RIDE events and celebrations of diversity
The School of Sport and Exercise Science EDI Panel are pleased to organise a number of celebrations of diversity, which can include external engagement and outreach events. The Panel’s priority is to include young people who identify as a minority in Sport and Exercise Science. Below are just some examples of celebrations of diversity that the Panel have organised.
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Ongoing
Menopause Cafes
Menopause Cafés are informal, group-directed discussions and an increasingly popular way of opening up a subject too often hidden from view. Menopause Cafés have been facilitated by staff in the School of Sport and Exercise Science and are aimed at staff and postgraduate students of all genders and ages, who wanted to share their stories, experiences and questions, or just listen.
“Smile more” Working as a woman in sport and exercise workshops
Dr Kristin McGinty Minister and Dr Laura Swettenham deliver workshops to level 4 to level 8 students at LJMU, exploring and challenging perspectives on sexism in sport. The aim of this introductory workshop is to educate students on sexism in sport and how to be allies within the sporting community by:
- Better understanding what sexism is and isn’t.
- Learning about the experiences of women working in sport.
- Applying this knowledge to their own experiences (past and future).
This workshop draws on ambivalent sexism theory, frames sexism in sport using the socio-ecological model, and provides current insights into ongoing research in sexism in sport led by Dr Kristin McGinty Minister, Dr Laura Swettenham, Dr Fran Champ, and Dr Amy Whitehead.
2024
Here come the girls
The School of Sport and Exercise Sciences hosted its 4th annual event for International Women’s Day on 8 March 2024 with keynote sessions and workshops led by experts in both the research and applied practice fields. 50 Year 10 pupils from across the region joined is for an inspiring insight into the wonders of sport and exercise science with a focus on women's sport, exercise and physical activity.
The Beautiful Game Event
‘The Beautiful Game’ event coordinated by Dr Kath Curran, shared research from work engaging people experiencing homelessness and speakers from the Liverpool Homeless FA and an individual who had experienced homelessness shared her story. The event was by attended by academics, PGR’s, members of the public, practitioners from several sport and health, homelessness organisations across the city. Individuals experiencing homelessness were invited to attend as an intentional effort to disseminate this research to harder-to-reach communities, and to break down barriers for people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds entering and feeling welcome and wanted within the university environment. The event engaged PGRs in conversations related to inclusive research, and two PhD students from Psychology are now volunteering their time to support our work with Liverpool Homeless Football Club as a result of the event.
Para Pentathlon Introduced in Spain
Nicola Robinson and Danny Cullinane (with two students BSc and MSc), initiated the para pentathlon movement in Spain as well as launched and cocreated classification education workshop and co-delivered with the international federation.
Article about understanding disabled workers’ experiences
Zoe Bell (PhD candidate), Dr Lee Graves (both LJMU), Dr Paula Holland and Calum Carson (both Lancaster University) wrote a news article titled Making remote and hybrid working more inclusive: understanding disabled workers’ experiences. The article discusses disabled workers’ experiences, the actions that senior leaders and managers can take, and what research is currently ongoing to identify how employers can make remote and hybrid working more inclusive of disabled workers’ needs.
2023
Here come the girls
he School of Sport and Exercise Sciences hosted its 4th annual event for International Women’s Day with keynote sessions and workshops led by experts in both the research and applied practice fields. 50 Year 10 pupils from across the region joined is for an inspiring insight into the wonders of sport and exercise science with a focus on women's sport, exercise and physical activity.
Women in biomechanics
In celebration of National Biomechanics Day 2023 the Biomechanics Research Group within LJMU’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences delivered an exciting, fun-filled, activity packed event with schoolgirls from a Liverpool primary school. The event was led by postgraduate researcher Bex Walker, and supported by Dr Richard Foster, the event - Women in Biomechanics: A Powerful Force – aimed to promote women in biomechanics.
Find out more about Women in Biomechanics: A Powerful Force.
Para Pentathlon training day
The first ever Para Laser Sport training event was held at LJMU led by Great Britian (GB) Pentathlon Coach, Iain Aberdeen; LJMU Sport Coaching Programme Leader and GB Pentathlon Coach, Dr Nicola Robinson and four LJMU Sport Coaching students Jena Williams, John Wylie, Sophie Coyne and Tom Howarth.
