Social Network for RSA Fellows

Focus on: Women

Information

*A Fellowship Council Working Group* What is the contribution of women and women Fellows to the aims of the RSA? How do we achieve this? Calling all those with an interest to get involved!

Website: http://www.thersa.org/fellowship
Members: 78
Latest Activity: Apr 4

Welcome to the group!

The RSA was pioneering in allowing women into the Fellowship from our founding in 1754. "Ladies as well as gentlemen are invited into this subscription, as there is no reason to imagine they will be behind-hand in a generous and sincere regard for the good of their country" William Shipley, Founder of the RSA, Dec 1753

But since then the numbers of women in the Fellowship have dropped to around 22% and gender inequality is still a pressing social issue.

The Focus on: Women initiative is only the beginning. It is intended to connect female Fellows to create an active and supportive network; raise awareness of the RSA among women to address the current unrepresentative gender ratio in the Fellowship; and support Fellows and others wanting to tackle some of the issues particular to women in the 21st century.

Why should I join?
We hope that being part of this group means that you can
* build on connections and make new contacts
* nominate projects you would like help from other Fellows to develop
* take a pro-active role in activities
* develop a coordinated approach to working with other established groups or networks
* share ideas and insights on issues of interest
* find out more about this initiative and the other Fellowship Council working groups
* provide suggestions on how to improve the Focus on: Women initiative

Where do I start?
Introduce yourself to the group by posting a message in the 'Welcome' discussion
Join the group being coordinated by Katie Moore
If you have any ideas or comments following the launch event on 30 March, please do leave a comment below
If you have a particular question you would like to ask the group, you could start a new discussion
If you're interested in finding out more about the upcoming events, or hosting one of your own, do let us know

Discussion Forum

North West Women's Enterprise Day Event - tickets now on sale and selling fast - Friday October 28th

I’m absolutely delighted to let you know that this year’s North West Women’s Enterprise Day Event will be on Friday October 28th. Organised by RSA fellow Melanie Bryan, it would be great to benefit…Continue

Tags: north, west, female, seminar, training

Started by Melanie Bryan Jun 30, 2011.

Involvement in the Women's Group at the RSA. 2 Replies

I would like to discuss starting a Women's Group. Membership to this Group means that you would like to be included in activities around “women” and be pro-active either locally or nationally, for…Continue

Started by Katie Moore. Last reply by Sue Cohen Feb 28, 2011.

Welcome 7 Replies

Hi everyone, I thought it might be nice to introduce ourselves to you, so you can put a face to the names! This initiative is a Fellowship Council working group, which means it is being jointly…Continue

Tags: group, members, women, on, focus

Started by Laura Billings. Last reply by Victoria John Oct 18, 2010.

The Fellowship statistics 5 Replies

Total Fellowship = 22% femaleNew Fellows in last 3 years = 35% femaleFellow get Fellow nominators = 29% femaleContinue

Started by Laura Billings. Last reply by Hilary Burrage Apr 19, 2010.

Focus on: Women activities list 1 Reply

ACTIVITYThis is a list of actions being undertaken by the working group to achieve our objectives of-connecting female Fellows to create an active and supportive network- raising awareness of the RSA…Continue

Started by Laura Billings. Last reply by Tessy Britton Mar 31, 2010.

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Comment by Morice Mendoza on April 1, 2010 at 13:46: As my old boss (Avivah Wittenberg-Cox) used to say, you need to get the guys behind the issue, ie., they need to see why it is a priority issue for the organisation as a whole. This is a tough one to crack as I know from 2 years editing and reporting for Avivah.

Comment by Dr Karen Moloney on April 1, 2010 at 13:35: Hi HIlary

Thanks for your fuller explanation of the inaugural event. I must say it doesn't surprise me as I am constantly astonished at how peripheral the issue of women's representation is placed instead of at the centre of what the RSA does. Hopefully, following Olivia's event on Wednesday, new initiatives will spring up but I have to say i am concerned that unless we come together the power of each of our initiatives is diluted.
K

Comment by Katie Moore on April 1, 2010 at 12:20: A very interesting and enlightening presentation. And very true. And to the point. And amusing! Please can you email me the thoughts behind..... katie@katiemoore.me.uk please.

Comment by Dr Karen Moloney on March 29, 2010 at 17:21: Sorry, the correct link is slideshare.net

K

Comment by Dr Karen Moloney on March 29, 2010 at 17:19: Hi Everyone
Thanks to Olivia for posting our "thought-provoking and funny" presentation called Caution-Men and Women at Work. This is a brand new set of ideas challenging the corporate world's view on gender differences, so we would really appreciate feedback. You can see it on slideshare.com if you just type my name in. To understand the thoughts behind the slides just email me your address and I'll send you the rest.

K

Comment by Hilary Burrage on March 27, 2010 at 10:22: Hallo Karen,
My concern is with my understanding of the content (or not) of the two lectures and the response from the speaker/s when some issues they had not in my view addressed were raised by several people in the audience, both during and immediately after the formal event.
Personally, I did not feel the generally understood, wider, ethos of the RSA was necessarily always uppermost in the speakers' minds. The innovation aspect was certianly there, as the title of the 'debate' promised, but to my mind other important elements (such as any indication of gender / equality awareness, and sustainability) were not; but I would be very interested to know if this was just a minority perception on my part.
I think the addresses are available on a podcast or something if you want to take a look?
Hope this helps, maybe you can let me know what you think?
Thanks,
Hilary

Comment by Dr Karen Moloney on March 26, 2010 at 11:05: HIlary,
I wasn't at the inaugural event last year, so can't comment. Can you give a bit more information about the way it was handled?
K

Comment by Hilary Burrage on March 24, 2010 at 11:58: Hallo Laura.
In response to your question below, I'm afraid I still haven't recovered from the apparent lack - to me, anyway - of gender awareness (or, come to that, triple bottom line awareness) of any sort whatsoever in the presidential inaugural event last Autumn.
I was genuinely shocked, and also not impressed either by the way the issue was handled when it was raised.
Apologies if I'm the only person who feels like this - please tell me, if this is so - but it had a big and unwelcome effect on me.
Fortunately I do know there are plenty of other Fellows who have evident insight into such matters...
Hilary

Comment by Laura Billings on March 24, 2010 at 10:49: Hi guys
@Karen, thanks for the information, definitely useful to hear about any barriers to joining. We've been working hard to improve the 'face' of Fellowship with more female Fellow's profiles and new Fellows in the Journal. And the events team are aware of the relative lack of female speakers in the line up. Would be interesting to know if this is still the perception of current female Fellows?