On Tuesday 7th March, the Ursuline Sixth Form held a Conference to celebrate International Women's Day with a theme of 'Embracing Equity'.
Why equity?
Equity is not the same as equality because equity recognises that we all have different privileges and challenges and not everyone starts at the same place. To achieve equity in leadership we must recognise these different starting points and work to remove obstacles and break down barriers so that each person can show their true potential and achieve their best.
This year we were joined by three wonderful speakers - Sonya Barlow, Dona Reddiar and Lucy Kane. They covered a variety of careers including radio presenting, medicine and media journalism.
Our first speaker was Sonya Barlow who is the award-winning founder of the Like Minded Females network inclusion and careers consultancy, Radio host of the BBC Asian Network's The Everyday Hustle and best-selling author of Unprepared to Entrepreneur'.
She spoke about the importance of ignoring what people say your limits are and pursuing even what you think you cannot achieve.
Our second talk was from Dona Reddiar PhD. who specialises in the connection between bacteria and stomach cancer.
She said, "It is important to be your own role model. Otherwise, you run the risk of creating a barrier that you think you can't pass."
She is currently making society a more equitable place by working for the Welcome Trust building on their PhD and Black internship programme as well as developing the Biomedical Vacation Scholarships scheme.
Our final talk was from Lucy Kane who is the owner and publisher of the Time & Leisure magazine which is the largest lifestyle magazine for South West London and Surrey.
Masha Nesterenko, a sixth former said, "I appreciated these female role models coming in to talk to us because it made me realise my potential. No matter how many times I am struggling, I know my worth and what I am capable of."
All too often the decision-makers come from a narrow band of society with a similar and limited experience. From both an economic and a social justice perspective we need to have more voices at the table, including those who have previously been excluded or under-represented.
