1. The Athena SWAN Charter and Recent Developments
Sarah Dickinson and Peter Mason
Athena SWAN
Equality Challenge Unit

2. The Athena SWAN Charter and Recent Developments
What is the Athena SWAN Charter?
What are the Athena SWAN awards?
Applying at faculty/school level
Recent developments
Recent developments and medical schools
What the Athena SWAN team can do
What the Athena SWAN team can’t do
“What is the Athena SWAN Charter?”
Some information about the Charter and the recognition awards.
Evidence of the impact of Athena SWAN

3. What is the Athena SWAN Charter?
Recognition scheme of excellence in STEMM in women’s employment in higher education
2005 = 10 founder members
2012 = 76 members
134 eligible UK HEIs = 56.7%
2 rounds per year – November and April
Founded in 2005, the Athena SWAN Charter is a recognition scheme of excellence in science, engineering and technology in women’s employment in higher education.

4. What is the Athena SWAN Charter?
Jointly owned by ECU and UKRC
(Now) funded by:
ECU
Royal Society
The Biochemical Society
Department of Health
Annual membership fee of £1000 per institution from April 2012

5. What is the Athena SWAN Charter
Charter signatories are committed to 6 principles:
Commitment and action from everyone, at all levels of the organisation
Change cultures and attitudes across the organisation
Examine the absence of diversity at management and policy-making levels
Address the high loss rate of women in science
Recognise the consequences of short-term contracts for retention and progression of women
Active consideration of personal and structural obstacles to making the transition from PhD to a sustainable academic career
So then...where does the member bit come in?
There are 6 principles of the Charter that members are asked to accept and incorporate into their Athena SWAN work, through their action plans, through embedding Athena SWAN across their institutions and through their championing of the Charter.
To address gender inequalities requires commitment and action from everyone, at all levels of the organisation
To tackle the unequal representation of women in science requires changing cultures and attitudes across the organisation
The absence of diversity at management and policy-making levels has broad implications which the organisation will examine
The high loss rate of women in science is an urgent concern which the organisation will address
The system of short term contracts has particularly negative consequences for the retention and progression of women in science, which the university recognises
There are both personal and structural obstacles to women making the transition from PhD into a sustainable academic career in science, which require the active consideration of the organisation.

6. What are the Athena SWAN Awards
Bronze university
solid foundation for eliminating gender bias and developing inclusive culture
Bronze department
identified particular challenges
planned activities for the future
Silver department
significant record of activity and achievement
demonstrating impact of implemented activities
Gold department
significant sustained progression and achievement
beacons of achievement in gender equality
champions of Athena SWAN and good practice
Once a Charter signatory, universities are encouraged to apply for awards. The first award you would submit for is a Bronze university award.
Bronze university: recognises that the university overall has a solid foundation for eliminating gender bias and developing an inclusive culture that values all staff.
Once the university has a Bronze award its individual departments/schools can apply for Bronze, Silver or Gold department awards.
Bronze department: recognises that in addition to university-wide policies, the department has identified particular challenges and is planning activities for the future.
Silver department: recognise that in addition to university wide policies, the department has a significant record of activity and achievement and has identified particular challenges, has implemented activities and can demonstrate the impact of these so far.
Gold department: recognises a significant sustained progression and achievement by the department in promoting gender equality and to address challenges particular to the discipline. Gold departments should be beacons of achievement in gender equality and should champion Athena SWAN and promote good practice to the wider community.
Once a university or department achieves an award, the award is valid for 3 years, after which you will need to renew your award.

7. What are Athena SWAN awards?
Awards ask for data and evidence around the following areas:
Key career transition points
Appointment and promotion processes
Career development
Provisions for career development and career development activities
Organisation and culture
Management structures and organisational values and ethos
Flexibility and managing career breaks
Flexibility and sustainable careers and managing career breaks
The main bulk of the awards asks for data and evidence of good practice in the following areas: (give some examples of good practice...)
Key career transition points
Appointment and promotion systems and practices, and decisions taken are open, transparent, and fair
Approaches and systems are used to make sure that men and women are equally likely to apply for appointment and promotion and equally likely to be successful
(e.g. appointment and promotion processes, including: panel membership; appointment and promotion information and its communication; monitoring stages and outcomes; identifying and encouraging candidates; support for candidates going through the processes; and providing feedback)
Career development
Arrangements exist to monitor and ensure the quality and effectiveness of career development provided
Arrangements ensure staff engage in activities, internal and external, that contribute to career progression
Specific reference is made to the needs of early career staff
(e.g. provisions for career development and career development activities, including: career development arrangements and opportunities; early career staff development; appraisal; mentoring; networks and role models; and activities to raise professional profiles)
Organisation and culture
Administrative and academic contributions made by staff are effectively and fairly managed and resourced
A working environment that recognises the ambitions and expectations of staff, recognises their contribution and enables a rewarding career
(e.g. management structures and organisational values and ethos, including: communications; resource and workload allocation; the rotation of management roles and responsibilities; collegiality; support and inclusivity)
Flexibility and managing career breaks
A department managing the flexibility that underpins sustainable careers
Arrangements for managing career breaks, maternity leave, and other career interruptions that support individuals to maintain a career trajectory that meets their abilities and ambitions.
(e.g. flexibility and sustainable careers and managing career breaks, including: approaches to flexible working; take up of flexible working; how flexible operational management arrangements are; approaches to career interruptions, support before and during the career break; support on returning from a career break and work-life balance)

8. Applying at faculty level
Faculty submissions are accepted but please consider: We require data from all the units in the faculty You will need to clearly demonstrate good practice (and impact) across all units Communication of the Charter principles needs to be apparent across the faculty Faculties need to find suitable comparators for benchmarking Faculties are subject to the same word limits as departments.
and that issues specific to different subject areas have been identified
; it should not driven by one single unit within

9. Recent Developments
NIHR BRU/BRC funding now linked to Athena SWAN silver awards DoH £200k funding for Athena SWAN Extra resource (2.0 FTE staff) to facilitate development and increased demand “Tapping all our talents” report from the RSE Expansion to non HEI-affiliated research institutes QUB - first university Silver award New website to be launched in summer 2012 Benchmarking data to be available in summer 2012

10. Recent Developments with Medical Schools
Warwick Medical School gained Bronze award in November 2011 Other related units/departments hold awards Setting up medical schools working group to help develop charter and application process Medical school representation on steering committee Workshops to be held for medical schools preparing submissions

11. What the Athena SWAN team can do to help
Attend regional workshops and meetings (e.g. Involving several institutions) Field queries and advise where you can get information from Provide written submission feedback Provide materials – e.g. case studies, good practice examples Clarify processes and guidance Send out information on Jiscmail

12. What the Athena SWAN team can’t do
Read draft submissions Comment on draft action plans Attend individual institutional meetings/working groups Grant appeals to the submission decisions

13. Questions?