Women in HE

A woman curled up in a self-protective upset posture

Eight ways to improve responses to sexual misconduct in universities

Measures to enhance UK universities’ response to sexual misconduct cases and create a more compassionate and effective system

Melissa Hamilton , Ioana Enany , Amy Knight

University of Surrey, St George’s, University of London

A woman resting with period pains

Menstruation, maternity, menopause: making space in the academy for all elements of womanhood

Do women’s health policies in higher education meet the needs of those they are meant to serve, and how might the stigma relating to aspects of womanhood be addressed?

Christina Dzineku, Devon Oakley-Hogg

Leeds Trinity University, University of Glasgow

A parenting student studies with her daughter in the background

Twenty per cent of US undergraduates have children – we must do more to support them

Dedicating funds and resources to parenting students, most of whom are mothers and single, is also an investment in the prosperity of future generations, writes Sara Goldrick-Rab

Sara Goldrick-Rab

Education Northwest

Woman manager with prosthetic arm

How to promote disabled women in academia

Disabled women are significantly under-represented in senior roles within universities. Here’s how – and why – institutions can and should support them better for career progression

Meredith Wilkinson, Kelly Pickard-Smith

De Montfort University, University of Manchester

Women in a meeting

How can universities disrupt the gender investment gap?

Engaging with stakeholders beyond higher education and debunking myths around women and innovation can open spin-out opportunities to more women, writes Simonetta Manfredi

Simonetta Manfredi

Oxford Brookes University

Podcast discussing building resilience and protecting well-being among university staff and students

THE podcast: an interview with Ngiare Brown, chancellor of James Cook University

Ngiare Brown is the first female and the first indigenous chancellor of James Cook University. Here she shares what she hopes to achieve during her tenure, including making higher education a place for indigenous students

Ngiare Brown

James Cook University

Eve Riskin

Campus interview: Eve Riskin, Stevens Institute of Technology

Eve Riskin, dean of undergraduate education at Stevens Institute of Technology, talks about the power of mentorship, diversity in excellence and what she, as an electrical engineer and computer scientist, thinks about the emergence of generative AI

Eve Riskin

Stevens Institute of Technology

Menstruation in higher education

A month of highs and lows: the impact of menstruation on HE

Universities need to better accommodate the challenges faced by menstruating students to promote educational equity, write Mays Imad and Kerri Maron

Mays Imad , Kerri Maron

Connecticut College

A Black woman lecturer speaks to a university class

What we can learn from Black women academics in the UK

As a Black female lecturer, Shelley McLetchie-Holder outlines lessons she has drawn from other Black women academics working in the UK and explains how institutions can best support these staff

Shelley McLetchie-Holder

King’s College London

Gender equality at universities is crucial for society

Strategies for higher education institutions to strengthen gender equality

Gender equality can only become possible when harmful gender norms are challenged and equality is actively promoted. Perçem Arman provides key starting points for universities

Perçem Arman

Near East University

Middle-aged woman with laptop looking out office window

You’re not alone: tips to help academics avoid social isolation

Connections with colleagues matter – without them, support during periods of reappointment, promotion or tenure can feel tenuous. And those unwritten expectations of collegiality become opaque, explains Karen Z. Sproles

Karyn Z. Sproles

United States Naval Academy

Podcast discussing building resilience and protecting well-being among university staff and students

THE podcast: how to navigate HE as a woman of colour

To mark International Women’s Day, we spoke with two female academics about their journey through higher education and the biases and assumptions they have overcome

Henrika McCoy, Didar Zowghi

University of Texas at Austin, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

A female and male researcher conducting interdisciplinary research

How to encourage gender equity in interdisciplinary research

A study into gender balances of interdisciplinary research teams shows that the presence of women is beneficial up to a point. Elisabeth Browning suggests ways funders and institutions can encourage their participation

Elisabeth Browning

Elsevier

THE Campus webinar graphic

THE Campus webinar: the keys to a successful academic career

Three female academics in Europe, the UK and Australia give their advice on how to land a promotion, networking for introverts, how much you should be publishing – and answering the question: ‘Should I quit?’

Sarah Ivory, Catherine Léglu, Kylie Message-Jones

Australian National University, University of Luxembourg, The University of Edinburgh

Illustration showing profiles in different pastel colours

Intersectionality is the only way to nurture academics of colour

These three areas are often overlooked in EDI efforts to support marginalised academics

Multiple authors

University of Sheffield, University of Sussex, University of Liverpool

The pronoun y'all as inclusive language in universities

Embracing inclusivity with ‘y’all’: why this pronoun deserves a fresh look

In a recent online meeting, a colleague told me that using that word made me sound uneducated. So I set out to see if it is really sending a bad message

Stone Meredith

Colorado State University Global

Women mentoring

The power of gender-sensitive mentoring

Mentoring is a powerful tool to enhance job satisfaction and work-life balance. This guide aims to help mentors adopt a gender-sensitive approach to support women and people who identify as women in teaching-focused roles

Marion Coderch

Durham University

How to encourage women entrepreneurs at universities

How can we help academia produce more women entrepreneurs?

