, but short enough to minimisedisruption to the working day, as manystaff working part time may struggle toattend longer events. Some activities areof general interest and open to all, andsome are targeted at specific groups, suchas contract researchers, PhD students orworking parents. We try to ensure thatour programme addresses a variety ofdifferent themes and that, whilst havingwomen academics as its primary focus, ithas something for everyone over thecourse of the year.

“In the Faculty of Engineering we are deeply committed to increasing the participation of women in Engineering at all levels. However, the numbers of women in some departments is still small so it is good to know that the Women’s Network is available as a source of support for our female staff, providing access to positive female role models and opportunities to network with women across the campus.”Professor Mike Hounslow, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty ofEngineering

Work in Partnership withStakeholdersThe Women’s Network is not the onlygender initiative at the University ofSheffield. Good practice is everywhereacross the University, some of which we liston page 14. An academic network shouldbe driven by academics, but requires thesupport of a variety of partners across theUniversity. We embedded professionalservices staff onto our steering group sothat the dialogue between academics andthose University partners that couldrapidly influence change were immediatelyengaged. Working collaboratively with HRhas provided the Network with access tothe latest gender equality developments,and in turn we have provided newinitiatives that may be rolled out across theUniversity through HR. The positiveinteraction between HR, in which theyengage with our ideas that arise from theacademic coal face, has served as a catalystfor the rapid strategic development of theNetwork. As with getting seniormanagement on board, working inpartnership with HR is a critical successfactor for establishing and maintaining anetwork that can effect positive impact.


Council

Equality andDiversity Board

Gender Equality CommitteeTo work in partnership with HR for actions related to

University Athena SWAN Action Plan and TUoS KPI target of increasing the percentage of female professors.

Women@TUoS NETwork

Women Professors’Network

Parents@TUoSCommunications

StandingCommittee

DevelopmentStandingCommittee

To facilitate mutual support and networking,and provide a platform for positive action, amongst womenprofessors.

To support all staff and students throughcareer breaks, providinggood practice and ‘how to’ tips.

To develop acommunications strategythat is both inward and

outward facing, increasing visibility ofwomen at TUoS.

To trial idevelopmentactivities that promoterecruitment, retention and progression of

women academic staff.

3 members of the Network are nominated to serve on theGEC, providing links between the University Strategic Planaround gender equality and

member needs.

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Our Next Steps and Future Ambitions

We base our future initiatives andactivities on what members have saidare priorities at events throughout theyear, along with consultation duringthe AGM. The DevelopmentCommittee also seeks out new andinnovative activities to trial for ourmembers.

Some of our next steps to grow andcontinue to strengthen our Network arelisted below.

• Although the Network must continue to support the particular careerchallenges of women academics andresearchers, now that it is well-established and adequately resourced,we will explore whether some activitiesand events could be planned to reachout to other groups, such asprofessional services.

• We would like to build links with otherwomen’s networks to share ideas andgood practice. In particular, we wouldlike to have closer links with the WiSET(Women in Science, Engineering andTechnology) initiatives at SheffieldHallam University and at LeedsUniversity, and we would like to linkwith the women in leadership initiativebeing run by the White Rose UniversityConsortium.

• We would like to build closer links withthe University of Sheffield’s femalestudent body liaising with the StudentUnion Women’s Officer to explorepotential areas for collaboration.

• Continuing our approach of regularconsultation, we would like to run amembers’ survey to get ideas andfeedback on some of our recentinitiatives, such as CV+ and P2P.

• Because of the popularity of our weeklyWriting Club, we are considering settingup at least one satellite Writing Club onanother part of the campus.


I am delighted to take up thechair of the new GenderEquality Committee whichhas been created inpartnership with theWomen’s Network andwhich has an importantstrategic role in monitoringpositive action initiativesfocused on gender. TheWomen@TUoS NETwork isan excellent initiative,supported throughout theUniversity, and provides acritical forum for improvingfemale recruitment,retention and promotion.Professor Lorraine Maltby,Chair, Gender EqualityCommittee

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The Gender Agenda at the University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield iscommitted to being an employer ofchoice for women, and the work of ourWomen’s Network, as well asdevelopment programmes likeSpringboard, for women researchers,are helping to make that happen. Butthey are also only part of the fullpicture, and there are a number ofother gender equality initiatives takingplace at the University.

“This is my time; I’m doing it for me.”Cheryl Miller, Senior Lecturer, School of Dentistry

The following examples show the differentways that women can get support toachieve their goals and the goals of theWomen’s Network.

