Vicki Stott

Your point is well taken, Mr Bond

Adulting is (a) hard, in unforeseen ways and (b) clichéd in all the ways Hallmark predicts.

Absolute bloody joy to listen to @iandunt.bsky.social at #wonkhefestival today. Articulate, cogent and ultimately optimistic exposition of the importance of liberal HE and its critical role in fostering debate.

Lush! I wonder how well they worked!

13 hours ago, when I got on this plane, the fact that I’d downloaded Exploding Kittens to my phone seemed like the genius flight endurance plan I needed. Reader, it wasn’t.

😂😂 Genius. Do you provide a ghost-writing service??

The cabin crew are having a good old gossip and a laugh, just behind me, and I’m well jel!

The thing about this *particular* plane is that I’ve spent 4 hours working, watched a film (“Oblivion”. It’s aptly named). Played Exploding Kittens for about an hour, read some Haruki Murakami and we’ve still got 5 hours left!

On a plane. If I ever write an autobiography (I won’t), the section about my 50s will be 50% on a plane, about 15% doing exciting stuff in other places, and the rest is admin.

I’m in the classiest little cocktail bar in Hanoi. There’s a drunk Aussie at the bar, boring. He leaned over to introduce himself to a single woman, also at the bar. The barman leaned over and said “you know that’s the second time you’ve introduced yourself to her, right?” I love that so much!

A painting entitled Grandmother and grandchildren. The old lady is smiling serenely. Sitting on a bench. A baby sits in her lap, while a small girl combs her hair. A black cat arches its back on the bench beside her. The colours are muted but the composition conveys a deep sense of domestic harmony.

A propaganda poster shows two young women leaning forward as if against a strong wind. They are dressed identically in dark blue clothes, red headwear and camouflage green capes. They hold rifles. There is Vietnamese text beneath the painting which translates to “we advance to defeat the invaders”

A picture showing a busy scene of rural labour. It’s painted in lacquers so the colours are both rich and luminous. A group of people in traditional, woven, round Vietnamese hats. All carry buckets on bamboo yokes across their shoulders. There is a sense of bustle and busyness in the scene.

A picture painted in deep, rich lacquers shows a woman seated on a domestic, bent cane chair. She wears blue trousers and a red top. Her black hair is pulled off her face. A small girl in silver and blue pyjamas stands between the woman’s knees, pressing her face into the woman’s breast. Her glance is downcast and her hair is loose. Behind them stands a boy rendered in darker colours, looking at the woman. It is harder to see the detail of him. He is carrying a towel or folded sheet. The trio is outlined in vivid, bright gold which fades into a very dark background. No detail is discernible. The picture is called “They tested another A Bomb”

I went to the Art Museum yesterday. The section of contemporary Vietnamese paintings worked in lacquers is amazing. And of course the propaganda art is something else!

Women in red ao dai pose beneath a poster celebrating the 50th anniversary of Vietnamese reunification

Men playing chequers in the street. Joan Kiem, Hanoi

A Bia Hanoi with a moped in the background

A bowl of pho noodles

We’ve come on to Hanoi, so here are some impressions from the last couple of days.

I’m travelling, in Japan, and have lost all track of UK time. But I think it’s about start time for the London marathon. So best of luck to all my running buddies! I hope you have an excellent run!

The question on everyone’s tongues.

Sing along! You know the words!

I’m getting strange looks from my fellow passengers on my flight, who think I may *not* be better than everyone they’ve ever met - just more mad

Simply, I hope?

This thread has made me properly chuckle, this morning. I will be re-writing our hiring policy to include liturgical assonance from now on! (Liturgical Assonance would be a GREAT name for a band, no??)

I’m reaching for my deed poll form as I type… (delusions of grandeur?? Moi???)

Well done, monkey! That’s important work!

QAA graphic with text reading: QAA welcomes Professor Edward Peck as the next Chair of the Office for Students

"We'd like to take this opportunity to welcome the appointment of Professor Edward Peck as the next Chair of the Office for Students, and we very much look forward to working together in supporting the quality and standards of our sector." - Vicki Stott FRSA (@vickistott.bsky.social), CEO, QAA

Well if you ever do it, count me in.

I hear you..!

Well it’s good to know that other women whose views I respect are also worrying about this shit.

There are times when you must speak, not because you are going to change the opposing side, but because if you do not speak, they have changed you.

(And as a postscript, I had to think for an embarrassingly long time about the appropriateness of writing something that reflects my personal values on a platform dedicated mostly to my professional life… that’s not right, surely?!)

if even *I* feel this way,how must it be for women who don’t have those layers of privilege? And what can I do to help? Those are my IWD reflections and I’ve held off posting them until the day after, because they’re not very uplifting! I would love to know if you feel similarly…?

Frankly, patriarchy is fighting back hard behind the camouflaging shield of cup cakes and warm words.

So, for IWD this year, I’m reflecting that if I - a white, middle class woman who has scaled the corporate ladder with a moderate degree of success -

where that really shouldn’t be a thing. Even in the UK, companies are “re-thinking” their DEI commitments. The rights of women are dismissed as ‘culture wars’ issues. We have to choose our words carefully if they’re to gain traction. Tread wisely, speak softly, don’t cause offence. Sound familiar?

Increasingly, we cannot rely on the rights of bodily self-determination that should be axiomatic. Violence against women and girls is a pandemic we’re trying to fight with tools unequal to the task. Abortion and contraceptive rights are being unpicked in western democracies