Dads4Daughters launch event - 15 March

Dads4Daughters

Our first Dads4Daughters event is taking place in the evening on Wednesday 15 March. As a girls’ school we are clearly committed to considering the different ways in which we can provide our students with opportunities to thrive beyond school, as they enter the world of work – in what can sometimes still be an unequal playing field. Dads4Daughters is a national initiative, with schools across the country joining together on and around 15 March in the hope of explicitly engaging ‘the other 50 percent of humanity’ (i.e. men) that also play a role in further equality.

The initiative was inspired by the #HeForShe United Nations campaign and celebrates the role that fathers can play, here and now, in pursuing genuine workplace equality. No doubt many men are already doing so, and many are keen to do more but may be unsure of how best to act. The initiative is neither anti-mother nor anti-men; indeed we see it as embracing gender equality in its broadest possible sense. It is only when it is culturally easier for men in any job role to take parental leave that full equality can be achieved.

With this in mind we are inviting our Year 10 to Upper Sixth students to attend an evening discussion about workplace equality. We are also extending the invitation to fathers of girls of any age to come along (without their younger daughters on this occasion due to the level of discussion) and join us for the evening to support us by sharing their own experiences or simply to observe what is set to be an inspiring discussion. We wish to reassure any fathers who are considering attending that there will be absolutely no ‘men bashing’ nor putting people on the spot! Much of the discussion will be informed by anonymous polls completed on individual iPads (these will be provided) with people invited to contribute only if they wish. We will also be asking willing parents (whether attending the evening event or not) to complete an implicit bias test on the day, the results of which: will be discussed at the event, and; will create a personalised pledge for each participant with specific suggestions about how they can contribute to furthering workplace equality.

The event will be chaired by Dame Sandra Dawson – KPMG Professor Emeritus of Management Studies, Fellow (Organisational Theory & Information Systems), Fellow of Sidney Sussex College – who will steer the panel through discussions from what the biggest concerns of our current students are, to what our alumnae consider to be the factors stopping them from pursuing change in their own workplaces.

Our panel, who will talk about their experiences in the workplace and engage in lively debate with members of the audience, consists of:

The event will take place from 7.00pm to 10.00pm in the Senior School Hall. For further information about registering for the evening (tickets are £10 for adults to cover the cost of refreshments and nibbles and free of charge for students) please click here – or get in touch with our Alumnae Officer Mrs Emma Whittley who is masterminding the event for the school.

With thanks to our sponsors Woodfines Solicitors, Marshall, and Brähler, and our Dads4Daughters Patron, Lord Andrew Lansley CBE.