Impact and Futures mentoringschemes for women academicsThe University of Sheffield recognises thepotential of mentoring to support positiveaction goals. A carefully targetedmentoring programme can help aminority group compete with the majorityon a more level playing field. Wherewomen academics are concerned, amentor can help with career planning,visibility, and preparation for promotion,as well as internal confidence.

Sheffield offers two mentoringprogrammes specifically for female staff.Impact is a 6 month mentoring programmefor female lecturers, and Futures is a 12month programme for more senioracademic women. Both offer trainingworkshops for mentors and mentees,mentee and mentor peer exchanges, andend of programme evaluations.

In addition, Futures offers an initial one-to-one coaching session to help menteesdefine their development goals and theopportunity of shadowing their mentorfor a day or more. The Futures mentorsare Pro-Vice-Chancellors or other seniormembers of staff, who are well placed tooffer sponsorship support to theirmentees, as well as one-to-one dialoguesfor boosting confidence and careerplanning.

These programmes were highlycommended in the Advancing Women inthe Workplace category of the 2011Opportunity Now Awards.

The Women Academic Returners’ProgrammeAll women at the University of Sheffieldare able to have maternity cover for all orpart of their role whilst on maternityleave. The Women Academic Returners’Programme (WARP) provides additionalsupport, if needed, upon return to workfrom maternity leave, to minimise theimpact of extended leave on researchactivities. This programme is open towomen academics and researchersacross all faculties at the University ofSheffield and can provide additionalsupport, over and above maternity cover,to keep their research on track andenable continued career development.The funds can be used, for example, toattend a conference or training course,create an additional post to supportteaching and administration or accessone-to-one coaching. WARP grants are upto £10,000.


Women in EngineeringThe Women in Engineering Group (WiE)aims to promote diversity in engineeringby encouraging women to come and studyand work at the University of Sheffield.The WiE recommends good practice onrecruitment, career progression andpromotes a wider understanding ofengineering for the next generation ofgirls. It runs a blog, EngineeringUS, whichshowcases women engineers and hascreated a photographic ‘Wall of Women’webpage. It supports the Women@TUoSNETwork and the WiE Student Society,along with assisting engineeringdepartments to apply for individualAthena SWAN awards.

Women in PhilosophyThe Philosophy Department at Sheffieldfeatures profiles of its femalepostgraduates on a dedicated website andsponsors an annual lecture whichhighlights the contribution women havemade to philosophy throughout history.

Athena SWAN Science, technology, engineering andmathematics (STEM) departments haveembraced the Athena SWAN Charter, andwe renewed our institutional bronzeaward in 2012. At the time of writing, wehave 15 awards across the University, withall STEM departments, including MedicineDentistry and Health, having eitherrecently received or being in the processof applying for their own individual award.The department of Archaeology alsoparticipated in a trial of the GenderEquality Mark co-ordinated by the EqualityChallenge Unit and was awarded bronze.

The Women Professors’ NetworkSee page 16 for information on thisNetwork.

"The approach to inclusion at the University of Sheffield is very much one of practical partnership working in order to make a difference. Gender Equality is a key focus of the University, and the Women’s Network is very pro-active, positive and challenging, with a genuine willingness to engage with the University at a strategic level, jointly delivering actions that have a real impact on this important area of our work."Julie Campbell, HR Manager (Equality and Diversity)

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The Women Professors’ Network at the University of Sheffield

An interview with Professor CaitlinBuck, one of the founder members “Fourof us met at a bus stop and we were furious”explained Professor Caitlin Buck whenasked how the Women Professors’ Network(WPN) at the University of Sheffield had gotoff the ground. “We had recently attended acentrally organized meeting for womenprofessors of which the format andoutcome were not at all what we wanted.We were very frustrated, and decided thatwe had to do something for ourselves. Sowe did.”

In 2009, 19% of professorships at theUniversity of Sheffield were held by women.In STEM, without considering medicine,dentistry and health departments, theproportion was just 11%. “We are not verynumerous and are thinly spread across theUniversity. You can go for weeks withouthaving a proper conversation with anothersenior woman” said Caitlin. “It can be veryisolating. Just because you are a professordoesn’t mean that you don’t face challengesor hurdles. You don’t want to burden yourmore junior colleagues with your problems;you are trying to be a positive role model soyou can support them. However, you dosometimes need to talk about your ownchallenges with someone who understands.”

A core group of 4 women professorsdecided that setting up a network of womenprofessors would provide opportunities formutual support, dialogue, and informationsharing. The first year, they wrote to theUniversity’s Pro-Vice-Chancellors and askedeach for a small contribution to the budgetand all agreed. “When the Vice-Chancellorheard about our plans he said that in futureyears we should come directly to him andhe offered us £3,000 a year for the next 3years.” Funding has been reconfirmed.

changes which have dramatically improvedthe situation.” Caitlin is not claiming thatthese changes have happened solelybecause of the women professors, but itseems likely that the pressure they appliedhelped things along.

