The Rhodes Project featured in Wikipedia's entry on female mentorship

Have a look at the Wikipedia entry on female mentorship then visit our Profile Series or learn about our research.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_mentorship

Can we celebrate all who identify as women on international women's day?

Drawing on the work of AH Devor, the world's first endowed chair in trans studies,  Annie Leibovitz's portraits of women, and the ways that expressions of masculinity and femininity are regulated, Susan Rudy considers what it means to identify as a woman in the twenty-first century. 

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2016/03/can-we-celebrate-all-who-identify-women-international-women-s-day

What is the meaning of gender equality in the twenty-first century? Executive Director of the Rhodes Project shares her views with readers of The New Statesman

Drawing on evidence collected by the Rhodes Project and on research led by Kate Blackmon at the University of Oxford, Susan Rudy reflects on what Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign can tell us about the meaning of gender equality in the twenty-first century. 

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2016/02/what-does-hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-tell-us-about-gender

Good Lad Initiative seeks full-time chief executive officer

The Good Lad Initiative is a not-for-profit organisation based in Oxford. It promotes "positive masculinity" amongst men as a way of tackling complex gender situations. It does this, primarily, through running workshops, delivered by men for men. Utilising contemporary social intervention research, they speak to men as agents of positive change, rather than simply as potential perpetrators, and challenge them to change behaviours and attitudes within their own peer groups. This work is complemented by  ongoing consultation and engagement with women across the country

Founded in 2013, the Good Lad Initiative has grown exponentially, running over 70 workshops with approximately a 1000 participants in 2015, across 20 different school, university and civil society organisations. They have been featured in numerous media pieces  including Sky News, The Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian, BBC television, BBC Radio and Die Zeit. They are asked to speak and consult with a number of high profile public policy fora.

The Board of Directors is looking for a CEO, of any gender, with the energy, ambition, vision and leadership to scale GLI into a high profile national organisation, ready to expand internationally. Remuneration is expected to be between £26,000-30,000 per annum for the first year, to be revised as the organisation grows.

Check out http://www.goodladworkshop.com for information. For position descriptions click here. 

2015 Highlights from the Rhodes Project

In 2015, staff at the Rhodes Project contributed to all aspects of our mission. We are proud to report on three highlights.

First portrait of a woman Rhodes Scholar commissioned for Rhodes House
This December, the Rhodes Project witnessed the unveiling of the first portrait of a woman Rhodes Scholar to hang in Milner Hall at Rhodes House in Oxford. Commissioned by the Rhodes Project in collaboration with the Rhodes Trust, the portrait of Lucy Banda Sichone was created by Rhodes Scholar Deirdre Saunder.

Left to right: Ann Olivarius (Chair of the Rhodes Project and a donor to the portrait project); Kabeleka Kabeleka and Karen Mumba (Members of the Black Rhodes Scholars Association); Susan Rudy (Executive Director of the Rhodes Project); Deirdre Saunder (a Rhodes Scholar and the artist who created the portrait); and Tony Abrahams (a Rhodes Scholar and donor to the portrait project).

Research paper completed on how LGBT individuals negotiate work-life balance
Also in December, Oxford researchers Kate Blackmon and Susan Rudy completed a paper entitled “Dual-career, dual-carer couples: Learning from how LGBT individuals negotiate work-life balance” based on evidence collected by the Rhodes Project. The paper is under consideration for publication in the Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences.

Director of the Rhodes Project on winning team at Oxford Union Debate
In November, the Executive Director of the Rhodes Project, Susan Rudy participated in a debate at the infamous Oxford Union. She and her team successfully argued that feminism does not need to be rebranded during a debate that was one of the highlights of the Said Business School’s annual Power Shift conference, focussed this year on women and markets.

Since 2004, the Rhodes Project has been housed by and made possible through the support of McAllister Olivarius.  A registered charity in England and Wales, the mission of the Rhodes Project is to:
advance the education of the public in general on the subject of female achievement and/or the obstacles thereto and to promote research in all aspects of these subjects and to publish useful result;
promote gender equality for the public benefit by advancing education and raising awareness of gender issues. 

