Equality & Diversity course timetable

This session will provide the opportunity to hear from different women about their careers, what has impacted on their choices and any lessons they have learnt along the way. We are delighted to welcome the following speakers for our March session –

Rachel Coleman- Head of Enterprise Database Application Management, University Information Services Dr. Antoinette Nestor - Engagement Manager, Cambridge Zero & Engagement Manager, Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge

The talk will be followed by an opportunity to ask questions and for members to discuss topics raised.

Every woman working at Cambridge has their own career journey and story to tell. We aim to hold a number of these sessions during the academic year, so please get in contact if you would be happy to share your story and email jenny.rampling@admin.cam.ac.uk

The Women’s Staff Network (WSN) would like to invite our members to a discussion with Professor Kamal Munir to share our thoughts and discuss how we can work together to improve the working lives of women at the university. Kamal is keen to hear our experiences, where things are going well and where we can make improvements. The event is part of the WSN’s celebration of International Women’s Day.

This event is only open to members of the Women’s Staff Network – to join the WSN please visit the website

Professor Kamal Munir is Pro Vice Chancellor for University Community and Engagement, and Professor of Strategy and Policy. Prof Munir has published numerous articles in leading organisational and management journals. His work has been quoted and cited in several forums, including the BBC, CNN, ABC, World Economic Forum, Financial Times, the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Wired magazine, and BusinessWeek among many others. Prof Munir has won several teaching awards and consulted for several public and private sector organisations. He is a Fellow of Homerton College, Cambridge and Academic Director of the Centre for Strategic Philanthropy.

Gender Equality, Cambridge and Me! Past to Present.

The Women’s Staff Network and University Gender Equality Champions invite you to attend a panel discussion, chaired by Liz Hide, University Gender Equality Champion STEMM

Come and take part in this lunchtime panel discussion where we will consider gender equality in relation to what matters to us, what the bigger picture is for gender equality at the University and if/how the issues of gender equality have changed over the years.

Panellists include:

• Anjum Nahar, Postgraduate President, Cambridge Students’ Union
• George Cronin, LGBT+ Network
• Jenni Skinner, Co-Chair, Race Equality Network (REN)
• Jenny Rampling, Chair, Women's Staff Network (WSN)
• Miriam Lynn, Equality Diversity and Inclusion
• Sarah Colvin, University Gender Equality Champion AHSSB&L

Everyone is very welcome to attend, post questions to the panel and join the discussion.

The Women’s Staff Network provide a regular, informal group to bring together members who would like to discuss and share their experiences of their menopause journey.

The group’s aim is to provide a supportive environment and relaxed discussion.

This session will provide the opportunity to hear from different women about their careers, what has impacted on their choices and any lessons they have learnt along the way. We are delighted to welcome the following speakers for our April session –

Joy Haughton - Chief of Staff, Cambridge Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore (CARES) Dr Jessica Gardner - University Librarian & Director of Library Services

The talk will be followed by an opportunity to ask questions and for members to discuss topics raised.

Every woman working at Cambridge has their own career journey and story to tell. We aim to hold a number of these sessions during the academic year, so please get in contact if you would be happy to share your story and email jenny.rampling@admin.cam.ac.uk

Join Museum Director Liz Hide for a women's history tour of the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, exploring some feminist themes within the museum's collections of rocks and fossils.

The 45 minute tour will introduce you to some of the hidden figures and pioneering women who have contributed to the study and understanding of Earth sciences.

This event is hosted and provided by the University of Cambridge Women’s Staff Network and is open to members only. To join the Women’s Staff Network, please visit our website

Limited places

The Women’s Staff Network provide a regular, informal group to bring together members who would like to discuss and share their experiences of their menopause journey.

The group’s aim is to provide a supportive environment and relaxed discussion.

Join Museum Director Liz Hide for a women's history tour of the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, exploring some feminist themes within the museum's collections of rocks and fossils.

The 45 minute tour will introduce you to some of the hidden figures and pioneering women who have contributed to the study and understanding of Earth sciences.

This event is hosted and provided by the University of Cambridge Women’s Staff Network and is open to members only. To join the Women’s Staff Network, please visit our website

Limited places

A Mindfulness session – “May our heart's garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindfulness is recommend by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as it can help improve mental health.