Find out more about our Para Pentathlon training day.
Presentation on health and wellbeing in the workplace
Zoe Bell (PhD candidate) and Dr Lee Graves delivered a presentation on Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace at a Contact Centre Forum ‘Forums on Tour’ event at Verastar in Manchester in September 2023. The presentation explored the health and business benefits of workforce health promotion with a focus on discussing the impact of social determinants of health and how contact centres can tackle them to prevent health and wellbeing issues and promote employee health. The event was attended by around 40 people from various contact centres across the UK.
Article about workforce health
Zoe Bell (PhD candidate), Dr Lee Graves (both LJMU) and Dr Paula Holland (Lancaster University) wrote a news article on how to Promote the health of contact centre employees. The article discusses the root causes of employee health and wellbeing problems (including low pay, poor employment conditions and poor quality of work), the health consequences for employees, and the implications and opportunities for organisations.
WiSEAN Conference
The 4th Women in Sport and Exercise Academic Network (WiSEAN) Conference was hosted by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) from June 20 to 22 2023. LJMU were proudly celebrating their bicentenary year, so the organising committee consciously selected a conference theme that aligned with their university core values: Being courageous, boldly speaking out and acting for change. The conference aimed to provide a platform to bring together students, academics, and practitioners from fields including psychology, physiology, strength and conditioning, biomechanics, coaching and performance, sociology, cultural studies, and leadership and management, to connect and share knowledge to create, promote, and lead change for women and girls across all facets of sport. The conference was attended by over 140 delegates, presenters, keynote and invited speakers. These included academics, practitioners, and students. The conference included more than 60 abstracts, reflecting the continued growth and interest in women in sport and exercise.
Game On Preview
The School of Sport and Exercise Sciences and the LJMU Athena Swan Committee held an Exclusive Screening of Game On for staff, students, alumni and the public, one week before it’s official release on Netflix, followed by Q and A with Director and Producer Sue Anstiss MBE. Game On is a powerful, timely film exploring the current growth in women's sport and its impact on society. Game On paints an emotive picture of what true equality in sport could mean for women and girls, on the field of play and more widely in society. Produced by Ben and Jack Studios in collaboration with Fearless Women, Game On is an exciting, visually beautiful documentary for anyone interested in equality and the future of sport.
2022
Shakiba Oftadeh-Moghadam Webinar 2022
A one-hour webinar hosted by students, for students; to demonstrate how you can inspire positive and meaningful change in your University. Shakiba Oftadeh-Moghadam is a PhD student from the University of Portsmouth and refugee from Iran who advocates for human rights. Through her own experiences, Shakiba conceptualised how students can be empowered to influence change and improve the collective learning, teaching and whole University experience for themselves and their peers.
Royal Society Partnership Grant
The Partnership Grants scheme from the Royal Society funds schools to run investigative STEM projects in partnership with STEM professionals from academia or industry.
13-year-olds from Liverpool's Holly Lodge Girls’ College (opens in a new tab) want to investigate why fewer girls, when compared with boys, take part in PE and sport at a young age. By secondary school 23% of girls do not participate in any physical activity outside of school and by 14, girls are dropping out of sport at twice the rate of boys.
To try and examine this question the girls are teaming up with world-class sport and exercise scientists at LJMU to find out about PE research and how it can help all girls at their school and others.
Professor Sir James Hough FRS, Chair of the Royal Society Partnership Grants Allocating Panel said: This is an excellent project, looking at the relationship between physical fitness and health and the barriers to participation. As well as the engaging topic matter, it will, just as importantly, enable students to gain experience in data handling and statistical analysis providing a useful benchmark for other schools to follow".
Girls from Holly Lodge School visited LJMU in March 2022. Project aims were to encourage girls to pursue STEMM topics/careers, and provide role models in their own image.
Football v homophobia Event 2022
As part of LGBTQi+ history month, two Sport Development students (Ellie George and Ellie Roberts) from the School of Sport and Exercise Science organised an event as part of the month of action for the campaign ‘Football V Homophobia’.
