#sheshouldstand- Gals, become a Union Officer!

Nominations have opened and the Union of UEA Students (UUEAS) elections are well upon us.

Across campus, potential candidates are working furiously on manifesto pledges and campaign themes in the hopes of securing your vote for a place on the student officer team. It’s a scene found in unions all over the country. In the midst of this flurry of electoral activity, the NUS have launched their Women in Leadership programme, with the tagline #sheshouldstand, to encourage women students to nominate themselves for election.

Current Academic Officer Louise Withers Green helped buck the trend for male officers at UEA

Women make up 51% of the general population and 56% of students at our universities nationwide, yet only 45% of student officers are women. Even fewer women are Presidents of their student union, coming in at only 38%. Across the board, women students are vastly underrepresented in elected leadership positions within the student movement. You only have to look at the fact that in 2012-2013 the four full-time officer positions at UEA were all held by straight white men to see this disparity at work in our own union.

Could you be the girl to take over Rosie Rawle as Campaigns and Democracy Officer

Considering that officers are the people who represent the face and interests of your campus, this lack of effective representation is troubling. The NUS’s Women in Leadership campaign aims to increase the number of women’s officers and women presidents across the country through reaching out and telling all women students that they have as much right as man to run for election. On Twitter, hundreds of people have used the hashtag #sheshouldstand to state why they’re telling the amazing women they know to stand for election. At University of London Union, Women’s Officer Susuana Antubam is among many Women’s Officers running women-only workshops to give women students the encouragement and confidence needed to brave the stereotypically masculine world of student elections.

Bintu Foday is this year’s Communities Officer- you could do it too!

Here at UEA, we’ve been doing our bit by featuring the #sheshouldstand hashtag on official election publicity in support of the campaign. Last year’s elections showed 3 out of 4 full-time officer positions filled by women candidates and UUEAS are eager to continue in this success. Following a turbulent year for the union, a more representative officer team can only be a good thing. So if you’re a woman student at UEA and haven’t considered standing in elections yet, why not?

It’s time our elected officers were a true reflection of the diverse student community at UEA and now is the time to make that happen. Pick up a nominations form from Union House Reception, or email one of the officers for more information. Or, if you know a woman who you think would do a great job on the officer team, let her know. Don’t be afraid to be yourself forward and demand the representative, effective union we all deserve.

Nominations to become a Union Officer close on Wednesday. Keep checking The Tab- we will be covering the election in full!