International Women’s Days

International Women’s Day

Two Old Girls helped current pupils to celebrate International Women’s Day in 2020 and 2021. Interestingly, the event in March 2020 turned out to be one of the last before the country went into lockdown for the first time, and in March 2021 it was one of the first for pupils returning to school after the last lockdown! Elizabeth Newton (née Whyatt, Class of 1979) returned to inspire current students in 2020. Now Head of Professional Development at London Business School (LBS), Elizabeth reminded girls of their privileged position and stressed the importance of lifelong learning. She said there is not just one way to build a career: transferable skills offer more flexibility over a lifetime. Reflecting on her own life experiences and schooldays, Elizabeth shared her seven life lessons: 1. Continue to build your skills; be current and stay connected to society. 2. Know yourself: follow your passions and to listen to what friends and family value in you, find the ‘sweet spot’ between your strengths, your passions and what the world needs. 3. Know your worth and stand your ground: Elizabeth spoke about the wage gap between men and women, and described arguing for a pay rise while working in the City of London. 4. Do things your own way and to have the confidence to ask for what you want. 5. Be prepared to take risks or experiment: life can be a balancing act, but she has found that setting up her own business allowed her to plan her own diary to spend more time with her children. 6. Keep your balance and manage your attention; if you don’t care for yourself, you cannot care for others. 7. Build your own cheerleading group of friends and colleagues who support you and challenge your thinking: forty years on from

Bolton School, Elizabeth still has schoolfriends who form this support network! She ended by saying she had been a Direct Grant pupil who had undoubtedly benefited from a Bolton School education where she had developed a curious mind, a love of sport and volunteering and had found a group of lifelong friends. She wished girls well in their future and encouraged them to forge their own paths. Later in the day, Elizabeth delivered a masterclass to Year 11 GCSE Business Studies pupils before chairing a round-table question and answer session with Sixth Form girls focusing on employability issues, including your skills toolkit and how to set yourself apart at interview and in applications. Elizabeth also recapped her own career after studying Business Studies and French at Loughborough. She told of her HR work in insurance, in investment banking, in setting up her own HR Consultancy and her current work as Head of Professional Development at LBS with mature students. International Women’s Day went virtual for 2021 with Dr Becky Smethurst (Class of 2008) joining pupils in school via Zoom. Dr Becky studies supermassive black holes and their effects on galaxies at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). She is also an ambassador for women in science and a science communicator with a successful YouTube channel. In 2020, she received the Institute of Physics Mary Somerville Medal and Prize, which recognises exceptional early career contributions to public engagement in physics. Dr Becky gave the girls a taste of what she does, from exciting international trips visiting telescopes and taking observations, to long hours crunching numbers at her desk, to presenting her findings. She also explained some of the physics of black holes, using graphs of real data as illustration. Dr Becky described herself as an inquisitive child who had always loved space, but admitted that it was only when she started to learn about ‘the fun stuff’ at GCSE that physics became her favourite subject. Speaking about her time at the school, she said: ‘I’m very grateful for all the knowledge I learned from the teachers at Bolton. They really do give you a rounded education and you should get as much knowledge as you can from them while you can. Everything I do, I do standing on their shoulders.’ She shared her experience of leaving school and stepping into the unknown, reassuring students that she too was terrified to make such big decisions. She also implored the girls to make mistakes, because these are the experiences that shape us: she started out in an engineering role before quickly realising it was not for her and changing course to follow her passion for space. Finally, returning to the theme of International Women’s Day, she showed her appreciation for the many supportive women around her. In the live question and answer session that followed, pupils asked more about Dr Becky’s typical day, her favourite place to visit for work, and her advice on applying to and interviewing at Oxford University. She talked about her favourite planet and star and realism in science fiction films. Dr Becky also spoke about overcoming imposter syndrome. She advised girls to look at everything they have achieved and realise that they are good enough. She discussed prejudice and microagressions, but focused on the fact that the people around her have always been supportive. She said that women in the scientific community acknowledge the prejudices they jointly face and band together, nominating one another for awards and being the change that they want to see. She feels encouraged to have seen positive change in just the past five years, and hopes that the fear of prejudice would never put anyone off following a career in science.