SoGE marks International Women's Day 2024
Today [8 March 2024] we are marking International Women’s Day – a time to reflect on the progress women have made and their ongoing fight for equality. The theme for IWD2024 is Inspire Inclusion. We asked SoGE students and staff to tell us about women who inspire them, and what they think inclusion means in the context of gender equality. They highlighted the influence and contributions of an incredible range of women, including activists, entertainers, academics, politicians, their own mothers, and many more. Here is what they had to say…
Sumati Bajaj, Visiting Research Associate, SoGE
What does inclusion mean to you?
Having a differentiated approach to equity. Gender barriers cut across others like race, class, religion, etc. Consequently, gender equality should look different for each according to their circumstances.
Dr Nicola Ranger, Director, Resilient Planet Finance Lab, ECI
Who has most inspired you?
Christine Lagarde – her constant grace under pressure, intelligence, skill and awesomeness in dealing with globally critical issues, [and] strong leadership in a male-dominated world.
Mayli Hayes Villalba, graduate student, MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management
What does inclusion mean to you?
Making the effort for all voices to be heard.
Danny Dorling, Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography, SoGE
Who has most inspired you? What does inclusion mean to you?
[Educator, academic and author Professor] Sally Tomlinson, now in her 80s. There is a danger that inclusion means assimilation...See Dawn Foster's amazing and very readable and very short book, Lean Out, on what happens if women are encouraged to behave as men at the top have for centuries...Sally Tomlinson did the opposite to that, continues to do it, and does it constantly smiling, joking and listening.
Katrina Charles, Professor of Environmental Health Risks, SoGE
Who has most inspired you?
I am inspired by Li Ann Ong, who has come back to research after a career in medicine and is using her expertise to bring together stakeholders from the health and water sectors to tackle the challenge of water quality in hospitals in Bangladesh.
Nancy Gladstone, Water Programme Coordinator, SSEE
Who has most inspired you?
Dr Florence Tanui is one of the many early career researchers in the REACH programme who inspire me with their dedication to water security research and impact. Her work on the groundwater systems of Lodwar, Kenya, is informing water infrastructure investments in Turkana County to enhance resilience to climate risks.
Dr Peter Barbrook-Johnson, Departmental Research Lecturer in the Economics of Environmental Change, ECI, SSEE
Who has most inspired you?
The work of Donella Meadows is a constant source of inspiration, motivation, and reassurance. Her work on systems thinking is both innovative and accessible. I find myself recommending her book on Thinking in Systems on an almost daily basis.
Dr Martha Crockatt, Programme Manager in Community and Landowner Nature Recovery, ECI
Who has most inspired you?
My PhD supervisor, Prof Lynne Boddy. Her contagious enthusiasm hooked me in undergraduate lectures to the extent that I went on to do my PhD on fungal ecology with her.
You can find more reflections from our staff and students on Twitter/X, LinkedIn and Instagram.
International Women’s Day – a time to reflect on the progress women have made and their ongoing fight for equality. The theme for IWD2024 is Inspire Inclusion.
