Daring to Dare®
Daring to Dare is a development programme aimed at female leaders in higher education.
The ethos of this programme is a belief that through conversations with peers, women researchers can step into their own power. They can start taking actions in their chosen directions, in ways they would not have believed themselves capable of.
Gain clarity about what “next in your career” could look like
Sustain your motivation to thrive personally and professionally
Increase awareness and showcase of what you have to offer
Reflect to help you take steps and make decisions
Become prepared to tackle challenging conversations
Learn from women ahead in their careers and from peers
How does Daring to Dare support early career women in research?
Meet other women in research
Provides an opportunity to build a support network with other women in research across the institution
Exploring together approaches to build confidence, resilience and assertiveness
Structure to reflect on life and career
Creates a framework to review values, goals and purpose through conversations
Helps women in research consider what’s next in their personal and professional lives
Safe space for exploration
Revisiting aspirations and shifting towards new intentions and a path for action
Defining own strategy for leadership and visibility and challenging what is in the way of daring
Who is Daring to Dare for?
Any female leader in higher education:
PhD students and postdoctoral researchers
Technicians, research assistants or facilities managers
Can also be of interest to research fellows, university teachers or new lecturers
This programme is not about a specific career stage, or whether you want to stay or not in academia
It is about providing a space for reflection to support you in the challenges you are facing in your own context
“I believe that the most important single thing, beyond discipline and creativity is daring to dare.”
Maya Angelou
How does Daring to Dare work?
What is the timeframe?
Dates for sessions to be set with your organisation
Once a month for 5 months
on Wednesday or Thursday morning (9.30am- 1pm)
This programme will be run through live virtual workshops.
Daring to Dare can also be delivered as an in-person programme.
This programme takes place over a 5-month period:
We meet once a month for a half-day workshop (virtual gathering)
Each workshop is structured around a series of dedicated themes
You will receive monthly resources to prompt your reflections between sessions
We share interviews of women in research who have had diverse careers
During each workshop, you participate in group discussions with other women to help you work through the reflection framework of the programme
You become part of an accountability group with other women on the programme and meet with them in-between workshops to provide peer support
Joining the programme represents a time commitment that you need to be in a position to make
Workshops are not recorded in order to create a safe and confidential space for discussions
“I think the monthly meetings worked great and I liked the tasks in between that helped me prioritising self-reflection and taking "me time". I also think the many break-out groups were helpful and made the programme engaging, even online. I loved the use of different media, grounding exercises and collaborative tools. The structure of the programme was very clear and the different aspects we were focusing on each month built upon each other and worked really well for me.”
What do women feel more daring about after the programme?
I feel more confident and I think I know what I need to do if a situation arises where I need to be more assertive.
Living my truth.
I feel more daring to push myself in situations that I previously would have felt not confident enough or too inexperienced for.
Articulating my values, strengths and what I can contribute professionally.
I dare to be more honest with myself and as a result more honest with others especially about what I am capable of or willing to offer.
Seeing options outside of academia as potential options for the future.
Testimonials
Experiences of Daring to Dare participants
Access a series of video and audio interviews here, where Daring to Dare participants share their experience of participating in this programme.
This programme came at the right time in my life, where I was feeling a bit lost, disconnected and confused after finishing my PhD. By coming to the workshops and engaging with the activities and groups I have noticed a huge improvement in my confidence and ability to feel like I'm in the driving seat of my career. There's no right or wrong, but I could dare to make decisions that are much more aligned with my values. I gathered some courage to make what I considered a brave job application at the end of June and followed many of your tips when writing my cover letter and during the interviews. As a result of this, they were very impressed, I got offered the job and will be moving soon! I am really excited by this opportunity that could only be possible because I dared to apply and believed in myself! I am incredibly grateful for having the opportunity to have joined this great programme and meet you and so many amazing women
The programme and its holistic approach helped me to visualise myself finishing my PhD and tackle the belief of "not fitting in" and not being "xyz enough". I was initially a bit shocked to hear how so many amazing women (still!) are having the same self-doubts but meeting them has also re-ignited my hope for change within academia. The use of art, and inclusion of different media really inspired me and reminded me to integrate the things that light me up in my life - and truly aim to give the things outside of work the love and attention they deserve.
The sense of community among participants allowed for vulnerable and honest discussions which has been immensely rewarding. Sandrine is a great coach and has shared so many important insights and tips with us.
The session on assertiveness is really helping me to see "assertiveness" not as a character trait that is scary and self-centered, but as a skill that I can develop which fits with how I perceive myself. I liked the personal business model tool. and also the Positive Intelligence resource. Sandrine's encouraging presence and daring us to dare!
It is extremely important to have this space dedicated to women, to hear the stories of other women and to be able to learn and discuss issues without judgement. Many research fields are still very male dominated and very often we can feel very lonely in academia. Your programme is bridging this gap and helping us connect with others that are going through similar situations. I hope that this programme will be made available for many more women in a lot of places. I would definitely tell all my friends to participate
I've been to other career planning/coaching programmes and quit them after a few sessions because their approach seemed out of touch with the economic and gendered realities we are living in, and frankly a lot of them were simply patronising.
