Four new Athena Swan Silver Awards for Faculty of Medicine

Four Faculty of Medicine departments have successfully secured Athena Swan Silver awards in recognition of their support for gender equality.

The Departments of Brain Sciences, Immunology and Inflammation, Infectious Disease, and Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction have been awarded Athena Swan Silver awards.

These are the first interim Athena Swan awards for these four departments that were created in 2019 as part of the Faculty of Medicine’s reorganisation.

The Athena Swan Charter is a gender equality framework used across the higher education sector. The Charter is now being used across the globe to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women.

"Making our Faculty a fairer and more inclusive place to work and study"

The latest honours mean that all eight of the Faculty’s departments hold an Athena Swan award at Silver or Bronze level. The Faculty’s Vice-Dean for Institutional Affairs, Professor Clare Lloyd, paid tribute to staff who worked hard on the departmental submissions:

“Well done to all of you who have made this possible with all your hard work. We are immensely proud that all Faculty of Medicine departments hold an Athena Swan award. This is a true reflection of our commitment to making our Faculty a fairer and more inclusive place to work and study.”

The Athena Swan leads for each of the departments share their thoughts on the recent awards and examples of initiatives.

Department of Brain Sciences

“The Department of Brain Sciences is thrilled to be awarded an Athena Swan Silver award and is pleased that our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion has been recognised. However, our work is not done. We will create an environment where the best minds can come together, regardless of their gender or background, into a workplace that is comfortable for everyone and gets the best out of all people.

"We are committed to ensuring that everyone has opportunities to thrive. Diversity is critical for science and for the success of our department, and it is the responsibility of all of us to work together to create an inclusive environment.” – Dr Johanna Jackson, Departmental EDI Lead. 

Department of Immunology and Inflammation

“Our EDI committee is extremely delighted by the recognition from Advance HE in awarding us an Athena Swan Silver award. This is a testament to how our young department have laid down a solid foundation with strong structures enabling us to build a work environment with equal opportunities for all.

"We will ensure this recognition is fulfilled and will continuously work towards cultivating a diverse, inclusive and supportive community within the Department.” – Dr Jessica Strid and Dr Holger Auner, EDI committee Co-Chairs.

Department of Infectious Disease

“As a department we are delighted to be awarded Athena Swan Silver status. This reflects how we have put a fair, inclusive and equitable culture at the heart of the new department of infectious disease.

"We now need to work together to ensure we deliver the initiatives and improve diversity in all roles across the Department.” – Dr John Tregoning, Departmental EDI Lead.

Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction

"This is truly excellent news, and is testament to the hard work and ongoing efforts of a dedicated team.  We are now looking forward to putting in place the many things we identified in our Action Plan, which we hope will further improve the culture within the Department, making it an even better, supportive, and more diverse environment in which to work.

"In particular in MDR we are conscious that at the highest levels our gender balance falls short of that which we aspire to. In response to this we have opened up internal senior leadership roles and board membership to non-professorial staff which has allowed us to provide many more women with influential roles in the Department." – Professor Dame Lesley Regan, co-chair of the People and Culture Committee, and Professor Mark Thursz, Head of Department.