Teesside University celebrates International Women’s Day

Teesside University is marking International Women’s Day (IWD) with a series of activities and lectures to champion its community of inspiring female students, graduates and staff.

International Women’s Day celebrates female accomplishments and contributions while raising awareness around gender inequalities to empower people to break the bias, which is the theme of IWD for 2022.

This year, Teesside University is celebrating with a week-long festival delivered in partnership with Just Williams, Tees Valley Combined Authority, Darlington Building Society and PD Ports.

IWD, which takes place on Tuesday 8 March, will see Teesside University host events under the theme of Careers and Enterprise as part of the festival, which will run from Monday 7 March to Friday 11 March.

Activities are available in person and online and include careers sessions, an entrepreneurial workshop, lectures and a tour around Teesside University’s National Horizons Centre, a state-of-the-art facility for biosciences.

Esteemed academic and author Professor Tanya Fitzgerald, from the University of Western Australia, is also scheduled to deliver a talk titled ‘Challenging the Status Quo: Women, Activism and Social Change’ around women in leadership working to tackle inequality.

The University is running a digital campaign alongside these activities, showcasing the professional accomplishments of its female community.

This includes Teesside University graduate and international footballer Beth Mead, who has recently developed a scholarship with the University to support aspiring female footballers.

The event this year represents a poignant moment for Teesside University, being the first International Women’s Day since the passing of former Pro Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise and Business Engagement) Professor Jane Turner, OBE DL, in July 2021.

Professor Turner, who was also a gender champion at Teesside University, was a keen supporter of IWD and worked tirelessly throughout her career to challenge gender inequality and support young women to reach their potential.

She launched the Power of Women campaign on International Women’s Day 2020 to create a brighter future for young girls and women in the North East and give them the encouragement and platform to achieve their ambitions.

Teesside University is committed to continuing her work and has set up the Jane Turner Legacy Programme to deliver scholarships supporting future generations of female business leaders.

Dr Jo Heaton-Marriott, Director of Communications and Development at Teesside University, said: ‘Teesside University recognises the fantastic contributions of our inspirational female staff, students and alumni and we are delighted to showcase their achievements on International Women’s Day, and every day.

‘We are extremely proud of our work advocating for equality, diversity and inclusion and, as a University, we welcome any opportunity to celebrate the incredible women from Team Teesside.

‘International Women’s Day is also an opportunity for our University community to take time to remember Professor Jane Turner, OBE DL, who dedicated her career to supporting and empowering women in our region and beyond.

‘Her legacy is one of great passion and care, and we are honoured to be able to continue her work through important initiatives such as the Jane Turner Legacy Programme in her memory.’

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