To celebrate International Women's Day (IWD), we are shining a light on some of the amazing women who help shape National College of Ireland. Find out what IWD means to them.
Teresa Murray, Head of Communications in NCI
International Women’s Day, March 8th, 2025
Shining a light on the women of NCI.
My name is Teresa Murray. My title is Head of Communications, which means I work on both internal and external communications for the College, most especially strategic events and PR. I’ve been at National College of Ireland for nearly 8 years now.
My path to NCI
I graduated from Trinity with a degree in English when Ireland was still a country of emigrants and I didn’t want to leave, so I knew as many dole offices as temporary workplaces, before my first permanent job. Post-2008, like many others, I experienced redundancy and upskilling – all too long a tale for here! Instead, I’m going to reflect on some steps along the way that have some bearing on International Women’s Day.
The importance of childcare
I worked in an international theatre production office when I was expecting my first baby. I was luckier than most with the workplace I had at the time: they topped up my statutory maternity pay, they actually provided the space and privacy to pump at work, that the law demands for breastfeeding mothers, without making me feel self-conscious or unwelcome and, while I did not really want to give up my jet-setting, multiple time-zone job, I was lucky that they offered me a different role that suited the inflexible reality of creche drop-offs and pick-ups.
When I was expecting my second child, I had a reality check. My salary pretty much just ‘rested in my account’ before going out to pay the creche – how could we afford fees for a second child? My husband earned more than me (luckily enough for us to live on, if we weren’t paying creche fees), so financially, looking at resource allocation… my work outside the home no longer made economic sense for our family.
Around two decades later, it is still mostly mothers who face these same career-limiting decisions I did. Flexible, affordable childcare is essential for true equity of career opportunity.
Opportunity to maintain career trajectory
When my eldest was about to start primary, I began looking around me for a job. Full-time homemaking was just not for me. I was exceptionally lucky to find a part-time job in a touring opera production office at management level. My salary now effectively went straight to part-time creche fees and camps over the summer months, but I could continue my career trajectory, while still having oodles of quality time with my kids.
My boss at the time said to me: “I’m not offering you a part-time job, I’m asking you to be a manager for half-price.” And this proved true – I did the practical bits during office hours, but I never stopped thinking.
Where roles demand speedy decision-making informed by long experience, and strategic input based on sectoral expertise, why can’t they be part-time? You get all that braininess and know-how for half-price! Making more part-time positions available at management level would retain sectoral expertise and offer work-life balance to those who want to be more proactive in their parenting as well as maintaining a career outside the home.
Motivations and aspirations
When I left the arts/show business, I moved briefly to the non-profit sector, and I just didn’t feel I belonged there, though I learned a lot about disability accessibility and political lobbying. When a job came up at NCI, I wondered would I feel the same sense of not belonging in the education sector. I was thrilled by my immediate learning curve, however, and loved the people I was working with, and quickly felt a part of the institution.
Thanks to NCI, I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to undertake Aurora – Advance HE’s leadership development initiative for women. One of the early activities on this programme is a deep dive into values and motivations.
I had always considered myself unambitious, because I do not seek high-paying jobs or big titles. I now understand myself to be differently ambitious, or atypically ambitious, because I seek roles that align with my values and where I can ‘use my powers for good’. I have even taken risks to put myself into these kinds of position, just as much as someone else might do to achieve high status or wealth.
This realisation makes me feel more confident as a professional in the education sector, and I now aspire to be someone who contributes to the sector, rather than just operating within it. I’ve identified some small, immediate steps to help me realise that aspiration, as well as playing with some big ideas to keep me curious.
I should be so lucky...
You’ll see above I highlighted ‘lucky’ a few times – I know I was lucky. Most twentysomethings taking a job are not doing so because they have read and approve of that workplace’s maternity/paternity leave. Once you have dependents, you may still feel fearless about challenging gender norms and being true to yourself, but you may have to compromise in order to feed and care for your family. My choices were not as difficult as those that many face and my career path was not as derailed as that of many mothers who leave the workforce.
However, an increasingly positive attitude to lifelong learning is something that has most definitely grown in society over the past twenty years, so you are lucky enough to live in a time where, no matter what age you are, you can always advance or redirect yourself through education.
What does International Women’s Day mean to me?
I first declared myself a feminist aged around 14 or 15. When Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw coined ‘intersectionality’ back in 1989, I immediately recognised myself as an intersectional feminist: I see that race, class, ethnicity, dis/ability, sexuality, etc., as well as gender, impact the opportunities you encounter and your experience of life.
Last IWD, we were asked to vote on two potential changes to Article 41 of our constitution. Public feedback mostly cited the lack of certainty around the legislative implications of the proposed redefinition of Family to explain that ‘no’. The Care amendment was more complex: it revealed the cultural reliance on women as carers, and the systemic entanglement of women’s rights with disability rights.
Because the proposed Amendment 42B only recognised care within the home, but not also outside the home, nor did it recognise the independent rights of people with disabilities (only as a subject of care), nor was the promise to ‘strive to support’ considered an effective enough commitment by the State, it was rejected. We are left, in 2025, with “a woman’s place is in the home” (my paraphrase and interpretation) enshrined in our constitution.
My hope would be that some near future IWD will see the deletion of Article 41.2.i and the inclusion of a comprehensive Care Amendment that fully considers the rights and supports of persons with disabilities and their carers of any gender, perhaps based on the recommendations of a Citizens’ Assembly on disability.