King's College London

At King’s, our academics and researchers are working to understand the impacts of gender bias and the proactive steps we can take as society to challenge this. Our students and alumni have also been working to help Break The Bias at King’s and beyond. Below are some examples, as well as the events taking place across King’s for International Women’s Day.

Inequality between women and men 'doesn't really exist', say one in seven Britons

One in seven (15%) Britons think gender inequality doesn’t really exist, with men (19%) more likely than women (11%) to hold this view, according to a major survey conducted ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March by Ipsos and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London.

Event: Theresa May and Julia Gillard: An International Women’s Day Conversation

Join the Global Institute for Women's Leadership and Ipsos UK in the week of International Women's Day for a conversation between these two former leaders, as they discuss their experiences at the highest level of politics, the obstacles they faced, and what we can do to improve gender equality and women's political representation.

The discussion will be informed by insights from Kelly Beaver, the new Chief Executive of Ipsos UK and first woman to hold that role, who will share findings from a new global survey looking at women's career progression, attitudes towards feminism, toxic online behaviour and more.

Event: Gender and Finance – Addressing Inequality in the Financial Services

Dr. Ylva Baeckström, a finance lecturer at King’s Business School, draws on her knowledge and own academic research to set out how women’s exclusion in financial services is mirrored by men’s exclusion from parenting through a similar set of societal expectations, government legislation and corporate policies. She argues that the financial services industry has the opportunity to change and to champion gender equal practices to showcase how this will improve lives and profits for everyone.

Her book is being published to coincide with International Women’s Day and further explores that this lack of financial equality tracks a woman’s whole life, with significant negative consequences.

Leader of the Labour Party and Shadow Chancellor visit King's College London to hear from female entrepreneurs

Ahead of International Women’s Day 2022, Leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer MP and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves MP visited the Entrepreneurship Institute (EI) at King’s College London to discuss how women can be better supported to thrive as entrepreneurs and the role universities can play in making this happen.

The event was hosted by the Women Entrepreneurs Network at the EI, attendees discussed the landscape for women in entrepreneurship and the barriers that still exist; how the EI is achieving its mission of closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship and how policy can support women to start new businesses and increase job creation for the UK economy.

Event: Women in Peacebuilding: The Post-Conflict Research Centre in Sarajevo

This event will explore the innovative, creative and unconventional work of women at the Post Conflict Research Centre to restore a culture of peace and prevent violent conflict in the Western Balkans. The panellists include Founder and President of the Post Conflict Research Centre, Velma Šarić; Program Director ,Tatjana Milovanović; Advisory Board President, Tanya Domi; Research Fellow, Josephine Mintel; and Professor Rachel Kerr with Women In War and International Politics. 

Blog: Sarah Guerra, Director of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at King’s College London

Sarah shares ways of getting involved in IWD 2022 and reflects on the underrepresentation of men in the EDI field.

World We Got This Podcast - How gender inequality impacts society

This episode explores how gender inequalities are having an impact on different societies across the globe and hears what could be done to create a more equal world.

Dr Ye Liu, Professor Cathy McIlwaine and Dr Aleida Borges, who all work in the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy at King's College London, share research on what lies behind gender inequalities, some of the effects this has on societies ranging from Latin America to China, and their ideas for bringing about change.

Event - Women’s leadership in climate action: why it’s essential for change

On Tuesday 7^th March, join the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and the High Commission of Canada to the UK in the week of International Women’s Day as Julia Gillard welcomes panellists on the front lines of local, regional and national climate responses to reflect on why women’s leadership is essential for effective climate action.

With introductions from Canadian High Commissioner Ralph Goodale, panellists will discuss the key levers that can be used to proactively promote women’s leadership in all aspects of climate action.

Essays on Equality – global and intersectional perspectives on the pandemic

Produced by the Global Institute for Women's Leadership, the latest edition of Essays on Equality explores the gendered impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on a global scale. The essays take an intersectional approach, examining the pandemic experiences of different groups of women – including single mothers, pregnant women, migrant women, and indigenous women – and the adequacy (or inadequacy) of national and international policy responses to address them.

The experts featured in this collection put forward many specific policy proposals – such as tackling the discrimination faced by single mothers, helping employers protect pregnant women, and providing legal protections for migrant domestic workers – but also propose a more profound change in how we structure the institutions of society to foreground care and redistribute power and voice.

IWD 2022: Disruptive Ideas to #BreaktheBias

Being a creative problem solver, and being able to come up with innovative, disruptive ideas, quickly, is a critical skill no matter who you are, or what you aspire to. This International Women's day The Entrepreneurship Institute will be hosting an event focussed on Gender Equality and encouraging participants to find innovative ways to address gender equality under this year's theme #BreaktheBias.

Turning evidence into action to tackle gender inequality

Hear from Dr. Aleida Borges, Research Associate at Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, on her research which focuses on gender equality in the context of the Global South. It examines the ways in which certain groups – such as young women or those working in the informal labour market – are marginalised and experience discrimination.

Entrepreneurship Institute – Idea Factory 2022

Each year, the Entrepreneurship Institute put the call out for the biggest, brightest and best ideas across the university and through a series of workshops, give our contestants the skills they need to make their ideas viable and scalable through entrepreneurial skills.

This year’s finalists included Sistren whose mission is to empower black women to enhance their quality of life by building community and friendship with local and like-minded women and was founded by Olivia Hylton-Pennant a staff member in Social Mobility and Student Success.

Violence Against Women and Girls in transnational perspective in Rio de Janeiro and London

This project examined localised and transnational dynamics of violence against women and girls in Brazil and the UK, focusing on women and girls living in a favela community in Rio de Janeiro and on Brazilian migrants in London. The project aimed to identify the nature, causes and consequences of violence against women and explores the linkages between cities of the Global South and Global North.

It found that in London 4/5 of women had experienced gender-based violence in their lifetime (82%) and 56% of women never reported an episode of violence in London, mainly because they thought nothing would be done about it, lack of information, and/or shame and fear of deportation due to insecure immigration status.

In Rio De Janeiro, although the vast majority of those surveyed (76%) stated that violence against women and girls occurs in Maré, only 28% openly stated that they had suffered it. However, when asked about reporting such violence, 38% stated they had experienced it.

The research conducted in Rio de Janeiro was used to inform an audio-visual installation called SCAR by renowned Brazilian theatre maker, Bia Lessa. The theatre play, Efêmera by Gäel le Cornec was also written based on the women’s own words, as well as a film based on the play, photographs and an awareness-raising film.