Hi, everyone! I enjoyed connecting with those that could make it today. Below is a quick recap of our session, plus a couple of resources: 1) The slides are attached. 2) Here is a link to a version of the Gender Bias Assessment that you can use with institutions, for those of you interested in assessing/improving your institutions. Those that attended should have also received an email of the recording from Fathom. I wanted to check before adding here the recording for Vera if everyone is ok with that? PowHer Circle Cohort 1 Session 1 - March 12 Meeting Purpose Kick off the PowHer Circle pilot program and establish group dynamics. Key Takeaways - Shared Motivation: Participants are driven by personal experiences with gender inequality (e.g., domestic violence, mental load) to learn, collaborate, and advocate for systemic change. - Bias Exploration: A "vote with your feet" exercise revealed how internalized biases persist despite rational disagreement, often reinforced by societal pressure and past negative experiences. - Systemic Barriers: Academia was identified as a key example of institutional patriarchy, where female researchers self-censor or align with male-dominated biomedical models to protect their careers, hindering progress. - Scheduling Challenge: Daylight saving changes create a major scheduling conflict, requiring a new time poll for the next meeting. Topics Participant Introductions & Motivations - Myra Betron (Facilitator): 25 years in international development; goal is to move gender research beyond academic paywalls into public dialogue to counter pushback. - Natalie (Germany): Runs a business counseling women on care work and mental load; believes the gender care gap is the root cause of other inequalities. - Kata Tóth (Hungary): IT management; survivor of domestic abuse; transitioning to full-time coaching for women in leadership to be a more effective advocate. - Kate Swoffer (Australia): PhD on dementia and disability rights; aims to shift the field from a biomedical to a disability model, challenging male-dominated systems that label women as the problem. - Karen Gosbee (Canada): Survivor of 23-year intimate partner violence; seeks to understand and proactively change systemic inequality in areas like healthcare and mental health.

Welcome again to the PowHer Circle! I’m really excited to start these conversations with you. We have a an amazing, small but mighty group of women that form the group from the US, Germany and Australia! This also means we have to choose our meeting times carefully. Before we kick things off, I’d love to get your input on scheduling so we choose something that works well for the group. My initial thought was to start on Thursday or Friday of this week and meet every other week, but I’m happy to adjust depending on what works best for everyone. Please reply or drop a comment letting me know: 1) if you prefer weekly, or every 2 weeks 2) if Thursday or Friday works best for you I have also posted a poll below with possible meeting times. Please choose one.