Women matter, Black women matter, they belong in this community: the commissioning of a portrait for Rhodes House

Lucy banda Sichone.  Photo CREDIT:  Martha Sichone

By Kelsey Murrell (Kansas & St Cross, 2012), Deputy Director, The Rhodes Project

Just over a week ago, the 2016 American Rhodes Scholars were selected.  Every year, as finalists prepare for their interviews, I reflect on the weekend that changed my life irrevocably four years ago.  I remember that I had brought a book with me to the interviews that weekend, a book that for me represented the power of literature to create empathy and to move others to action, a book in which my mentor had hidden a note for me to find at the interview.  I remember discovering the talent and goodness in another finalist and thinking, ‘I don’t even care if I win as long as this person does’.  That person was Kate Niehaus (South Carolina & Trinity, 2012).  I remember that when they announced who had won, I didn’t hear my name even though they said it first.  They called Kate’s name second.  She was standing next to me.  I turned to hug her and said “Congratulations.”  It wasn’t until, still embracing each other, she said, “You too!” that I realized I had also won.

Since that weekend four years ago, the weekend I didn’t hear my name called because it was just too implausible to me that I had been selected to join this group of people, the Rhodes Scholarship has become a part of who I am, a part of my identity.  Not everyone feels a strong connection to the Rhodes Community.  For some, not belonging may be a choice, but for others it is because they have been shut out.  Some of us occupy an in-between space in which the Rhodes is an important part of our identity but we are told over and over again that we are not truly a part of it.  Perhaps they have not been overtly told, “they do not belong.”  But there are signs, symbols, subtleties. 

One need only consider the recent vandalism of the portraits of black professors at Harvard Law School or the Rhodes Must Fall campaign in Oxford (and globally) to know that symbols matter.  Portraits and statues are not just decoration or history, they are symbols of what a community values and stands for. 

This is why it has meant a great deal to me to be involved in the Rhodes Project and the Rhodes Trust’s commission of the first portrait of a woman Rhodes Scholar to hang Milner Hall in Rhodes House.  During my time as a scholar in residence, I often found myself in Milner Hall. It is where I was officially welcomed to Oxford by the Rhodes Trust.  It is where I had my “Coming Up” dinner and where I attended my first ball.  It is where I attended many lectures, had Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners when I wasn’t able to fly home, and where I socialized and built community.  Looking around Milner hall, I saw Bill Clinton, Alfred Milner, Nelson Mandela,and Wilder Penfield, among others, looking back at me.  I saw only (mostly white) men.  The view will change on December 11th, 2015 when the Rhodes Project and the Rhodes Trust unveil a portrait of Lucy Banda Sichone (Zambia & Somerville, 1978), the first female Zambian Rhodes Scholar, a lawyer, activist, and journalist.  The artist is a Rhodes Scholar in Lucy’s class, Deirdre Saunder (Rhodesia & Somerville, 1978).  Three Rhodes Scholars have come together to support its commission:  Dr. Ann Olivarius (Connecticut & Somerville 1978), Charles Conn (Massachusetts & Balliol 1983), and Tony Abrahams (Australia-at-large & Balliol 1998).

It was less than 40 years ago that women were first elected as Rhodes Scholars.  We know from data collected by the Rhodes Project that the first generation of women Scholars are still not equal.  Sadly, we know from discussion groups and profile interviews we have conducted with recent scholars that women at Oxford still face many of the same barriers women struggled with 40 years ago, from being talked over, not called on, left out of meetings or important social events, harassed by fellow students or supervisors, to experiencing physical violence and rape.  In the face of structural inequalities, violence against women globally, and even the kind of hatred and injustice that leads to violence like the recent attacks in Paris, perhaps it seems insignificant to hang a new portrait. 

It is just a small change in one building in one city.  But symbols are powerful.  Portraits symbolize what we value and celebrate.  What untold effect could this portrait have on future generations of scholars and the work they go on to do in the world?  My hope is that it sends a message to all who step into Rhodes House that women matter, Black women matter,they belong in this community.  I hope it says that the kind of advocacy and social justice work that Lucy Banda Sichone devoted her life to matters and that we do not merely celebrate wealth or fame.

