Each of them works in traditionally male-dominated fields and, in a lively and engaging session, they told students about their experience of discrimination in the workplace and what they’ve done to challenge it. 

They are lawyer and judge Sunaina Srai-Chohan, Class of 1998, investment strategist Meena Santhosh, Class of 2006, professional boxer Amy Andrew, Class of 2004, and civil engineer Claudia Caravello, Class of 2014.

Sunaina, who is Head of Legal at Lexis Nexis UK and sits as a part-time Crown Court Judge, gave pupils three pieces of advice to help them succeed: “Challenge any bias that you might see – if we all do it, it makes it a lot less acceptable. Lift each other up – it’s important to support each other and bring other women with you. And finally, have confidence in yourself –  if you don’t try, you’ll never know what you might have achieved.”

Meena, who is a Portfolio Manager at Robeco Asset Management, explained that when she started her first job in asset management over 10 years ago, she was the first woman on her team, as well as the youngest, and then later became the first parent. “So, a lot of challenges presented themselves. Trying to find a voice and taking a seat at the table – a table that wasn’t always designed to accommodate us in the first place - proved to be difficult, which meant at times going out of my comfort zone and demanding balanced inclusion.” 

She told pupils: “I have since had a huge passion to get more young women to pursue careers in investing. We have a lot of unique traits to celebrate as women! It’s up to us and the next generation to call out and address the biases we experience.” 

Claudia, who is a Project Manager at Turner & Townsend, said that engineering just wasn’t a profession that was really talked about much when she was younger and when she studied Civil and Structural Engineering at Imperial College, she was just one of 800 women in the 4,000 strong engineering faculty.

She said: “One of my favourite quotes is ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’. A great reminder why it is so important we celebrate women’s achievements, showcase role models in the industry and work together to overcome bias, not just on International Women’s Day, but every day.”

Amy is UK Head of Boxing for Virgin as well as English National Champion and explained that boxing wasn’t even legal for women until 1996.  “It’s still a very male dominated environment.  The first time I went along to a boxing gym they asked me if I was in the right place! But it’s come an incredibly long way in the last 25 years or so and is now even included in the Olympics.”

She explained that rather than the traditional assumption that it’s a purely aggressive sport, it’s much more about agility and tactics.  “It can be really liberating as a woman to step out from expectations. Boxing has given me so much more confidence and has really helped me in all areas of my life. I’d recommend it to everyone.”