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DCU announces new Women in Leadership initiative
DCU announces new Women in Leadership initiative

DCU announces new Women in Leadership initiative

Today saw the inaugural lecture in the Mary McAleese Women in Leadership Lecture Series at Dublin City University, one of a series of initiatives designed to address the gender imbalance at senior levels within the institution.  Current HEA figures estimate that only 29% of senior academic staff positions across all 7 Irish universities, are held by female members of staff.

Former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, speaking at the inaugural lecture highlighted the importance of women becoming self-advocates to redress this imbalance,

“While we have witnessed great institutional, legislative and administrative achievements in recent decades, much of what women do remains, to some degree, unrecognised. It is vital that women themselves redress the imbalance, to ensure that the status of women is not just a series of legislative measures or employment regulations. Action needs to be taken.’

The lecture series will feature a range of high-profile successful female leaders who will share their pathway to success, the challenges they have encountered and the achievements attained.  It will also include a range of workshops on a variety of topics including coaching, networking and returning from maternity leave.

Announcing the suite of initiatives, DCU President, Professor Brian MacCraith said,

“Gender equality is a multi-faceted issue and DCU is committed to taking the steps necessary to create a culture which will nurture strong, agile and innovative female leaders.  This includes a range of formal and informal interventions to build leadership capability and to support female staff in progressing through the stages of development in leadership and management.  It is impossible to hide from evidence and we will draw on our research-intensive environment to set goals and establish clear metrics against which to measure our progress in this area of diversity.  I hope that the remarks and leadership of Mary McAleese today will provide inspiration and guidance for the DCU community.”

Other initiatives include:

  • Developing Pathways:  A number of experienced female leaders will attend external leadership development programmes in prestigious institutions such as Harvard Business School of Executive Education, London School of Economics and Cranfield University School of Management to expand their leadership perspectives and return to the University prepared to lead at a higher level.

  • A formal mentoring programme will closely support the objectives and vision of the DCU Women in Leadership initiative by ensuring that female staff members are provided with the appropriate support, advice and guidance to help them to achieve their potential.

  • Listening Lunches where female members of staff have the opportunity to meet with the President of the University and the Director of Human Resources to network, exchange views and ideas.  Positive and progressive suggestions generated from these lunches will inform and influence future events and activities.

  • The Aurora Leadership Development Programme, developed by the UK’s Leadership Foundation, is designed to help address the issue of the reducing number of women in senior posts in the higher education sector.  DCU is actively engaged with the programme in order to embed a leadership mindset whereby women identify themselves as leaders and seek appropriate opportunities to develop capabilities, skills and networks to support them in their developing careers.  

  • Unconscious bias may play an important role in the under-representation of females at senior levels in the university.  In an effort to counteract the impact of unconscious bias during selection, recruitment and promotion decisions a new training module is being rolled out from January 2016. All staff involved in the recruitment process will participate in this important awareness campaign.

  • A fund of €50,000 will be sourced to support research related to the DCU Women in Leadership initiative over the next 3 years.