A Spotlight On 'Women In Politics'

The newly formed St Andrews Women In Politics (WIP) society was forced to cancel one of its weekly discussion events after being inundated with forty applications for only five spots on its committee.

While the society gained affiliation with the St Andrews Student Union in January 2025, Claire Waskow and Petra Pender, co-founders of WIP, started generating the idea for the society much earlier in the academic year. However, it was the United States presidential election that ultimately catalysed the creation of the society.

Pender commented: “Claire texted me after the election, I think it was a day after or two days after, being like, ‘let’s kick this up a bit, let’s found Women in Politics right now. I think this is the time for it; let’s put our anger and sadness to good use.’”

“St Andrews is such a large school for International Relations. It’s internationally renowned for that, and even apart from that, there are so many people that are interested in politics. We really admired Women In Business, but we felt that there needed to be a similar space for women in politics. They [Women In Business] have hosted an event for politics, which is great, but we just felt it was so distinct that it needed its own space.”

The society has a variety of aims designed to foster a political space for not just cis-gender women, but also trans and non-binary students.

“The idea for Women In Politics is both a safe space for open forum discussion where women can get together and discuss politics, and also pre-professional development. There’s so many people in St Andrews, myself and the other two execs included, that want to get into politics professionally; and it’s difficult to get your foot in the door, particularly when you’re a member of a marginalised community.”

WIP commended the University for the aid they offer female-identifying students studying politics, specifically mentioning the strength of career services and the School of International Relations itself. However, they acknowledge that there is always more that can be done, and that is the vacuum this society is trying to fill.

When asked about general reception of the society, Pender commented, “Everyone’s been very positive, enthusiastic, and excited. What’s been said a lot — which I totally agree with — is, ‘Why did this not exist before?’”

WIP is looking forward to providing a variety of opportunities and activities for those who choose to purchase the membership.

“Right now, being a member of Women In Politics looks like attending open forum discussions every week where we discuss pre-professional development and issues that women face within politics. Two weeks ago, it was about AI and advancements in women’s health; and this week, a CV and LinkedIn workshop. We’re arranging for some members of Parliament and local councillors to come do a panel about pre-professional development and getting into politics as a woman.”

WIP hopes to continue to bring in guest speakers for members of the society, including University staff members and collaborations with other societies.

“We’re hoping to do a mixer with Pool Society soon because they want to encourage more women and non-binary people into pool, which is a very male-dominated sport. We also want to collaborate with Feminist Society and EmpowerHer; all the female-oriented societies, and we’re thinking of maybe even things that are less politically oriented. We’re aware that people may be put off by politics because that’s not everyone’s forte, so just attracting women who might not even be aware that they want to discuss things like this in an open forum,” commented Pender.

In response to the amount of committee applications received, Pender stated: “We were thrilled; we were so happy that we got such an enthusiastic response […] We’re encouraging people, even if they didn’t get it this time, to reapply next semester when there will be more spaces.”

Image by Women In Politics