Faculty of Natural & Mathematical Sciences gains Athena SWAN Bronze Award
The Faculty of Natural & Mathematical Sciences is delighted to announce that it has been awarded an Athena SWAN bronze award. These awards recognise commitment to advancing women's careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine in higher education and research.
Professor Michael Luck, Dean of the Faculty of Natural & Mathematical Sciences, said ‘I’m delighted that Natural and Mathematical Sciences has received a bronze award. This is important not just in itself, but because it reflects the commitment of the Faculty to the agenda for Women in Science. Of course, this is just the first step in our aim to provide a culture and environment that will support our current and future academic and research staff as well as our students, regardless of gender, simply because it’s the right thing to do.’
To gain this award, we had to go through a rigorous self-assessment process in order to identify the particular challenges we face and construct an extensive action plan to address these challenges. You can read the results of our self-assessment and see the details of our action plan in our Athena SWAN bronze application.
We have already started to make progress on our action plan and will continue to circulate details of our progress via our biannual Women in Science Initiative newsletter and our Women in Science webpages. Although the focus of Athena SWAN is on supporting women, the actions that we have formulated aim to ensure that our culture and the processes we follow are fair and inclusive, so that everyone has access to the same opportunities and encouragement; this will benefit all members of the Faculty, not only women.
If you want to find out more about the Faculty of Natural & Mathematical Sciences’ Women in Science Initiative, or if you want to get involved in any way, please see our Women in Science webpages or contact Dr Elizabeth Black, Equality & Diversity Champion for the Faculty of Natural & Mathematical Sciences.