Staff and students at the University of Cumbria have been taking part in a series of events to mark International Women’s Day 2021.

The global day – held on 8 March each year - celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and is also a day to raise awareness about women’s equality.

Dr Erica Lewis, senior lecturer in Leadership and Entrepreneurship at the university’s Institute of Business, Industry and Leadership, led a sell-out virtual masterclass at lunchtime yesterday (MONDAY 8) which discussed women in leadership.

Cumbria’s university also released interviews with some of its own female academics and members of staff, celebrating their achievements and recognising their internationally recognised research and work.

They included Professor Kaz Stuart, who is the director of the university’s Centre for Research in Health and Society.

After working in a local sewing factory before moving to Turkey to manage a paragliding business, Professor Stuart went on to retrain as a primary school teacher.

Following a successful career as an English teacher, she entered the world of academia and is now a respected academic and professor of social and health inequalities.

An active researcher, Professor Stuart is contributing to studies of which findings are helping to advise government on how to respond to the pandemic.

Professor Stuart and her team, based at the Fusehill Street campus in Carlisle, are also helping lead research projects in north Cumbria over the next two years.

One is a nine-month youth action project in partnership with Carlisle Youth Zone, William Howard School in Brampton, and Northumbria University and will involve young people research the health and wellbeing concerns affecting them and their peers, identifying what support services they require.

The other is a 15-month project working in partnership with Susan's Farm at Houghton, near Carlisle, and the Children's Foundation in the North East and Northumbria University. The project will explore the benefits of agricultural and horticultural projects on young people's wellbeing.

Elsewhere, the University of Cumbria has also been supporting the newly-formed Cumbrian International Women’s Network and its free online events marking International Women’s Day as well as an event hosted by Enterprise.

The University of Cumbria has campuses in Carlisle, Ambleside, Lancaster and London as well as sites in west Cumbria and Barrow.