Imperial's Department of Medicine has been granted an Athena SWAN Bronze Award for its commitment to the advancement of women in STEMM academia.

The award recognises the hard work of the Department of Medicine Academic Opportunities Committee, chaired by Dr Jane Saffell, and the valuable contribution of staff and students. It also highlights the Department’s continuing efforts to promote positive cultural change for all staff and its commitment to the advancement of academic women in science and medicine.

The next year will see a range of proposed departmental projects for the benefit of all staff become a reality: the way that new staff are embraced will change with the introduction of Welcome Receptions and Welcome Packs, a departmental mentoring scheme will be launched, and two Early Career Committees will be formed to involve postdoctoral staff and PhD students in the ongoing development of the Department.

In addition, a number of measures specifically designed to address the under-representation of women on the academic staff will be implemented. This will include examining women’s experiences of academic appointments and promotions processes, exploring clinical and non-clinical academic trajectories, raising the profile of the Elsie Widdowson Fellowship and setting up a ‘Research and Family Life’ forum.

The Academic Opportunities Committee has a wide-ranging membership that encompasses PhD students and staff from varied grades, job families and divisions, including a number of senior academics and the Head of the Department of Medicine, Professor Gavin Screaton. If you are interested in the work of the committee, or would like to see the Athena SWAN submission and action plan, please visit the Department of Medicine Life wesbite.

The Department of Medicine’s award comes at the same time as Imperial College being recognised with a University-level Silver Award, showing organisation-wide commitment to gender equality across STEMM.