International Women's Day 2018

Session outlines

Opening the programme: Dr Fiona McLean will talk about her own career progression and open the programme.

Women's Networks: Still Needed and Lessons Learnt, Dr Sandra Cairncross: In her keynote presentation, Sandra will:

• Explore why Women’s Networks are needed in Higher and Further Education for Academic and Professional Service Staff
• Share her experience of setting up a network at Edinburgh Napier and reflect on key lessons learnt (to date)
• Encourage participants to consider what they can do individually and collectively to address key issues related to women in Higher and Further Education

Women's Networks: Still Needed and Lessons Learnt powerpoint

Swanning Around: How can Athena Swan impact our university? Dr Mary Doherty: Mary will describe our journey to Athena Swan Institutional accreditation, where we are now and how we can use the process the produce real change across the university. The opportunities for staff and students to be involved in the process will be discussed. We will also discuss the ‘action plan’ and in particular the UHI role model project.

Swanning Around: How can Athena Swan impact our university? powerpoint

Time Management for Smart Working, Dr Elizabeth Barron-Majerik. Elizabeth presents this session on strategies that have worked for her as a full-time employee and mother of two young children.

Time Management for Smart Working powerpoint

Career pathways: the influence of habitus, Dr Diane Rawlinson: In this presentation Diane reflects on her career history, using Bourdieu’s concept of ‘habitus’ as a lens through which she considers factors, including gender, that influence the direction our lives take.  She discusses the on-going challenges women face in educational leadership, encouraging us to reflect on the embedded dispositions and sub-conscious framing of experiences that can limit ambition.

Career pathways: the influence of habitus powerpoint

Mentoring in Context: rurality and intersecting identities, Dr Philomena de Lima: There has been a growing emphasis and research on the role of mentoring in different organisational contexts with varying perspectives on how best to implement and embed mentoring into organisational cultures. Within this context gender matching and ethnic –matching and some of the challenges associated with both have been widely discussed and researched. However, there appears to be a lack of research as to how spatiality and a dispersed institution such as the UHI might address mentoring for diverse  and dispersed academic professionals with intersecting identities – personal, disciplinary and professional, as well as mentoring in a context of where UHI professionals are working with  students from diverse backgrounds.  This presentation from Dr Philomena de Lima will seek to share some insights and raise some questions to consider drawing on some research and professional/personal experiences.

Mentoring in Context: rurality and intersecting identities powerpoint

Women of HISA: This presentation will introduce us to the Highlands and Islands Students’ Association (HISA). Sorcha and Holly will be talking about their journeys into education, as well as celebrating the achievements of the HISA female officers from the past year. The presentation will end with a focus on ‘changing the culture’, looking at what steps both the university and HISA are taking to support women students.

Women of HISA #HISAsHeroines powerpoint

Where do you want to go and how will you get there?: Goal setting and action planning: This practical session will focus on setting your sights on your long term professional goals and turning these aspirations into achievable actions for the year ahead.  Throughout the day we hope you’ll be inspired by the contributions of presenters and other delegates and that these will kindle thoughts on your own professional goals.  Facilitated by Ann Tilbury, Sue Engstrand and Wendy Maltinsky, this session will support you to create an achievable action plan.  By the end of the session you will have identified long term professional goals and created a set of achievable actions for the next 12 months.  You’ll create postcards, as timely reminders to help keep you on track during the year ahead.  You’ll identify what support you might need and tactics to help you anticipate challenges that might get in the way.

Where do you want to go and how will you get there...goal setting and action planning powerpoint

Presenter biographies

Dr Fiona McLean

Dr Fiona McLean is Vice Chair of Court for the University of the Highlands and Islands and Chair of  the Equality and Diversity in Governance Working Group. Fiona has a portfolio of non executive directorship positions, including membership of the Boards of Historic Environment Scotland, and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Fiona was previously Professor in Heritage Management at Glasgow Caledonian University and prior to that, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Stirling. As an academic she was awarded a number of UK Research Council grants; was editor of an international journal; was keynote speaker at international conferences; published widely in refereed journals; and developed her PhD in to a book, 'Marketing the Museum', which was published by Routledge.

Dr Mary Doherty

Mary Doherty is a senior lecturer in the School of Health and is the Head of PGR Development. She is also the UHI Athena Swan ‘Champion’ and led the successful application for Athena Swan Institutional Bronze Award. Since graduating with a BSc and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh, she worked in universities across the UK and the USA before joining UHI in 2010. She also previously worked in the civil service, where she had responsibility for equal opportunities in the NHS in Scotland. As a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Young Academy of Scotland, she has been involved in projects looking at inclusion of ‘at-risk academic and refugees’, the issues facing mid-career female academics and is currently working on a follow-up to the ‘Tapping all our Talents’ programme. 

