• International Women’s Day happens every year on 8 March
• Companies and organisations are encouraged to light up landmarks in purple, to mark the day
• Aston University is also holding a series of events to promote the theme of UN International Women’s Day, Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress.

Aston University Library is lit up in purple to mark International Women’s Day on Friday 8 March 2024.

International Women’s Day takes place every year on 8 March to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness about discrimination and take action to drive gender parity.

The University Library will join landmarks around the world in lighting up in purple, including the London Eye.

Aston University has been holding a series of events for staff and students in the week leading up to International Women’s Day to promote the UN Women’s 2024 theme, ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate progress’. These include a poetry reading, a performance by the all-female staff choir, a book club, a women’s networking breakfast, a presentation and discussion led by the recipients of the British Council Fellowships for Women in STEM 2023 on their research projects and supporting women and girls into STEM careers, as well as a seminar with motivational and climate change speaker Eva Carroll.

Professor Hannah Bartlett has been Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion since 2019. As part of this role, she oversees Aston University’s work towards Advance HE’s Athena Swan scheme, which monitors an institution’s progress towards gender equality and provides a clear framework for this. The University holds a Silver award at an institutional level. In 2022, the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences became only the second engineering department in the UK to achieve Athena Swan Gold certification, and the College of Health and Life Sciences holds the Silver award. The School of Social Science and Humanities, Aston Business School and Aston Law School have Bronze Athena Swan awards.

Professor Bartlett said:

“Our staff and students have worked together to create an exciting programme of events for International Women’s Day. The UN Women’s 2024 theme ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate progress’ aligns with our Aston 2030 Strategy, in which we aim to be a leading university of science, technology and enterprise, measured by the positive transformational impact we achieve for our people, students, business and the communities we serve.”