Swansea Women: “Because they’re worth it”

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A new public exhibition entitled Swansea Women: “Because They’re Worth It” celebrating the lives and achievements of successful - and sometimes famous - female graduates, from the early days of Swansea University in the1920s to the present day, will be opened at Swansea University library.

Emily Dix Emily Dix (centre) undertaking research of the South Wales coalfields

 

 

 

 

 

 

The poster exhibition will mark International Women's Day on March 8th and will run until early April and is sponsored by the University’s Centre for Research into Gender in Culture and Society (GENCAS).

Amongst the diverse range of graduates featured in the exhibition are politicians Siân James and Sylvia Heal, Mary Williams who became the first female professor in Britain, writer and broadcaster Mavis Nicholson, Olympic swimming hopeful Jazmin Carlin, TV journalist Penny Roberts, and Emily Dix, who was a leading palaeontologist and who received an MSc in 1926 for her work on the stratification of the Gwendraeth valley coal-field.

The exhibition will include a major book display containing books written by or about Swansea women graduates during the course of the university's history.  This display will change throughout the exhibition to accommodate the large number of books and they will be available to browse or borrow.

Dr Liz Herbert McAvoy of the University’s College of Arts and Humanities said, “This exhibition was prompted by the frequent invisibility of successful Swansea women graduates, both on campus and beyond and the general lack of importance historically attributed to female academic and professional achievement. It is clear, however, that women have always played a major part in the development of the University, helping to shape its life, as well as influencing those changing cultures beyond its walls. It is therefore about time that their contributions were made visible to our current and future student body, especially to our young women, who may sometimes find a lack of female role models to which to aspire. The Swansea Women: “Because They’re Worth It”’ exhibition documents a range of successful women associated with the university, from the days of its inauguration in 1920 until the present. We hope you agree they’re worth it too!”

The official opening will take place at Swansea University Library at 6.30 pm on  International Women's Day  on March 8th and the exhibition will be open to the wider public from March 9th.

For more information, please contact Delyth Purchase, Swansea University Public Relations Office, Tel: 01792 295050, or email: d.purchase@swansea.ac.uk