Gender Equality and Athena Swan at EEE

Gender equality has come a long way but there is still so much more that can be done.

EDI work focusing on gender equality across all areas of engineering has seen an imbalance historically. Even though progress has been made, we acknowledge there is so much more that can be done. Our common goal, to commit to an intersectional approach.

We want all staff and students to feel safe in their work environment and place of study, without fear of discrimination or subject to sexual harassment.

We have outlined numerous networks, groups, support, and resources below to help you navigate all the information UCL has to offer.

If you can't find what you are looking for, please email edi@ee.ucl.ac.uk and a member of the EDI committee will respond. Please note that all information provided below can be found on the UCL Gender Equality webpage.

Women in Electronic and Electrical Engineering

News

Case Studies

Networks, Groups and Societies

Women in Engineering Society The UCL Women in Engineering Society, started by Dr Luiza Cintra Campos, aims to help more women advance in engineering. Student/associate membership is free, offering the chance to win sponsorship to attend external events. Parents and Careers Together (PACT)UCL Parents and Careers Together (PACT) is a volunteer-led grassroots network that was established in May 2014 to raise awareness of the needs of working parents and careers. Gender Equality NetworkGender Equality Network (GEN) is a UCL virtual network that allows any member of our community who is interested in gender equality to find out more. GEN allows members to share information on local and institutional gender equality initiatives, activities, and events that may be of interest to the broader UCL community. It also provides a forum to share information on national equality initiatives.

UCL Resources and Support

Gender Equality at UCL Gender Equality at UCL webpage holds information on gender equality and other entitlements for pregnant staff and students at UCL. UCL AstreaFor women who work in Profession Services, the UCL Astrea provides information, resources, a networking group, and events that aid and support. Athena Swan at UCL The Athena Swan charter is a gender equality framework used across the higher education sector. Participating institutions and departments use the charter to improve gender representation, progression, and the working environment for all staff.

Athena Swan

EEE holds the Bronze Athena SWAN award until April 2023. Our application, submitted by April 2019, mainly focused on gender aspects, but now we are working to extend our actions to other protected characteristics as much as possible.

We have been working on an action plan built around two big aspects: continuous self-assessment and positive actions to improve equality, diversity and inclusion in our workplace.

On self-assessment, we are constantly monitoring the composition and attainment of our student and staff body, to detect any aspects that might be hindering the progress of some. This self-assessment process also guides the actions we might take

On positive actions, we are focusing on fair recruitment processes, promotion information better available for all and increasing the participation of staff on training related to bad practices that work against our equality, diversity and inclusion commitments.

We still have a long way to go, but we are making steady progress and we are confident that our work is making EEE a better workplace for all.

In October 2023 we requested a one-year extension to our current Bronze Award. You can read about about what we intended to do in our extended action plan: