Women in journalism: challenges and career development

The BBC Academy's Najiba Kasraee is joined by BBC Swahili service editor and presenter Zuhura Yunus, BBC Russian's Renata Tairbekova and Mahjooba Nowrouzi from the BBC Afghan stream.

They talk candidly about the challenges of being a woman in the newsroom and offer advice on how to progress while maintaining a work/life balance.

These four journalists, all based at the World Service's London headquarters, talk about the challenges and advantages of being a female journalist in their home countries as well as in the UK. They offer advice on networking, with Zuhura and Renata challenging perceptions that men make the best networkers.

You'll need confidence. As Renata says, it's something every journalist should have: "If you can't go out on the street and do a vox pop, you're probably not going to be a journalist."

Renata and Mahjooba talk about how being a parent can affect your career, from taking time out for maternity leave to needing to leave work on time to pick up children from childcare. They talk about the need for a working mum to be organised, have a great support network and be resourceful when working around the inevitable childhood illnesses.

They each offer tips for women wanting to develop a career in journalism. Advice includes taking on board criticism and building on your mistakes to keeping your contacts and network organised, for your work and home life.