Dr Elizabeth Barron-Majerik

Liz is the Programme Development Manager for Natural and Applied Science at Inverness College UHI. After completing her degree in Plant Science, she then spent the next four years completing post graduate studies and working as an Analytical Chemist before joining Inverness College UHI in 2003, where she lectured whilst completing her PhD in 2011. In the same year she was awarded an MBE for her work in STEM engagement and was STEM ambassador of the year.  Liz then managed a number of different departments within the college, before taking on her current role in 2013.

Dr Philomena de Lima

Philomena is a sociologist and the Director of the Centre for Remote and Rural Studies, Inverness College. She has lived and worked in the Highlands for over 35 years. Her research explores intersecting relationships between ‘communities of place’ and ‘communities of interests’, with a focus on social justice issues and inter-cultural encounters. She has applied her interests to the study of topics such as migration and wellbeing, ethnicity and race, gender, belonging /identities, poverty and social exclusion. She is in involved in mentoring /supporting several young scholars /Post Docs and PhD students across the UK and internationally. Her past involvements have included membership of the Carnegie (UK) Enquiry into Civil Society; Scottish Executive Strategic Group on Rural Race Equality; Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Advisory Group of the Equal Opportunity Commission. Current involvements include:  faculty member of the International Comparative Rural Policy School – Summer Institute since 2005; member of the Executive Council of the Rural Policy Learning Commons a seven-year project funded by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council; Associate Director for the Centre for Research in Families and Relationships (CRFR) at the University of Edinburgh since 2005.

Dr Sandra Cairncross

Sandra is Assistant Principal for Widening Participation and Community at Edinburgh Napier University and leads the university’s Widening Participation Strategy and Gender Action Plan.

Previous roles have included School Director of Student Experience, Dean of Engineering, Computing and Creative Industries and Assistant Principal Student Experience.

Sandra is Edinburgh Napier’s Aurora Champion and also leads their Women’s Network which was launched on International Women’s Day in 2017. She also chairs Edinburgh Napier’s Preventing and Tackling Sexual Violence and Misconduct Strategy Group.

Sandra also chairs the Advisory Group for Equate Scotland, who work across Scotland to make a positive difference for women in science engineering, technology and the built environment.

Sandra’s current research interest centre on widening participation and engagement in higher education centred with a focus on equality and diversity and exploring barriers to participation. 

Twitter: @smcairnx

Dr Diane Rawlinson

Diane is responsible for providing key support to the Further Education Regional Board of the university in the delivery of further education across the Highlands and Islands region, in line with Scottish Government policy and as negotiated annually with the Scottish Funding Council. This role requires her to work particularly closely with the principals of the nine academic partner colleges within the university which are funded for further education purposes.

Prior to taking up this role, Diane was principal and chief executive of Inverness College UHI where she led a comprehensive change management programme preparing for and managing the move to the iconic Inverness Campus estate.  Diane held the post of principal and chief executive of Ayr College for eight years and prior to this worked in several other colleges in Scotland.  

More recently, Diane has established and provided leadership to the university’s work-based learning hub, creating alternative routes to degrees in a range of industry sectors. Diane's interests lie in inequalities in education and the widening access agenda.

Holly Scrimgeour, HISA President

Holly is the first woman President of HISA, was the first woman President of Perth College Students’ Association, and for her NQ in Music, was the only woman on her course. Her journey through education was rocky due to ill health, but graduated with BA(Hons) Popular Music in 2016. Holly is due to start a PGDip Career Guidance and Development at Edinburgh Napier University in September 2018.

Since becoming involved in UHI’s students’ associations in 2014, Holly has held a number of elected positions within UHI and externally with the National Union of Students’ Scotland.

Her work has led to her assistance in creating Perth College and UHI’s Gender Action Plans, supporting other women to run for elected positions, and establishing student ambassadors alongside the marketing department to encourage students in gender imbalanced courses to actively speak to potential students. She hopes to see gender equality on UHI’s Boards in the next few years.

 

Holly’s life goal is to support women in achieving their career aspirations, by breaking down the barriers to education. As a proud Feminist, she one day hopes to see equality in the raising of families so that women will no longer have to choose between raising a family and their career –  believing that should always be a woman’s choice, not a woman’s place.”

 

Sorcha Kirker, HISA Vice-President

Sorcha graduated with an Honours Degree in Archaeology from Orkney College UHI in 2015. She went on to complete a Masters in Archaeological Practice, and is currently undertaking a Masters in Archaeological Studies.

Sorcha has been involved with student representation since 2012, when she began as a Student Rep. In 2015, Sorcha was elected the first Depute President for the Highlands and Islands Students’ Association (HISA) at Orkney College, and she held this position for two terms. She was elected as HISA Vice President for Higher Education (VPHE) in March 2017.

