Join the University of Manchester’s School of Social Sciences for the annual Christabel Pankhurst Lecture on Wednesday 29 April, 4:00–6:30pm, at the Roscoe Building, Theatre B.

This year’s lecture will be delivered by trailblazing legal leader and equality advocate Dr I. Stephanie Boyce CBE FKC.

Drawing on her lived experience from a low-income, first-generation British household to national leadership, Stephanie will explore what it truly means to lead as a woman in systems that often reward conformity and resist change. She will examine how power operates within the legal profession, why progress for women remains uneven, and the structural inequalities that persist even where representation has improved.

Using P.U.S.H. (Persevere Until Something Happens) as both a personal philosophy and a call to action, the lecture will highlight the barriers women face across progression, pay, credibility, safety, and influence. It will also address the compounded impact of race, class, disability, and caring responsibilities, emphasising the need to move beyond access towards real influence and lasting change.

The lecture will be delivered as a hybrid event, followed by a Q&A session and a networking reception for in-person attendees.

Register to attend

This event forms part of the School of Social Sciences’ ongoing commitment to advancing equality, inclusion, and social justice, continuing the legacy of Christabel Pankhurst through critical conversations on gender, power, and change.