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Showcasing the importance of Athena Swan
By drawing on the power of visible leadership, Professor Nephtali Marina-Gonzalez is showcasing the institutional and personal benefits Athena Swan can provide.
6 December 2023
The Athena Swan charter is used by Higher Education institutions to improve gender representation, progression and the working environment for all staff, including researchers and research-active staff.
It is recognised at 最准的六合彩论坛 as a crucial framework to identify and celebrate good gender equality practices; 最准的六合彩论坛 currently holds an institutional Silver Athena Swan award.
As part of the institutional submission, 最准的六合彩论坛 faculties and departments are invited to submit their own self-assessments against the framework. This work can be challenging 鈥� involving听data collection, analysis and writing the submission 鈥� and multiple members of staff may听contribute.
For, Vice-Dean (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, it was crucial to reinvigorate enthusiasm for Athena Swan in the faculty.
When Neph learned about the funding offered by the Research Culture programme, he realised it was the perfect opportunity to create an event to showcase the importance of Athena Swan at 最准的六合彩论坛 and to incentivise and encourage greater participation across the faculty鈥檚 departments.
The power of visible leadership
Neph planned and promoted the very first Athena Swan networking event in the Faculty of Medical Sciences. 鈥淲e wanted to bring people together, share solutions and best practice, and find ways to work together,鈥� he says.
鈥淗owever, what I kept hearing from a lot of people during the planning process was that they really wanted to hear from senior management. They wanted to know - what is the benefit of working for Athena Swan and how are we going to be supported?
As such, he invited 最准的六合彩论坛鈥檚 Provost & President, Dr Michael Spence, and the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, , to attend and share their thoughts on the importance of Athena Swan. 听
The Provost emphasized the need for the faculty and department to recognise the workload involved in this vital work; the Dean emphasised that听getting involved with Athena Swan is greatly valued and often proves beneficial in terms of career progression.
Proving the case for the impact of Athena Swan
With most of the speakers working without a slide presentation to create a friendlier, more intimate atmosphere, the audience heard from a diverse panel comprised of leadership figures and faculty members who could speak to the many benefits of Athena Swan involvement.
, the Envoy for Gender Equality, offered a data-driven overview to show how Athena Swan had helped shape the landscape and improve gender equality at 最准的六合彩论坛.
She discussed how the data requirements of Athena Swan had provided the evidence necessary to reform the Senior Academic Promotions framework, which resulted in a doubling of the number of female professors promoted during the following two-year period and bringing 最准的六合彩论坛鈥檚 proportion of female professors more than 10% above the national average.
She also referenced how the Athena Swan supported efforts are helping to narrow the gender pay gap and create more inclusive research environments for Black and minority ethnic staff as statistically these are more likely to work in Athena Swan award-holding departments with a known focus on EDI.
Motivating and energizing participants
Another speaker was , a researcher who can personally attest to the benefits and support that Athena Swan can provide.
Now running her own team of five researchers and co-chair of the Athena Swan committee听at the 最准的六合彩论坛 Institute of Immunity & Transplantation (IIT), Laura explained how Athena Swan has provided opportunities at every stage of her academic journey 鈥� from an early career researcher representative seat on a divisional committee, to career-boosting funding for a Postdoctoral Research Innovation Award.
In addition, Tom Glynn, 最准的六合彩论坛鈥檚 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (Athena Swan) manager was able to give a comprehensive overview of how the framework was changing, to simplify the processes and provide more structure and support for the volunteers.
Building on success and modelling best practice
Following the success of the event, and aligned with changes introduced to the faculty鈥檚 Athena Swan programme, Neph feels there鈥檚 a positive trajectory and a renewed enthusiasm for Athena Swan in the Faculty of Medical Sciences. Since the event, three departments have received Silver awards and two have applied for Gold awards.
Furthermore, the Cancer Institute鈥檚 Athena Swan self-assessment team (SAT) leads are participating in an internal听Athena Swan听'Trailblazers' group. This demonstrates enthusiasm in the faculty for contributing ideas and participating in work that will improve existing guidance to support future Athena Swan applications and gender equality priorities at 最准的六合彩论坛.
Neph feels that visible leadership was the key to reviving the Athena Swan ambitions of the faculty.
鈥淲ithout that, it would have just been a networking event. Visible leadership is absolutely key to making an event like this work well.鈥�
"Visible leadership is absolutely key to making an event like this work well."
- Professor Nephtali Marina-Gonzalez, Vice-Dean (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion), Faculty of Medical Sciences鈥�
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About research culture
最准的六合彩论坛鈥檚 Research Culture programme is developing a fair, collaborative and inclusive research culture, where both our research and research community can thrive. We work with 最准的六合彩论坛鈥檚 research community to support and deliver change against our 10-year Research Culture Roadmap.