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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

12:00pm -

12:45pm

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 

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