SMU celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) 2024 with a slew of inspiring initiatives, that many women and allies in the SMU community were able to take part in and enjoy.
Among the initiatives was the Final Pitch event of the Women in Entrepreneurship Incubator (WiE), held in conjunction with IWD.
This event, which took place on 7 March 2024, marked the culmination of a transformative journey for aspiring female social entrepreneurs, all of whom brought their own unique solutions targeting current and pressing health, social and environmental challenges of society.
WiE was launched by SMU’s Lien Centre for Social Innovation (LCSI) in June 2023 in partnership with Standard Chartered Bank and has held the mission to nurture innovative entrepreneurship through mentoring, masterclasses, and seed funding over six months.
The Final Pitch showcased 18 entrepreneurs from the top 10 teams – 10 ventures which spanned a spectrum of industries, from sustainable building materials to healthcare and food waste.
In planning the event in conjunction with IWD, LCSI and Standard Chartered Bank underscored the two organisations’ commitment to fostering female leadership and innovation in the social entrepreneurial landscape.
Mr Steve Loh, Executive Director of SMU’s LCSI, remarked, "The Women in Entrepreneurship Incubator embodies SMU's commitment to creating value and impact for the community. By empowering women to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions and address pressing social and environmental challenges, we are fostering sustainable innovation and contributing to a more inclusive society."
Breaking barriers to take steps toward gender parity
Another of SMU’s initiatives was a pre-recorded webinar that was sent to SMU staff. In line with “Inspire Inclusion”, the global theme for IWD 2024, the webinar aimed to share how organisations, groups and individuals can actively participate, foster inclusion in communities, workplaces, homes and beyond.
Some of the topics covered during the webinar included barriers that women experience in the workplace; a discussion of the stereotypes, biases and challenges that hinder women’s professional growth; and strategies for promoting open dialogue about gender-related issues.
The webinar also dived into the importance of advocacy and allies in creating a supportive work environment, and the ways that employees can actively support and uplift their female colleagues.
SMU Women’s Connection organised “Inspire Inclusion” on 8 March 2024, which featured guest speakers from different fields and professions speaking about their experiences with societal expectations and gender stereotypes in the workplace.
Among the speakers were Ms Seema Chokshi, adjunct faculty, SMU School of Computing and Information Systems; Ms Florence Neo, director, SMU Office of Alumni Relations; and Ms Hannah Lim, Strategic Partnerships lead, Asia Pacific, at LexisNexis Singapore.
The SMU Office of Alumni Relations and SMU Libraries jointly organised a special panel discussion for IWD. Also held on 8 March 2024, the panel, titled “‘You’re good at this for a woman’: A panel on gender discrimination at the workplace”, was a crucial and thought-provoking panel discussion on assumptions in the workplace.
Dean of the Yong Pung How School of Law, Professor Lee Pey Woan delivered the opening remarks before kicking off the panel discussion. The panel was moderated by Dr Flocy Joseph, head of Commercial, SMU Executive Development and featured notable alumnae Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin (LLB 2013), member of Parliament; Dr Jaclyn Lee (MBA 2015), chief human resources officer at Certis; and Ms Sandra Lim, managing director of Verian.
During the session, the panel shared their thoughts and ideas on how gender discrimination can be tackled at the workplace and policy level and how such changes may affect future generations of women leaders in terms of achieving full gender parity.
Besides speaking out on their own experiences, the panel also shared some tangible actions that women can take for themselves, such as joining women’s associations for networking, getting a supportive mentor, and finding allies in their values, beliefs, and capabilities.
SMU Overseas Centre Jakarta also supported IWD 2024 with a panel discussion with invited guests participating in a lively round table discussion of the impact of women on modern Indonesian society. They were: Natasha Nababan, the founder of local law firm NABS & Partners in Jakarta; Dr. Rer. Pol. Christiana Yosevina, Lecturer at the Faculty of Prasetiya Mulya University who focuses on teaching marketing courses; Sirly W Nasir, Founder and CEO at SWN PR & Advisory; Wanda Hamidah, an actress, model, activist, politician, presenter, and notary; and Ni Nyoman Trianawati, a cultural conservationist, an artist from Bali, a dancer a choreographer and painter.
