
keeping
women in
teaching
a conference built for women, by women
because when women leave, schools lose
16.05.2026

Fertility - Menopause - Menstruation - Maternity - Misogyny -


Research shows that women in their 30s are now the largest demographic leaving teaching every year.
This isn't just a crisis of retention.
It is a crisis of justice.
Across education, women’s bodies are too often treated as interruptions; something to manage quietly, endure privately, or apologise for.
Misogyny, Maternity, Menopause, Menstruation, Infertility. These are not separate issues. They are connected realities shaped by power, silence, and systemic inequality. And the cost is not abstract.
This one-day conference brings together teachers, researchers, campaigners, leaders, and advocates to confront the gendered experiences too often ignored in schools and workplaces.
Through keynote speakers, panel conversations, and collective discussion, we will explore four urgent strands:
Misogyny in education
Infertility and reproductive injustice
Menopause and menstrual health at work
Maternity, motherhood, and professional exclusion
This is not just a conference about policy. It is a conference about lived experience. You will leave with new perspectives, practical insight, and renewed collective power, because these conversations are no longer optional.Join us to name what has been normalised, challenge what has been accepted, and imagine what becomes possible when women are fully supported, believed, and heard.

keeping women in teaching
saturday 16th may 2026
avanti grange secondary school, bishop's stortford
conference schedule.
9:30am -
10:00am
arrival & registration
tea/coffee on arrival
name badges + programme pick-up
settle, browse stalls, informal networking
10:00am -
10:15am
welcome address (main hall)
opening remarks
10:15am -
11:00am
panel discussion (main hall)
why women leave teaching: gender, health, and retention
11:00am -
12:00pm
panel discussion (main hall)
infertility and reproductive injustice at work
lunch
& networking
12:45pm - 1:45pm
panel discussion
(main hall)
misogyny in schools: normalised, excused, weaponised
1:55pm - 2:25pm
keynote speaker
(main hall)
To be announced soon
2:25pm - 2:55pm
keynote speaker
(main hall)
To be announced soon
12:45pm -
1:45pm
workshop a: menstruation and dignity in schools
workshop b: menopause at work
workshop c: maternity and the motherhood penalty in teaching
1:55pm -
2:55pm
workshop a: line managers supporting fertility treatment
workshop b: facilitating female friendly policies in schools
workshop c: coming back after maternity: supporting yourself and colleagues
3:00pm -
3:10pm
closing remarks and thanks
(main hall)
3:10pm-
3:30pm
drinks &
departure