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No Label No Limits Workshop - Breaking Stereotypes

Twenty-four students from across campus participated in the 5th No Label No Limits workshop this week, around breaking stereotypes within careers.

This session focused on the girls understanding that there are no limits to the careers that they can pursue and supporting them to consider careers that may be more male-dominated.

In several group activities, students were encouraged to write down as many jobs as they could. They then challenged their own perception of stereotypes, considering whether these jobs were more for men or women. The key message to students was that all jobs can be done by either sex and that your skill set is what is important.

The session progressed to identifying transferable skills for each job and why they are so important. Jobs are changing rapidly with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence and as such transferable skills are more important than ever. The girls were encouraged to identify their own transferable skills and record them in their course journals.

They also watched a recorded speech from Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films. Emma co-hosted a special event for UN Women's ‘HeForShe’ campaign. She spoke about ending gender inequality and highlighting the role of men and boys to help end the persisting inequalities faced by women and girls globally. Feminism is about all genders having equal rights and opportunities and not just women advocating for women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.

Students then watched a video from one of the UK’s only boxing MC's (Master of Ceremonies). Affectionately called ‘The Queen of Queensbury’ she regularly acts as the MC at professional boxing fights, an industry traditionally dominated by men. Her main message was that there are no jobs that are just for men, and to listen and trust if someone tells you that you would be good at a certain job.

Using their course journals to record their thoughts, the students were encouraged to reflect on small changes and goals that they can set themselves to enable them to be successful.

A big thank you to Emma Davis from Small Steps Big Vision for facilitating the session and for giving our young people inspiration and confidence to think differently about their future career paths.