Professor Jan Godsell joined WMG, at the University of Warwick in October 2013 from Cranfield University School of Management, the next step in a career that has been split between both industry and academia. Beginning at ICI / Zeneca Pharmaceuticals and then working her way up to senior management level at Dyson, in both supply chain and operations management functions, Jan built a successful career in industry before moving into academia.
Professor Jan Godsell is one of the 100 Diversity Thought Leaders attending the inaugural Womanthology Thought Leaders’ event at The Shard in London, taking place on the evening of Monday 20th November 2017. Amazon is the headline supporter and Warwick Business School at the University of Warwick is also kindly sponsoring.
Tackling the enduring issue around gender diversity: The importance of diversity of thought
I’ve known about Womanthology for quite a while now, and what I’ve loved about the magazine, its content and its campaigns is that they are tackling the enduring issues around diversity, not by creating a forum where everyone just explains about the problem again, but by actually finding practical ways that we can all make a difference, which is incredibly refreshing.
The other great thing about Womanthology and what it’s trying to achieve is that it appreciates diversity of approach, because yes, there’s such a thing as gender diversity, but what we’re aiming for across our work and personal lives is actually diversity of thought – it challenges the norms so we find more creative and innovative ways of contributing. That could be contributing through both our work and our personal lives.
New approaches come from new conversations
Supply chains are my area of specialisation. They contribute to almost every aspect of our lives. The world in which we live is changing rapidly. Fuelling economic growth in a very consumption driven way is being challenged because the social and environmental impacts of that very consumer-driven growth are being challenged, so we’re moving into a new time where we’re perhaps having to think much more carefully about the balance between consumer choice and economic, social and environmental impacts.
This is going to require new approaches, and the only way we’re going to come up with those new approaches is to have new, different and diverse ways of tackling these problems, and that begins with new conversations. What Womanthology is doing resonates at many, many levels, both in terms of gender diversity issue, but it can also be argued that it’s perhaps a philosophy that we need to re-look at many aspects of the ways we live our lives in the future.
For this reason, I’m very excited to be taking part in the event at Warwick Business School in The Shard on 20th November. I’m looking forward to sharing ideas and gaining new perspectives from the other organisations represented. We have a common interest in moving things forward through innovative thinking and collaboration across sectors.
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/about/careers/workinginstem/staffprofiles/jangodsell
https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/people/profile/?wmgid=1003
https://twitter.com/jangodsell
The event will be taking place on the evening of Monday 20th November 2017. For tickets please visit: https://womanthology_thought_leaders.eventbrite.co.uk
There are a limited number of sponsorship options available for this event for companies or individuals who would like to raise their profile amongst our community. Please email us for more details.