CWN affirms a campus community where women* are empowered to pursue and achieve their professional and personal goals. *All who experience life through the lens of a woman in body, spirit, identity - past, present, future, and fluid. We encourage you to share ideas, events, and campus job postings with us anytime via email.
Happy start to Women's History Month!
The National Women's History Alliance designates a yearly theme for Women's History Month. This year's theme is "Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories."
“As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it.”— Ruth Bader Ginsburg
As we embark on Women's History Month, it is important to reflect on the contributions of women throughout history and celebrate the progress made towards gender equality. This month offers an opportunity to recognize and honor the brave women who have shattered glass ceilings, broken down barriers, and paved the way for future generations.
Women's history is not just a celebration of the accomplishments of a few extraordinary women, but a recognition of the immense contributions made by women from all walks of life. Here at Berkeley we have seen amazing contributions from women playing an essential role in shaping our society.
It’s always inspiring to review the timeline put together by the 150 Years of Women committee. Starting with the push to admit women all the way back in 1870 to breaking athletic barriers and foraging a new discovery in the edge of scientific knowledge to our first woman Chancellor, women have been paving the way at Cal for generations
This Women's History Month, we must not only celebrate the progress made but also recommit ourselves to the ongoing fight for gender equality. We must amplify the voices of marginalized women, support policies that promote gender equity, and challenge systemic barriers women continue to face.
Please join us in celebrating International Women’s Day with our exciting events planned for March 8, and later in the month on March 24 at the Women@Work panel hosted by our steering committee so that we can strengthen and support one another, together.
Wednesday, March 8: CWN is looking forward to celebrating International Women’s Day with our community.
There are three ways you can join us on Wednesday, March 8th, to celebrate International Women's Day together. We are very excited about each of the offerings, and hope you are able to participate.
The second event is the return of our popular professional headshots! We are hosting a photography event where members can have their headshot taken for free. You'll receive the file (sometime after the event) to use in whatever professional setting you need: LinkedIn, Zoom avatar, speaker's information, or any other way!
Both the BAMPFA tour and the headshots require a sign up. Please use this sign-up sheet to secure your slot.
> Chat and chill
Finally, simultaneously with the headshots, we will be hosting three discussion sessions on the hour. The topics are:
10:00 a.m. - Why do we need more women in leadership?
11:00 a.m. - What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
12:00 p.m.- What progress have you seen in gender equality in your life and work?
Sign up for a headshot during the hour if you're particularly interested in discussing one of these topics, or just come by and talk with us. We will also have some nibbles and drinks for you to enjoy. It will be an opportunity to discuss different topics while meeting and connecting with each other and us (the CWN steering committee)!
Working at a university means working with a broad range of jobs around campus. To help us branch out, learn more about different roles, and meet others in the UC Berkeley community, CWN is hosting a virtual panel to explore different jobs and career paths, by talking to the women who work at Cal. Mark your calendars for noon on Friday, March 24th, for this panel discussion. More information to come!
We acknowledge the correlation between race, class, socio-economic status and the employment roles that we occupy as University employees. It is with intention that we uplift positionality, and the range of factors that contribute to who may fill what role. For this panel, we are aiming to highlight all types of roles from all around campus. CWN recognizes that we are one community, understanding that no position is better than another, and valuing that none of us could do our jobs without every role being filled.
Tuesday, March 21: “When your identity is inherently “unprofessional”: Navigating dominant culture definitions of professionalism for UC Berkeley LGBTQ+ staff.
Professionalism relates to how we are expected to dress/present, talk and behave in the workplace. Standards of professionalism were created by and for white, cishetero men and are manifesting in work cultures of perfection, conformity, and homogeneity. Professionalism is also deeply rooted in binary concepts of gender and used as an exclusionary tool. Those who don’t fit the mold, often don’t get hired, recognized and promoted. In addition, dealing with microaggressions and overt discrimination comes at a high cost including the ‘emotional tax’ paid for constantly being on guard to self-protect. You can find more details about the panelists and moderator here.
UC Women's Initiative for Professional Development (UC WI)
The UC Women’s Initiative for Professional Development (UC WI) is a unique, experiential professional development program committed to enabling the full participation, success, and advancement of woman-identified professionals at the University. The program is open to all employees who support and are committed to this mission. Participants represent faculty, academic personnel and staff, people managers and non-people managers.
Each UC location is allotted a specific number of seats in each cohort to ensure systemwide representation; UC Berkeley has been allotted 12 participants (which includes 3 faculty, 3 academic personnel and 6 staff). Additionally, please note that while spots in the systemwide program are limited, UC Berkeley has created a companion program, the UC Berkeley Women’s Initiative. All who apply to UC WI will be invited to attend the UC Berkeley Women’s Initiative in fall 2023.
The program is designed to cultivate a professional network that spans the UC system, provide access to top UC leaders to learn about their diverse leadership approaches and journeys, and strengthen skills and confidence through hands-on practice. Learn more about this important systemwide development program on the UC WI webpage.
Individuals are asked to self-nominate for consideration via this online nomination form by 11:59 PM Friday, March 24, 2023.
This year, we are trying something new to highlight jobs around Cal. Instead of an email, we will be maintaining a CWN Google Doc with all the job listings that are sent to us. Please bookmark the link and check it whenever, as we will be updating it constantly. As always, please send us jobs that you’d like shared with the CWN community so we can include them!
We want to hear from you!
Please submit an upcoming event, job posting, or resource you would like featured in CWN's next newsletter.
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General questions or CWN event ideas? Reach out to our leadership board at calwomxn@berkeley.edu.
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