Another example of how the WPN has hadimpact is in the area of unconscious bias.“One of our members, Professor Jenny Saul,is very interested in this topic. It is aresearch interest of hers. She developed alecture that examined how unconscious biasworks and outlined some of the steps thatorganisations are taking to reduce itsimpact. Members of the WPN helped out byfinding opportunities for her to give thelecture across the campus. She hascertainly raised a lot of awareness in thisarea, amongst both men and women.”

Does every woman professor atSheffield support the initiative? “I wouldsay that about half the women professorshere have engaged with it so far” said Caitlin.“I would advise women from other institutesembarking on this journey to start bysupporting yourselves and each other. Onceyou are doing that you can start to lookaround you to work out what else to tackle.”

This seems like sensible advice. In most HEIs,women professors are in rapid circulation,stretching themselves across a raft ofcommittees that need at least one femalemember, trying to be visible role models andmentors to junior colleagues and students,needing to produce the research, teaching,publications, and grant income that isexpected at professorship level and, formany, also having child or elder careresponsibilities, or both, waiting for themonce they leave their lab or office. Mutualpeer support from a peer network seemslike a small and relatively easy thing toprovide, but in Sheffield it is clearly making a difference.

Why was the Vice-Chancellor, Sir KeithBurnett, so supportive? “I think he couldsee the need” said Caitlin “and that thisinitiative, coming from the grass roots, couldbe a useful driver of change.”

So what does the WPN do and how doesit operate? Every woman professor at theUniversity is automatically put on the mailinglist, in an opt-out, rather than opt- in system.“It’s quite informal” explains Caitlin. “Wehave 3 or 4 meetings a year over lunch atwhich we get to know one another. Typically,between 15 and 30 women turn up eachtime. At the first meeting of the year anynew women professors are welcomed andwe explore different topics and decidewhich ones we are most interested in – orwhich ones we feel most angry about! Thenour next few meetings are themed.”Themes so far have included maternity leavearrangements, the promotions system andsalary reviews. Where promotions andsalary reviews were concerned, the WPNhas been a valuable platform for sharinginformation. “We realised that we knowdifferent things about how to get promotedand about how to move up the salary bands.Some of us knew very little, others hadpicked up valuable nuggets of information,so pooling and sharing our knowledge hasbeen very useful and means that, as a group,we are now much better informed.”

The WPN also gives the women professorsan opportunity to lobby for change with aunified voice. An example of this was aroundthe issue of maternity leave. “Many of uswere keen to see change and had strongviews about where they felt the system wasfalling down.” A group of members met withHuman Resources and made suggestionsabout how things should be different. “HRdidn’t do everything we suggested, but theydid listen to us, and over the last couple ofyears the University has made a raft of


The Women’s Network is still in itsearly stages but its impact can alreadybe felt across the campus.

The Network was instrumental in settingup the new Gender Equality Committeethat reports to the Equality and DiversityCommittee. This is a committee withinfluence that is well placed to providestrategic scrutiny of progress towards theachievement, or non-achievement, ofgender equality goals, and which givesextra weight and prominence to this areaof work. By aligning Network activitieswith the strategic goals of the University(Athena SWAN and the KPI for womenprofessors), we also provided amechanism to resource these activities.

The Network has been able to directlyfeed into and support the University’sAthena SWAN action plan by co-ordinatingevents on topics identified in the plan asbeing a priority. For example, with ourLeadership theme, the Network ran a CVworkshop and launched the CV reviewscheme, CV+, for women considering orpreparing for promotion.

“Please increase the choice of reviewers available through CV+ – this is really a GREAT initiative – we NEED it!”A suggestion from a member at the 2013-2014 Annual General Meeting

“At a Women’s Network event in October 2012, a discussion about the Vice-Chancellor’s Fellowships highlighted an issue with the term ‘flexibility’ included in the adverts – it was felt that, although this also includes part-time working, this is not made explicit enough and applicants may therefore be put off from applying. An action to take this forward is included in the Female Progression Action Plan 2012-2015.’ Excerpt from the University’s Athena Swan Action Plan

The Network also invited Professor DameAthene Donald to be its annual lecturer in2012 and then set up a meeting betweenProfessor Donald and the University’smost senior managers to discuss progresstowards gender equality. This expert,external advice brought useful focus and afrank assessment of the University’sachievements and remaining challenges.

