It’s March 8, a day designated to celebrate women and to honour their existence and their contribution in this world. So today, let us take a moment to appreciate all the ladies in our lives. This day is the fruit of the labour of thousands of women who fought for equal rights, spoke up against mistreatment and demanded equal footing with men. While the struggle is centuries old, the idea of women’s day first emerged at the turn of the 20th century. NDTV’s Arzoo Tanwar tells you more.
Women in higher education and industry leadership, especially in Engineering and STEM, have reshaped academia and industry through groundbreaking contributions. Over the past two centuries, they have advanced knowledge, dismantled systemic barriers, and set new standards in innovation and leadership. Yet Black women remain significantly underrepresented, highlighting the urgent need for institutional change.
After all, when we lack diversity, we limit our ability to evolve and tackle the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
Despite the progress made, the numbers remain stark. In the UK, women constitute 48% of overall academic staff, yet only 30% hold professorial roles. At present, among these, only 80+ Black women hold professorial positions across all disciplines. In the US, Black women account for just 2% of science and engineering roles. These figures underscore the persistent barriers that hinder progression into leadership roles in academia and industry.
These disparities highlight the urgent need for fundamental change to ensure equitable access to opportunities and resources.
The 200-year journey of Black women in academia has been shaped by structural barriers but also by resilience and advocacy. Initiatives like the Black Female Academics’ Network and the national EDI Hub+, led by the University of Leeds, have played pivotal roles in championing change and providing visibility and support for Black women in academia and higher education leadership. But the reality is that real change comes not just from support networks but from institutions and governance bodies truly committed to transformation through policy implementation and its incorporation into operational management.
Black women have broken barriers in education, research, and industry, driving policy changes and fostering inclusivity. They have led pioneering research, challenged outdated structures, and risen to leadership in historically non-diverse sectors. In Engineering and STEM, figures like Dr. Aprille Ericsson, the first Black woman to earn a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Howard University, have held key roles at NASA. Yewande Akinola, a Nigerian-born engineer, has advanced sustainable water systems while advocating for diversity. In the UK, Professor Esther Akinlabi has made significant contributions to academic leadership, engineering, research, and advocacy.
These Black women, and countless others, have played critical roles, and yet their paths have not been easy. They have faced barriers, from being underestimated in their abilities to encountering biases that make progression in academia and industry far harder than it should be. It is important to highlight their successes but equally crucial to recognise the dramatic shifts needed to create a more inclusive landscape.
As the first Black female professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Leeds, I have witnessed firsthand the impact of underrepresentation on individuals and institutions. Without diverse voices in leadership, we lose perspectives that drive innovation and meaningful change. True equity and inclusion require representation at the highest levels, where policies and practices are shaped.
Mentorship and networking are vital for career progression, yet many Black women in academia and industry lack mentors with shared experiences. Institutions must formalise support systems rather than relying on individual efforts. A cultural shift is needed, one where diversity is not just discussed but reinforced through real structural changes that create lasting opportunities.
Breaking barriers is not just about individuals but about how institutions respond. Are they fostering environments where Black women can thrive? Are they tackling unconscious bias in hiring and promotions? Are they offering real support for retention and advancement beyond just celebrating ‘firsts’? It’s time to move from symbolic gestures to tangible change that empowers the next generation in academia and industry.
The legacy of Black women in academia and industry extends beyond their achievements to the opportunities they create for future generations. Recognising and amplifying their voices is essential. Their contributions must be seamlessly woven into the broader narrative of advancement and innovation in women’s higher education and industry leadership.
Much work remains. Representation is not enough; true progress requires dismantling barriers to access and opportunity. Black women in academia and industry, especially in Engineering and STEM, must be empowered, supported, and able to lead without the constant need to justify their place.
The goal should be that, in the future, their contributions are not exceptional but expected, and their presence in leadership roles is not a rarity but the norm.
by Christy Williams | March 5, 2025
Since 1996, the National Committee on Pay Equity has acknowledged Equal Pay Day to bring awareness to the gap between men’s and women’s wages. This year, Equal Pay Day is March 25 — symbolizing how far into the year women must work to be paid what men were paid in the previous year.