As a Student Rep, Sorcha established an Archaeology Society, contributed to course improvements, secured student nights at a local bar, and assisted in establishing Orkney College’s first Freshers Fair. In her role as a HISA Depute, Sorcha worked to improve the Student Rep system and increase Student Rep numbers at Orkney College, engaged with apprentices, increased voter turnout in HISA elections by 300%, and raised the profile of HISA nationally. During her last year as Orkney College Depute, students at the campus voted HISA the best Students’ Association in Scotland.

In 2017 Sorcha was nominated as ‘Student of the Year’ in the NUS Scotland Awards and she was also nominated for ‘Best Engagement with the Student Voice’ in the HISA Awards.

Sorcha is passionate about student representation, social events and activities, and equality and diversity. She will continue to work alongside the university and other student representation organisations to ensure the needs and concerns of all Higher Education students are addressed. She wishes to inspire her peers to get involved with student representation, and to ensure the learning experience for UHI students is as enjoyable and accessible as possible.

Ann Tilbury, EDU Academic Skills Designer, Educational Development Unit

Ann Tilbury’s professional background is in human resources and learning and development, previously working at the University of London and BBC News.   In more recent years she has added  learning and teaching to her skill set. Her early career was based in London, however she relocated to Inverness in 2007, combining childcare and consultancy work until 2011 when she joined the University as Academic Skills Developer.
 
Working in the Educational Development Team, she provides skills enhancement opportunities for teaching staff, predominantly in the area of technology enhanced learning.  This includes designing online learning resources and delivering skills development opportunities.  Within her role, there are many opportunities to support staff, particularly women, to lead by example and to build supportive networks across and beyond the institution.
 
Ann completed a Masters in Leadership and Management in 2015 and a Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Tertiary Education in 2016.  She became a fellow of the HEA in 2016 and has since mentored others to gain accreditation.

Dr Sue Engstrand, Subject Network Leader, Science, technology and the environment, University of the Highlands and Islands

Su Engstrand is a Subject Network Leader at the University of the Highlands and Islands. Her role is in  leading the curriculum in Higher Education in Science, Technology and the Environment. She has a background in ecology and developing research interests in inter-professional education, particularly in land based programmes.

Following her degree in Pure and Applied Biology (Oxford,1991), Su worked for the Countryside Council for Wales as a habitat surveyor, before moving to Scotland, studying for a PhD at the University of Stirling. Her research focussed on understanding the behavioural and environmental drivers which influence reproductive strategies in free-living birds, spending many hours in the field watching dippers, swallows and great tits and working with stable isotopes to measure energy expenditure.

Her interests in teaching began as a ‘demonstrator’ supporting undergraduate lab sessions, alongside her PhD studies and this led her to the post of SeniorTeaching Fellow at the University of St Andrews School of Biology from 1996-2005. Following the birth of two sons and a family relocation to Moray, Su started teaching at the University of the Highlands and Islands in 2006, first as a supply bank lecturer, then Programme Leader, then Subject Network Leader.

Su undertook the Leadership Foundation’s  Aurora programme in 2015 and is a member of the Advisory Team for UHI’s Athena Swan bid. She recently became a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has mentored others through their application. Outside of work, Su is happiest on a bike, enjoying exploring the Highlands on and off road.

Dr Wendy Maltinsky, Psychology Programme Leader, Inverness College - University of the Highlands and Islands

 

Wendy is a Chartered Health Psychologist teaching on the psychology degree largely  in the area of health psychology and adolescence development.  Wendy has worked for UHI for a long number of years and was most recently the Psychology Programme Leader.  Along with the team, Wendy was instrumental in initiating the Psychology Programme and bringing this degree to the UHI.

Wendy also works for the University of Stirling as a Health Psychologist and Research Fellow in the area of Diabetes.  For several years Wendy has been involved in delivering behaviour change training programmes, primarily to health professionals in the NHS while examining the efficacy of these programmes and analysing the key factors that facilitate behaviour change.  Why do people who are motivated to change not change?  Why do some people manage to change their behaviour fairly immediately.  Why is it that when we know that something is good for us, we still don't change.  These are all key questions that health psychologists address with individuals as well as with health professionals.  And the tips and behaviour change techniques are useful for any behavioural change!

More recently, Wendy has been invited by Manchester University to work on projects in Low and Middle Income Countries to support health partnerships to sustain behaivoural change as part of training programmes.  Wendy has therefore been in Uganda working alongside the Ugandan Private Midwives Association and the Royal College of Midwives.  Wendy is about to travel to Ethiopia to work with the United Nation's World Food programme to support  Health Extension Workers there.  If the programme is deemed to have potential value, it will be rolled out to other parts of Ethiopia and beyond.  Working with many of the expert health psychologists in the country as well as health professionals and academics in the destination countries has been one of the most exciting elements of this project as has been the opportunity to consider the extent to which our theories and concepts can be adapted for use in multi-cultural contexts.