SAIS Global Women in Leadership Club Comes to the HNC
Though I’ve been connected to my classmates for a long time now, I quickly noticed that almost all of my friends at the HNC are male and thus also found a strong need to connect with the women of the HNC. At least in my cohort, I noticed that the female international students were outnumbered, but there was a more balanced ratio of female-to-male students on the China side. It's exciting to connect with the large number of female Chinese classmates and to continue forging our cross-cultural relationships!
The idea for th
is club came about when I attended the in-person introductory meeting for the Washington, DC Chapter of the Global Women in Leadership (GWL) Club. Immediately after I heard there is a member of the DC GWL executive board dedicated as the liaison between the DC GWL, the Bologna GWL Chapter, and the HNC, I knew that I had to get an HNC Chapter in motion. Currently, there is a huge push both academically and socially to connect all three SAIS campuses, an initiative I am appreciative of and happy to play my part in.The mission of the GWL is to uplift and support women both personally and professionally. The beautiful thing about the HNC GWL is that we are a unique community of women who want to do work in this Sino-Global field, which means that we have unique and specific Sino-Global challenges to face—whether it be crossing cultural lines, forming cross-cultural bonds, interacting with international professors and classmates, starting a career internationally, or adapting to a new country. Basically, we are challenged with navigating the international space as a woman, where we might encounter cultural, social, and professional norms different from what we are used to in our home countries.
A big item of importance to us is inclusivity – we are about connecting people, after all. We invite all women, cisgender or transgender or femme-of-center anywhere in between, anyone who identifies with women’s issues and faces the challenges women face in society to join our group. We welcome anyone who identifies or expresses themselves as a woman. After all, we are united, and all women’s issues are all women’s issues.
Our first informational meeting was held on October 31, 2021. We went over our ideas and goals for the club and welcomed all the new members! We want to connect the women in our community, support the growing feminist sentiment and movement in China, empower women in our community personally and professionally, and create a space for women at the HNC to tell stories, voice concerns, and share experiences. Because inclusivity and skill development are so important to us, we are focused on providing all of our publications, announcements, and materials in both Chinese and English. Along with that, we encourage all women to practice their target language whenever they feel comfortable doing so – the GWL club is definitely a space for that!
In the future, we are hoping to host events such as alumni chats; networking events; workshops on interviewing and salary negotiation; informational meetings about certain industries and areas of knowledge; roundtable discussions about topics such as feminism, international relations, and politics; movie/TV nights; and casual “happy hour” social events! We plan to have monthly meetings either inclusive of or in addition to these events—that is to be determined.
Aside from the meetings, we are planning to start a newsletter further down the line, where we will highlight members’ accomplishments, share job and scholarship opportunities, post campus safety information, and publish members’ papers and op-ed pieces.
Lastly, we have a WeChat group to talk about upcoming events and share personal victories, no matter how big or small! I hope that this club will become an HNC institution that connects and inspires women for many years to come. If I leave any legacy at the HNC at all, I hope that it will be helping to create this space where the women at the HNC can connect and uplift each other through the Global Women in Leadership Club.