Athena SWAN expands into Humanities

13 Jan 2014

The Faculty of Humanities has agreed to adopt the Athena SWAN principles as part of its staff equality and diversity plan as it seeks to address instances of underrepresentation of women across its Schools.

The Athena SWAN Charter aims to address the underrepresentation of academic women in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) subjects. However, the Athena SWAN processes will be adapted within our Humanities Schools such that they will also cover both Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and PSS staff. This approach reflects the University's strong commitment to support the careers and career ambitions of female and ethnic minority staff across all occupational groups.

The Athena SWAN awards recognise and celebrate good practice on the recruitment, retention and progression of women in STEMM in higher education.

The enormous contribution and commitment of our staff, academic and non-academic, male and female, across the University is evidenced by the University Bronze Award and our eight individual School Awards (three Silver, five Bronze). We are delighted all the Schools and Institutes within the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences currently hold the Athena SWAN Bronze Award. An additional five EPS Schools have pending applications and the University is working towards achieving a Silver Institutional Award this year. These initiatives and our targetted actions confirm that the University is a national leader in promoting gender equality in employment.