An update on Athena SWAN at UEL

Dr Lisa Mooney, who recently started at UEL as PVC for Research and Knowledge Exchange, will be taking over as Chair for UEL’s Athena SWAN Steering Group. Lisa has worked in Higher Education for over 25 years where she has worked at the interface between interdisciplinary scholarship and business. Best known for her work on the study of collaborative research practices and interdisciplinary research methodology with industry. Previously the University Dean of Research and The Graduate School at the University of Lincoln, Lisa was responsible for research, ethical governance and graduate research strategies, as well as leading the Research Excellence Framework (REF). Lisa also has previous experience of work on the Athena SWAN charter.

What are we currently working on?

1. Our Athena SWAN charter mark application – This is our main focus at the moment and we plan to submit in April 2017. The application involves qualitative and quantitative analysis in order to understand our current demographic and experiences of working culture in relation to gender for ALL staff (i.e. not only women). This has so far included consultation with staff through our online Gender Equality Survey (open from June – July 2016). The survey aimed to look at the experience of ALL staff at UEL in relation to gender and what, if any, improvements are needed. We had a good response to the survey – thank you to everyone who completed this. Analysis is now underway – watch out for further consultation events over the coming months.

    

2. Embedding gender equality across UEL – for example working with Schools to embed gender equality within their School planning, promotion of unconscious bias training and review of recruitment processes. The School of Psychology are leading the way having recently set up their ‘Self-assessment Team’ to start work on their School (departmental) application.

    

3. Supporting and advancing STEMM women’s careers e.g. through mentoring and network support. Our Athena SWAN mentoring programme is now in it’s second year and has recently been externally accredited. We have 50+ academics involved on the programme either as mentors or mentees. Hear from current participants on the programme about their experiences:

How to get involved?

If you are interested in getting involved in our mentoring programme, please contact c.matysova@uel.ac.uk.  

Find out who your School Athena SWAN representative is, attend one of our events or follow us via social media: Contact Us