The Network has a role in supporting thereview of policies by facilitating discussionwith the women who are experiencing theday-to-day practice of them. Gatheringthe voice of Network members andutilising links with our HR, we are able toprovide an important channel ofcommunication to recommendimprovements and good practice.Initiatives were led by HR, but supportedby the Network.

Maternity Review – three focus groupswere held, led by Rachel Tobbell, anexternal diversity advisor, working withour Network. These groups consulted arange of female staff (particularly those inSTEM) on their experiences of maternityleave. Consultation themes included theuser-friendliness of a new maternityinformation booklet and a leave planningtemplate, as well as new guidelines for theWomen Academic Returners’ Programme.

Induction Experience – an enquiry into theinduction experiences of new female staffin STEM departments, involving interviewsand focus groups to identify good localand central practice, identify issues andmake recommendations.

The impact of the Women’s Network

18 / 19

We are keen to keep driving ourNetwork forward and so are always onthe lookout for good practiceelsewhere that we can learn from.Here are some of the examples of goodpractice we have spotted. Some ofthese we can emulate, others will betrickier because of resources ortechnical restrictions, but we findthem inspiring.

The WiSETI network at the University ofCambridge holds an Annual Lecture that issponsored by industry and builds linksbetween its own members and womenworking for the sponsoring company,through site visits and joint activities.Before the lecture WiSETI holds aninformal ‘in conversation with…’ eventwhere the lecturer, normally a senior, highprofile woman, can interact with earlycareer researchers: www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/hr/equality/wiseti/events/lecture

Member Testimonial page on website ofUniversity Women’s Network – Universityof Massachusetts:www.umass.edu/uwn/testimonials.html

University of East London – Centre ofExcellence for Women’s Entrepreneurship– case studies and method of invitingwomen to write and submit own casestudies through website:www.uel.ac.uk/cewe/experience/success-stories/index.htm

University of Leeds event on the theme ofImposter syndrome:www.equality.leeds.ac.uk/for-staff/ athena-swan-and-wiset/women-in-science-engineering-and-technology

Muslim Women’s Network UK’s dynamicwebpage:www.mwnuk.co.uk

University of Exeter’s project 31 womenwhich identified and featured theachievements of 31 inspirational womenassociated with the University – one foreach day in March – to celebrate IWD:www.exeter.ac.uk/staff/equality/womensday/31women

City Women’s Network use of Twitter topromote events and highlight news items:www.citywomen.org

Women’s Engineering Society –incorporate videos through You Tube inwebsite:www.wes.org.uk

Network of Networks event atSouthampton University for IWD 2014 –bringing together members of all kinds ofdiversity networks for talks and anexhibition:www.southampton.ac.uk/diversity/news/events/2014/03/13_international_womens_week_network_event.page

Examples of Good Practice elsewhere


Doherty, L., Manfredi, S., (2010) Improving women’s representation in senior positions in universities, Employee Relations, Vol 32 No. 2

Fletcher, C,. Boden, R., Kent, J., Tinson, J., (2007) Performing Women: The Gendered Dimensions of the UK New Research Economy,Gender, Work and Organisation Vol 14 No. 5

McCarthy, H. (2004) Girlfriends in High Places, Demos, Londonwww.demos.co.uk/files/girlfriendsinhighplaces.pdf

Vinnicombe, S., Singh, V., Kumra, S., (2004) Making Good Connections: best practice for women’s corporatenetworks, Cranfield University School of Management, Opportunity Nowhttp://opportunitynow.bitc.org.uk/system/files/research/making_good_connections.pdf

References

The University of SheffieldThe funding for the production of this guide was provided by:Professor Sir Keith Burnett, Vice-ChancellorProfessor Mike Hounslow, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of EngineeringProfessor Tony Ryan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of ScienceProfessor Gill Valentine, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Social SciencesProfessor Tony Weetman, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and HealthWomen Professors’ Network

And our thanks also go to:Professor Jane Grasby, Women@TUoS NETwork Chair 2012-2013Dr Rhonda R Snook, Women@TUoS NETwork Chair 2013-2014 (Vice Chair 2012-2013)Professor Caitlin Buck, Women@TUoS NETwork Chair 2014-2015 (Vice Chair 2013-2014)Dr. Lynne Bingle, Women@TUoS NETwork Vice Chair 2014-2015Julie Campbell, Human Resources Manager, Equality and DiversityEmily Hopkinson, Human Resources Manager, Staff DevelopmentClaire Pickerden, White Rose University Consortium, Project Development Manager

External:Rachel Tobbell, Diversity Consultant

©2014 The University of Sheffield.

Acknowledgements

Women's Networks in Academia: Practical Advice for Positive Impact

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