‘Herstory’: the barriers facing women in health and care In 1929, Virginia Woolf created a tragic fictional character – Judith Shakespeare, the twin of William Shakespeare. In her essay ‘A room of one's own’, Woolf concluded that even had Judith had the same talent as William, she wouldn’t have been able to succeed as he had. She believed that the treatment of women by society prevented many female writers from achieving their potential.
Fast forward to 2014 and the announcement of the HSJ's ‘Inspirational women in health’ list. Two colleagues from The King’s Fund and I were included in this list, and at least one third of the women named have been coached by, or attended development programmes run by, me or my colleagues. This prompted me to revisit in my head the tale of Judith Shakespeare and to relate it to my 16 years’ experience of working with women in health.
Fast forward to 2014 and the announcement of the HSJ's ‘Inspirational women in health’ list. Two colleagues from The King’s Fund and I were included in this list, and at least one third of the women named have been coached by, or attended development programmes run by, me or my colleagues. This prompted me to revisit in my head the tale of Judith Shakespeare and to relate it to my 16 years’ experience of working with women in health.
