Careers in Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment - An Overview

NEWS |

Sophie Dowle, 3rd year Arabic and Islamic Studies undergraduate at Pembroke, is the Events and Fundraising Coordinator for ‘Oxford Women for Women International Society’ (OWfWI). She writes on the success of their careers panel hosted at Pembroke this term:

‘On Wednesday of 17th February, Pembroke hosted a careers panel organised by Oxford Women for Women International. The panel discussed how to incorporate women's empowerment and the promotion of gender equality in our future career paths.

Students from across the university attended and heard Emily Coates, who works in women's empowerment at PWC, and Izzy Clark, who is the grants and programmes officer at Women for Women International, talk about their career paths and their advice on how to ensure your career is in line with your interests and ideals.

Emily Coates and Izzy Clark gave useful insights into pursuing a successful career in their respective sectors and, despite having quite different skillsets and experiences, their key message was the same: find a job that makes you want to get up in the morning- one that interests and motivates you.

The Q&A session that followed allowed members of the audience to discuss potential options and how to make successful applications.

2nd year Law student Farheen Ahmed commented: ‘The careers talk hosted in Pembroke last week was a glorious insight into the diverse ways in which different industries are working to empower the most vulnerable women around the world, whilst pushing for better representation within the respective industries. It was very useful to be able to find out the nuances between the corporate and charitable spheres as well as how I would specifically be able to enter these spheres.’

Farheen left the talk with a new perspective, adding: ‘In some ways, it allowed me to be less daunted by the prospect of the future - in that I hope (like the women we met at the talk) I will be able to find a career I enjoy, whilst continuing to pursue the struggle for equality for marginalised groups. I thank Sophie for introducing us to these amazing women.’

OWfWI would like to thank both Izzy and Emily for giving such invaluable insights, and Pembroke’s events team for all their help.’

Sophie Dowle- OWfWI