The Women’s Physics Network (WPN) was set up in 2014 by the Physics and Astronomy department and is run by a committee made up of postdocs, postgraduates and undergraduates. The Network aims to bring together female physicists to promote the career development of women in physics and to champion gender equality. The WPN achieves its aims by hosting a range of seminars, social events and other activities throughout the year. The Network and its events are open to everyone – undergraduates, postgraduates, postdocs, faculty and staff. Of course, this includes people of all genders too.
The WPN regularly holds seminars given by female academics. Past speakers have included Professor Anna Peacock, Professor Marika Taylor, Dr Caitriona Jackman from the University of Southampton, and external speakers such as Dr Sharon George (Keele University). As well as their research, speakers often talk about their scientific career paths and challenges that they have faced along the way, and sometimes also issues related to gender equality. This gives students a valuable insight into career progression, both inside and outside academia, and into the life of an academic. We also host talks with a more direct focus on gender equality and why it’s important; for example, Dr Mike Childress’ “Equity in Physics” talk and Pearl John’s interactive presentation on the WISE Campaign’s People Like Me research. Through these seminars, the WPN provides a space where advice can be shared, insights can be gained and constructive discussions on gender equality and related issues can take place in an open and relaxed environment.
The Network puts on a variety of social events. Past events have included games nights, film nights and trips away to places such as Winchester. We’ve even organised a salsa evening and dance lesson in conjunction with Theano. The social events help everyone to get to know each other on a more personal level, providing an opportunity for undergraduates, postgraduates, postdocs and academic staff from different groups within the department to come together in an informal setting. In this way advice and experiences are easily shared. Social events play an important role in strengthening the network and encouraging a sense of community, not only within the Physics and Astronomy department but also across different groups within the University.
The WPN has been involved in numerous outreach and public engagement activities as well as other types of events which have turned out to be some of the WPN’s most memorable experiences. For example, this year the WPN contributed to the university’s Diversity Fortnight by organising a scientist treasure hunt! The aim of the treasure hunt was to celebrate the work of female scientists within the University whilst subtly challenging people’s preconceptions of what a scientist is like. Seven posters of female researchers at the university, along with descriptions of their work, were hidden in various locations around Highfield Campus. Each poster contained a letter which participants had to collect and use to form a word for the chance to win a prize. The WPN committee was then invited to the closing gala dinner and to present the prizes to the winners.
Quotes from participants of The Scientist Treasure Hunt: “Great initiative, thanks for organising”, “Thanks for a bit of fun around campus!”, “Thanks for organising this – it was good fun” and “This was great work. Really fun!”
The WPN also took part in the International Women’s Day West Quay Celebrations earlier this year. We ran a stall on the lower concourse of the West Quay shopping centre featuring all different sort of physics demonstrations which members of the public could play with and learn about. It took a fair amount of preparation and was a full-on day, but great fun and really rewarding! The Daily Echo wrote an article about the event.
“One of our fondest WPN memories was when we went to West Quay shopping centre with some science experiments for the International Women’s Day celebrations. We had to be up extremely early so we could set up the stall before West Quay opened its doors, and then talk to the public about science all day. Needless to say, we were all delirious and found every little thing to be hilarious! The day not only brought our network closer together as we had to work as a team to make it through the day, but we also formed links with other science groups and equality & diversity groups at the event. The most rewarding part of the day was knowing that we were inspiring the next generation of scientists. It was an amazing experience!” – WPN Committee
Every year at the University’s Science and Engineering festival, the WPN presents the WISE Campaign’s “People Like Me” workshop to encourage more girls to participate in STEM subjects. The WPN also run “Play-Doh Planets” at the festival as well as at Stargazing Live, all in an effort to encourage young children to get excited about science.
To get involved or if you would like to know more about the WPN group, you can email them on wpn@soton.ac.uk
Alternatively you can get in touch through their twitter account @wpnsoton or their Facebook Public / PageFacebook Group