To help higher ed leaders understand, communicate and address gender pay equity in higher education, CUPA-HR has analyzed its annual workforce data to establish Higher Education Equal Pay Days for 2025. Tailored to the higher ed workforce, these dates observe the gender pay gap by marking how long into 2025 women in higher ed must work to make what White men in higher ed earned the previous year.
Higher Education Equal Pay Day falls on March 8, 2025, for women overall, which means that women employees in higher education worked for more than two months into this year to gain parity with their White male colleagues. Women in the higher ed workforce are paid on average just 82 cents for every dollar a White man employed in higher ed makes.
Highlighting some positive momentum during this Women’s History Month, some groups of women are closer to gaining pay equity. Asian American women in higher ed worked only a few days into this year to achieve parity on January 4 — an encouraging jump from January 14 in 2024.
But the gender pay gap remains for most women, and particularly for women of color. Here’s the breakdown of the gender pay gap in the higher ed workforce, and the Higher Education Equal Pay Day for each group.* These dates remind us of the work we have ahead.
CUPA-HR research shows that pay disparities exist across employment sectors in higher ed — administrators, faculty, professionals and staff — even as the representation of women and people of color has steadily increased. But with voluntary turnover still not back to pre-pandemic levels, not addressing pay disparities could be costly.
As we observe Women’s History Month and Higher Education Equal Pay Days for women, we’re reminded that the quest for equal pay is far from over. But data-driven analysis with the assistance of CUPA-HR research can support your work to create a more equitable future.
CUPA-HR’s interactive graphics track the gender and racial composition of the higher ed workforce, based on data from CUPA-HR’s signature surveys. The following pay equity analyses control for position, indicating that any wage gaps present are not explained by the fact that women or people of color may have greater representation in lower-paying positions:
*Data Source: 2024-25 CUPA-HR Administrators, Faculty, Professionals, and Staff in Higher Education Surveys. Drawn from 707,859 men and women for whom race/ethnicity was known.
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Philadelphia students could head back to classes before Labor Day for the next two years, according to proposed academic calendars the district released Tuesday.
The pre-Labor Day start for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 calendars will allow for longer spring and winter recesses as well as additional cultural and religious holidays throughout the year, district officials said this week.
Superintendent Tony Watlington also confirmed Tuesday that district schools and offices will be closed on Friday for the Philadelphia Eagles celebratory Super Bowl parade.
“We look forward to celebrating the Eagles’ victory as a community, and we hope that our students, staff and families will do so safely and responsibly,” Watlington said in a statement.
The question of whether to start before or after Labor Day has rankled families and district leaders in recent years, in part because many Philly schools do not have adequate air conditioning. That has forced some buildings to close or dismiss students early due to excessive heat in the first week back.
This school year, the first day back landed before Labor Day, and 63 schools without air conditioning dismissed students early, during the first week of classes. However, school started after Labor Day in 2023-24, and heat closures still impacted students’ learning time that first week.
Watlington said at his state of the schools address this year that over the past three school years, the number of schools without air conditioning has shrunk from 118 to 57 thanks in part to a donation from Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Shakeera Warthen-Canty, assistant superintendent of school operations and management at the district, said their academic calendar recommendations this year are built off of a survey and several in-person feedback sessions.
The majority of parents and caregivers who responded preferred a post-Labor Day start, the survey found. But students, teachers, school staff, and community members reported they overwhelmingly preferred starting the school year before Labor Day.
Some 16,400 parents, students, school staff, principals, and community members responded to the survey the district sent out last September, Warthen-Canty said.
Respondents also said they wanted more frequent breaks for longer durations to accommodate family vacations, as well as time to rest, support mental health, and prevent staff burnout.
State law says districts must have a minimum of 180 student days, or a minimum of 900 instructional hours for elementary school students and 990 hours for middle and high school students. The district’s collective bargaining agreement with the teachers union also requires 188 teacher work days, as well as a minimum of 28 professional development hours.
