We are a committee of Early Career Researchers running a project with the primary aim of supporting women and non-binary folk within the research community in the school of EPS and tackling aspects of gender inequality at HW.

We run monthly informal lunches (with amazing food from local Edinburgh Café Piecebox) to give women + non-binary people the chance to meet one another in a context that allows for their voices, experiences and expertise to be at the focus. This presents the opportunity to discuss anything from scientific research to professional and personal issues, and make some friends and/or meet new collaborators. We also host open, general audience level STEM seminars and encourage everyone and all genders to attend – these are made accessible to those unfamiliar with the subject matter and also illustrate the career paths and experiences of the speakers within their sectors. These more open events also allow for the entire demographic of HW to engage with gender issues and ask questions they might not otherwise be comfortable asking, while also showcasing the achievements of fantastic researchers. See “Upcoming Events” for more info!

Our project aims to tackle social isolation which disproportionately affects women during their PhDs and is linked to a higher drop-out rate.
To do this, we believe it is important to give women an environment in which their participation is actively encouraged, since in a study by Ruth Wodak it was found that at university faculty meetings men spoke for longer and more often than women, in an affect that is so extreme that the longest comment made by a women was shorter than the shortest comment made by a man.

We hope that we can raise any issues that are common to women and form negative patterns within their research environments. Inspired by the casual discussions at our events we present informal, optional polls and questionnaires that participants can anonymously answer, and from this data we can inform EPS/HW policy and make positive steps towards changing HW’s research culture. If you have any comments or questions for us, please do get involved either by coming along to one of our events or contacting us!