The key change required to help female academics found spin-out companies is rebalancing the gender diversity of the investment community, but universities have a part to play, too

Simonetta Manfredi

Oxford Brookes University

Universities must consider family friendly employment policies and practices

Universities need policies and practices to tackle work-life balance

Broadly speaking, some countries do family-friendly policies and practices better than others – but there are great benefits to be had for everyone, says Siu Oi Ling

Siu Oi Ling

Lingnan University

Women posting anti-harassment posters

Collective voices, zero tolerance

Universities can use their ability to engage with students to effect cultural change, as the Bystander Intervention initiative to combat sexual abuse has shown. Louise Crowley explains how they did it

Louise Crowley

University College Cork

Image showing networking and peer support

Three cornerstones of a successful research career

Success in academia requires much more than topical expertise. Jackie Carter shares three vital areas of focus for building a research career

Jackie Carter

University of Manchester

Gender-specific health issues need to be tackled in academia

Breaking barriers for women: closing the gender health gap in academia

In the final part of their ‘breaking barriers for women’ series, eight female academics propose ways to tackle the stigma and career deficits caused by women’s health issues

Nicola Hemmings , Ellie Harrison , Jo L. Fothergill

University of Sheffield, University of Liverpool

Woman holding up her hands against someone or something

What does ‘taking sexual violence seriously’ look like at universities?

Rates of sexual violence in universities are the highest in society, ONS data show. So what actions must universities take if they are serious about tackling this pernicious problem?

Graham Towl

Durham University

Higher education needs to be rebuilt from the ground up to make it a fairer place to work for women

Breaking barriers for women: enough talking, time for action

In the second part of their ‘breaking barriers for women’ series, seven female academics outline key changes to help remodel a fairer HE system from the ground up

Ellie Harrison , Tiffany B. Taylor

University of Sheffield, University of Bath

Image of a young black woman scientist

Address STEM inequality by reconceiving merit

The cultural yardsticks used to measure merit in STEM are warped with bias and often devalue women, people of colour and LGBTQ+ scientists with records equal to white heterosexual male peers. To fix STEM inequality, academia must reconceive merit

Mary Blair-Loy , Erin A. Cech

University of California San Diego , University of Michigan

Woman at a laptop holding temples with stress

Women in academia are doing too much non-promotable work – and that has to stop

The No Club shares advice for women about how to spend their time at work, how to change the environment to stop saddling women with unrewarded work, and prioritise the tasks that get noticed

Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund, Laurie Weingart

Carnegie Mellon University , University of Pittsburgh

We need to identify who is missing from the decision-making table in higher education

We need to notice who is missing from the decision-making table – and act

It’s up to individuals to notice who is not present on committees and up to institutions to ensure that all voices are represented and heard

Jo Cresswell

Dr Joanne Cresswell Coaching

Maternity leave can be incredibly hard to navigate for women in academia

Breaking barriers for women: how to build effective parental leave

Seven academics who recently navigated the topsy-turvy world of maternity leave make six recommendations for ensuring motherhood is compatible with academia

Ellie Harrison , Siobhán O’Brien , Tiffany B. Taylor

University of Sheffield, Trinity College Dublin, University of Bath

Sexual misconduct is still a big problem in universities

Despite positive steps, much remains to be done on sexual misconduct

A year on from the OfS’ statement of expectations, it’s time to implement effective, evidence-based approaches to address harassment and sexual violence

Emma Bond, Andy Phippen

University of Suffolk, Bournemouth University

Gender equality

Ten ways universities can tackle gender inequality

Ellie Bothwell outlines recommendations from THE’s recent report on how universities around the world are performing on gender equality

Ellie Bothwell

Times Higher Education

Advice on steps universities should take to ensure pandemic doesn't result in a long-term reversal of gender equality work

Urgent steps to prevent the pandemic stalling women’s academic careers

The pandemic put a disproportionate strain on female academics, research suggests, so now universities need to take robust action to ensure these women do not lose out in tenure and promotion decisions, reducing future diversity

Adrian Daub, Alison Dahl Crossley

Stanford University

Advice on supporting Black women to progress in academic careers

Hidden in plain sight: spotlighting invisible Black female academics

Jummy Okoya outlines actions higher education institutions should take to encourage more Black women into academia and support their career progression

Jummy Okoya

University of East London

Advice on the support needed to get more young women into higher education in sub-Saharan Africa

How to change the default settings that exclude women in sub-Saharan Africa from higher education

Angeline Murimirwa outlines the steps necessary to support young women from marginalised communities in sub-Saharan Africa into and through higher education

Angeline Murimirwa

CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education)

Advice on mentoring and teaching women with disabilities in higher education

Mentoring and teaching women with disabilities in universities

Inclusive teaching and mentoring practices that support women with disabilities to succeed in higher education, while improving access for all students, shared by Molly M. King

Molly M. King

Santa Clara University

How to embed gender equality work into an institution's teaching and research practices so it is not lost when key individuals move on

Institutionalising gender equality work within a university

Strategies to ensure that gains in gender equality work at universities are not lost when the individual staff members driving them move on

Kathryn Rebecca Maude

American University of Beirut

Steps institutions should take to encourage more mature female students to complete STEM courses

How to support women of all ages in post-secondary science education

Mature female students face barriers to success in STEM subjects, but steps can be taken to address this. Liette Vasseur explains what needs to be done

Liette Vasseur

Brock University

Universities can help encourage women into coding by reclaiming this mind-expanding skill from big tech

How do we get more women into coding? Fix how it’s taught and used

It’s time women said to the tech industry: ‘It’s not me, it’s you.’ And universities can help by not confusing the art of computer programming with rather dull ‘careers in coding’

Andy Farnell

Visiting Professor

Universities and society at large must promote female involvement and achievements in STEM

Boosting female representation in STEM is crucial to global innovation

Addressing the gender disparity in STEM isn’t just a question of striving for a fairer society, it’s also fundamental to solving the complex challenges that affect us all

Jennifer Tour Chayes

University of California, Berkeley

20-something woman with hand over mouth illustrating article about addressing taboo subjects

Talking about taboos: how to create an open atmosphere for discussing difficult subjects

Lindsay Morgan offers practical, step-by-step advice for removing barriers to addressing uncomfortable topics such as consent and menstruation

Lindsay Morgan

Edinburgh Napier University