The Department of Surgery and Cancer celebrates Athena Gold Award

The Department of Surgery & Cancer received the prestigious Athena Swan Gold Award for its unwavering commitment to equality, diversity, & inclusion.

The Department’s submission was led by the S&C Culture and Engagement Committee, co-chaired by Mr Christopher Peters and Professor Gina Brown, and involved staff from across the Department.  

"Achieving this distinction is a remarkable milestone, positioning us as one of the few medical departments in the country to earn such recognition and marking a historic moment as the first within Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine." Professor George Hanna Head of the Department of Surgery and Cancer

The Athena Swan Award is a national charter used to support and transform gender equality within higher education and research. It was established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, math and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education and research. The charter is now used across the globe to address gender equality more broadly and to just barriers to progression that affect women. 

The Department of Surgery and Cancer achieved its Athena Swan Silver award in November 2018 and is now the first Department in the University to be conferred a Gold Award under Advance HE’s new transformed charter.   

Professor Gina Brown, Co-chair of the Culture and Engagement Committee, said: “It was a privilege to be part of a team that brought the Department's Athena Swan Gold Award to fruition. I’ve always believed in creating an environment where women, and indeed individuals from all diversities, feel comfortable, valued and encouraged. 

I felt that the Athena Swan process provided us with a fantastic framework that allowed the Department to produce measurable and goal orientated strategies for improving equality, diversity, and inclusivity within our community. This Gold award shows that our hard work to refine communications, improve support structures and create a healthier work-life balance for all, is having a positive impact on the Department.” 

Our next steps will be to ensure we follow our new gold action plan, to keep going with our culture improvements, and to keep monitoring any factors that may prevent women within the University from progressing as they would like to.” 

Gold level achievements 

Among the many initiatives and achievements that the Department of Surgery and Cancer championed during this award period, Advance HE noted the significance a number of these played in helping the Department achieve Gold. 

The Academic Women Association (AWA), which was founded by post-doctoral members of the Culture and Engagement Committee as a platform of support for non-clinical academic women, was highlighted as an example of the Department’s ‘enthusiasm for gender equality’. The AWA has created an environment in which women feel empowered, safe, and supported to discuss and plan their career progression. The success and engagement with the AWA meetings have resulted in its expansion to a cross-University initiative. The AWA core team, Dr Nina Moderau and Dr Ilaria Belluomo, were presented with the Provost’s Julia Higgins Award in 2023 and recognised for their significant contribution to the support of academic women.    

S&C Culture and Engagement Committee co-chair, Mr Christopher Peters, co-authored the BMJ Open paper ‘Why are women still leaving academic medicine? A qualitative study within a London Medical School’ which set out to identify factors that influenced women who chose to leave academic medicine. The publication proved to be valuable and was accessed over 3000 times and cited in several publications. Recognised by the Athena panel as a beacon activity, the findings of the study were also used by the Academic Surgical team at Leeds University to inform discussions of gender disparities in their surgery group, particularly regarding leadership and mentorship.   

During the pandemic, and in direct response to the findings of the Imperial's Pulse surveys that ran as a regular check on our staff’s wellbeing, the Department started a weekly webinar series to help support its staff and students. Post-pandemic, the weekly S&C Webinars continue and offer a key channel for the Department to provide pastoral care and share support with its staff. Sessions have included “Mental and Physical Wellbeing”, “What's it been like for you working at home?” and “Digital Tools to Foster Student Engagement in Remote Learning”. 

As part of the S&C Webinar series, S&C also runs a termly Q&A session with the Heads of Division and Department. This came about due to a desire to raise the visibility and approachability of our senior management. Staff have the option to submit anonymous questions prior to the event, ask questions in the chat during the event or raise points directly with the HoDs.  

Speaking about the Gold Award, Professor George Hanna, Head of the Department of Surgery and Cancer, said: “On behalf of the Department of Surgery and Cancer, I am delighted that we have been awarded the prestigious Athena Swan Gold Award. Achieving this distinction is a remarkable milestone, positioning us as one of the few medical departments in the country to earn such recognition and marking a historic moment as the first within Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine. This achievement stands as a testament to the dedication and hard work of each member of S&C, and it fills me with immense pride to serve such an inspiring department."

Professor Lesley Cohen, Associate Provost EDI for Imperial College London, said: “This is an extraordinary achievement by the Department of Surgery and Cancer. I believe that Chris, Gina, Karen and others in the departmental EDI committee should be highly commended on being the first surgical department in the country to receive a Gold award. It is a huge asset to Imperial to be recognised in this way and the efforts that the team have made demonstrate dedication, commitment and leadership that are inspirational to all of us interested in further improving the culture at Imperial to be more diverse and equitable for all. Credit should also be given to Rob Bell who goes above and beyond to support all departments going through the application process.” 

Professor Deborah Ashby, Dean of Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine, said: “I am extremely proud of our colleagues in the Department of Surgery and Cancer for creating such a fantastic working environment, as recognised by this Athena Swan Gold Award. Up until now, there have been fewer than 30 departmental Gold Awards in the entire country, so this is a hugely impressive achievement. As Dean, I am wholeheartedly committed to making our entire Faculty of Medicine the fairest, most equitable place to work and study; this Gold Award sets the standard we should all be working towards.”