Engagement

Springboard Women’s Development Programme 

The Springboard programme is focused on personal development, encouraging women to reflect on all aspects of their life, not just their career but also personal goals. The Springboard programme recognises that women are significantly underrepresented in Higher Education leadership and that women benefit from discussing some issues in single gender groups, as women and men approach personal development in different ways. Hosted on the Queen Mary estate or online, the programme is run by an external consultant certified in counselling, coaching and mentoring. As with Aurora, participants are paired with a ‘coaching partner’ for the duration of the programme.

Accelerate Women’s Development Programme 

Part of Queen Mary’s Aspire career development programme, Accelerate is a personal development programme focused on our undergraduate and postgraduate female students from all faculties and schools. It is designed specifically to address issues faced by women during the university experience, such as studying, imposter syndrome and confidence.  

International Women’s Day  

Each year, queen Mary marks International Women’s Day with a programme of events, spotlighting women’s achievement and galvanising allyship across the university. Through panels, talks and resources—from the Faculty of Science & Engineering to university-wide activities—the university builds inclusive networks that amplify women’s voices in research and leadership. 

WiFE 

Women in Finance and Economics, or WiFE, is an extracurricular professional development society committed to fostering an inclusive environment on Queen Mary’s campus that empowers women to excel in the fields of finance and economics, where women are typically under-represented. The society offers exclusive internships, networking events and providing mentors from experienced professionals in the industry and Queen Mary alumni.  

WiSE 

Women in Science and Engineering, or WiSE, was originally established as an informal student group for discussion of women's participation in STEM industries and academia. Now, it had developed into an professional development society similar to WiFE, establishing links with women working in STEM that can act as role models for society members and supporting and encouraging female students and early career researchers at Queen Mary.   

SEAL Programme

The SEAL Programme at Queen Mary provides our female staff with a structured, action-learning based environment where they can meet cohorts across higher education institutions to discuss career and leadership challenges. Each group is designed to include a balance of academic and professional services staff, enabling cross-sector collaboration. The programme helps participants develop leadership capacity, identify solutions to real-work issues and build their confidence.  

The Hershel Programme 

The Herschel Programme is a national development initiative for technical staff, designed to address the under-representation of women in technical leadership roles in higher education and research. Designed as modules, peer-learning sets and leadership workshops, participants can build their confidence, network and develop the skills, influence and visibility required to progress their careers into technical management functions. The Queen Mary TechNET team helps prospective applicants with their applications, supporting technical professionals to play a fuller role as leaders in their institutions, advancing gender equity in technical leadership.  

Girls in Maths 

Queen Mary’s Girls in Maths taster event in 2024 reflects our efforts to engage young women and girls who are interested in studying in maths and encouraging them to pursue this journey into underrepresented subjects at higher education with Queen Mary. The taster day involved an on campus event and campus tour, lectures and a PhD student-led session about the transition into university.  

In addition, Queen Mary recently offered a Girls in Maths Bursary which funded 3 students from 2023/24 to 2025/26. By completion, they will have received £5,050 in support over the course of their degree. This was a one-time award cycle, and the students are all progressing well and expected to graduate. 

Girls into Tech

Queen Mary’s Girls into Tech event in 2025 was a summer on-campus event aimed at Sixth Form/College female students interested in studying STEM subjects at university. The event entails an introduction to studying and working in tech, interactive sessions with tech professionals and QM alumni and tours with current Queen Mary students and faculty.  

Women Who SOAR Competition

Women Who Soar is a prize competition allowing female school pupils to find out more about Aerospace Engineering, interact with other girls interested in the subject, and engage with undergraduate students, academics and engineers in industry.  

The Link-up – Free conference for Women and Girls in STEM

Organised by an Engineering student at QMUL, The Link Up was a free virtual conference for women and girls held in 2024. It featured panels on AI, aerospace, leadership in STEM and interactive networking with industry professionals. By connecting early-stage female students with role models, real-world STEM careers and supportive networks, the event encouraged applications into subjects where women are under-represented. 

Levelling Up – Maths for Engineering 

Levelling Up – Maths for Engineering is an initiative targeting Year 12 girls studying A-Level Mathematics who intend to pursue engineering-related degrees. The programme delivers practical tutorials led by female engineering undergraduates, showing how maths underpins engineering concepts like structural design and wind-energy systems. By boosting both attainment and aspiration, it helps bridge the gender gap in engineering and related STEM fields. 

Queen Mary Bar Society 

Queen Mary Bar is a student-run society working to increase diversity at the Bar by offering women and under-represented students networking, mentoring, and work-shadowing opportunities in legal professions. 

Aurora Women’s Leadership Development Programme 

Queen Mary participates in the Aurora programme, which is a unique partnership bringing together leadership experts and higher education institutions to equip women with the knowledge and skills to influence institutional direction and cultivate essential leadership capabilities.  

The programme entails a series of webinars, ‘development days’ and ‘action learning sets’ as well as networking with Queen Mary staff who have already participated. Most importantly, Aurora participants are required to have a mentor, from their institution, to support them throughout the programme experience. Queen Mary has many senior staff who have proudly participated in the Aurora programme and offer their services as mentors. Some can be found listed on our Mentor Profiles page. 

qMentoring 

The qMentoring programme has supported hundreds of students in receiving a mentor, with mentors from a wide range of employers including Deloitte, the Civil Service and NASA. In 2019 we launched a new strand of qMentoring, prioritising female Muslim students following analysis of graduate destination data which revealed that this student cohort underperforms in the job market six months after graduation.