UCL IEHC achieves Athena SWAN Silver Award

The Silver Award recognises significant achievement in progressing gender equality. Advance HE’s Athena Swan Panel praised UCL IEHC for its robust structures and processes, and enthusiastic endorsement and practical support from Institute leaders.

Achievements and Progress:

• Career Progression: 73% of all IEHC academic, teaching and research staff are female - the proportion of women at grades 8, 9 and 10 has increased from 63% in 2019 to 69% in 2023.
• Coaching and mentoring: Proportion of staff with a coach or mentor increased from 29% in 2020 to 44%
• Work Culture: Most IEHC staff report a positive work culture: 80% of staff feel treated as individuals; 87% feel recognised and appreciated; 86% feel encouraged to show initiative; 88% feel treated with respect, and 86% feel treated fairly
• Intersectionality: We will extend our work to address staff and student support and progression by ethnicity, disability, sexuality and class. A staff survey this year will inform our priorities.

The Athena Swan Charter is a framework which is used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education and research.

The application was led by the UCL IEHC Equality Action Group. The Equality Action Group is a dynamic team which facilitates equality, diversity and inclusion within UCL IEHC and beyond. The group members are diverse in terms of seniority, background, and role within UCL.

Equality Action Group co-lead Julia Bailey said: “Thank you to everyone who is working so hard to make IEHC a place where staff and students can thrive!”

UCL IEHC Institute Director Professor Fiona Stevenson said: “Congratulations to the IEHC Equality Action Group for their dedication and hard work in making this possible. I’m proud to have been actively involved in equality work within the Institute since 2012, and the Equality Action Group ensures that EDI is central to all the Institute’s decision making”.

Equality Action Group report authors: Julia Bailey, Holly Walton, Aradhna Kaushal, Ayeshah Emon, Eleanor Mason. Data analysis: Shaun Scholes, Anja Heilmann, Richard Marsh

Links

• UCL IEHC Equality Action Group