March 8, 2018, by Liz Cass

Nottingham Women Expert Network

Nottingham Women Expert Network (N-WEN) is a new network designed to boost the visibility of the many talented women at Nottingham who have expertise to share.

Why?

Because women are still under-represented in the media and we need to change that 

Because getting your voice heard helps you move on in your career: research shows that getting across why your work matters is particularly important for mid-career female academics trying to emerge from the shadow of their more senior – often male – research leads.

Because gender stereotypes still affect career aspirations among young women: confident women featured in prominent places talking passionately about their research are a great role model for women looking at their future career options

 

Working together

This is a joint initiative with Nottingham Trent University and includes a series of free events and training opportunities running throughout the year.

To launch the network, in conjunction with International Women’s Day, we have produced Nottingham Women Experts Online Guide  . This  is an online and hard copy guide of female experts, researchers and academics at the both of the city’s universities. T he directory has been sent to newsrooms, MPs, think tanks and partner institutions locally and nationally.

 

Planned events

We will host a series of events both at the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University. Topics and events planned so far include:

 April- Raising Your Media Profile, with guest speakers from ITV and The i Paper. 

May -Giving evidence to Parliament and Government, invited speakers include MP Lilian Greenwood

June – Projecting yourself in person and in meetings

September – Everyday Sexism and dealing with trolls

October – Becoming a member of an Advisory group/panel

November – Writing for The Conversation 

January – Leading change with local communities

Liz Cass, Head of News at the University of Nottingham said: “The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is #PressforProgress , our aim with this network is to provide the support, training, forum for discussion and access to opportunities to help women progress however they wish to.

“I know the benefits of working and engaging with the media but that’s because much of my career has been spent in this arena. Equally my colleagues in Public Affairs have spent a lot of time dealing with MPs and policy makers. We’re keen to share this knowledge more widely and understand some of the barriers that women face in these areas and help provide more opportunities for them to reap the benefits of raising their profile.”

If you are interested in being part of N-WEN or if you are a member of the media and would like a hard copy of the Nottingham Women Experts Guide please contact Liz Cass.

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