SENIOR women leaders at the University of Glasgow have organised their own take on a 150 year old all-male-professor photograph for International Women's Day.
In 1870, 26 male professors were photographed using the iconic Lion and Unicorn staircase as backdrop when the University moved to the west end of Glasgow.
In 1870, the University’s records show that all the academics were men including its senior leaders, made up of 26 professors. All the University’s 1279 students in 1870 were men - it was another 24 years before the first four women graduated.
One hundred and fifty years on from the anniversary of the move, over two hundred female professors and staff across the university have digitally recreated the same photograph.
The senior women leaders hope the 2020 version will help to act as a catalyst for focused reflection, discussion, planning and continued action on the issue of gender equality.
Professor Jill Morrison, Clerk of Senate and Vice-Principal, who is the University’s Gender Equality Champion, said: “Over the 150 years we have been at our current campus in Glasgow’s west end there have been huge changes in the size and make-up of our staff and student body. To mark this important 150th anniversary, it was felt it was right to offer a new moment in time in the University’s 569-year history.
“On the occasion of the first image being created, there were no women leaders, academics or students at the University. We felt it was important to reflect how far we, as an institution, have come, while also acknowledging that we still have a way to go on our journey to gender equality.
“I hope that this photo will inform discussions and reflection on gender equality both on International Women’s Day and throughout the year.”
Professor Heddon, James Arnott Chair in Drama said:
“Today, we celebrate our female colleagues' achievements and acknowledge where we are now and where we still need to get to in terms of equality.”
Today at the University of Glasgow, 31.3% senior leaders – professors and senior professional services leads – are woman. Of the nearly 4,855 women employed at the University, 384 are Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic.
Half of the 14 people who sit on the University’s Senior Management are women; nearly 60% of more than 30,000 students at the University are female.
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