The district officials’ calendar recommendations will go to the school board for a vote before they are enacted.
If approved, winter recess would be seven days in 2025-26 and eight days in 2026-27, while spring break would be five days both years.
In addition to the five state and national holidays (Memorial Day, Independence Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s Day), Philadelphia school district school holidays in 2025-26 and 2026-27 would include:
This school year, both Indigenous Peoples Day and Veterans Day were school days.
As for how the new calendar may interact with Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s commitment to “extended-day, extended-year” school: Deputy Superintendent Jermaine Dawson said this week the district has ensured any expansion of that program will work “alongside our calendar of school days.”
This story was originally published at Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
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Key points:
This article and the accompanying image originally appeared on the KU News site and are reposted here with permission.
For more than a decade, University of Kansas researchers have been developing a virtual reality system to help students with disabilities, especially those with autism spectrum disorder, to learn, practice and improve social skills they need in a typical school day. Now, the KU research team has secured funding to add artificial intelligence components to the system to give those students an extended reality, or XR, experience to sharpen social interactions in a more natural setting.
The U.S. Office of Special Education Programs has awarded a five-year, $2.5 million grant to researchers within KU’s School of Education & Human Sciences to develop Increasing Knowledge and Natural Opportunities With Social Emotional Competence, or iKNOW. The system will build on previous work and provide students and teachers with an immersive, authentic experience blending extended reality and real-world elements of artificial intelligence.
iKNOW will expand the capabilities of VOISS, Virtual reality Opportunity to Integrate Social Skills, a KU-developed VR system that has proven successful and statistically valid in helping students with disabilities improve social skills. That system contains 140 unique learning scenarios meant to teach knowledge and understanding of 183 social skills in virtual school environments such as a classroom, hallway, cafeteria or bus that students and teachers can use via multiple platforms such as iPad, Chromebooks or Oculus VR headsets. The system also helps students use social skills such as receptive or expressive communication across multiple environments, not simply in the isolation of a classroom.
IKNOW will combine the VR aspects of VOISS with AI features such as large language models to enhance the systems’ capabilities and allow more natural interactions than listening to prerecorded narratives and responding by pushing buttons. The new system will allow user-initiated speaking responses that can accurately transcribe spoken language in real-time. AI technology of iKNOW will also be able to generate appropriate video responses to avatars students interact with, audio analysis of user responses, integration of in-time images and graphics with instruction to boost students’ contextual understanding.
“Avatars in iKNOW can have certain reactions and behaviors based on what we want them to do. They can model the practices we want students to see,” said Amber Rowland, assistant research professor in the Center for Research on Learning, part of KU’s Life Span Institute and one of the grant’s co principal investigators. “The system will harness AI to make sure students have more natural interactions and put them in the role of the ‘human in the loop’ by allowing them to speak, and it will respond like a normal conversation.”
The spoken responses will not only be more natural and relatable to everyday situations, but the contextual understanding cues will help students better know why a certain response is preferred. Rowland said when students were presented with multiple choices in previous versions, they often would know which answer was correct but indicated that’s not how they would have responded in real life.
IKNOW will also provide a real-time student progress monitoring system, telling them, educators and families how long students spoke, how frequently they spoke, number of keywords used, where students may have struggled in the system and other data to help enhance understanding.
All avatar voices that iKNOW users encounter are provided by real middle school students, educators and administrators. This helps enhance the natural environment of the system without the shortcomings of students practicing social skills with classmates in supervised sessions. For example, users do not have to worry what the people they are practicing with are thinking about them while they are learning. They can practice the social skills that they need until they are comfortable moving from the XR environment to real life.
“It will leverage our ability to take something off of teachers’ plates and provide tools for students to learn these skills in multiple environments. Right now, the closest we can come to that is training peers. But that puts students with disabilities in a different box by saying, ‘You don’t know how to do this,’” said Maggie Mosher, assistant research professor in KU’s Achievement & Assessment Institute, a co-principal investigator for the grant.
