Conference is an Inspiration for Passmores Students

INTERNATIONAL Women’s Day takes place every March in celebration of the achievements made towards gender equality. But it is also a chance to reflect on what can be done to make even greater strides.

With this in mind, fifteen female students from Passmores took the opportunity to attend the Women in the Workplace conference held at the XL Catlin building in London this month.

The conference aims to raise the aspirations of young women in the workplace now and in the future. Joined by other young women from schools across the country, the Passmores students met with female senior leaders from a range of global companies. Passmores Associate Principal, Steph Hill said: ‘This was a chance for our young women to discuss the opportunities and challenges of developing careers in different business industries. The more opportunities we can create for our young people that build their leadership, the more chance they have of helping those around them as well’.

The event offered a selection of interesting workshops and a Q&A session which provided some fascinating, if disconcerting information about women in the work place. For example, the students heard that women potentially earn a staggering £346,000 less than their male counterparts over the course of their careers. The message was that this must change but there is a lot more work to be done in raising awareness to close the gender pay gap.

Passmores teacher Aislinn Silva, who accompanied the students on the trip said: ‘The main thing the girls got from the day was a sense of empowerment. They were asked to write a life-plan of how they saw themselves in the future, which was quite challenging, but it inspired them to think about what they could achieve and what is out there for them. It really was an excellent day’.