Confused? Overview of meeting types

Provides an overview of the seven different meeting types that the CYGNA Women in Academia Network currently offers

Anne-Wil Harzing - Mon 5 Oct 2026 08:22 (updated Sat 24 Oct 2026 14:17)

Are you confused about the different types of meetings that CYGNA offers? Rest assured, you are not the only one. So, on this page, we try to shed a bit more light on this. First, you can now find our general meeting philosophy here: How are CYGNA meetings different?

Second, please realize that our meeting types have expanded considerably over the years. Hence, if you are a longstanding CYGNA member, you may not yet be familiar with the many new meeting opportunities that have been introduced by the new Lead Team since 2023.

A potted history

In 2014 CYGNA started out as a small group of 8-12 women meeting every other month at London-based institutions. Soon we expanded our size and scope by organising panels and meet-ups at conferences, establishing CYGNA North in 2019 with an event in Leeds, and offering a full-day writing bootcamp at Middlesex University for our 5-year anniversary.

When COVID-19 hit, our meetings moved online. We organized no less than sixteen online meetings before getting back face-to-face in May 2022. During this period, our network also grew rapidly from around 100 – mainly UK-based – members to an international community of nearly 300 members. Since 2022 CYGNA has thus settled on a pattern of mostly online meetings, with one or two on-site meetings per year.

Meeting types: different focus and audience

After our new CYGNA Lead Team started in 2023, we have significantly expanded the variety of meeting formats. Currently, CYGNA features ten different meeting types that vary in terms of their primary focus (professional development or networking) and intended audience (entire network or sub-groups). The image above positions these different meeting types on these two axes. Different meeting types also vary in their frequency, length, and format as indicated in brackets for each meeting type.

Topic-based plenary meetings
(every 2 months; 2-6 hours; online/on-site/hybrid)

Originally our only meeting type, we have organised over 70 of these meetings to date. Open to the entire network, attendance varies from 25 to 50 members, and they can be online or on-site. Our 2-hour online meetings feature a mix of panels, short presentations, and interactive elements and are primarily professional development focused. On-site meetings are typically 4-6 hours long and combine professional development with informal networking. A summary of our meetings to date is here: CYGNA: Women In Academia – plenary meetings.

CYGNA networking meetings
(every 2 months; 1 hour; online only)

Kind, inclusive, and non-instrumental networking meetings. Introduced in September 2026, CYGNA networking meetings are online, open to the entire network but ar both shorter (one hour) and more informal than our topic-based meetings. They are generally hosted by one of our CYGNA Lead Team members and we vary the way they are run to accomodate different preferences. For more information see: What are CYGNA networking meetings?

CYGNA Writes
(weekly; 2 hours; online only)

Initiated and spearheaded by Lead Team member Christa Sathish in November 2024, CYGNA Writes provides our CYGNA sisters with a weekly 2-hour safe space for focused writing. CYGNA Writes is thus primarily professional development focused, but regular attendance will build networking connections too. All interested CYGNA members can join, but in order to receive invites you will need to be on the organizers’ mailing list. So if you want to join, contact Christa Sathish.

CYG: Teaching & Scholarship Research
(every 2-3 months; 1 hour; online only)

Our first CYG (= Cygna SIG = Special Interest Group) was initiated and spearheaded by Jane Neal-Smith in April 2024. This CYG meets every 2-3 months, and is primarily professional development focused. Meetings provide a mix of guest speakers, meet the editors’ sessions, group discussions, and book launches related to teaching & scholarship research. This CYG is open to all CYGNA members, but as CYG-TSR has its own JICS mailing list you will only receive invites if you have joined this group. To join, contact Jane Neal-Smith.

Senior CYG
(monthly; 1 hour; online only)

Initiated and spearheaded by Lead Team member Ciara O’Higgins in November 2024, this CYG is open only to CYGNA members in the later stages of their academic careers, typically at full professorial level, and with considerable leadership experience in academic institutions, e.g. responsible for big research teams, Department heads, (Associate) Deans, Pro-VCs etc. Meetings are primarily professional development focused, but as a relatively small and stable group (20-25 members), there is also a significant networking element. If you want to join, contact Ciara O'Higgins.

Conference meet-ups
(irregular, generally 3-4 a year; 1-3 hours; on-site only)

Although first introduced in 2019, these meet-ups have really taken off since 2023. We typically have 3-4 conference meet-ups every year, organized by volunteer members who are attending the conference. They vary from small informal, ad-hoc meetups to larger groups scheduling an official dinner, or even multiple meet-ups as at the Academy of Management 2025 Copenhagen. They are squarely focused on networking (and fun!). For more information see: Can anyone organize a conference meet-up?

CYGNA jam sessions
(irregular, on demand; 30-60 minutes; online only)

Introduced to accommodate the need for quick ad-hoc discussions about a specific topic, CYGNA jam sessions can be called by any member, are primarily professional development focused, and are open to all. CYGNA jams are currently underused; we therefore encourage CYGNA sisters to call them if they have a specific practical academic issue they would like to discuss. They are self-organized by members, but if at all possible one of the Lead Team will join. For details see: What is a CYGNA jam session and how do I organize one? 

Asynchronous and ad-hoc meeting places

In addition to these synchronous meetings, CYGNA also features two asynchronous online meeting places, as well as a multitude of ad-hoc CYGNA collaborations:

Our CYGNA-wide mailing list

This is where we circulate meeting invites for meetings open to all members, invitations for conference meet-ups, anything on gender in academia, job opportunities, special issues, resources on academic careers and skills, and much more. You can read more about this here: Can anyone send an email to the CYGNA mailing list?

CYGNA Discussion Forum

Open to everyone in the network, you can use this closed LinkedIn Group to circulate anything you would normally send to the mailing list. However, it also provides a space for more interactive discussion, videos, polls, and any other resources that cannot easily be shared by email. You can read more about its functions here: What is the CYGNA closed LinkedIn group for?

CYGNA collaborations

Finally, CYGNA facilitates a multitude of smaller ad-hoc member-initated workshop collaborations, seminar opportunities, teaching collaborations, writing partnerships, panels at conferences, and many other one-to-one partnerships. Most of these are invisible to other CYGNA members and even to the CYGNA Lead Team, but some have been written up here: CYGNA collaborations.

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