New programme aims to support women postdocs at Imperial College London

Springboard Women’s Development course celebrates its first successful intake with visit from the Rector - <em>News</em>

Friday 19 December 2008
By Naomi Weston

Supporting postdoctoral women researchers at Imperial College London is the aim behind a new programme which celebrated its first successful intake this week.

Twenty women from across the College were congratulated by the Rector for completing the Springboard Women’s Development course.

The programme aims to help female staff in the competitive academic environment, where they are still out numbered by men. It focuses on building confidence, identifying goals and strengths and dealing with stress and pressure. It also provides opportunities to network with female colleagues to overcome the isolation that many women researchers report experiencing.

Springboard is a global programme and was introduced at the College for the first time in September 2008 to benefit women researchers. Dr Liz Elvidge, Development Manager at the College, set up the programme. She said: “Springboard is a unique development programme and looks holistically at the issues and challenges women face both professionally and personally. It provides a support network and enables women from different disciplines but at the same career stage, to discuss issues confidentially and in a supportive environment.”

The course, launched in September 2008 by Professor Maria Belvisi, Imperial's Ambassador for Women in Medicine, involved a full day of activities each month. It combines both discussion and interactive activities such as role playing to practice assertiveness skills. The researchers were also put in pairs as coaching partners to discuss any problems or issues they wanted to raise on an informal basis.

The Springboard group of postdoctoral researchers meet the Rector

Rector Sir Roy Anderson handed out certificates to all the women who completed the programme. He said: “Congratulations to all of you on taking part in this programme. It's wonderful to have an opportunity to get together in this way since an academic career can be deeply rewarding but there are also pressures. Initiatives such as these are important, since they give you time with your peers to discuss shared issues and to discover you are not alone and find support.”

He added: “The world is crying out for highly trained specialists in science, engineering and medicine. We cannot afford to lose your talent and innovation, and therefore we must make sure that the specific challenges faced by women are acknowledged and addressed.”

Throughout the course, some of the College’s leading women shared their experiences of the challenges they faced, the secrets of their success and what they have learnt about themselves in their career. Speakers have included Professor Shiranee Skriskander, Professor of Infectious Diseases, Professor Mary Ritter, Pro Rector for Postgraduate and International Affairs, and Dorothy Griffiths, Professor of Human Resource Management in the Business School.

Dr Huma Lateef, Research Associate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, took part in the course. She said: “The course was very unique from any other I’ve ever attended. It was extremely worthwhile and I particularly enjoyed the interactive aspect of it. It has definitely driven my confidence and ambition to a new level and I look forward to starting 2009 and implementing all that Springboard has taught me”.

There are many different initiatives in place at the College to support female researchers. Imperial was one of the founding members of the Athena Project, which was set up in 1999 and aims to promote the advancement of the careers of women in science, engineering and technology to achieve a significant increase in the number of women recruited to top posts.

For more information about support available for research staff please visit: www3.imperial.ac.uk/staffdevelopment/postdocs