The Women in Materials Science Group hosted its launch event on International Women's Day 2017 to recognise and celebrate the amazing women who are working and studying in the Materials Department. We aim to tackle problems facing all those who identify as women in the field in hopes of addressing the gender imbalance. As well as recognising some of the amazing work carried out by women in materials. This group is open to all genders, undergraduates, postgraduates, academics and staff.
We host regular networking lunches to provide the opportunity for people across the department to meet and build a safe supportive environment to discuss these issues. We also hosted our inaugural Careers Pathways workshop; an event designed to provide insight into the career opportunities available to, and possible career challenges faced by, those who identify as women working in science. The event was sponsored by the London and South East (LSE) branch of the IoP and hosted at the IoP's central office in Portland Place, London. The Career Pathways initiative was born and designed to provide a platform on which female professionals, who have used a science degree to underpin their careers, could showcase their employment experiences to date and tender advice. All speakers were established specialists in their chosen field and represented a diverse range of disciplines; from science policy and academia to innovation and engineering. The event was a very well attended by students across the MPLS division and it was fantastic to hear the inspiring stories of so many women.
This year will will continue to host our networking lunches and we are planning our next Careers Pathways workshop, which will take place at the end of Trinity Term. For updates about our events, please join our WiMS facebook group