Events

L:R President Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, Dr Katriona O Sullivan & Dr Helen Maher President Ciarán Ó hOgartaigh opened University of Galway’s week of events to mark International Women’s Day 2024. He spoke of the importance of mentorship and support and the pivotal role Higher Education Institutions like University of Galway have in cultivating a culture of inclusion and respect. He also highlighted the University’s plans in relation to positive action measures to increase the number of women in senior positions. VP for EDI, Dr Helen Maher, interviewed Dr Katriona O’Sullivan author of best-selling memoir Poor. During the interview, Dr Sullivan gave us an insight into her own personal experience of growing up in poverty and how this and how the structures and people around her have impacted her life. Conversations around the impact that educators and authority figures can have on people’s mind-set and self-believe were particularly thought provoking. It was noted that the hashtag for IWD 2024 #InspireInclusion should not be considered as something that is charitable, but should instead be focused on celebration and encouragement.  Aoife Cooke, Dr Katriona O'Sullivan & Dr Helen Maher Front: Owen Ward, Niamh Kavanagh, Dr Katriona O'Sullivan, President Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, Dr Helen Maher & Niamh GallagherBack: Margaret Forde, Dr Laura Loftus & Aoife Cooke

Date/Time Venue Event Monday 4th March 11.00-12.30 Aula Maxima, Quadrangle In Conversation with Katriona O’Sullivan, author of Poor Office of the Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion    Register here Monday 4th March  2.00-4.00 Hybrid: in person G010, Hardiman Building; online via Zoom Life under Occupation: Women’s Experiences of Living in the Palestinian Territories  Centre for Global Women’s Studies  Register here Tuesday 5th March 12:00 - 1:00 G011, Hardiman Research Building A Conversation About Caring College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies Panel Dr Eoin Daly, University of Galway Dr Sheila Garrity, University of Galway Fiona O'Neill, Count on Us Recruitment Chair: Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley, University of Galway   CASSCS Event as part of the International Women’s Week Programme. The session is prompted by the upcoming referendum on 8th March 2024 and the Care Amendment which will be addressed, but the ‘conversation’ will broaden to issues surrounding care and caring in society. All welcome and there will be lots of time for engagement on the day.  Followed by a light lunch Tuesday 5th March 11:00 - 12.00 Data Science Institute Coffee morning – all welcome Thursday 7th March 12:00 – 1:00 Áras Moyola MY127, Lecture Room   Work-Life Balance Discussion over Coffee College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Register here   Friday  8th March  10.00-12.00 SULT Coffee Morning Celebrating the 12 years of the University Women's Network - all welcome Friday 8th March 11:00 – 1:00 Hybrid: in-person CA239e, Áras Cairnes; online on Teams Women in Leadership: Honest Reflections from Business School Academics   School of Business and Economics.  Moderator: Professor Kate Kenny, Professor of Business and Society, J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics Panellists: Professor Thia Hennessy, Head of College of Business and Law and Chair of Agri-Food Economics, University College Cork Professor Diane Martin, Professor of Marketing Professor Alma McCarthy, Head of School and Professor of Public Sector Management In-person places are limited and attendees must register in advance. Register here Friday 8th March 6:30pm Druid Theatre, Galway International Women's Day: Belonging with IdeasLab Speakers: Emer O’Neill, Áine Gallagher and Dr Helen MaherRegister here   Saturday 9th March 12:00 Alice Perry Engineering Building Open Day: Women in Engineering Panel  School of Science and Engineering Mon-Fri 4th-8th March   FemFest Fem Fest is an intersectional and inclusive event hosting a range of organisations and university societies, including speakers experienced in gender based violence, period poverty, gender and migration, reproductive rights, feminist lawyering and ecofeminism to name a few. There will also be a range of social events and workshops for attendees to enjoy. See the full schedule here  Monday 11th March 12.30-2.30 Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) Careers in High-end Computing  Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) Register here Friday 22nd March   Details to be confirmed Gender-Based Violence and Migration Project Centre for Global Women’s Studies Further information and registration details to follow.

