Empowering and inspiring: International Women’s Day Careers Event at Long Road Sixth Form College

The theme for International Women’s Day 2025 on Saturday 8 March was ‘Accelerate Action’, emphasizing the urgency of making faster, more effective strides toward gender equality. To help address these issues within our community at Long Road Sixth Form College, students, with my help, organised a careers event to support young women as they step into the workplace and encourage them to make positive, impactful action.

Inspiration came from a conference in November 2024, organised by women's empowerment organisation, Turtle Dove Cambridge, where I had the privilege of attending alongside nine students from Long Road Sixth Form College. Throughout the conference, students connected with local businesses and heard from inspirational women who had overcome a range of adversity and have now been highly successful in their fields. These experiences left students feeling highly motivated to create a similar exhibition-style event at Long Road, giving other students the chance to explore the wide range of opportunities available to women and girls in Cambridge.

On Tuesday 4 March, ours came alive with local businesses, charities, and organisations gathered at Long Road Sixth Form College to celebrate International Women’s Day. Among the participating organisations were Give & Tea, Cambridge Fire and Rescue Service, Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre, and many more. Each of the organisations in attendance are either female-led or places significant value on the contribution of female employees.

The event was a resounding success with over 350 recorded conversations taking place between students and the external organisations, showing high levels of engagement and enthusiasm. The free cake and goody bags, which vanished remarkably quickly, acted as an incentive for students to get involved! Students embraced the opportunity to network and explore career options. After meeting two female firefighters, one student excitedly said she felt “inspired” as that field of work is typically viewed as male-dominated, but seeing those women allowed her to wonder “if it is a potential career path in the future!”. Another student emphasised the skills they gained from the event and the advice they received from the inspirational women in the room. “It was useful to speak to new people and network with business, I learnt how to promote myself to employers as I aim to start applying for apprenticeship in the summer”.

It was not just students who showed admiration for the event. Megan Battell, a member of Long Road’s Student Services Team shared, “A big positive was the variety of business and career opportunities that were represented. This really impacted our students because they had the chance discuss career choices that they might not have considered previously". Similarly, local businesswoman Sara Slade echoed this, saying “it was a great morning! Amazing to see so many students and I loved chatting about the huge benefits of following your passions with a creative career path!”.

Overall, there was a massive appreciation for the efforts of the student organisers, the female organisations in attendance, and the widespread engagement of students. This International Women’s Day event aligned perfectly with College’s Week and its theme of building brighter futures as well as fitting in with government’s mission of breaking down barriers to opportunity. Be it starting their own business or joining the fire service, opportunities for women are endless, and last week showed that our colleges are the ideal places for female students to feel empowered, explore new career paths and find their way into workplaces without barriers.