Mosher, a KU graduate who completed her doctoral dissertation comparing VOISS to other social skills interventions, found the system was statistically significant and valid in improving social skills and knowledge across multiple domains. Her study, which also found the system to be acceptable, appropriate and feasible, was published in high-impact journals Computers & Education and Issues and Trends in Learning Technologies.
The grant supporting iKNOW is one of four OSEP Innovation and Development grants intended to spur innovation in educational technology. The research team, including principal investigator Sean Smith, professor of special education; Amber Rowland, associate research professor in the Center for Research on Learning and the Achievement & Assessment Institute; Maggie Mosher, assistant research professor in AAI; and Bruce Frey, professor in educational psychology, will present their work on the project at the annual I/ITSEC conference, the world’s largest modeling, simulation and training event. It is sponsored by the National Training & Simulation Association, which promotes international and interdisciplinary cooperation within the fields of modeling and simulation, training, education and analysis and is affiliated with the National Defense Industrial Association.
The research team has implemented VOISS, available on the Apple Store and Google Play, at schools across the country. Anyone interested in learning more can find information, demonstrations and videos at the iKNOW site and can contact developers to use the system at the site’s “work with us” page.
IKNOW will add resources for teachers and families who want to implement the system at a website called iKNOW TOOLS (Teaching Occasions and Opportunities for Learning Supports) to support generalization of social skills across real-world settings.
“By combining our research-based social emotional virtual reality work (VOISS) with the increasing power and flexibility of AI, iKNOW will further personalize the learning experience for individuals with disabilities along with the struggling classmates,” Smith said. “Our hope and expectation is that iKNOW will further engage students to develop the essential social emotional skills to then apply in the real world to improve their overall learning outcomes.”
Racial healing circles, or opportunities for community members to share stories and connect on a human level, are common activities for the National Day of Racial Healing. This year is the ninth observance of the holiday.
AJ Watt/E+/Getty Images
Over the past two decades, higher education has grown exceptionally diverse, enrolling students from all backgrounds and offering opportunities for education and career development for historically underserved populations.
This diversification of the students, staff and faculty who make up higher education also offers opportunities for institutions to promote justice and racial healing through intentional education and programming. One annual marker of this work is the National Day of Racial Healing.
The background: The National Day of Racial Healing was established by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in 2017 as part of the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) initiative to bring people together and inspire action to build a more just and equitable world.
The day falls on the Tuesday after Martin Luther King Jr. Day and is marked by events and activities that promote racial healing. Racial healing, as defined by the foundation, is “the experience shared by people when they speak openly and hear the truth about past wrongs and the negative impacts created by individual and systemic racism,” according to the effort’s website.
On campus: The American Association of Colleges and Universities encourages institutions to “engage in activities, events or strategies to promote healing and foster engagement around the issues of racism, bias, inequity and injustice in our society,” according to a Dec. 18 press release. AAC&U partners with 72 institutions to establish TRHT Campus Centers, with the goal of developing 150 self-sustaining community-integrated centers.
Some ways institutions can do this is through organizing activities, inviting faculty to connect course material to racial healing during that week, coordinating events or sharing stories on social media, according to AAC&U.
Here’s how colleges and universities, many that host TRHT Campus Centers, plan to honor the National Day of Racial Healing.
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On Wednesday, FIRE and the National Press Photographers Association filed a lawsuit challenging the arbitrary and unconstitutional laws that require Americans to apply for a permit and pay costly fees before exercising their right to film in national parks. The very next day, the U.S. Senate passed a bill addressing these same issues. The bill now goes to President Biden, who is expected to sign it in a huge victory for filmmakers — and for the First Amendment.
Currently, filmmakers must obtain a permit and pay a fee if they intend to later profit from their footage in national parks, even if they are using the same handheld camera or phone that a tourist would use. Permits are routinely denied for arbitrary and unpredictable reasons, making it difficult for people like documentary filmmakers, press photographers, and wedding videographers to earn a living. Under the EXPLORE Act, that changes.
