Newcastle University’s Women’s Network – “NU-WOMEN”
Welcome to NU-Women
a Network that is open to all women who work at the University. We are starting with Newcastle University but hope to expand to include other Universities in the North East.
Set up in March 2009, this network is here to provide a forum for women to share ideas and provide mutual support for their career development. The network is led by Professor Vicki Bruce, Head of School of Psychology and Chair of the University’s Diversity Committee and is supported by a mixture of academic and administrative staff.
What to expect from the Network
The network will organise at least 3 formal events during the year, at which invited speakers will talk about their perspective on what works for women in their careers. Previous speakers have included: Caroline Theobold on Networking; Wendy Hirsh on career and development discussions; and some senior women from Newcastle University.
Events will normally be scheduled over lunchtimes, and we will always ensure pre-session or post-session networking time is factored in. Some of the NU-Women network events may be more relevant to some staff than others, but the network aims to be inclusive and help all staff.
Other events we intend to run include: Mentoring, practicing Networking skills, using online resources, learning about our pensions, how to prepare for promotions and just some social contact amongst ourselves. These activities may be more informal than others, and no doubt there will be some spin off activities as we find more things in common.
Background
The network evolved from a Think Tank on gender issues in academic careers in October 2008 by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Chris Brink. Like some other Universities, the number of women in senior positions does not reflect the number of women at other levels in academic and research roles. The result has been a year of initiatives to promote and encourage women to think about their career development.
More Information about the Network
You can find out more about us in other pages on the Diversity Website.
The Equality and Diversity Team currently facilitate the operation of the network and provide the resources for the website (currently under development), booking venues and lunches. If you have any suggestions, please get in touch.