Workshop Description: Register Today!
Sophie Peters’ presentation, Breaking Barriers with Data offers a compelling and authoritative critique of gender and racial inequality in international education.
Speaking as the Inclusion and Safeguarding Coordinator at Teacher Horizons, Sophie draws upon a rich dataset to unpick the structural barriers that continue to hold women—especially those with dependents or from underrepresented backgrounds—back from leadership roles. There is a crucial role for male educators and the data shows how they progress more swiftly and benefit more from experience, marriage, and parenthood. This was far from a bleak narrative. Grounded in a belief that schools can and must be catalysts for change, Sophie calls for equitable hiring practices, meaningful leadership development, and safeguarding that includes and protects all. Her message was simple: “It starts with us.” As educators, leaders and schools help shape the future—and must do so justly.
Key Questions to be addressed:
How do international schools perpetuate or challenge systemic gender and
racial inequity in leadership?
Why does data reveal that male educators advance more quickly and
frequently into leadership roles than their female counterparts?
What role do schools play as early socializing agents in either reinforcing or
dismantling inequality?
How can recruitment, pay structures, and leadership development be made
genuinely equitable?
What practical steps can schools take to embed inclusion, equity, and
justice into everyday policy and practice?
Target Audience: School leaders, Inclusion coordinators
Facilitator:
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Sophie Peters (she/her) is the Inclusion and Safeguarding Coordinator at Teacher Horizons. She worked in schools in the UK and internationally as a History and Politics teacher for nearly a decade, and she was the EDI coordinator in an international school. Drawing on her work as an educator, her military experience and extensive research, Sophie has spoken at international education conferences on issues of safeguarding, diversity and inclusion;, presented webinars; been part of a team that has rewritten policies on greater pay equity; presented webinars with author Ngoc Nguye;, and consulted with UK-based organizations on sexual harassment policies.
Additionally, she has written on topics such as global citizenship, internationalism, belonging, and multilingualism in international schools. Currently, she is developing resources for inclusive leadership to leverage the power of diversity and safeguarding within international education.