The Herschel Programme for Women in Technical Leadership
Congratulations to all technicians completing the Herschel Programme for Women in Technical Leadership!
The 2022 Herschel delegates
The Herschel Programme for Women in Technical Leadership launched six months ago, and the first cohort of more than 170 delegates has successfully completed the programme, including Sarah Hunt (School of Geography), Helena Brown (School of Earth and Environment) and Amelia Lesiuk (Faculty of Biological Sciences) from the University of Leeds. This is a national programme designed to elevate and advance opportunities for women who are current or aspiring leaders in technical roles.
The programme is named after Caroline Herschel, a pioneer in the discovery of comets and other astronomy work, who assisted her brother William in his scientific work. Caroline was an early ‘technician’ at the turn of the 19th century and paved the way for women of the future to contribute to and play key roles in scientific endeavours.
The Herschel programme was funded by TALENT; a project which leads and influences change to advance the status of and opportunity for technical skills development, roles and careers in UK Higher Education and research. It is led by the Midlands Innovation consortium of eight universities, in collaboration with key stakeholder and industry partners. It is the largest ever investment into the development of technicians in Higher Education, whose specialist skills often go unrecognised despite the crucial role they play in the success of universities and the growth of the UK economy.