Marking International Women’s Day

Staff and students from the School of Health & Psychological Sciences explored a number of aspects of gender equality at a special event to mark International Women’s Day. Taking the theme ‘Inspire inclusion’, the occasion featured a variety of speakers from the School, and it was well attended by students and colleagues.

In her talk, Alice Haddon, a lecturer in Counselling Psychology at City, presented and explored the Power Threat Meaning Framework in relation to women’s ‘empowerment’, and she spoke about re-thinking the diagnostics of gendered mental health ‘problems’ such as self-esteem. In a wide-ranging talk, Dr Haddon also spoke about ‘Broken Heart Syndrome’ – a phenomenon that disproportionately affects women, using it to highlight the interplay between power and both mental and physical health.

Dr Lia Litosseliti, a gender & language scholar and discourse analyst based in the Department of Language & Communication Science at City, then presented her work during a talk titled ‘Gender and Discourse: Approaching Gender Inclusion through a Linguistic Lens’.  As part of this, Dr Litosseliti provided an introduction to what gender and language analysts do to illuminate some of the ways in which language can represent, reinforce, naturalise, but also contest and change a gendered social order.

In line with our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, and the Athena Swan action plan, this event celebrated gender equality and it was themed around ‘Inspiring inclusion’. In particular, it showcased the work of four women who are staff or students here at City, and it showed the importance of recognising the interplay between power and both mental and physical health, as well as how language can represent, reinforce and also contest the gendered social order. It was also a privilege to hear from two of our students, and they presented their research into women's experiences and managing emotional distress in prison, and the experience of Filipino nurses during Covid-19, respectively.