While scrolling through KCLSU Women’s Association Instagram page (@KCLWA), expect to find plenty of hustler style affirmations, flexed arm emojis and a sincere belief in the communal powers and efforts of female leaders at university. In an era of where female empowerment is not just a buzz word to pay lip service to but a cohesive social movement that has spurred on countless female driven entrepreneurial ventures, start-ups and policy centres, the idea of a Women’s Network couldn’t be more timely.
In December the KCLWA launched their #BeYourBoss campaign, aimed at recognising and bringing to the forefront, the voices of female leaders on campus. Capitalising off the popular phenomenon of the Girl Boss, a woman who is confident and self-assured enough to pursue her dreams relentlessly, the campaign provides a platform for ambitious female figures to showcase their achievements at university and hopefully inspire future generations of women to live their university life to the fullest.
“68% of students at King’s College London are female and yet only 20% of student leadership positions are held by women” Sparsh Sehgal, the KCLSU Women’s Officer, explains of the motive behind the #BeYourBoss campaign at the Women’s Networking Conference. The inaugural conference was the culmination of the efforts of the KCLWA to create an annual networking space where female leaders at King’s are able forge relationships and focus on pooling resources through collaboration. Indeed the conference played host to an impressive number of women from the whole gamut of university experience. KCL Womxn in Physics Society spoke of wanting to promote an environment of welfare and support for women, who are historically underrepresented in STEM subjects, a sentiment echoed by the Women in Medicine society who were focusing on combatting intersectional discrimination faced by women in the medical profession. The King’s Entrepreneurship Institute spoke of their new Women Entrepreneurship Program that would provide hands on support for female centric ventures interested in applying for King’s20 accelerator while Women in Law spoke about their upcoming celebration of Women’s History Month.
Speaking to the crowd of female society leaders, Sehgal spoke of wanting to eliminate the discrepancy between passive participation and active leadership by introducing the Women’s Network. The Women’s Network aims to be an ‘umbrella organisation for all female based activities on campus and within various social groups in KCLSU’. By working to create a culture of ‘inclusivity and engagement within King’s’, the Network aspires to ensure all female students have access to resources and opportunities that enable them ‘to progress on and off campus’. The Network’s provision of a one stop source would reduce the hassle of excessive bureaucratic procedures and administrative hurdles that society leaders must contend with when organising events and allow them to refocus their efforts on recruitment and promoting the interests of their members. Sehgal, additionally, reiterated the importance of societal collaboration in attracting a more diverse demographic of event-goers as well as avoiding overkill with similar events being held by multiple societies.
Kavya Bansal, KCLWA’s Head of Events, outlined the Association’s itinerary for the remaining academic year, highlights of which included an outing to doggy destress day at Guy’s Campus, a relaxed tea party and KCLWA’s very own anonymous confession spinoff of Kiss College London. In terms of future campaigns, KCLWA is preparing to address the shocking gender disparity of elected student union representatives through their #SheShouldRun efforts (currently, KCLSU has only one female sabbatical officer). The Association is preparing to run workshops and offer personal mentoring to female students interested in running for sabbatical positions in order to enable women to get involved with grassroots efforts that impact upon institutional power hierarchies at universities.
There was a pleasant buzz in the air at the conclude of the event after a packed evening of agenda planning and mingling. Jo Griffin, President of KCL Women in Law, echoed this sentiment commenting on how she was very impressed with the organisation at the event and was excited to collaborate with the other societies she had met that evening. The women in the room seemed charged and ready to make 2019 their year.