Self-assessment and action

Institutional members of Athena SWAN carry out a self-assessment process in order to:

  1. assess the current state of the gender balance within the Institution as a whole, including areas of particular influence e.g. Senior University Committees;
  2. develop an action plan to address inequalities and
  3. monitor and refine the action plan to keep to the aims of addressing the Athena SWAN Charter.

In 2018, the University Athena SWAN Steering Group (UASSG) co-chaired by the DVC and an Institutional Champion, was restructured to become an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, allowing consideration of a wider range of protected characteristics and intersection between characteristics. The Group includes the DVC, Institutional Champion for Gender Equality, Institutional Champion for Race Equality, the Deans, the Chief Operating Officer, the Director and Head of Human Resources, and Faculty Champions. Three Faculty EDI Groups (one for each faculty) and a Directorates Group also support the self-assessment process. The Faculty Groups (each representing one of the three faculties) are co-chaired by the relevant Faculty Champion(s) and the Dean and the membership includes representation from each of the Schools, usually via the School EDI Champion.

The Schools, in turn, have EDI groups, the membership of which includes women and men who represent a breadth of personal and professional experiences for example those:

  • with personal experience of balancing home/caring responsibilities and work part-time, flexibly or have had career breaks
  • with different protected characteristics
  • with recent experience of the institutions/departments recruitment and or promotion processes
  • at different stages on the career ladder and particularly from those in early and mid career
  • with departmental/management responsibilities/university responsibilities for e.g. staff development or equal opportunities
  • with experience of similar exercises

If you are interested in working with an EDI Group, then please email the Athena SWAN Support Officer.

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