On the 11th of March the Watt Women society at Heriot-Watt university hosted student workshops and an industry panel to celebrate International Women's day 2020.
"You can't be what you can't see"
International women's day takes place on the 8th of March every year to celebrate gender equality world-wide. This year the theme was #EachForEqual. The Watt Women society invited speakers from industries to share their knowledge and experience with the students and lecturers at Heriot-Watt to encourage discussion around gender equality in STEM subjects. The events ran with the theme "you can't be what you can't see" to highlight the lower number of female role models for students coming into STEM fields in industry and academia. The day started with two student workshops expertly lead by Jay Surti, international author and speaker from the board of WES (the Women in Engineering society). Covering personal leadership and personal branding topics to help the students create online presence and start growing their professional networks before leaving university. Following a short networking session the industry panel took place with 6 panel members from across STEM industries and academia. Led by Juliette Goddard mechanical engineering undergraduate with panel members Dr Carol Marsh Deputy Head of Electronics from Leonardo UK, Liz Cunningham land manager at Miller Homes, Alice Nicaudie a senior risk modelling analyst at TSB and Professor Joan Cordiner from Sheffield university. Along with two students from Heriot-Watt, Katya Moncrieff chemistry PhD student and founder of the postgraduate society Watt She Said and Watt Women president Emily Mason. Some of the key messages from the inspiring discussion at the panel was to be authentic and confident, work with the people around you and grow your networks. With a diverse mix of over 25 attendees the event networking over ran due to the enthusiasm and in-depth conversations taking place. These events are possible thanks to the Watt Women committee, pictured above who organised and ran this event, and thanks to the support of Heriot-Watt University and our affiliated partners Equate Scotland and the Women in Engineering Society (WES).
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Written by Juliette Goddard on Linkedin
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