Prof Jane Ohlmeyer Women in Leadership Masterclass

Jane has driven much change at Trinity in arts and humanities, not least the establishment of the Trinity Long Room Hub, where she enjoys encouraging early-stage researchers in the arts and humanities to share their knowledge. She noted that her work in the UK at a time of change and university restructuring had helped when she moved to Ireland and that culture was taking hold here.

She spoke about the importance of female leaders being visible, describing how Frances Ruane had created a crack in the glass ceiling when she ran for the Provost role in Trinity in 2001. Jane felt the need for a woman to run again in 2011, so she went forward for the role, widening the crack further. It was a difficult process, but despite the Provost role going to another candidate, taking part led to Jane learning more about herself and the Trinity community and it led to other roles and opportunities, which was a benefit.

Jane had some sage words of advice, including to fight and be fearless, not to wait around for people to say no but to forge ahead. She spoke of the importance of engaging with committees wisely, to work with committee members ahead of time to ensure that goals are achieved.  Finally Jane encouraged participants to own what they do, define their terms and bring positive energy to it. Then when the cream rises to the top, you can shape the agenda.

The speaker genuinely inspired me and I liked the sense of solidarity in the room, of common experiences (Anonymous)