Dr Kerri Baker, Dean of Education, RCPE

We were delighted to be selected by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges to co-host their inaugural Women in Leadership conference with our sister College at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The event was inspired by ‘Mend the Gap’, the independent review into gender pay gaps in medicine in England chair by Professor Dame Jane Dacre.


This two-day celebration of women in leadership brought together speakers and delegates from around the world, with high profile and inspiring guest speakers including Dame Sally Davies (Master of Trinity College Cambridge and previous Chief Medical Officer), Professor Dame Carrie McEwen (Chair of the GMC), Professor Emma Watson (Executive Medical Director of NHS Education for Scotland), Dame Anne Richards (CEO of Fidelity International) and Professor Chloe Orkin (outgoing President of the Medical Women’s Federation) amongst many more. We were joined by engaging guest speakers from Barclays UK, The Walt Disney Company and NASA to share lessons from other sectors.


Networking and social sessions flattened traditional hierarchies and saw shared laughter and tears, development of allies, generation of ideas and projects, and building of new friendships and partnerships amongst likeminded individuals.


Topics and challenges discussed included:

  • Leadership through a polycrisis
  • Building and leading effective teams
  • Widening participation
  • Leadership and role-modelling: incorporating intersectional identities
  • How to be an effective ally
  • Women’s leadership in the pandemic, including the glass cliff phenomenon
  • The impact of biology on career progression
  • Undermining, bullying and sexual harassment
  • Resilience

We were also inspired and humbled to hear the deeply personal stories of many women with popular “how I did it” sessions. Feedback has been tremendously positive and we look forwards to exploring the possibility of similar future events!


We’re also pleased to say that a selection of talks from the event are available to view on the publicly accessible section of the College’s Education Portal – so please do take a look if you weren’t able to make the event and share with your colleagues.