Athena swan charter annual report

1. 
   BACKGROUND AND UPDATE ON THE ATHENA SWAN CHARTER 2
   
2. 
   GOVERNANCE AND NETWORK GROUP 3
   
   1. 
      Athena Steering Group 3
      
   2. 
      Athena Network Group 4
      
3. 
   GENDER EQUALITY CHARTER MARK (GEM) 5
   

4. 
   SUMMARY OF WARWICK ATHENA SWAN SUBMISSIONS 7
   
5. 
   RESEARCH CONFIRMS POSITIVE IMPACT OF THE ATHENA
   

6. 
   GOOD PRACTICE INTIATIVES IMPLEMENTED AS PART
   

The University of Warwick became a member of the Athena SWAN Charter in 2009. The Charter recognises and celebrates good employment practice for women working in Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine (STEMM) in Higher Education and attempts to address gender inequalities within disciplines. Continued commitment to the Charter is enabling the University to raise its Equality and Diversity profile, both internally and externally, and is providing a framework on which to build on current good practice. Further information about the Athena Charter can be found at:

This is the third Annual Report on Warwick’s Athena work, which details the significant progress made on Athena initiatives since the University joined the Charter in 2009. Future reports will also include Warwick’s progress on the new Gender Equality Charter Mark (GEM), which will be formally launched in November 2014 - (see Section 3).

Progress is reported against initiatives implemented since the Athena Institutional Silver award was conveyed to Warwick in November 2013 (see Appendix 1 for progress on the Silver Action Plan). Many of the Athena initiatives have historically formed part of the University’s Equality Objectives 2012-2015 and progress (as of May 2014) against the objectives can be seen at:

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/equalops/singleequalityscheme/)

It is proposed to review the Equality Objectives for 2015 onwards in line with the new University Strategy. Attention during 2013/14 has focused on starting to work on the actions identified on the Silver Athena Action Plan and assisting the remaining STEMM department, Computer Science, develop their Bronze Athena submission. Guidance and support has also been given to WBS whilst working on their Bronze submission in the GEM trial.

1. 
   Background and Update on the Athena SWAN Charter
   

A decision by the Department of Health in 2011 to link National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centre and Biomedical Research Unit funding to Athena SWAN Silver awards, resulted in an increase in membership from medical and dental schools. Warwick Medical School (WMS) was the first medical school to achieve Athena success (which was described by ECU as a ‘landmark achievement’), and qualified WMS to fulfil the research funding council’s requirements.

In addition, RCUK set out a ‘Statement of Expectation for Equality and Diversity’ for institutions receiving research council funding. RCUK expects recipients of funding to ‘provide evidence of ways in which equality and diversity issues are managed at both an institutional and departmental level’. Participation in the Athena Charter contributes to such evidence.

The ECU has seen a considerable amount of interest in the Athena Charter from abroad. In November 2014, ECU will be launching a three-year pilot to extend the Charter to the higher education sector in the Republic of Ireland. This will be funded by Ireland’s Higher Education Authority, and will be the first time the Charter has been run outside of the UK. Interest has also been expressed by the Australian Academy of Science, and discussions may take place as to the practicality of such a Charter Mark being introduced in Australia.

A comprehensive guidance document on the Athena awards process is currently in development. This document will outline a new appeals process for unsuccessful submissions, which is something institutions have been requesting for some time. New submission forms are also being developed, but Athena policy is that there will be a period of time where both old and new submission forms will be accepted. ECU will also be providing a programme of panellist training, to help make the assessment process more robust. An updated set of benchmarking data will also become available as part of a re-vamp of the EUC Athena SWAN website.

2. 
   Governance and Network Group
   

The Warwick Athena Steering Group continues to meet termly. The membership of the Group has recently been expanded to include the Chairs of the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences, in preparation for launch of the Gender Equality Charter Mark (GEM) (see Section 3). There have also been changes in the representation from Research Support Services (RSS) and Human Resources (HR) (see full membership below).