Esther Hunt trained as a Mindfulness Teacher with the British Mindfulness Institute and was taught by Dr Patrizia Collard. She is a Registered and Accredited Psychotherapist with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an Affiliated Lecturer in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapeutic Counselling in the Faculty of Education.

For more information on the benefits of Mindfulness please visit the NHS website

We all need something that can take us away from the stresses of everyday life and to clear our minds. What better than a photo walk.

Lloyd Mann and Nick Saffell from the Office of External Affairs and Communications, are offering wellbeing photography walks for staff across the University.

The sessions aim to teach simple steps that will help you take great photographs using your smartphone or camera, with a no-pressure, hands-on approach. We help you think about what makes good subject matter, and support you with angles and framing, allowing you to get the best shot possible.

The photo exercises give you something to occupy your mind and stimulate your brain, to get creative and hopefully the sessions might encourage you to take photos every day.

To make the session accessible, we’re running them for one hour, during office hours. Don’t let the walking part put you off, the emphasis is on taking some time to ‘look up’, and to connect with our surroundings.

Pilates is suitable for all levels of fitness.

It is aimed at improving and strengthening your posture, as well as developing flexibility to aid relaxation. Location: In person - University Sports Centre (West Cambridge Site)

Booking required

• Please wear comfortable gym clothing.
• Mats are available on site.
• Changing/showers are available on site
• Please let the instructor know of any medical conditions or mobility issues prior to the start of the class.

We all need something that can take us away from the stresses of everyday life and to clear our minds. What better than a photo walk.

Lloyd Mann and Nick Saffell from the Office of External Affairs and Communications, are offering wellbeing photography walks for staff across the University.

The sessions aim to teach simple steps that will help you take great photographs using your smartphone or camera, with a no-pressure, hands-on approach. We help you think about what makes good subject matter, and support you with angles and framing, allowing you to get the best shot possible.

The photo exercises give you something to occupy your mind and stimulate your brain, to get creative and hopefully the sessions might encourage you to take photos every day.

To make the session accessible, we’re running them for one hour, during office hours. Don’t let the walking part put you off, the emphasis is on taking some time to ‘look up’, and to connect with our surroundings.

Pilates is suitable for all levels of fitness.

It is aimed at improving and strengthening your posture, as well as developing flexibility to aid relaxation. Location: In person - University Sports Centre (West Cambridge Site)

Booking required

• Please wear comfortable gym clothing.
• Mats are available on site.
• Changing/showers are available on site
• Please let the instructor know of any medical conditions or mobility issues prior to the start of the class.

This talk is being hosted by the Women in Higher Education Network (WHEN) and delivered by Rob Baker and Chloe Mark from Tailored Thinking.

Rob and Chloe are specialists at helping people to bring their strengths to life in work through concepts such as job crafting and evidence-based ideas from positive psychology. Rob is the author of Personalization at Work by Kogan Page which was a finalist at the 2021 Business Book Awards. He has presented to organisations and conferences about job crafting around the globe. Tailored Thinking, the company Rob founded in 2017, was named HR Consultancy of year by the CIPD in 2020.

This event is only open to members of the Women’s Staff Network – to join the WSN please visit the website or SharePoint site

The University of Cambridge Women’s Staff Network (WSN) are a partner institution for WHEN as both Networks are dedicated to speeding up equity of opportunity for women in higher education. All WSN members can join WHEN for free on their website.

How often do you find yourself on social media during the course of a normal week? More importantly, how does using social media make you feel?

Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, the ways in which we have used social media has changed, as well as how we feel about social media in general. Social media is a paradox. It connects us in some ways, while pushing us apart in other ways. Social media has become our source of information, and a valuable means of connecting with friends and family, while at the same time making us feel lonelier and disconnected.

In this talk, we will explore some of the research about social media, connection, loneliness – as well as looking at some ways that we might be able to helpful reframe our relationship social media in our everyday lives.

Tyler Shores is delighted to announce that he has secured two external speakers to join him next week.

Luke Fernandez is Assistant Professor in the School of Computing at Weber State University where he teaches classes on the politics of technology and software development and Susan J. Mattwho is Professor of History at Weber State. They have both co-authors of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings about Technology, from the Telegraph to Twitter (Harvard University Press, 2019).

