International Women's Day at ATU

We celebrated our first International Women’s Day (IWD) as a university on 8 March. IWD is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender equality. The theme for IWD this year was ‘Embrace Equity’.

The aim of the IWD 2023 #EmbraceEquity campaign theme is to get the world talking about why equal opportunities aren’t enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.

We are excited to hold a broad range of events to mark International Women’s Day where the achievements of women are celebrated and given the recognition they deserve. It is important to create a forum to discuss and celebrate women’s contribution to society in a positive and affirmative way.

Professor Jacqueline McCormack, VP Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and Online Learning at ATU

ATU’s Equality, Diversion and inclusion (EDI) team organised several events to mark the day. The first of which was an ATU Photographic exhibition. This gave staff and students the opportunity to create a visible space for a woman who has inspired them.

Other events included a mono-printing workshop, an IWD lunchtime seminar, networking events for females in engineering and construction, and in Irish food and beverage. ATU libraries held a lunchtime talk on Aleen Cust, the first woman veterinary surgeon in the world.

ATU Art and Architecture students celebrated IWD by handing out flowers, hearts, and notes at ATU Sligo.

Participants at a mono-printing workshop held at ATU Mayo to celebrate IWD.

On 9 March there was a live recording of a Fizz Buzz Podcast on Women in STEM. Fizz Buzz is an unfiltered, educational, and heart-warming series of podcasts from Mo Fiebiger and Stacy Wandrey’s sharing their experiences in tech. Mo and Stacey were joined by Diane O’Brien and Mary Loftus, Lecturers in Computing at ATU to discuss contemporary issues facing women in STEM. The episode will be aired on FizzBuzz platforms on 1 April.

In 2019, there were no female presidents of universities in Ireland. By 2022, there were six. In 2023 there are seven.

To mark this milestone and in the spirit of International Women’s Day, six of the university presidents met at Maynooth University on 6 March to participate in a panel discussion on leadership in modern universities. The panel comprised of Professor Eeva Leinonen, Maynooth University; Professor Veronica Campbell, South East Technological University; Professor Maggie Cusack, Munster Technological University; Provost, Dr Linda Doyle, Trinity College Dublin; Dr Orla Flynn, Atlantic Technological University and Professor Kerstin Mey, University of Limerick.