Janet Hoskins, an anthropologist, writes about the dialectical relationship between people and objects.  She states that objects, such as works of art, can be said to have “instrumentality” because they can stimulate an emotional response and are invested with the intentionality of the object’s creator.  Every time I return to Rhodes House throughout my life for conferences, alumni events and reunions, I will look up at the portrait of Lucy Banda Sichone.I will think of all that she stood for and all that this portrait symbolizes and I will carry that with me. 

“Who do they think I am?” The Rhodes Project speaks with leading female surgeon Jyoti Shah about women’s resilience

On BBC Radio’s Today program earlier this fall, Dr Jyoti Shah spoke about the “hostile environment for women” in operating theatres. She also called for cultural change in the industry.  In the interview below, Rhodes Project Executive Director, Dr Susan Rudy, speaks with Dr Shah about women’s resilience in the face of hostile personal and professional environments. 

Jyoti Shah (right) and Susan Rudy (left) at Friends House, London, 6 November 2015. Photo Credit:  Paresh Solanki

Susan Rudy:   On BBC Radio’s Today program earlier this fall, you spoke about the “hostile environment for women” in operating theatres and called for cultural change in the industry. Could you tell us more about what you have experienced and the effects on women of sexist treatment?

Jyoti Shah:  When I first started out 15 years ago, only 6% of consultant surgeons were female. It is still only about 8.6% for my own specialty.  Overall, the figures at consultant level for surgeons are now 10.5 % and although an improvement, that is still not acceptable. At medical school, over 50 % of those entering the profession are female.  The surgical profession is still dominated by male stereotypes. For example, I can operate on a patient, see them every day after, and be the one who tells them when they can go home. But the patient will still say “So when’s the doctor coming to see me?” and “What did they do?” This is because they expect the surgeon to be male. It’s these preconceived notions that we still need to break down.

Susan Rudy:  Who do they think you are?

Jyoti Shah: That is an interesting question.  Who do they think I am?  The British Medical Association ran an online forum called Shit People Say to Women Doctors to which I contributed a piece. Through my reflections for that article, I realised that there has been no study in this country of how prevalent sexism is amongst women doctors. As a result, a colleague and I put together a questionnaire, which we sent out to members of the Medical Women’s Federation. I think the results will be interesting and just reading the comments are fascinating.  Because of that blog, the BBC’s Today program wanted to interview me about gender discrimination facing female surgeons. 

Susan Rudy:  Can you tell us a bit more about your background?  When were you born?  What did your parents do?

Jyoti Shah:  I was born in 1971 and am the oldest child in a traditional Indian family. I have a younger sister and brother. My father was a bus conductor in London in the open bus days and my mother was pretty much a housewife.  Once we all went to school she started working part time at a supermarket. I come from a working class family and I went to a comprehensive school.  From age eight, I wanted to be a doctor. No one in my family had ever been a doctor. 

Susan Rudy:  Tell me more about your family and its effect on you. 

Jyoti Shah:   My family and the community discouraged me from being a doctor because of the long training and long hours, which were not compatible with the expected role of an Indian woman at the time. When would I get married and have babies?  If I did not get married and do the expected thing, what would happen to my younger siblings? That was the traditional view and that was my first hurdle. I was even more determined to fulfil my dream when the community discouraged me from following a medical career.

Susan Rudy:  Do you remember feeling discouraged?

Jyoti Shah:  Yes, absolutely.  My school told me, “nobody has ever gone to medical school from here, Jyoti, so forget it.” I still remember thinking, however, that if I didn’t try I would never know whether I would succeed.  

Susan Rudy:  Did anyone help you?

Jyoti Shah:  Not in those days because there was no one to help me. My school discouraged me and my family did not know how universities worked in Britain. My parents had come to England from India in the early 1960s. But I still said, “dad, I want to be a doctor.” 

Susan Rudy:  And you went to medical school in London?

Jyoti Shah:  Yes. I did succeed in getting a place at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School at a time when educational grants were available. I only moved out of London eight years ago when my circumstances changed.

Susan Rudy:  How did you survive your student life?

Jyoti Shah:  I got a job! 

Susan Rudy:  What did you do?