Dr Laura Loftus (Chair),  Dr. Katarzyna Whysall (School of Medicine), Dr Maeve Duffy (School of Engineering), Dr Gerard Molloy (School of Psychology), Dr Edel Doherty (School of Business & Economics) and Dr Ananya Gupta (School of Medicine) The first event of 2024 in the office of the VP for EDI took place on Jan 9th, with a round table discussion (chaired by Dr Laura Loftus) held to celebrate the Athena Swan work currently being carried out across the University of Galway. The event focused on Athena Swan actions being carried out at School level and their impact. Representatives from the schools shared their stories regarding improvements since their last application while also highlighting some of the stumbling blocks encountered and how they hope to overcome these challenges. Kasia Whysall, Vice Dean for EDI, CMNHS Focus: Creating a targeted approach to implementing CMNHS’ Athena Swan actions Ananya Gupta, School of Medicine Self Assessment Team Chair Focus: Impact of SoM’s Athena Swan actions/applying for a Silver Athena Swan award Gerard Molloy, School of Psychology Self Assessment Team Chair Focus: How the SoP’s Athena Swan actions have helped to improve the culture in their School Edel Doherty, School of Business and Economics Self Assessment Team Chair Focus: Impact of SBE’s Athena Swan actions/applying for a Silver Athena Swan award Maeve Duffy, School of Engineering Self Assessment Team Chair Focus: Impact of SoE’s Athena Swan actions/achieving a Silver Athena Swan award Dr Laura Loftus (Chair),  Dr. Katarzyna Whysall (School of Medicine), Dr Maeve Duffy (School of Engineering), Dr Gerard Molloy (School of Psychology), Dr Edel Doherty (School of Business & Economics) and Dr Helen Maher (VP for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion)  

L:R Dr Helen Maher, Dr Manuela Heinz, Mark McGuinness, Dr Natalie Walsh, Dr Oonagh Meade & Prof Ciara Meehan The Aurora women’s leadership programme celebrated its tenth anniversary this year. To mark this momentous occasion, and the fact that over 100 women from University of Galway have now completed the Aurora programme, we launched the University of Galway’s Aurora Alumni Network. This network will enable University of Galway Aurorans to reconnect with their previous Aurora cohorts and expand their networks to other female leaders who have completed their programme. The network launch was held on Tuesday, 14 November in the Aula Maxima, Quadrangle. The event comprised of a roundtable discussion with past Aurorans focusing on their experiences of the programme and how it has impacted them, followed by an opportunity to network and connect with Aurora Alumni. The round table discussion was, Chaired by Helen Maher, VP for EDI along with: Dr Natalie Walsh, Director of Entrepreneurial Development Prof Ciara Meehan, Dean of Students Mark McGuinness Manager of University of Galway's mentorship programme Dr Oonagh Meade, Lecturer in Transdisciplinary Research with the Designing Futures team and former postdoctoral researcher Dr Manuela Heinz, Associate Professor, Head of Discipline of Education

L-R: D‌r Laura Loftus, Dr Caroline Murphy, Sarah Fink, Dr Maeve Duffy & Dr Helen Maher A seminar on Silver Athena Swan Silver accreditation, organised by the OVPEDI, was held on Wednesday the 21st of June, the Aula, 10.00-12.00. In 2025, University of Galway will be applying for a Silver Athena Swan. A number of Schools will also be submitting Silver applications over the coming years. The event was chaired by Dr Laura Loftus, Programme Manager for Athena Swan, with Guest speakers; Sarah Fink, Athena Swan Ireland (The new Athena Swan framework vs the previous iteration, and the criteria that need to be addressed to achieve a Silver Athena Swan award) and Dr Caroline Murphy, Kemmy Business School, UL (Achieving Silver Athena Swan accreditation and the transition from Bronze to Silver). Our own  Dr Maeve Duffy, School of Engineering, University of Galway, talked us through the school's journey in achieving the School of Engineering Silver award status in 2022 status. 

"Fixing the Women”? Supports for Female Staff in Higher Education L-R: Prof Margaret Hodgins, University of Galway; Niamh O’Donoghue, Chair of 2nd HEA National Review of Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions, Dr Monica O’Mullane, UCC and Dr. Helen Maher VP for EDI University of Galway. ‌ L-R: D‌r. Helen Maher and Fariba Foolad ‌ L-R: Rebecca Connolly, Dr. Laura Loftus, Aoife Cooke, Niamh Gallagher, Margaret Forde and Dr. Helen Maher International Women's Week took place throughout the week of March 6th to 10th March 2023.  There were excellent discussions throughout the week, see the detailed International Women's Week - March 2023 Programme of events that took place during the week. ‌

International Women's Week - March 2023 Programme