Past invited speaking engagements include UK, European and International events covering a range of topics related to diversity and inclusion in STEM and knowledge transfer.
I have been and continue to serve, at both national and international level, advisory bodies on gender and STEM for organisations including the Institute of Physics, Construction Skills and Royal Society of Chemistry.
I have provided evidence and advice on policies, projects and programmes surrounding diversity in STEM to inquiries and research.
As well as a track record of radio and TV I have chaired debates and facilitated meetings and workshops on many topics around diversity and innovation. Some of the keynote presentations I have recently given are summarised below.
Signature talks
You’ve gotta shape up. From getting PPE that fits to workplace artifacts. How to build an inclusive culture
Go ahead punk, make my day. How individuals can take responsibility for creating an inclusive culture.
Talking talent. From challenging stereotypes to letting people be themselves. A strengths lens may be just what you need to boost your workforce
Forgotten Figures: transform the future
The blockbuster film Hidden Figures blows away the image of (women) mathematicians and coders. Suddenly they are clever, sassy and stylish. These are people who made a difference against the odds. How come so few people have heard of these changemaker mathematicians working at NASA? Each of us can play our own part by making small changes each day: start with nodding and saying hello to people.
Jan speaks with energy and knowledge about early women engineers and explores how they have become hidden from our language and history. There are many things we can each do. Read more in this Katalytik blogpost: making workspaces more inclusive: Transform the Future
Jan tailors her talk to suit a student, academic or corporate audience.
Valuing difference, delivering inclusion, maximising impact
A Gallup certified strengths coach, Jan speaks with knowledge and conviction about taking a strengths approach to help you deliver on your equality and diversity action plans as an organisation.
The talk is tailored for leaders, manager or teams.Jan tailors her talk to suit a students, academic or corporate audience.
Inclusive engineering education
For too long the world has focused on addressing the low participation of women in engineering as a numbers game, “simply recruit more and we’ll solve the problem”, or taken the ‘leaky pipeline’ model. Jan argues that a more fundamental approach is needed if we are to produce engineers, regardless of their gender, who cannot understand and apply their technical knowledge to diverse end users but are also able to innovate, driven by end users’ needs and differences.
Who’s shaping the future?
Exploring the forces that are shaping our future including: peak oil; population growth and migration; and climate change. Jan explores the issues we face and asks of her audience – ‘will it be you that makes a difference?’ while she outlines some of the scientists and engineers who have inspired her and who are making great strides to address the many problems and challenges we face in society.
Past talks include Malvern St James Girls School, Bournemouth Collegiate and Bournemouth University as part of the Expanding Horizons event.
PPE: fit not fashion
Women, and men, have long suffered the indignity and inconvenience with typical wry humour about ill-fitting Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Jan led a group that designed, ran and reproted on the deficit in PPE for women and uncovered the indignities faced daily by women and men. To be fair, some manufacturers have tried: making standard male fit clothing in smaller sizes, adding pink, sparkly laces to boots and even using preposterous ‘female’ style names such as ‘vixen’. Happily things have moved on. A bit. This energising talk explores why we are where we are and what more you could do. Use it to open a conversaton around inclusion and what it means explcitly within an engineering context.
Going for Gold: hints and tips on making your Athena dreams a reality
The Athena SWAN equality charter for women is well known across the UK as having a tremendous impact on how university departments have taken notice of the wasted talent among women academics. AS a key member of the Athena Steering Group and the lead policy make at the outset of the project Jan is uniquely placed to give an overview of how far we have come and how far we have yet to go.