Jyoti Shah:  I worked at the medical school library for £5 an hour. I put books back on the shelves from 5:00 until 8:00 pm, Monday to Friday, and from 9:00 am until 12:00 pm every Saturday.  In the pre-clinical years, I worked during the summer breaks. In my first year, I got a job as an usher in a cinema at Leicester Square and within a year was promoted to popcorn lady. My rent was £25 a week and my earning was enough to get me through. During my last three years at medical school, I was a warden in the halls of residence, which meant I could live rent-free. I actually came out of medical school with some money in the bank! That is how I got through medical school.

Susan Rudy:  Could you tell me a bit more about the cultural issues you faced?

Jyoti Shah:  Yes. I was born and brought up in this country and lived a western life but ultimately my roots are traditionally Indian and it was expected that I would be married and I did get married while I was still at medical school.

Susan Rudy:  How old were you when you married?

Jyoti Shah:  Goodness. I was 22 or 23 and I married someone who ‘fit the bill’ so to say. 

Susan Rudy:  Is this the man I met earlier today, who took our photograph? 

Jyoti Shah:  No, that was my second husband. Unfortunately, my first husband was physically violent. It was a physically and mentally torturous relationship. 

Susan Rudy:  That is dreadful.  Obviously, your parents would not have wanted that for you either.

Jyoti Shah:  No. But they did not know what he was like.  He seemed to be a handsome and successful lawyer with the gift of the gab. In those days (mid-1990s), people would say “Jyoti, what did you do for him to beat you?” I did get divorced but that was quite difficult for everybody. Culturally it was a very stressful and difficult time for me and my family who supported me throughout.

Susan Rudy:  Did you have children?

Jyoti Shah:  No. I was only married for only a year but it was still seen as a shame on the family and community. It took my self -confidence to the lowest point ever. The violence emerged very quickly in our marriage – a regular cycle that occurred every few days. I remember one episode where he had thrown a plate of food on the floor and of course I got a bit upset and I said, “you’ve made a mess on the floor; why did you do that?”  He threw me on the floor and grabbed my hair – I had much longer hair than I do now – and shouted, “You want to eat?  Eat it.” He tried to force me to eat off the floor.

Susan Rudy:  I am so sorry.

Jyoti Shah:  Women go through this even now, don’t they?  For me that was a particularly low point. 

Susan Rudy:  Did you charge him?

Jyoti Shah:  Yes. I phoned the police. In those days, domestic violence was not taken seriously. I remember that one time the police came and he managed to talk himself out of it so I was made to look the fool. It was not until I was hospitalised for three days that I finally had the courage to say that I was not going back to him. The Domestic Violence Unit came to see me in the hospital and insisted that I needed to get an injunction against him. My parents didn’t have a clue because they didn’t know what was going on, so it was a whirlwind for everyone.  It was so alien to everybody.  Where do you go? What do you do? I take the view that God gives you strength when you need it and that’s true resilience.  I think as women, we naturally just fight back when we are cornered. He was arrested but all he received was a fine and a criminal record for “common assault.” He tried to appeal because he was a lawyer.  Luckily, he didn’t win. Still he ignored the injunction.  He would be outside my window and say “Come out you bitch or I’ll set your house on fire.” Injunctions are just a piece of paper to such people. But it didn’t kill me and I survived. I managed to get through medical school and pass my exams.  It was a long time ago but I suppose the scars are always there.

Susan Rudy:  You have an extraordinary amount of resilience to have carried on in the way that you did.  Was this experience connected to the reasons why you became a surgeon?

Jyoti Shah:  Throughout medical school, you are exposed to lots of different specialties and through that exposure I realised that I didn’t just want to be a doctor.  I wanted to be a surgeon because I liked the discipline of making a difference. 

Susan Rudy:  How do surgeons make a difference?

Jyoti Shah:  All specialties make a difference in the sense that they make people better, but for me there is a quick and more tangible result. When someone comes in poorly and I operate on them, they are better. Here is a simple example.  A man comes in to the hospital who cannot pass urine and is in agony.  No amount of morphine is going to make them better until you put a catheter in and then they are better.  I then operate on them, and they no longer need the catheter. They are now peeing like a 20 year old even if they are 80!  These are the people who send me hand-written letters to say “Dear Ms Shah, thank you so much.” “You’ve given me back my joie de vive”. Every year I get around 70 hand written cards and letters from my patients, which is quite unusual and that’s what keeps me going.  I love it. 

