Imperial celebrates International Women’s Day with a look at women in science

Two photography exhibitions highlight the work of women in science at Imperial - News

Monday 8 March
By John-Paul Jones

Imperial is marking International Women’s Day today with two photo exhibitions celebrating women in science at the College.

An event later today will see the launch of the We.Are.Science exhibition by the Mayor of London’s Cultural Advisor, Munira Mirza, while at City Hall members of the public can view the 100 Women – 100 Visions exhibition, commissioned last year by Imperial students.

We.Are.Science is the culmination of a month long competition, challenging staff and students at Imperial to capture images on the theme of women in science. The best 30 images will be on display in the College’s Main Entrance this week, with the winner and two runners up to be announced at this evening’s launch event.

Aiman Alam Nazki, President of the student society Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WSET), which organised and judged the competition, said: “We wanted this year’s event to be open to everyone at Imperial, to get them all thinking about their perceptions of gender equality.”

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She added: “We were really overwhelmed with the response to the competition. We had over 160 entries, from men and women, academics, staff and students. The photos have all been approached in very different ways and taken in quite different styles.”

Some photographers have chosen to explore the theme of women in science by capturing images of women working in the field, in their laboratories and work places. Others took a more abstract approach, presenting photographs which investigate whether science has a gender and how women fit in to the science, engineering and technology world.

Rector Sir Keith O’Nions, who will be hosting tonight’s event, says: “The overall message that one gets is that there is no single type of person who becomes a scientist. That’s a really important fact to get across, especially to young women who have an enthusiasm and aptitude for science, but may think that a career in research is not for them.”

Meanwhile, that message is also getting through to members of the public visiting London’s City Hall, thanks to the 100 Women – 100 Visions exhibition on display outside the Chamber of the Greater London Assembly. In deliberate contrast to We.Are.Science, 100 Women – 100 Visions features portraits taken by award winning professional photographer Jackie King.

The main organiser of the exhibition Ellin Saunders says: “We wanted to show the pictures to a wider audience so we’re very fortunate in having City Hall as a venue. We wanted the general public to see through this window into science at Imperial and the thriving community of women scientists, of all backgrounds, that we have here.”

Ellin is also a member of WSET, which similarly supported 100 Women – 100 Visions. The society was created in 2007 to encourage female science and engineering graduates to pursue careers in science, engineering and technology, as well as to promote these subjects as viable careers for young women considering their university courses.

We.Are.Science can be seen in the College’s Main Entrance on the South Kensington Campus until Friday 12 March, with the opportunity for views to select a public favourite from amongst the images.

100 Women – 100 Visions runs in City Hall until 19 March. City Hall is open to the public each weekday, from 8.30 to 18.00 on Mondays to Thursdays and from 8.30 to 17.30 on Fridays. The portraits can be seen in full at: www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/100women100visions/.

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