TEDxVU hosted its “TEDxWomen Event” Sunday, Oct. 22, streaming TED Talks by women uplifting women to promote working towards a more equitable future that celebrates the gender spectrum.
The event took place in the Driscoll Auditorium, and attendees were invited to watch 10 TED Talks that encouraged the resilience of the women speakers in their careers.
“We wanted to bring awareness to the barriers that women inherently face because of their gender,” TEDxVU Co-President of Campus Affairs Zoe Kim said. “These talks and their speakers were all unique, but they all strived towards gender equity and inclusivity in their fields.”
TEDxVU is a student organization that gives students, faculty, alumni and staff the opportunity to share their ideas, engage in necessary conversations and work towards enacting change in their communities. According to their online interest form, TEDxVU’s mission is “to be an inclusive, diverse, progressive and innovative organization that empowers valuable voices of those who may not normally be heard on campus.”
“We are devoted towards embracing diversity of thought and curiosity,” Kim said. “We want our TED Talks to challenge the Villanova community and spark change.”
Kim believed the talks at the TedxWomen event brought about necessary conversations for awareness, education and eventually, change. Women may face less obstacles in their careers today than 50 years ago, but there are still gender barriers that are inflicted upon women in the workplace, specifically for women in male-dominated fields.
“There are systemic barriers that we as a community need to address and deconstruct,” Kim said.
The talks streamed were part of a TED playlist titled “10 talks by women that everyone should watch,” including “Why we have too few women leaders,” by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Through considering why a smaller number of women reach the highest rank in their profession than men, Sandberg shared words of advice for women shooting for the “C-Suite;” “sit at the table…make your partner a real partner…[and]don’t leave before you leave.”
“My generation really, sadly, is not going to change the numbers at the top,” Sandberg said. “They’re just not moving. In my generation, there will not be 50 percent of [women] at the top of any industry. But I’m hopeful that future generations can. I think a world where half of our countries and our companies were run by women, would be a better world.”
Sandberg’s talk embodies what Kim sees as the goal of TEDxVU: to challenge the Villanova community to ignite change. With 10 bold, passionate, accomplished women celebrating the gender spectrum in their talks, viewers were given an empowering and moving program that evoked self-reflection and a call to action.
Kim is excited to be planning the next TEDxVU event for December. The group will be working with the Center for Speaking and Public Presentation to put together a Public Speaking Workshop open to the entire student population.
“We would love for Villanova students to come and be a part of this workshop,” Kim said. “It should be a great opportunity for all undergraduate students, and we hope to see everyone there.”
For more information regarding TEDxVU’s upcoming events or how to get involved, visit @tedxvillanovau on Instagram.