For me, being a female surgeon is a definite strength.  When my male patients are sitting in front of me and they’re desperate to cry, I can put my hand out and I can give them a hug and this is something that my male colleagues can’t do that. So that’s, I suppose, how I became a urological surgeon and I love it. 

Susan Rudy:  Did you feel that, given the difficult experience you have had in your personal life, you have been wary of situations in which men might be badly behaved?

Jyoti Shah:   Yes. I spent a long time on my own after my marriage because I was extremely wary of men. Many of my patients are male because of their prostate problems. But yes, I have been wary of men. It has taken me a very long time. I only remarried eight years ago

Susan Rudy:  Tell me more about your husband.

Jyoti Shah:  He has an unusual background.  He earned a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Masters in criminology from Cambridge. Then he did postgraduate studies in broadcast journalism, as he wanted to use media as a life-enhancing tool for social development. He was a senior executive at the BBC and, more recently, a media specialist working for public organisations such as the Council of Europe and government-led projects.

Susan Rudy:  Where did you meet?

Jyoti Shah:  Through a mutual friend who said, “you can’t spend the rest of your life alone.”  By then I was already in my mid-30s.

Susan Rudy:  Do you have children? 

Jyoti Shah:  No. By the time Paresh and I met it was too late, I guess.

Susan Rudy:  Is he older than you?

Jyoti Shah:  He is a little bit older. I was in my late 30s and by the time we married and settled, it just didn’t happen and that was the price I paid for meeting him late in my life.

Susan Rudy:  Does it feel like that to you?

Jyoti Shah:  Yes. I would have loved to have children. But we don’t get everything we want in life. You’ve got to move on and say “that wasn’t meant to be. I am grateful for what I have. I’ve got to do other things.”  I have a wonderful nephew and niece who come and spend time with me.

Susan Rudy:   Can you tell me a bit more about your workplace context now?

Jyoti Shah:  I work in a district general hospital now. I also examine, teach, and have several editorial roles.  That has made a huge difference in my life. When I teach and when people are hungry to learn, both the trainees and teacher get inspired. That is what helps to create the next generation of high quality doctors.

Susan Rudy:  How do you manage all of these responsibilities?

Jyoti Shah:  Well, they are all different roles and I will just keep going as long as I am interested and I can make a difference. I have taken a pay cut to do more voluntary roles for the wider public good. As a principal, I do not do private practice because I do not want money to influence how I look after my patients; it is what I want to do. I just want to give back something for the greater good.

Susan Rudy:  Your work sounds extraordinarily important to you.

Jyoti Shah:   Yes. I take it very seriously because it involves people’s lives. My mum, my dad, your mum, your dad, someone we love. I have always said, I will do for you what I would do if you were my mother or father sitting in front of me - what would I want for them?

Susan Rudy:  How many hours a week do you think you work?

Jyoti Shah:  I have no idea but my day usually starts at about 6:00 am.  I do some of my daily chores early in the morning. For example, this morning I hoovered my house because my cleaner phoned in sick. Paresh thought I was completely insane but it had to be done,

At least five times a week in the morning I go to the gym as staying physically fit helps with my mental fitness. That’s my time.  I get home after 7.30 pm or most likely later followed by a quick supper and more work or chores. It is always a long day.

Susan Rudy:  And is your husband’s life as busy?

Jyoti Shah:  He is busy too, partly because he travels a lot and, working in the media, there are no set times. 

Susan Rudy:  Do you have women friends? 

Jyoti Shah:  Yes, that’s been quite key for me. My core group of friends are my school friends from when I was nine years old. We are like sisters. There are three of us and I gravitate toward them when there is really a problem. They are my trusted inner circle. At work there’s a core group of us who meet each other regularly for support. When in need, we call on each other anytime.  Supportive friends are, I think, essential for any woman in any walk of life. It stops the isolation. But the biggest and the most powerful support for me is Paresh at home. He is absolutely my rock.

Susan Rudy:  Can we speak a bit more about your appearance on the BBC Today program?  I was so moved by what you said and your unequivocal call for change. 