The most valuable thing about Daring to Dare for me was its honesty in how the structures and realities in academia really are and Sandrine's empathic, respectful and practical advice to navigate them. Entering this space as equals, as adults that deserve respect for their goals and life choices, the space Sandrine creates was the most valuable aspect for me because it is not patronising. The podcasts and overall grounded approach of the programme really helped me to see this career path in a more realistic hue and with a healthy distance. I think the crucial element was that concerns and life-realities weren't dismissed as individual problems but validated and identified as the structural problems they are. I also think the programme promotes a very healthy and life-serving approach to work. This programme is much more than a career planning programme, it is a space of encouragement to find paths, inside or outside academia, that work for you. I loved that the focus was actually on the individual women participating in the programme, celebrating their dreams, fears and accomplishments.
I often felt as though my insecurities about work unique, but this helped me connect with so many other women that share the same worries. This helps a lot and it changed how I feel about feeling unsure.
What have Daring to Dare participants achieved?
Have put things into perspective
Realised that they have more to offer
Learned how to pitch themselves much better
Connected with wonderful women
Applied for job/ research funding they were scared of considering
Got involved in meetings to increase their visibility
Increased confidence in themselves
Feeling less apologetic, feeling less alone in my 'weird' ways, felt part of a community.
I have had a job interview and got a job offer from it!
I am more likely to seek for the help from others when I meet some difficulties.
Applications to jobs and funding that felt out of my league.
Awarded funding for independent fellowship that I dared to apply for.
Rebalancing what had become a negative self view at work in interactions with colleagues.
Recognising how much I do across a week/month and paying more attention to small achievements or accomplishments.
Applied for a few jobs which I didn't feel I was ready for yet and got two offers! Presented at an international conference just after one of the top personalities/researchers in our field and did not feel any less capable.
Got to connect with several wonderful women. Made time to reflect. Helping others to reflect. Got the courage to assert myself and jump into an interview on short notice! Becoming more aware of self-sabotaging thoughts.
I feel better about my leadership skills, and I do think I have more to contribute.
I've been feeling a lot better about approaching networking tasks.
I can better participate in team discussions and articulate my ideas with confidence. I also feel better informed about career development, and my continued attempts to create more visibility for myself also positively reflects on the Research Centre which I belong to. Finally, I feel more confident and positive about my values and skills, which positively reflects in my work
Experience of participants for online live programmes
Sandrine did a great job in running this programme online. She had a really good presence on Zoom and managed the group discussions online very well. She also experimented with many other platforms to best support our engagement with the programme and one another.
The programme was excellently structured, with each workshop clearly focusing on one or more themes that were also immensely relevant to my professional and personal development. If I could have requested themes to be discussed in the programme, it would have been exactly the programme that Sandrine set up.
Sandrine sent out really helpful emails between workshops that helped me in keeping engaged with the programme and reflect on my development.
Sandrine did an excellent job in planning and delivering the programme. She has so many insights to share and I always felt like she really heard what people were saying, engaged with them and had good advice. I also felt like I could trust Sandrine and she was able to create an environment and sense of community between participants in an online environment where I also felt like I could trust others in discussing quite personal things.
Why does such programme really matter?
Through the delivery of this programme, institutions demonstrate their commitment to addressing the challenges faced by women to transition through research careers.
We know that the career transitions of women in the research environment are far from being straightforward. With the Covid-19 pandemic it is clear that the situation has made things even more challenging for women.
Whether women want to stay in research or are aiming to transition to other professional roles after PhD/ Postdoc/ fellowship, taking the time to reflect, having the needed conversations, becoming more mindful in articulating needs and identifying more strategic approaches for career transitions, will all be goals which Daring to Dare aims to address.
“Daring to Dare aims to give women in research, tools to navigate the complexities of professional transition.”
“I love creating spaces for conversations. I hold the space so that individuals in research careers can reflect deeply about how they can best function within the intense pressures and the competition of the research environment.”
The programme will be led by Dr Sandrine Soubes, the founder of Tesselle Development
Sandrine previously worked as a research scientist in the USA (at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland) and the UK (The University of Sheffield). As a biologist, she has worked on the bacterial cell cycle, the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, cell differentiation and early patterning in the developing brain.
Since leaving the laboratory, she has worked as a developer of professional development programmes, trainer, facilitator and coach, first at the Centre for Stem Cell Biology, then for the Faculty of Science at the University of Sheffield and now as an independent consultant at Tesselle Development.
With 17 years as a researcher developer, she has instigated many engaging programmes that support the leadership of researchers. She was a founding member and instrumental contributor of the Think Ahead team, which won the 2014 Times Higher Education Award for Outstanding support for early career researchers.
Sandrine facilitates key conversations & reflections for individuals. She supports participants take active steps in navigating the complexities of the research environment.
As a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Sandrine has professional values dedicated to respecting the diversity of learners; she thrives on tailoring programmes that benefit diverse research communities.
Sandrine is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion values throughout her professional engagements.