Young Women Lead - Part 3

A young women still on the path to lead... 

February 2019 

The third meet up of Young Women Lead was our first public and live committee meeting. It was the first time we would meet our committee chair and MSP Linda Fabiani and it was the first time I would need to speak in public in front of people other than the young women on the programme. Safe to say I was pretty nervous about it all! It was my role to ask a question to a panel of experts on the subject of "young women's barriers to sport". I don't enjoy public speaking, I get very nervous public speaking and I seem to lose all train of thought when public speaking. So I did not imagine this going well.

However, all went smoothly. We had some to practice and I knew which question I would be asking, which really helped. I even went on to as a follow up question, which really shocked me. We got some excellent evidence, findings and thoughts from the panellists and I got to meet Dani from the Chachi project, who is a pretty kickass individual!

If you really, really feel the need to, then you can catch up on me speaking and also making some ridiculous faces in the video on the Scottish Parliament's facebook page.

Reflections and other such stuff...

 If you were part of the questioning: what did you learn about the process, and yourself, from the experience? 


In February, the Young Women Lead Programme had our first public committee, streamed live on Parliament TV. I was on the committee panel to ask questions to some of the audience and was extremely nervous about this. One of the aspects that I had highlighted in a previous meeting, when thinking about our goals for the programme, was that I really suffer from imposter syndrome and I get really nervous public speaking. I struggle to think off the top of my head and give a coherent response which ends up being a cyclical problem as my nerves don’t help my response, I overthink things. I was really scared about being on live TV, what if I messed up the question? What if I said something that I shouldn’t? What if I made a fool out of myself? In my head I didn’t belong on the committee, I didn’t belong on the programme and I didn’t belong in a leadership or public facing position.

However, the process of the committee was fairly easy to get to grips with, Linda Fabiana was a real comfort and left me feeling relaxed before the session went live. And I knew what question I was going to ask; it was highlighted on a sheet of paper in front of me , it was comforting that all I had to do was read it. I was nervous speaking but having watched the clip back, I realised what I was feeling in my head doesn’t show in my body language or voice.

I ended up asking a follow up question which was completely out of character for me and although I did trip over my words slightly when asking, was proud that I even had the courage to do it in the first place.

Was there anything raised that you found particularly thought-provoking or interesting that you think needs further investigation?


 I found the evidence session very thought-provoking, although at the time I was so nervous I hardly took any of it in and had to re-watch the clip to properly soak up what was said. Coming from a Youth Work background, I was particularly interested in the evidence given on lower socio-economic areas and the barriers to young women’s participation due to income. This is something I personally advocated that we take forward in the research process later on in the programme. I also found the evidence given on aspects of clothing such as the lack of awareness, education and provisions for young women to buy a sports bra and the damage physically that could cause. The concept of uniforms in a school settings was interested, normally I am against uniformity in a school setting, however, found myself agreeing with Danielle from the Chachi project, that it could be used as a positive tool to increase participation. As long as the young women had a substantial choice of which garments they could wear e.g. t-shirt, vest top, hoody, leggings shorts. I think the choice aspect is really important and was interested to hear that it had worked in some school settings already.


The format you experienced of hearing evidence from witnesses is standard practice in Parliamentary Committees. Are there any ways you think this could be changed to make the format more engaging, inclusive and accessible?

 I think the setting of parliament is an immediate barrier to participation from some backgrounds. There is a perceived assumption that parliament is only for politicians and therefore you have to have a certain level of education to be welcomed there or taken seriously.  Coming from a working-class background, a lot of people I know just would never see it as a space that is open to them or their way of life. The way politics is platformed has to be changed for the culture to shift. It has to have less jargon, more engagement with young people from an early age, more positive stories of politicians like Mhairi Black as an example, showcasing that politics is for everyone and communicating in a way that people can connect to.

I also think evidence by video conference could be introduced, if it isn’t already, to ensure people from rural communities are able to participate in giving evidence. I think the fact that it is streamed on parliament TV is fantastic as people can watch from everywhere but again, I think the platform itself is a barrier. It is attracting a particular audience and is not appealing to the working-class backgrounds who
are unlikely to be watching parliament tv as one of their common channels.


What key ideas and suggestions did you put forward to your group, for the engagement plan?


 I suggested the survey within our group and also agreed with the focus group aspect. However, I think I was perhaps unhelpful at certain points in regard to the research as I have experienced quite intense academic research processes in my university programmes. I probably questioned engagement plans more than I should have and brought in considerations that could have added confusion to the group. I think in future programmes, a thorough training session for the young women on data collection e.g. how to facilitate a focus group, ethical issues and consent and collating data, would alleviate some of the pressure they faced. I tried to add some structure to the process by creating a spreadsheet document of organisations we wanted to contact, who would contact them, their contact details etc. however engagement from other group members at this point was not great.

What personal experiences, if any, influenced your input on the engagement plan for your group?

 As above, personal experiences of academic research at MEd level meant I was probably overthinking the research process and was being quite particular in regard to process, consent and ethics.

Have you ever responded to public engagement activities, for any kind of research project? If not, what would encourage you to participate? If you have, what was it about the request for your engagement that made you want to respond?


 I have responded to quite a few public engagement activities, for a variety of reasons. Some were because the topic is something which is important to me such as consultations from feminist organisations such as Rape Crisis or Womens Aid. Sometimes because I am aware that the consultation is going to make a difference to policy, strategy or frameworks and I have a specific view that I want taken into consideration. This is usually around Youth Work, Community Education or work with young women. I have also filled in consultations that I potentially wouldn’t have otherwise due to personal relationships with colleagues, friends etc. who are involved and have asked for my input.


Using an existing public campaign or consultation of your choosing, tell us what you like about it, what makes it work well and what you think could improve it.


 I really liked the #MeToo movement as a campaign. I think it was really accessible for all women & men to take part in on social media, through articles and blogs, in day to day conversation. It was well profiled on a variety of media platforms and endorsed by celebrities which created a buzz. The shared hashtag brings a sense of community to people wanting to engage.





With all the work and collaboration of the last few weeks, what have been some key things you've learned from the process?


 I think I’ve already touched on the imposter syndrome aspect further up and the fact that I tend to be really organised and like things done well and through proper processes, which I think I struggled with for the engagement aspect as people weren’t following procedures that I would have through my professional experiences. I’ve found that some people are easier to work with than others, some are really efficient, hardworking and want to contribute and others are all talk and no action. This a huge bug bear of mine when it comes to recognition, I find that those that shout the loudest get the most attention but have not necessarily always done the grafting behind the scenes. I also try and stay positive but have found myself getting sucked into the negativity by other’s personalities. This is something that I need to work on and learn to remove myself from those situations.


Are there any worries or concerns you still have, or that have emerged since the first meeting?


 That those who are putting in a lot of effort, hard work and time will be overshadowed by personalities who do nothing but can shout loud and be seen and heard. I know this happens in all walks of lives but I think it’s useful to be aware of.

Also very nervous for the having to provide evidence at the next meeting, when I signed up for meeting 1, I didn’t realise I also had to then take part as a witness in meeting 2. I probably would have signed up as a committee member for meeting 2 if I had known so maybe this was a good thing as it pushed me out my comfort zone. It also concerns me that it is only me and another group member on the witness panel as the rest of the group are committee members. I panic when put on the spot at speaking and don’t have time to rehearse my answer so this frightens me, especially as it’s on live tv.