The Athena Steering Group is chaired by Professor Tim Jones, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Knowledge Transfer, Business Engagement and Research (Science and Engineering). The Athena Steering Group provides University-level strategy for Athena, taking oversight of University-wide activities to ensure that Warwick does not disadvantage women, or indeed anyone, within its talent pool, and considers new initiatives, issues of concern and monitors the career progression of women across all STEMM disciplines and increasingly in other faculties also.

The key aim of the Athena Steering Group is to review and develop strategies for the implementation of appropriate activities within the Athena agenda and to encourage the career development of women in all Faculties within the University of Warwick. The Steering Group addresses issues that either cannot be managed at departmental level or where there is institutional wide impact.

The Group Membership is:

Professor Tim Jones, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Knowledge Transfer, Business Engagement and Research (Science and Engineering) – Chair

Professor Pam Thomas – Chair of the Board of Faculty of Science

Professor Peter Winstanley – Chair of the Board of Faculty of Medicine

Professor Maureen Freely – Chair of the Board of Faculty of Arts

Professor Christopher Hughes – Chair of the Board of Faculty of Arts

Professor Alison Rodger – Chair of the Athena Network Group

Ms Geraldine Mills – HR Engagement Director

Dr Leona Morton, Research Development Manager, Science & Engineering

Mrs Leonie Walls – Human Resources Manager, Administration

Mrs Sandra Beaufoy – Human Resources Adviser, Equality and Diversity

The primary aim of the group is to support and encourage STEMM departments and Arts and Social Science departments within the University to progress their Athena and GEM Awards respectively and to advance to the next level of award. This is on the basis that this process creates a better working environment for all.

The Terms of Reference of the group remain unchanged.

2. 
   Athena Network Group
   

For the time being, staff from the Arts and Social Sciences Faculties attend the Athena Network Meetings to share best practice already being implemented in STEMM departments. A decision will need to be taken in 2014/15, if GEM submissions warrant a separate Network Group or if the Athena Network Group expands in size.

Communication of Athena successes and up and coming events related to Athena Work are also posted on the Athena web pages:

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/equalops/athena/.

Members of staff from Warwick have also attended a number of national meetings where Athena matters are part of the agenda discussions, as well as giving presentations on Warwick’s Athena work. In particular, staff from WMS are frequently asked to attend workshops/meetings to present on the challenges they faced whilst putting together their bronze and silver submissions, and Alison Rodger and Sandra Beaufoy have given presentations on Warwick’s journey to achieve Silver Athena status.

3. 
   Gender Equality Charter Mark (GEM)
   

• 
  All arts, humanities and social sciences disciplines
  
• 
  Under-representation of men at certain levels and in some disciplines
  
• 
  Professional and support staff (institutional submissions only)
  
• 
  Transgender equality (institutional submissions only)
  

A pilot of GEM took place between September 2013 and April 2014. WBS took part in the pilot of the scheme and subsequently submitted for a Bronze award in April 2014. At the time of writing this report, WBS have been informed that their submission has been successful and their formal award will be presented to them later this year.

31 GEM awards were applied for with a 71% overall success rate (22 awards). This compares with 72% for the November 2013 Athena SWAN award round. Five Universities and seventeen individual departments have been recognised in the pilot. All have achieved bronze level awards. Moving forward the GEM process will be developed in light of feedback from trial participants, but there will be much synergy between the two Charter marks.

It is expected that the formal launch of GEM will be in November 2014, and other Warwick departments in the Arts and Social Science Faculties are being encouraged to participate in the GEM process and submit for an award in the first or second tranche of submissions. Several ‘Windows on Warwick’ sessions have been organised in an attempt to disseminate information on GEM to departments, and Sandra Beaufoy and Claire Martin have already attended faculty and departmental meetings to discuss GEM.

The Dean of WBS was asked to comment on how he found the submission process of the Gender Equality Charter Mark. His comments are as follows:

‘WBS’s participation in the pilot Gender Equality Charter Mark (GEM), has given the School an opportunity to consider the processes in operation to ensure we offer equality of opportunity for all staff. Although data capture and analysis was one of the most significant challenges to our submission, once we obtained the relevant data it revealed several trends of which we were not aware. The data demonstrated that WBS has several areas of excellent practice, as well as highlighting some areas where we believe improvements can be made.

