Speakers
Workshop
Researchers from minoritised backgrounds often navigate academic environments that were not designed with their experiences in mind. While structural change is essential, developing personal strategies for growth, resilience and influence can help early-career researchers thrive and support others along the way.
Drawing on insights from Women in Academia: Achieving Our Potential, this interactive workshop encourages participants to be the architects of their own careers by developing their ‘support crews’, network development, and proactivity.
Participants will be encouraged to:
• discuss strategic behaviours and activities that are associated with academic success.
• share experiences/learning of these elements and how to engage more fully and effectively with them.
Through facilitated discussion and practical exercises, the session will promote awareness of the importance of developmental and strategic networks. The workshop will provide practical tools for personal and professional development while creating space for shared reflection among minoritised life scientists (of all genders) about navigating academic careers, building supportive networks and achieving their full potential.
Mags is a registered pharmacist and health services researcher with more than 30 years’ experience in academia. She is Professor of Health Services Research and Pharmacy Practice (0.5 WTE) at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, and an Honorary Professor at the University of Bath.
Her research focuses on the safe and effective use of medicines and on strengthening professional practice through the synthesis and implementation of evidence into healthcare policy, practice and education. She has published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers and has received fellowships from the Medical Research Council, the Leverhulme Foundation and the Health Foundation. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and has served on several national research funding committees.
Alongside her academic work, Mags founded Watson Research and Training Limited in 2018. Through her consultancy she supports researchers and professionals across academia and healthcare to develop their careers, strengthen research practice and build more inclusive research cultures. She is a qualified coach and mentor and is particularly committed to supporting individuals who may face structural barriers within academia.
In 2024 she published Women in Academia: Achieving Our Potential, a practical guide that highlights systemic inequalities within academia and offers strategies to help individuals navigate and challenge them.