The Athena Swan Programme
The Athena SWAN Charter recognises commitment to the advancement of women's careers in science, engineering and technology subjects in academia. Athena SWAN awards celebrate good practice in the recruitment, retention and promotion of women in higher education institutions, and their individual departments. We were awarded a Silver departmental award in April 2015 and October 2018. We aim to apply for a Gold award in due course.
The self-assessment process and feedback from departmental staff and students has already led to some notable changes in the way the department operates, including:
- Improvements in communication between the department, and its staff and students
- The introduction of a mentoring scheme
- Improvements to our maternity leave support package
We keep staff and students updated on the progress of the Athena SWAN process via presentations at the departmental away day and as part of the Research Meeting programme, by email and website updates, and at the weekly Head of Department briefing. We encourage staff and students to become involved in the process and welcome feedback and ideas at any time. The Athena SWAN process is led by Susannah Murphy and a Self Assessment Team (SAT). Details of current members of the Athena SWAN SAT are here. The Terms of Reference of the Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team can be seen here.
This area of the website contains information on:
Please contact Susannah Murphy if there is any information that you would like to see added.
The results of our 2018 staff survey report can be found here.