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SU elections - Why Women Should Run in the Officer Elections

It only takes one woman to win one election to create an entire culture change.

When Bam ran to be Sports Officer, and won convincingly against an opposition comprised mainly of men, it changed Warwick’s entire perception of what a Sports Officer looked like.

In 2013, Zoe also ran and won an amazing campaign in a (traditionally) all-male field.

Women shouldn’t just see themselves as Welfare Officers. If you have fantastic ideas for the direction of student welfare, then please do run for that position - but we shouldn’t only see ourselves in what is reductively thought of as the ‘traditionally female’ role.

Across the country, only 33% of SU presidents are women, with only 3 female Presidents having served at Warwick since the turn of the century! We also haven’t seen a female Democracy Officer at Warwick ever, while the last female Development Sabb was in 1994. Does that mean that women aren’t capable of handling finances or democratic processes…?

Of course it doesn’t. But without women seeing themselves as candidates, we won’t see them in these positions.

Similarly, there are 25% fewer female society presidents than male. If you have organised or participated in a society, why not run to be the SU Societies Officer to show other women that they are capable of leading their societies?

If we don’t see ourselves as leaders, we can’t be them.

Are you ready to be the change?

Much has been said this year about the current Sabbatical Officer team’s lack of racial and gender diversity. It’s vital that the SU Officer Team reflects the composition of our membership, and that change could start with you!