Collage Unveiling at the Hospital

In honour of Ada Lovelace Day 2017, the Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WiSET) group at the University of Southampton, unveiled a collage made up of hundreds of photos of women from all around the university.

Located outside the main lecture theatres in the South Academic Block at Southampton General Hospital, attendees gathered to see the collage for the first time.

Professor Roxana Carare, member of WiSET and Professor of Clinical Neuroanatomy, welcomed the attendees and introduced the speakers.

Chair of WiSET, Dr Katrina Morgan, opened the unveiling ceremony with a discussion over WiSET’s achievements over the years, from reviewing promotion processes to launching the WiSET Award Scheme. WiSET’s recent aim was to increase the visual representation of women around the university to match the actual representation of women that work there. Unveiled for Ada Lovelace day, a day set up to celebrate the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering, medicine and maths (STEMM), Katrina explained how this collage was a true testament to this, allowing celebration of women’s achievements in the University of Southampton.

Following this, Professor Iain Cameron, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Chair of the University Athena Swan committee, was invited to say a few words. Iain spoke about the importance of recognising the contribution women at the university make and identified the collage as a great way to do this. Iain then discussed the progress the Faculty of Medicine has made in equality and diversity, with a focus on the past, present and future Athena Swan applications.

Following this, attendees networked over refreshments and met the artist who created the collage, Pascal Matthias.

Thanks must go to Professor Roxana Carare, Marsha Benett and WiSET steering group members for the organisation of the event.

Photo credit: Katrina Morgan, Vesna Perisic and Sandrine Willaime-Morawek.