Women’s Clubs at UOA
In celebration of International Women’s Day last Friday the 8th, we’ve put together a handy guide to some of the feminist-friendly clubs on campus. Fight the powers that be and make some like-minded friends by attending one of the events listed below.
Campus Feminist Collective
The Campus Feminist Collective is an intersectional group of feminists that provide a platform for which to take a stand on issues involving gender. We work to raise awareness of feminism through educational programmes, and to help eliminate sexism on campus.
Past events have included poetry evenings, talks with experts on thorny feminist issues, and fundraisers for feminist causes. In 2019, CFC is looking at becoming more visible across the University and becoming a vocal advocate for feminist causes around New Zealand.
It’s a great group of diverse people, each with their own passions and interests. As part of CFC, you get to make new friends, challenge your views, learn about new concepts, and make a difference across campus.
Contact: To join, email feministsuoa@gmail.com with your name, student ID number and email address, and make sure to keep up to date with our Facebook page for cool events.
Thursdays in Black (TIB)
“On Thursdays we wear black.”
Thursdays in Black is a student-led group that wears black on Thursdays to stand in solidarity with survivors of violence. Our organisation exists in the hope for a future without rape and sexual violence. With like-minded peers, we provide a safe space for discussion, debate and activism to work towards a violence-free world. Every second Thursday, we hold a stall in the Quad to raise awareness with baking and badges (let us know if you’d like to get involved!). We also run social and activist events throughout the year – from creative craft afternoons to political panels, to quizzes and movie nights.
We are incredibly keen for some new members on the executive this year! It doesn’t matter if you don’t have any club experience – we just need people with enthusiasm and passion. Sign-up is free and all of our events are koha which is passed on to Shakti and Women’s Refuge. Wear black, come to our events, and help us make sure the #MeToo movement creates change!
Email: thursdaysinblackuoa@gmail.com
Women in Law
In 2016, Professor Julia Tolmie and Dr Anna Hood published The Gender Report on gender relations at the University of Auckland Law School. The Gender Report highlighted the need for a women’s group at the Law School. In 2017, a group of female students formed the University of Auckland Women in Law group to support women studying law and advocate for gender equality within the law school, and the wider profession.
In 2018, Women in Law was granted the “New Club of the Year” Award by Auckland University as a testament to our growth and success. We have held 17 events since 2017, ranging from annual social occasions to advocacy workshops. We are planning to kick off 2019 with our inaugural Girls’ Night In and the launch of our mentoring programme on the 13th of March. Female-identifying law students from all year groups are welcome; please find us and our events on Facebook (both our page and group are named ‘Women in Law’).
Contact: 9 Eden Crescent | 027 7462 400 | www.facebook.com/uoawomeninlaw/
Women in Engineering
The Women in Engineering Network (WEN) is a network that builds connections between women in engineering of all levels. The network fosters relationships between female students and professional engineers. We coordinate social events, professional development opportunities, mentoring programmes, and academic support. We also have our Instagram page called wen_uoa. We advertise all our events through our social media pages. All female students who enrol in engineering at UOA are also automatically enrolled in WEN, who hold a female students orientation prior to the UOA first year engineering orientation as well.
Upcoming events: Our first event of the year is sponsor night (already advertised on the WEN page) – an opportunity for students to meet our sponsor companies of the year and network with them. We also have our mentoring programme that’s kicking off soon: one with professional engineers already in the industry, and one pairing Part II students with Part III-IV students in their specialisation.
Sponsor Night is filled with food, drinks, dessert and networking. Students can chat with representatives from the companies that sponsor WEN and provide the funding for all our great events throughout the year. Learn about each company from their short ‘elevator pitch’ presentations, and from browsing their display booths.
Some of WEN’s sponsor companies have just opened up graduate job applications (including AECOM, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, and Tonkin & Taylor), so get a head start on internships and graduate job hunting, or network to build up relationships for the future.
WEN warmly invites all engineering students who self-identify as women to attend.
University of Auckland’s Women in Business
The Women’s Mentoring Programme at the Business School matches female business students with women working in business. Women make up almost half of the Business School’s student population, and regularly top their classes. Despite this, women continue to be the minority in senior and executive positions, and on boards and committees. As a result, the perspectives of women are under-represented in public policy and decision-making processes.
The programme is open to female undergraduate business or business conjoint (BCom/BProp conjoint) students who will have completed at least one year of business programmes and will be going into at least second-year by March 2020.
The WMP is designed for students who need assistance with their career path and want to improve skills and broaden their networks. Be prepared to attend an event each month, usually held after 6pm.
Unfortunately, applications for 2019 mentees have already closed. Applications will open in December for the 2020 programme.