Athena SWAN

Dr Lisa Mooney, UEL Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Exchange), said, "We are extremely proud of this achievement. The institutional award application was the result of a collaborative effort and huge amount of work and dedication from across the institution.

"The outcome recognises our commitment and achievements to date and, importantly, that we have a robust plan in place to further promote and embed gender equality at UEL."

The Bronze award recognises UEL's commitment to, and success in, supporting gender equality. The recognition is valid until 2021.

Athena SWAN evolved from work between the Athena Project and the Scientific Women’s Academic Network (SWAN), to advance the representation of women in science, engineering and technology, mathematics and medicine (STEMM). In May 2015 the charter was expanded to recognise work undertaken in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law (AHSSBL), in professional and support roles, and for trans staff and students.

The Athena SWAN Charter is based on ten key principles. By being part of Athena SWAN, institutions are committing to a progressive charter; adopting these principles within their policies, practices, action plans and culture.

There are three levels of award that are given via the Athena SWAN Charter. These are awarded at university and departmental or School level (renewable every three years).

We are proud to have recently been awarded the Athena SWAN Bronze award.

The Bronze award recognises that a university (or department) has a solid foundation and sufficient plans in place to tackle and eliminate any gender bias and to develop an inclusive culture.

The application for the Bronze award includes:

• An assessment of where the university is in terms of gender equality, identifying both challenges and opportunities
• An action plan based on this assessment
• An organisational structure to carry out/coordinate the action plan

 Our institutional bronze application can be accessed via this link.