Football V Homophobia is an international campaign, which takes place every February, to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression at all levels of football. The aim of the event was to raise awareness of homophobia/transphobia and the inclusion of the LGBT+ community in football and sport more broadly. The event consisted of an inclusive 5-aside football tournament, and educational talks from guest speakers Lou Englefield (Founder and Director of Pride Sports) and Professor Pete Millward.
Movement Matters Festival
41 children with learning disabilities from a local Special Educational Needs School were invited to LJMU Sport building for a festival event day as part of their participation in our research. The festival day included children taking part in a range of activities aimed at improving their motor skill performance whilst also connecting the school, children and parents with inclusive organisations that deliver in their own communities.
Find out more about the Movement Matters Festival.
Holly Lodge Girls’ College Visit
The year 9 pupils from Liverpool's Holly Lodge Girls’ College spent two days working alongside world-class scientists in physiology, biomechanics and sport and exercise psychology, as well as current LJMU students, to gain expert insight into sport science research methodology.
International Women’s Day Special Podcast
In a special episode for International Women's Day, the England Athletics podcast hosted four women who are passionate about athletics come together in conversation to celebrate, reflect, discuss barriers and where they would like to see change in the sport. One of whom was school lecturer, Kelly Massey.
Mental Health in Sporting Success with AXA
Dr Fran Champ took part in a media piece with AXA and Liverpool FC Women to discuss the importance of mental health in sporting success. This was in collaboration with a first team player and the first team sports scientist.
2021
Choose to Challenge Campaign 2021
Staff across the School of Sport and Exercise Science pledged their support for International Women’s Day 2021. Obipiseibima Priscillia Aggokabo, a PhD Student in Cardiac Physiology, reveals that one reason for choosing to study within Sport and Exercise Science was so she could narrow the, still prevalent, gender inequality gap:
“The world of sport exercise science is a very competitive field which can definitely be enhanced a lot further with equity and equality. Though a male dominated landscape, it presents lots of opportunities for women like myself to contribute to its development for improved healthcare and lifestyle. I personally intend to do as much as I can to minimise the gender gap and create equality in the field of Sport and Exercise Sciences (SES). The desire to make a contribution towards this was definitely a motivation for choosing SES as a learning path.”
Event in Support of International Men’s Day 2021
In celebration of International Men’s Day 2021, male students in the School of Sport and Exercise Science were invited to a relaxed event which focused on sport and physical activity as a means to enhance mood and meet new people to connect with.
Menopause Infographic
Staff from the School of Sport and Exercise Science created an accessible infographic in 2021 on the menopause, its effects in the workplace, and the research currently being undertaken in the department in relation to the menopause.
Celebration of Male Contribution to the EDI Agenda
International Men’s Day celebrates the value men can bring to society and raises awareness of men’s health and wellbeing. Dr Tom O’Brien circulated an email to staff within the School to recognise the contributions of men to the EDI agenda and raise awareness of specific challenges men face.
Disability Sport and Physical Activity Network Launch
LJMU School of Sport and exercise Science launched the Disability Sport and Physical Activity Network (DisSPA) was launched with support from Professor Greg Whyte and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE DL.
Find out more about the Disability Sport and Physical Activity Network Launch.
Celebrating Disability Sport and Physical Activity Conference
A collaboration between LJMU School of Sport and Exercise Sciences and the ParaCoach Project, to host a 2-day conference to celebrate disability sport and physical activity, which consisted of keynote speakers, stakeholder marketplace, interactive workshops and panel sessions.
Find out more about the Celebrating Disability Sport and Physical Activity Conference.
FExWN launch
The Football Exchange Women’s Network was launched with an inaugural event focussed on past, present and future perspectives of women in football. Formed by Fran Champ, the principle aim of the network is to bring together women working across the World in the football industry by offering opportunities for peer support, networking, guest speaker/lectures and research/industry-based collaboration. This Network seeks to break down barriers in novel ways; for example, although a Women’s Network expressions of interest for ‘male champions’ have been sought from members. The event provided a unique opportunity for practitioners and researchers at all stages of their career to connect, interact and discuss ideas and projects across the theme of women in football.
Find out more about the FExWN launch.
