Gender equity and tools for change: a call for personal action
How do we navigate the shifting power structures in today’s museums and science centres?
All staff will recognise what appears to be a tipping point in the global movements and gender dynamics of today’s world. This session’s speakers will address this shifted context and offer practical solutions on tackling evolving personal and organisational conversations about gender equity and inclusiveness.
This is a call for committed personal action to positively impact the need to make our organisations better places in which to thrive. A set of clear actions going forward will form the basis of a ‘toolkit’ for our professional community to create and sustain a more gender-equitable field. Why? Because we owe it to ourselves and we must set an example for our communities and society.
Reading tip: check out this Spokes article on equity in the workplace.
Facilitator
Audrey O’Connell + Associates
Session speakers
Global Operations Manager
Sarah will contribute her story of working in the inequitable theatre industry in Dublin and being an instrumental in seeing through a dramatic change in women's opportunities for growth and leadership in that field. Moving into the science museum world and working internationally, she now has the opportunity to make a much wider impact in shaping a more equitable world, but also in developing her own career without any barriers to success.
She will share her insights and provide her top tips for seeking and finding empowerment, and will help to guide us in building an appropriate ECSITE 'toolkit'.
Carina has risen to a leadership position with her role as CEO Universeum and has been successful in managing the challenges of this position. Sweden has come a long way in making sure that women and men are equally treated in the workplace. But although the legislation exists and has worked, there is still a need for action, both top-down and bottom-up, in order to attain improved gender balance. Carina will share stories from both perspectives with insights on how taking personal action, both at home and at work, as well as asserting your own power, fuels personal and organisational prosperity.
Minneapolis
United States
Cynthia will share her journey through several museum organisations, her growing role focused on exhibitions and project management while often working with exclusively male teams. Cynthia's views on the importance of fair and sensible responses to managing and guiding co-workers who may be unaware of their inappropriate interactions sets an example of mature empowerment development for all genders. She will also share her views on the significance of learning how to navigate risk in building your own career while improving your organisation's awareness of gender equality and required changing policy and practice.
