Launch of Women-Space
Former Provost and Deputy-Vice-Chancellor launches consultancy to help women achieve their potential.
A former Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at three of the UK’s leading universities has set up a consultancy aimed at enabling women in academia to achieve their professional potential.
Professor Christina Hughes, former Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Warwick, Provost at Sheffield Hallam University and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Interim) at the University of Kent, launched Women-Space this autumn to help women advance their careers and enable universities to become more equitable.
She has brought in many high-ranking leaders and change-makers to support Women-Space in enabling women to reach their potential without losing sight of their values.
She is also offering change management consultancy to higher education institutions across the UK to enable them to create a more inclusive, compassionate working environment against a traditional backdrop of structural inequality.
Christina, who has a 30-year career in academia and has written 15 books largely on gender equality, explained the thinking behind Women-Space.
“I work to challenge the kind of thinking that holds women back, finding positive solutions that support their values and passions.
“As a university professor with a wealth of experience in executive leadership I have a real insight into the challenges that many women experience working in higher education. I created Women-Space to dismantle these barriers to progression and provide women with the tools to help them realise their true potential.
“Issues like imposter syndrome, negative thinking and the inner critic are very strong in all walks of life and that is no different in academia. These are the kinds of issues we set out to address. Because my associates and I have had the very particular experience of working in hierarchical institutions we know precisely what problems women face and can use our own personal experiences to help them overcome them.
“We’re not talking about smashing glass ceilings and achieving a stellar career at all costs, but about achieving potential in all areas of life, coming out stronger and being better equipped to move forward.
“Women-Space aims to work together with other women to build communities to help counter or overcome experiences of structural inequality in the workplace that unfortunately remain very prevalent for women today.”
Women-Space services include one-to-one coaching and mentoring, leadership skills workshops, seminars, talks and retreats for individuals and consultancy for HE institutions aware that they need to take action to address a systemic inequality.