The Mental Edge Podcast Launched
The Football Exchange Women’s Network have also launched an 1823 podcast entitled The Mental Edge, showcasing our women staff involved in Football. This podcast consisted of a series of 5 episodes hosted by Dr Francesca Champ and Dr Gill Cook exploring the psychological aspects of the men’s Euro ‘2020’ competition. As part of the series, guest speakers such as Dr Lisa O’Halloran contributed to the discussion. Lisa is one of LJMU alumni and part of the Football Exchange Women’s Network.
Women in Football: Dare to Dream Webinar
In celebration of International Womens' Day, Dr Fran Champ hosted an online webinar for IWD titled ‘Women in Football: Dare to Dream’. This consisted of a 1 hour panel discussion with two professional women’s footballers at Liverpool Football Club Women’s. The event was open to students within the School of Sport & Exercise Sciences.
AXA Wellbeing Series
As part of the AXA wellbeing series that was designed for over 80,000 employees to support their staff wellbeing during COVID-19, Dr Fran Champ worked alongside Liverpool FC Men’s Senior Psychologist to produce a series of short videos around supporting wellbeing and mental health.
2020
Angela Saini Q&A 2020
Angela Saini is a science journalist and the author of “Inferior” (the story of gender inequality in science) and, more recently, “Superior” which discusses how systemic racism pervades science, medicine, and academia. Angela kindly joined Liverpool universities for an online Q&A session to discuss race in academia.
International Day Of Persons with a Disability
Reflections from Past Students
Dr Milly Blundell writes an blog for the LJMU website to celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The blog highlights the successes of some past students with disabilities who have completed their studies at LJMU and continued to flourish within the sport sector and beyond, whilst also being inspirational role models to current and prospective students.
Here Come the Girls
The School of Sport and Exercise Sciences invited 60 female pupils to attend an event to celebrate International Women’s Day 2020. The 'Here Come the Girls: The Future of Sport and Exercise Science' is now in its second year and is led by female academic staff and supported by wider academic staff, technicians and Postgraduate Research Students as a whole.
The pupils were treated to an introductory session from Professor Zoe Knowles, before workshops on performance analysis in women’s team sports from the Football Exchange team, performance psychology and motivation for exercise participation (Psychology and Development Research Group) and cellular science (Exercise Metabolism and Adaptation Research group). All sessions were held in the state-of-the-art facilities of the Tom Reilly Building. A lunch was hosted by female staff and Postgraduate Research Students to allow the pupils to ask questions of the staff and students about their study, day-to-day working, career progression and challenges they have overcome.
In the afternoon Dr Tori Sprung delivered a key-note session entitled “It’s harder to crack a prejudice, than an atom”. This explored historic oppression of Women in Science. Tori went on to discuss the specific needs of Women in Sport and explain that only recently has it been more widely accepted that women are physiologically distinct from men, and require specific training and performance support. Lastly, Tori invited a Sports Science intern she supports to speak with the girls.
Kapil Tyagi, a level 5 student on the BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science programme, was recruited to help with the Faculty of Science ‘EDIpedia’ project, which aims to capture the legacy of individuals historically underrepresented in Science. Kapil shared two profiles he had created of Women in Sports Science and presented himself as a young male advocate for equality.
2019
Here Come the Girls
26 female pupils from ESSA Academy (Bolton), St Margaret’s C of E High School and Birkenhead High School Academy (both Liverpool) were invited to LJMU for our inaugural all-female outreach day. The notion of the event was to promote and inspire girls from the local area to think about roles with STEM and sport and exercise science.
In a full day, the girls and accompanying teachers were involved in various events hosted by Sport and Exercise Sciences staff on some of the current issues around females. They started off the day with a welcome talk by host Prof Zoe Knowles (Physical Activity Exchange) which was followed up by a seminar with Dr Tori Sprung (Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Physiology) on current issues within women in sport and gained the thoughts and idea from the pupils of the schools.
Students engaged in two interactive workshops examining fitness, physical activity and sedentary behaviours in females with Dr Lynne Boddy. Similar to the seminar by Dr Sprung, second workshop by Dr Laura Thomas (Psychology and Development) focused on current issues of women in sport, and the psychological impact these may cause and what support a sport and exercise psychologist could offer.