EMA Women Network: Call for nominations

As diversity is one of the key concepts of the Erasmus Mundus programme, the Erasmus Mundus Student and Alumni Association’s Women’s Network emerges as a means of recognising and drawing attention to the fact that women have not yet attained the same social advantages and influence that men have, even in pioneering, innovative spheres such as EMA. While women represent almost 30% of the Association, only 1 in 7 of the EMA Steering Committee is female.

In order to improve this scenario, the main aims of the EMA Women Network are as follows:

•    foster gender equality by providing a forum for EMA members to discuss gender-related issues within EMA and beyond;
•    inspire confidence and empower EMA’s female members through peer-to-peer learning, mentoring schemes and career information exchange;
•    empower EMA’s female members to hold leadership positions, creating an atmosphere of support and a strong peer-to-peer network;
•    focus on professional development by providing a shared platform for the support and exchange of experiences that are specific to women, both in the workplace and with regards to work-life balance;
•    inspire and support EMA female members by researching and advertising the opportunities available to them.

Call for the nominations for the positions with the Network Board:

President
Responsible for the overall coordination and facilitation of the Network, for liaising with other EMA bodies and external partners, and representing the Network within EMA and the outside community.
Mandate: 1 year
Required skills: Coordination and facilitation skills, interpersonal skills, teamwork and time management

Communications Officer
Responsible for promoting the Network and maintaining its communication channels (community group, webpage and Facebook page) within the Network, with EMA’s general community and with third parties. The role also includes compiling news and articles on gender-related issues to be included in the EMA newsletter.
Mandate: 1 year
Required skills: IT skills, communication skills, teamwork, commitment to deadlines

Network Development Officer
Responsible for the internal development of the Network and its promotion within EMA. The Network Development Officer is also responsible for the mentoring scheme, which aims at supporting EMA’s women leaders, and the coordination of networking activities around the world.
Mandate: 1 year
Required skills: Communication skills, coordination skills, teamwork, planning skills

Professional Development Officer
Responsible for liaising with employers and developing gender-specific training programmes and workshops focusing on professional development as well as on other skills and interests (such as leadership, assertiveness, health, arts, etc). The role also involves researching and surveying gender-specific employment issues and feeding it back to EMA for the promotion of gender-based initiatives, and liaising with other networks and organisations to promote the EMA's Women's Network and increment its capacity.
Mandate: 1 year
Required skills: Research skills, proactivity, teamwork, coordination skills

How to apply

Nominations are open to registered EMA members who have joined the EMA Women's Network (log in to the EMA members' community and join the group EMA Women Network)

You can nominate yourself by sending your personal information (name, Erasmus Mundus course) and a short motivation letter explaining what position you would like to take and why you would like to lead the network, what you expect to achieve to service (AT) em-a.eu.

Deadline: August 18, 2012

The board will be defined by the means of the online elections open to the members of the Network.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact Roberta Gregoli, the initiator of the Network.