Tyler Shores manages the ThinkLab research program at the University of Cambridge, and is a Senior Research Associate at the Intellectual Forum, Jesus College. His research focuses on digital habits, social media, and how digital environments shape how we work and think. Prior to Cambridge, Tyler worked in online education at Stanford, served as a director at an international education nonprofit organization, and worked at the Google world headquarters in Mountain View, California while running the Authors@Google program. His various work has been featured in the New York Times, BBC, WIRED, amongst others. And he was once on an episode of The Simpsons.

Luke Fernandez is Assistant Professor in the School of Computing at Weber State University where he teaches classes on the politics of technology and software development. He is co-author of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings about Technology, from the Telegraph to Twitter (Harvard University Press, 2019). He holds a PhD in Political Theory from Cornell University. He is also a software developer. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Salon, Slate, and the Chronicle of Higher Education, among other places.

Susan J. Matt is Professor of History at Weber State. Her research focuses on the history of emotions and US social history. She is co-author of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings about Technology, from the Telegraph to Twitter (Harvard University Press, 2019). She is author of Homesickness: An American History (Oxford University Press, 2011), and Keeping Up with the Joneses: Envy in American Consumer Society, 1890-1930 (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003). Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Journal of American History.

A mentoring relationship could help you to progress in your professional life/career and build your networks. It can also support your mental health by increasing confidence and reducing anxiety.

If you are interested in hearing about mentoring and its effects on mental health, join the ourcambridge Self-Match Mentoring Scheme' team for an informal session and discussion.

“(Mentoring) supported my mental health through a period of work-related anxiety/stress”.

University Sports Centre

Dr Elizabeth English, the University Mindfulness Practitioner, will explore components of mindful communication, and how we can create calm and satisfying connections with other people, even under pressure.

In this session Rachel Bailey, from the University SPACE network, gives personal insights from her experiences of supporting and caring for someone with mental health issues.

This talk is being hosted by the Women in Higher Education Network (WHEN) and delivered by the company Within People.

Leadership always seems to be a hot topic, but even more so in times of change and uncertainty. Now more than ever, leadership is front and centre, as we look to leaders to lead the way whilst we’re coming out of the pandemic.

Looking back over the past 18 months, the stories of great leadership standing out are the ones of leaders being genuinely human. This corroborates the research we’ve done over the past few years.

Through more than a 100 leadership conversations, Within People have discovered that successful 21st century leaders are great at being human. They are showing up to innate human qualities that create valuable benefits in business, such as connection, learning and freedom. This session explores the qualities that matter and gives everyone an opportunity to connect to the qualities on an individual level.

After the session, participants:

• Have clarity on what is different about 21st Century Leadership
• Have made connection to the qualities that matter

This event is only open to members of the Women’s Staff Network – to join the WSN please visit the website or SharePoint site

The University of Cambridge Women’s Staff Network (WSN) are a partner institution for WHEN as both Networks are dedicated to speeding up equity of opportunity for women in higher education. All WSN members can join WHEN for free on their website.

This interactive workshop will benefit Athena Swan applicants and anyone who would like to review department and team culture to improve inclusion and belonging.

Gina Warren and Louise Atkin from the ED&I Team will discuss different ways to analyse workplace culture and identify practical ways to improve staff engagement and inclusion.

The session helps to increase the understanding of systemic racism and race. It encourages participants to reflect on their own identity, building confidence to speak about race and the capacity to challenge racism.

The training will be split into two 1h sessions. This will allow us to make space for discussion while not making the zoom meeting too long.

Everyone is warmly invited to attend.

Please only book if you can attend both sessions.

Have you ever wondered what training GPs receive about the menopause or how to discuss your menopause symptoms with your GP? We are delighted to welcome Dr Madeleine Lameris who will discussing her own medical training, how this has evolved and what current undergraduate medical students are now taught. Madeleine will also provide her top tips as a GP for accessing better menopause care.

Dr Madeleine Lameris is the General Practice Education Group Year 5 and Curriculum lead in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University, and also has a role at Cambridge Clinical School curating Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) content. Madeleine is in the process of completing her Masters in Medical Education, and she is a salaried GP at Buckden and Little Paxton Surgery. Madeleine has an interest in women’s health and menopause, and with her medical education hat on, is currently working with the team at the Newson Health Menopause Society to widen undergraduate access to menopause resources.