In this issue:
- Beyond the bench: why early-career women pharmacists must show up in advocacy and community spaces
- PDA NAWP Network attends Fawcett Society event: in conversation with Anki Deo from Hope not Hate
- Top tips for women in pharmacy who want to be in a leadership role
- Feeling stuck at work? Seven questions to help you find fulfilment
- In case you missed it
- Get involved
Beyond the bench: why early-career women pharmacists must show up in advocacy and community spaces
By Oluomachi Yvonne Okereke, clinical pharmacist and co-opted member of the PDA NAWP Network
Pharmacists play a critical role in patient care, but our influence shouldn’t stop at the clinical bench. In a healthcare system increasingly shaped by policy, regulation, and public engagement, it is vital that early-career women pharmacists are visible beyond their day-to-day roles.
Representation matters not only in senior leadership but also in the everyday spaces where professional narratives are shaped. Yet early-career voices are often underrepresented in these conversations.
Participation in professional networks, advisory groups, working parties, and policy consultations enables early-career pharmacists to contribute frontline insights that might otherwise be overlooked. These spaces benefit from the realities we see daily, such as workload pressures, training gaps, equality challenges, and patient access issues, particularly from those still navigating the system.
Through my involvement with the PDA and the PDA NAWP Network, I have seen how seemingly small actions such as organising a Microsoft Teams session, supporting peer engagement, volunteering on panels, or contributing to discussions can create visibility and momentum. These platforms do not require perfection; they require presence. Showing up signals that pharmacists are not only healthcare providers, but also community leaders and system shapers.
For early-career women pharmacists, visibility also challenges a persistent narrative that influence only comes later, after years of practice or formal leadership titles. In reality, showing up early helps shape confidence, professional identity, and professional networks, all of which support long-term career progression and resilience.
If we want a profession that reflects diversity, equity, and lived experience, early-career pharmacists must be part of the conversation, not waiting to be invited, but actively showing up. Beyond the bench, we grow from practitioners into contributors, advocates, and future leaders.
And it starts now.
PDA NAWP Network attends Fawcett Society event: in conversation with Anki Deo from Hope not Hate
By Nadira Mehjabin, medicines optimisation pharmacist and co-opted member of the PDA NAWP Network
Fawcett Society members were invited to a thought-provoking conversation with Anki Deo from the anti-fascism organisation, Hope not Hate. A series of questions sparked a rich conversation covering a range of current issues affecting women and girls. Examples from Anki’s own experiences were explored in greater depth from the viewpoint of incorporating solutions within workplaces, schools, and identifying gaps in policies. The discussion reflected a range of experiences shared during the event.
The conversation explored misogyny and the rise in unregulated platforms and online figures propagating negative attitudes. Online public figures have gained notoriety through motivational content that speaks to a desire in young boys and men to better their lives, for example, through gym culture, dating, wealth acquisition and so on, before allowing harmful gender-based ideology to insidiously slip into their content.
Anki prompted thought around the lack of discernment amongst susceptible individuals in adopting the views and lifestyles of problematic figures. Multiple online entry points exist, and these include ‘manosphere’ content, anti-climate groups, gender-based violence in anti-migration rhetoric, as well as faith-based extreme views on harmful gender roles. Anki described how young people might be drawn in from an initial pull factor such as self-progression, body image and faith, followed by the algorithms pushing similar content, resulting in the person finding themselves adopting a distorted view of reality and harmful attitudes towards women and girls.
Top tips for women in pharmacy who want to be in a leadership role
By Lola Dabiri, locum pharmacist, President of the PDA BAME Network, and Welfare & Scotland Lead for the United Kingdom Black Pharmacist Association (UKBPA)
Many women who choose professions such as pharmacy carry on extra responsibilities in navigating self-management, home (family) management, and career management.
As the old age cliche indicates, ‘women generally wear a number of caps daily, monthly and throughout life’, just because they are women.
In addition to the basic experience of juggling many acts as a woman, a woman who chooses to add serving in leadership roles adds further stresses and additional caps…all on one head. For some, it could be an insurmountable challenge leading to burnout. For others, it could be attainable and rewarding with careful planning.
Below, I will attempt to list and somewhat explore challenges women face (polled from a small cohort of women pharmacists) and also top tips to help not just get into those leadership roles but also thrive in them, by making a good impact and birthing other leaders
Challenges
- Leadership is mainly self-taught.
- Being introverted.
- Not speaking out when needed. Deciding to speak for a positive impact is a requirement in leadership.
- Race and being a minority.
- Inability to conquer the balancing act – cooking, cleaning and other home services.
- Lack of mentors, lack of mentoring experience, or reduced access to suitable mentors.
- Lack of opportunities to develop experience, especially if executive roles in large organisations is the goal.
- Lack of role models that can be identified with.
- Fear of failure.
- Pressures of navigating workplace politics.
Feeling stuck at work? Seven questions to help you find fulfilment
By Louisa Daubney, a certified burnout coach
You’re skilled, dedicated, and care deeply about your patients, but somewhere along the way, your work stopped feeling truly fulfilling. You give your all to support colleagues, keep your pharmacy running efficiently, and make a difference, but your own sense of purpose is slowly fading.
If this sounds familiar, your career may have drifted from your core values. Misalignment often shows up subtly, through frustration, boredom, or quiet exhaustion. When your work no longer reflects what matters most to you, it can quietly drain your energy, reduce your motivation, and weaken your resilience, sometimes even contributing towards the risk of burnout.
This article explores seven reflective questions to help you reconnect with your values, express your authentic self, and shape a career that feels energising and purposeful.
Why staying connected to your values matters
When your work reflects what truly matters to you, you’re more likely to feel energised, motivated, confident, and resilient. When it drifts from your priorities, even tasks you’re good at can feel draining, and frustration can quietly build.
In case you missed it
- Celebrating 120 years of the PDA NAWP Network
- NAWP Network shares Fawcett Society initiative on using storytelling to enact change
- Breaking barriers: Encouraging young women to lead in pharmacy
- PDA NAWP attends Fawcett Society event on combating racism and misogynoir
- The gender pay gap, a persistent inequality that continues to disadvantage women
Get involved
- Join NAWP’s Facebook group here.
- Follow NAWP on Instagram here.
- Use #PDAnawp on all social media platforms to post on issues relevant to women pharmacists and to suggest recommended reading for allies of the network.
- Join the WhatsApp group here.
- Contact the committee by emailing [email protected]
- About NAWP
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