Evidence Cafe: Supporting diverse new motherhoods for work inclusion

Dates

Thursday, May 18, 2023 - 10:30 to 13:00

Location

Library Seminar Room 7, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

Contact

OUBS-Events@open.ac.uk

The Evidence Café aims to explore how voluntary organisations and community engagement can support diverse new motherhoods for work inclusion.

Through open discussions of evidence from our latest qualitative research project on diverse new motherhoods, we hope to collaboratively understand how voluntary and community organisations as well as policy makers support diverse new motherhoods for work inclusion. A policy brief will be co-created during the collaborative workshop.

Recent studies show that there is a lack of understanding of the diverse experiences of motherhood for work inclusion in the UK. Voluntary sector has recently noticed a worrying situation of many new mothers, whose job prospects are deteriorated by the current cost-of-living and economic crisis. Ethnic minority mothers in the UK also tend to experience various forms of disadvantages and discriminations at workplace than White British mothers. It is crucial to understand the diverse experiences of new motherhood and how communities have taken initiatives to support them and encourage work inclusion.

We hope to provide an opportunity for voluntary and community organisations who have been supporting diverse new motherhoods to connect, share with each other, and build sustainable relationships. 

Source: Evidence-Based Practice - Medline (medlineuniversity.com)

Registration
If interested in attending and contributing to The Evidence Café, reach out to the team by email: oubs-CVSL@open.ac.uk 
 
Agenda 
10:30 - 11:00 Introduction & Evidence from Diverse New Motherhoods project 
11:00 - 11:30 Focus group discussion based on our project’s preliminary findings
11:30 - 11:45 Break 
11:45 - 12:30 Collaborative workshop to develop a policy brief  
12:30 - 13:00 Lunch and discussions 

Facilitators

Dr. Wenjin Dai is a Lecturer in the Department of Public Leadership & Social Enterprise at The Open University Business School. Her research interests include diversity, leadership and ethics. She explores context-grounded meanings and lived experiences using ethnographic and arts-based methods. As a new mother herself, Wenjin is the project lead for ‘Supporting diverse new motherhoods for work inclusion’ with Dr. Francesca Calo and Dr. Fidele Mutwarasibo.

Dr.  Francesca Calo is a lecturer in the Department of Public Leadership & Social Enterprise at The Open University Business School. Her research interest includes social enterprise and third sector organisations in health and social care, impact evaluation methods and social innovation. Some of the topics she is currently researching are coproduction and relation between third sector and public sector; third sector as a facilitator of integration of migrants and refugees; methods for the evaluation of social enterprise and third sector contribution to health and well-being. 

Dr. Fidèle Mutwarasibo is a Lecturer in Work-Based Learning at the Faculty of Business and Law and Director of The Open University’s Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership. He has extensive experience in the voluntary sector (volunteer, executive and trustee/director). He is an expert in EDI and participation. He is researching inclusive leadership and collaboration practices that address racial equity and goes beyond reliance on racialised minority gatekeepers looking after their self-interest.