The Athena Swan Charter is a framework used across the world to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE). The Charter was originally established in 2005 - Imperial was a founder member - to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment. The Charter is now used to address gender equality more broadly. The Charter is run by Advance HE.
College awards
We have held an institutional Athena Swan Charter since 2006. Our most recent award was in July 2022, when we renewed our Silver, becoming the first university to do so under the Transformed Athena Swan Charter. You can download our 2022 submission from the box above. The submission provides a summary account of our progress in the last five years and our priorities for the next five, including our new action plan.
If you have any questions or require more information about Imperial's submissions, please email Rob Bell, the College Athena SWAN Coordinator.
College Athena Swan SAT membership
The SAT membership is currently being reviewed and we expect to welcome new members for the start of the 2023-24 academic year.
Current members
- Lesley Cohen, Associate Provost (EDI), chair
- Wayne Mitchell, Associate Provost (EDI), deputy chair
- Rob Bell, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Centre (EDIC), Athena SWAN Coordinator
- Liz Elvidge, Head of Postdoc and Fellows Development
- Josh Hodge, Life Sciences, Senior Teaching Fellow
- Nazila Kamaly, Chemistry, Senior Lecturer
- Renata Kosova, Consul for Faculty of Engineering and the Business School
- Susan Littleson, HR, Deputy Director - Organisational Development and Inclusion
- Martin McCall, Physics, Professor and Proconsul
- Jane Neary, Director of Campus Services
- Gbemi Oluleye, CEP, Research Fellow
- Priya Saravanapavan, Materials, Senior Teaching Fellow
- Matthew Siggins, NHLI, Research Fellow
- Rebecca Smith, Business School, EDI and Department Coordination Manager
- Sharron Stubbs, Infectious Disease, Senior Laboratory Manager
- Olly Swanton, Materials, Student Wellbeing Adviser
- John Tregoning, Infectious Disease, Professor
- Jess Wade, Materials, Lecturer
Department awards
The Business School (Imperial's only AHSSBL department) successfully renewed their Bronze in January 2022.
Department of Aeronautics, Bronze, November 2019
Department of Bioengineering, Silver, November 2018
Department of Chemical Engineering, Silver, November 2023
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Bronze, November 2023
Department of Computing, Silver, January 2023
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Bronze, April 2021
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Bronze, September 2023
Department of Materials, Silver, renewed November 2022
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bronze, April 2019
Centre for Environmental Policy, Bronze, April 2019
Department of Chemistry, Gold, April 2019
Department of Life Sciences, Bronze, renewed November 2018
Department of Mathematics, Bronze, renewed April 2020
Department of Physics, Silver, renewed November 2018
Department for Brain Sciences, Silver, November 2020
Department of Immunology and Inflammation, Silver, November 2020
Department of Infectious Disease, Silver, November 2020
Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Silver, November 2020
Department of Surgery & Cancer, Gold, November 2023
Institute for Clinical Sciences, Silver, April 2017
National Heart and Lung Institute, Silver, November 2020
School of Public Health, Bronze, November 2018
Athena town hall: gender equality at Imperial
5 November 2021
As part of our preparations to renewal our institutional Silver Athena Swan award, we held a town hall style meeting open to all staff. Led by Stephen Curry (Assistant Provost EDI) and Susan Littleson (Director of Organisational Change & Inclusion), we reviewed the state of play on gender equality at Imperial and recent initiatives, and invited people to share their observations and insights into our most urgent priorities for action.