The EXPLORE Act, championed in the Senate by West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin and Wyoming Republican John Barrasso, does several things to fix the constitutional problems with the permit scheme that FIRE is challenging. First, so long as the filming takes place where the public is allowed, doesn’t impact other visitors or damage parks resources, and involves five or fewer people, no permit is required. Second, no permit is required simply because the filmmaker intends to make a profit. Third, no permit is needed to film activities that are already allowed in the park. And fourth, the EXPLORE Act makes clear that when the National Park Service has already approved an event like a wedding to take place in a national park, no additional permit is needed to film or photograph the special occasion.
After filing, FIRE and NPPA took the story to the media and to Capitol Hill. FIRE looks forward to seeing this bill become law.
What goes into a great first lecture? Ask any educator and they’ll highlight three resounding themes: prioritize community, foster connection and build excitement. The good news is that designing a high-impact first lecture doesn’t involve a complete rewrite of your existing lesson plan. Rather, it’s about making simple adjustments to help students form a great first impression.
Dr. James Lang, acclaimed author of Small Teaching and featured speaker at Top Hat Summer Camp 2024, shares actionable strategies to deepen engagement during week one of your course. We’ve rounded up his ideas below.
→ Student Engagement Toolkit: Enjoy FREE teaching tips, templates and more!
Set the table for long-term success by getting to know students and in turn, help them get to know you. Consider sharing what made you want to teach your specific subject and the most rewarding part of teaching. Dr. Lang also suggests intentionally forging personal ties with students. Simple practices could involve showing up to class early and greeting students as they file in. You might also use your first lecture to stream a relevant TED talk, podcast snippet or music video that relates to your course material. Helping students see that there’s more to the first day than reviewing the syllabus will surely leave them feeling inspired and primed to learn. What better feeling could there be as an educator?
The early stages of your course represent an important opportunity to instill the right behaviors. Dr. Lang’s advice? Begin as you intend to continue by modeling the kind of learning environment you seek. For instance, if your course revolves around peer-to-peer discussions, consider including a collaborative exercise during your opening session. If active learning is important, give students a problem to solve or have them respond to a series of polling questions. Dr. Lang shares other discipline-specific examples of how to break the ice between students.
| History | English | Math |
|---|---|---|
| Take a page out of Dr. Cate Denial’s book. The Bright Distinguished Professor of American History at Knox College, who teaches a problem-based course, randomly places students in small groups. She then provides each group with a document package about a specific event. Students then work together to develop stories about what occurred during the event. Finally, they share their stories with the wider group. The purpose of the exercise is to demonstrate that in the pursuit of truth there are often numerous ways historical events can be interpreted. | Any English instructor can vouch for the importance of discussion and critical analysis. Consider holding a prior knowledge brainstorm to spark conversation among students. For example, if your course covers 21st Century British literature and culture, you might ask students to respond to the following prompts: a) what do we mean by the word ‘British?,’ b) what are your impressions of British culture and c) are you familiar with any British writers? This is a great way to surface prior knowledge, clarify common misconceptions, and get students thinking about the journey ahead. | You might also use your opening class to get students reflecting on their past experiences in your subject. Dr. Robert Talbert, Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Grand Valley State University, uses open-ended questions to encourage students to reflect on their learning. He shares the following prompts: a) what is something that you are good at doing? And b) how did you get good at the thing you are good at doing? Math is a challenging subject. This exercise gets students thinking about their approach to learning while sending a subtle message that you are invested in their success. |
Framing your course as a BIG question to explore over the term is a powerful way to pique curiosity, build excitement, and communicate the value of what students will learn. Starting your course with a BIG question is also a great opportunity to engage students right away in a meaningful discussion. Here’s an example from a course on science fiction:
“Can you be confident that the person sitting next to you on the bus is really a human rather than some remarkable replica conjured up by a mad scientist or, perhaps, an alien from another planet? What evidence is needed to conclude that the person casually looking at her mobile device is human? How have we constructed the conceptual boundary between what we qualify as human and what we categorize as robotic, animal, android, or alien? What, in the end, makes the human “human”?”