Taking part in the trial has also allowed us to help shape the future of GEM. Our feedback on the process has been provided to the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU), who are now updating the requirements for GEM to reflect some of our comments, such as the tight timescale, lack of cohesion with the Athena SWAN submissions and a lack of detail due to tight word count.

WBS’s GEM submission is the culmination of a lot of hard work from a large cross-section of staff and the profile and message of GEM seems to be permeating throughout the School. Specific actions from WBS’s 3-year Action Plan are being championed by particular staff members going forward who are thus helping to spread the ideas and philosophy of GEM. Obtaining a GEM bronze award is a proud achievement for WBS and demonstrates our commitment to equality for all staff’.
Professor Mark Taylor, Dean of WBS

4. 
   Summary of Warwick Athena Swan Submissions
   

The table below depicts each of the ten Warwick STEMM departments and details progress that each have made, as well as the Athena contact for each department. All awards are renewable after a three year period, and it is hoped that within that time period, each department will have sufficiently moved their action plans forward to be ready to submit for the next level of award.

Department	Coordinator	Level Awarded	Proposed Submission Date	Next Level of Award to be applied for
Physics	Sue Burrows	Silver (2014)	Renewed Silver in 2014	Gold
Chemistry	Alison Rodger	Silver (2013)	Renewed Silver in 2013	Gold
WMS	Annie Young	Silver (2013)	April or Nov 2015	Gold
Psychology	Liz Blagrove	Bronze (2012)	April 2015	Silver
Engineering	Joanne Collingwood	Bronze (2013)	April 2015	Silver
Life Sciences	Orkun Soyer	Bronze (2013)	Nov 2014	Silver
WMG	Jane Coleman	Bronze (2013)	tbd	Silver
Mathematics	Nav Patel	Bronze (2013)	tbd	Silver
Statistics	Wilfrid Kendal	Bronze (2013)	tbd	Silver
Comp Science	Alexandra Cristea	Pending	tbd	Silver

Representatives from the University, WMG, Mathematics and Statistics attended the Athena Awards Presentation Ceremony which was held at Imperial College, London in November 2013 and can be seen in the following pictures collecting their awards.

5. 
   Research Confirms Positive Impact of the Athena SWAN Charter
   

The Equality Challenge Unit commissioned Loughborough University to investigate the impact of Athena in higher education institutions in the UK, including:

• 
  The effectiveness of the Charter in advancing women’s careers in STEMM.
  
• 
  The sustainability of the changes that higher education institutions are making as a result of their participation in Athena SWAN.
  

• 
  The impact of the Athena SWAN Charter in changing the culture and attitudes across the participating higher education institutions to address inequality and unequal representation.
  
• 
  The suitability of Athena SWAN processes for use in complex and busy institutional environments.
  

The report evidenced that universities and departments that hold Athena SWAN awards are more advanced in addressing unequal representation than those that do not. A number of recommendations were made to ECU that will help them to continue to refine and improve their processes so that Athena SWAN remains an effective tool for HEIs and a valuable benchmark for excellence in gender equality. David Ruebain, Chief Executive of the Equality Challenge Unit, said:

“We are, of course, delighted with the findings of this independent evaluation. At a time when universities and departments have to target resources where they will make the biggest difference, I hope it will be reassuring to know there is independent evidence of the sustainable impact working towards an Athena SWAN award can have.

However, we are not going to rest on our successes; we are going to continue to build on them. We welcome the recommendations for further development and improvement of the process that will ensure the Charter remains effective and fit for purpose”.

The full report entitled ‘Advancing women’s careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine: evaluating the effectiveness and impact of the Athena SWAN Charter is available to download: http://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/evaluating-athena-swan.

6. 
   Good Practice Initiatives Implemented As Part Of Athena SWAN process