Career paths, gender and early stage careers
Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) hosted a round table discussion on various challenges and opportunities associated with career planning and progression in academia from gender perspective.
The workshop was organized and chaired by Professor Colette Henry, a member of the TRIGGER team and Head of the Department of Business at DkIT. The panel combined representatives from Birkbeck, DkIT and Queen’s University Belfast joined by Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to Ireland Rasa Adomaitiene.
A wide range of topics discussed including: should women have a plan for their career at the outset in order to succeed? The issue of female role models. The issue of women returning to the workplace after maternity. A formal mentoring system as a method of increasing gender balance within academia.
The workshop highlighted that although there are some policies and actions in place within DkIT focusing on gender equality, there is a lack of general awareness about their existence. Challenges remain within academic institutions about how best to face such problems but workshops such as these are important steps in the right direction.
