Queens’ Conversations – International Women’s Day Panel

Menna started the talk by introducing the panel and expanding on what she hoped to discuss and why events such as these are still needed:

“I was reflecting on where we are today as women in the world, and on the one hand there’s so much good […] but at the same time there is a sense that women’s rights are under attack in different ways […] So how do we juggle those challenges and how do we retain confidence and influence and impact when things can feel really difficult?”

“in some areas and places feminism has become almost a dirty word”

Menna began by taking some time to address each panellist individually. Firstly, she spoke to Professor Hannah Fry, who joined the University of Cambridge only recently, becoming the new Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics last January, and subsequently joined Queens’ as a Professorial Fellow. She is also a highly successful science presenter, podcaster and author, and her impact in these male-dominated fields has been a fantastic step forward for Women in STEM.

As a result of her new BBC One programme, AI Confidential, most of Hannah’s discussion focused on AI and her thoughts and feelings about the male-centred industry that is heavily shaping how we function as a society today.

Menna asked, ‘How safe are we in the hands of AI when it is essentially in the hands, […] of men?’

‘‘Honestly, I’m really concerned about this.’ Hannah confessed. ‘We’re not hearing a diverse range of voices right at the top when we’re designing our collective future.”

Continuing to discuss this profit-first attitude adopted by a lot of the ‘tech bro’s’ in Silicon Valley, Hannah explained that although there was concern, there are still good people in these industries:

“I think that there are really good people who are who are not like this. And I would say actually that Queens’ […] gave us, I think, one of the greatest of them of all in Demis Hassabis. And […] there are a lot of women in his team. I think he stands out for me, I think he stands out against the others.”

The next panellist to speak was Professor Angela Chan, a Queens’ alumna with an impressive record of achievements. Having recently completed her PhD, she now works as Head of Inclusive Futures at the COStar Lab for Creative Technology. Prior to this, she spent 30 years working in television, including serving as Head of Creative Diversity at Channel 4.

Following on from Hannah’s concerns about male-dominated STEM fields, Menna turned to Angela, who has spent the best part of 10 years in diversity roles and working in the creative industries, to ask whether she felt there were any green shoots.

“I’m weirdly optimistic. Angela expressed. ‘I was brought up by an immigrant dad and a working-class mum who always told me I could do anything. […] Queens’ really taught me to sort of hold my own, and I’ve carried on that way. […] In television, I’ve seen it change over 20/30 years, and it’s given me the hope that actually, you can change representation”

Continuing the conversation on AI and how we can better shape the future, Angela explained:

“The universities have a really key role to play. A lot of the money in innovation is flowing through universities and out to industry. […] We’re very concerned about the balance of that, how we encourage women to seek investment. That’s a major kind of hurdle at the moment, both in growing people’s confidence and making the investment available.”

The conversation then focused on another creative, Joanna Scanlan, who was part of the first cohort of women to join Queens’ in 1980. Joanna is a BAFTA award-winning film and television actress and screenwriter who has starred in shows such as The Thick of It, Big School, The Larkins, and Riot Women. She has also touched on academia and government in previous roles at De Montfort University and the Arts Council.

Menna began her discussion, focusing on one of Joanna’s more recent TV shows, Riot Women, before moving on to ask about her experience of being in that first cohort of women to join Queens’ in 1980,

“It was very difficult actually, being the first year of women.’ Joanna admitted. ‘I applied to Queens’ because it was the first year of women, and I’d grown up in that second wave of feminism. […] I wanted to be in the vanguard, and I wanted to be somebody who was pioneering.”

Joanna continued by describing how it feels now to look back on that time.

“I’m [now] an Honorary Fellow. I’m incredibly honoured and humbled by that. I can’t believe the journey from the wreck that I was in my first term through to being able to be here talking to you today, invited to be amongst such illustrious companions, but I think it’s that resilience is so important, you know, getting over big hurdles.”

Moving to the political end of the table, Menna then spoke to Helen MacNamara CB, who is an alumna of Clare College, and consequently no stranger to the University of Cambridge, but it was her job as the Deputy Cabinet Secretary under Boris Johnson, where she met Menna (former British Diplomat to France). Helen is now the Chair of the homeless charity, Shelter and has just launched a political podcast called In The Room.

Menna spoke to Helen about what it was like to be ‘in the room’ with some of the UK’s most powerful people, and how she navigates finding her voice in often male-heavy situations.

“I definitely noticed, as I got closer and closer to actual power, not the illusion of power, how many fewer women there were, and also that the women were put in a particular place, and they definitely weren’t listened to”.

Linking it back to AI, Helen expressed,

“I hadn’t realized how in built some of these things were. That’s the thing that scares the life out of me about AI, is all of these invisible things that are built into our world, which make it much more difficult to be, not just be a woman, but be different in any way from the kind of heteronormative male.”

The final panellist at the table was Corin Robertson, another alumna of Queens’ and soon-to-be British Ambassador to Japan. Corin joined the Foreign Office straight from graduating Queens’ in 1994, where she has had the chance to work across the world in places such as Canada, Belgium, Mexico and Japan. Corin spoke passionately about inclusion and gender, saying it has always been an issue she has cared deeply about.

They focused the discussion on whether, in an industry still so dominated by men, women’s voices matter, and whether there is still sufficient focus on gender issues in foreign policy in the UK and overseas.

“It’s more important than ever that there are female voices at the table and a diverse range of views.” Corin explained.

The conversation moved to discuss how there is still a need for positive discrimination.

“There was a moment where all the delegates looked around at themselves and realised there wasn’t one woman in the delegation. That was a bit of a wake-up call, because we thought we were the good guys. There was a moment where we realised, actually, you’ve got to, it won’t happen naturally. You’ve got to actually make it happen […]  you’ve got to actively challenge yourselves on the makeup.”

“We’ve got to keep going, because it’s that diversity, having women and men at the table, it’s that kind of diversity that makes countries and economies stronger.”

After this, the discussion was opened to the audience through a Q&A session. The audience asked a range of insightful and exciting questions, which allowed the panel to discuss their experiences and thoughts together. One question that sparked discussion among the panellists was about how to deal with stereotypes and being branded ‘sassy’ or ‘too loud’.

Hannah was the first to respond,

“the first time someone said something horrible to me online, I cried for about two days” Hannah admits. “but now, personally I find it quite funny”

Joanna then followed on,

“I just don’t care what anyone says about me, I am angry, I care in the sense that I feel angry, I can feel it right now, but I just will not take it on, I just refuse”

Once the Q&A had drawn to a close, Menna thanked each panellist and wrapped up the event, allowing audience members to come down and chat individually to any of the panel.

The evening concluded with an all-women’s dinner in the President’s Lodge, with guests being invited from all areas of the College, including Fellows, staff and students, which was a wonderful opportunity to continue the conversation and celebrate the achievements and contributions of women within the Queens’ community.

Thank you to our brilliant panellists for sharing their time and insights, and to Dame Menna for organising such a thoughtful and inspiring event.

Queens’ Conversations: Impactful Women is available to watch, in full, on our YouTube.