Women turn out in force to explore their education options

Participants ranged widely in age and background. Some wanted to get back into education after having children, others had started degrees but left due to ill health, and yet others had grown up overseas and wanted to know more about the British education system.

For many, it was their first experience of setting foot inside a Cambridge college and they were interested to learn that Lucy Cavendish is an all-women college for mature students (21 and over).

The twilight event, timed to fit in with women’s work and family commitments gave a taste of higher education with three mini-lectures, followed by information on routes back into learning. The lectures were given by Dr Jenny Koenig, Dean at Lucy Cavendish College, Sarah Campbell, Education Officer at Kettle’s Yard and Ruth Shaw, a recent graduate of Lucy Cavendish.

Questions asked by participants were wide-reaching and many focused on the choice of ways back into education, the feasibility of combining study and family commitments and the various levels of qualifications.

The joint organisers of the session, Sue Long, Outreach Officer at Lucy Cavendish, and Penny Wilson, Head of Community Affairs at the University, said they were thrilled by the response to the event, which was the first of its kind.

Jo Newcombe, who lives in Ellsworth and works part-time as a NVQ assessor for childcare, learning and development, brought her 11-year-old son, Jack. “The event appealed to me as it was promoted as a session for all women, regardless of their qualifications. And it was vital that I was able to bring my son,” she said.

“It was inspiring and the three speakers were clearly passionate about their subjects. Sue Long talked about her own experiences of returning to study which was really motivational. The next morning I woke up and thought I’ve got to do some of this.”

Suzanne Soh and her 13-year-old daughter Kim had also come together and saw the event as a positive shared experience. “I was keen to find out more about what’s available and what I could do,” said Suzanne, who comes from Camborne. “I can imagine my mum studying science or English,” said Kim.

An important aspect of the event was breaking barriers between the University and the community. “I’ve never been inside a Cambridge college before and I had no idea that there was a college for mature women students, and was really thrilled to find that there was,” said Jo.

Penny Wilson, Head of Community Affairs at the University, said: “We’ve always believed that there are lots of local women who want to get back into education so it was wonderful that so many of them came along to find out more. There are many links between the University and town but local people don’t always think that it’s somewhere that they might study. We’re keen to change this.”

A series of Saturday workshops for women thinking about returning to education is being run during June by Lucy Cavendish College in partnership with the Women’s Resource Centre.

More details are available through the sidebar.