If you’re struggling to craft a big question for your course, Dr. Lang suggests thinking through the following prompts:
To drive a first day discussion around your big question, you might ask your students to pair up and answer the following: What do you know about this subject? How might this relate to other things you’ve studied? How would you answer this question? What other questions does this bring to mind? Once students have had an opportunity to discuss, regroup as a class and ask a handful of pairs to share their insights.
Your course syllabus serves as the roadmap for the term. While important to review, Dr. Lang advises it shouldn’t be your first priority and counsels against simply reciting each section. Instead, he suggests using the Annotated Syllabus methodology. Conceptualized by Dr. Remi Kalir, Assistant Professor of Learning Design and Technology at the University of Colorado Denver, the Annotated Syllabus is a tool to generate a broader conversation about your course.
Prior to the next class, ask students to work through the following prompts: What do students feel needs further clarification? What are their sentiments around your course policies? What are their opinions about readings and assignments? What advice do you have in order to be successful in the course? The goal is to strive for commentary that is “inquisitive and constructive.” Above all, an Annotated Syllabus invites feedback that may otherwise go unheard. Students are made active participants from the get-go and are more accountable for reading the document before coming to class.
Storm Lillian might have been causing chaos across the North West, but nothing could dampen the spirits of everyone involved in this year’s Return to Learn Day. For the second year running, the team at Go Higher invited potential mature learners to experience a full day of talks and tours on campus.
The day was (high) kicked off on a musical note, with Dr Freya Jarman (below left) leading listeners through the history of the multiple meanings of singing high notes in Western music. Covering everything from Tiny Tim to Barbara Streisand, our visitors quickly warmed to the topic and were keen to share their own insights and experiences. We hardly had time to pause for breath, before Heather Johnston from Sydney Jones Library delivered an informative talk on KnowHow, the University of Liverpool’s skills support service. Go Higher and KnowHow work closely together all year round; we know that many mature students may not have written anything vaguely academic for many years, and may never have used a referencing system – the Study Skills team at Go Higher are there to support your learning throughout the whole course, and KnowHow provide the university wide support for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Lunch provided an enjoyable opportunity for guests to chat informally with not only professional services and teaching staff, but also current and former Go Higher students. Peer support plays a major role in the success of Go Higher, not only within a year group, but more widely as a mentoring system for students to continue that contact even after they have started their undergraduate studies.
The University of Liverpool is the only university in England with an Irish Studies Department, and Dr Sean Haughey outlined the degree course content, as well as reminding us of just how many Go Higher students decide to study with this close and supportive department. Sean also gave us a taste of the sort of lecture students might expect, asking just how divided society is now in Northern Ireland. Combining contemporary cultural references such as Derry Girls, with recent government polls on schooling opportunities, Sean suggested that social attitudes towards mixed communities are far more positive than are often put forward by politicians and the press.
Thankfully rain had stopped by mid afternoon, and although it was still too wet to take the campus tour, attendees were welcomed for a guided tour at the iconic Victoria Gallery and Museum in Ashton Street. https://vgm.liverpool.ac.uk/ Our on campus bookstore, Blackwells, kindly offered attendees a discount for any purchases made on the day.
The afternoon was completed by a lecture from Go Higher’s sociology lecturer, Dr David Ellis (left), who discussed his research in a talk titled ‘Towards a Sociology of Debt: Cultural Change in Britain and Beyond’. David explored the deregulation of banking by the Conservative Party in the 1980s, and the impact that it is still having today. A major point of discussion was what constituted ‘credit’ and how it differed from ‘debt’. There were so many comments and questions following this that we reached the end of the day before we knew it.
Just in time for visitors to leave, the sun came out – but we hope to see many of them return as students in September.
White Rabbit image by John Tenniel, from the Project Gutenberg edition of Alice In Wonderland (public domain).