Jyoti Shah:  Yes, it needs to happen.

Susan Rudy:  In your view, what needs to happen? 

Jyoti Shah: There are gender disparities in many, many vocations. It is not just surgery.  But as a surgeon, I want to know why in 2015 we still have only 1 in 10 women at consultant level.  The problem I think is that, as women, we doubt ourselves, don’t we? I think that certain behaviour denigrates women and devalues us - particularly in the professional workplace. We end up losing our self-confidence and self-belief.

Susan Rudy:  Is your speaking out a form of resistance to treatment that denigrates you? 

Jyoti Shah:  I think women have to speak out. Otherwise, how is this situation going to change?  If we do not challenge it, we allow it, and it becomes normal and then it becomes ingrained in behaviour.  If you do something and get away with it, you will continue to do it. Opening up the discussion as we have done this year is a big step and I am now in a position where I can speak out. For instance, I have recently been asked to speak at an emerging leaders program for women at the Royal College of Surgeons.

Susan Rudy:  Did your decision to stand up to your abusive first husband have an effect on your decision to speak out now? 

Jyoti Shah:  I got divorced in 1995.  I did not speak up about my domestic violence background publicly.   Only my close friends knew about it. I am now able to say to people that domestic violence transcends boundaries.  It transcends vocations, professions, social classes.  It can happen to anyone.  What is important is to say that although it can happen to anyone, you can survive it. I did. If one woman is able to walk out of a violent relationship by hearing my story, I will have made a difference.

If someone wants to be a surgeon, and their mum, dad, community, school or anyone says “don’t be silly, you can’t be a surgeon,” I say, “oh yes you can.  Come and knock on my door, I’ll show you how.”  

Dr Jyoti Shah is a Consultant Urological Surgeon in the West Midlands. After graduating from Charing Cross & Westminster Medical School, she completed her postgraduate urological training in London before taking up a permanent consultant post in 2008 at Burton Hospital.  Dr Shah is also an academic and has published dozens of articles, book chapters and books.  She is Editor-in-Chief of Medical Woman, Commissioning Editor of the Annals & Bulletin of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, a reviewer for 13 International journals, an examiner, a Royal College assessor for urology consultant interviews, a mentor and a teacher. Recent honours include the Chairman’s Award at the 2015 Asian Women of Achievement Awards.

Invitation to Rhodes Scholars from Australia, Canada and New Zealand elected 1977-1994: Contribute to the Rhodes Project's database

From the Register for Rhodes Scholars 1903-1995, compiled and published by Rhodes House, 1996.

To establish a broad picture of the achievements of Rhodes Scholars over time, researchers at the Rhodes Project are preparing a unique, hand-collected database of information about male and female Rhodes Scholars elected between 1977 (when women first became eligible for the scholarship) and 1994. 

Our first and most significant resource for the database was Ralph Evans’ Register of Rhodes Scholars 1903-1995 (Oxford: Rhodes House, 1996). For Rhodes Scholars elected 1977-1994, we collected from this source the following information:

·       identity data (name, date of birth, Rhodes region, election year),

·       educational data (high school, university before Oxford, Oxford College and degrees, degrees after Oxford to 1995)

·       early career data (positions held to 1995)

·       early life data (the names of parents and their professions and occasionally the names of spouses to 1995).

Our second step was to track Scholars’ lives since 1995 and we did this by capturing post-graduate education, mid-career and mid-life data from the summer issues of The American Oxonian, which are organised as "occupations and addresses" special issues and list current profession and occasionally the names and professions of spouses.

Our third step was to capture additional data about Rhodes Scholars' personal and professional lives after Oxford from the class letters sections of The American Oxonian 1978 to the present.  Here we found information about spouses, the dates of birth of children, geographical moves and career trajectories. 

Unfortunately, only the data from the Register of Rhodes Scholars 1903-1995 represents the full geographical diversity of Rhodes Scholars’ histories and current lives. 

To fill this gap, we are beginning by collecting information about the lives and careers of Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian Rhodes Scholars after they left Oxford.

We therefore invite male and female Rhodes Scholars from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand to contribute to our database of information by filling out our survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TheRhodesProject.

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