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Athena SWAN

speakers at front of lecture theatre

NHLI staff discuss what Athena has done for them

What is Athena SWAN?

Through Athena SWAN, NHLI aims to promote equality for all in the workplace by providing support, training and networking events. The Athena SWAN Charter and Awards enable organisations to demonstrate their commitment to, and progress on, equality and diversity by recognising advancement of gender equality, representation, progression and success for all. The NHLI is committed to promoting equality for all within the workplace and creating a diverse, inclusive and supportive working environment for all staff and students through its Athena SWAN programme. We currently hold an Athena SWAN silver award.

Advance HE’s Athena SWAN Charter was established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education and research. In May 2015 the charter was expanded to recognise work undertaken in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law (AHSSBL), in professional and support roles, and for trans staff and students. The Charter now recognises work undertaken to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women.

What have we achieved?

New Scientists Day initiative - a chance for those new to NHLI to present their research and network
NHLI Athena Lectures - launched in 2016 to increase the profile and visibility of female academics
Mentoring scheme - NHLI is part of the Faculty of Medicine scheme which is open to all staff and research students
Annual Bring Your Child to Work Day - a chance for your children to join you at work and find out more about research at NHLI
NHLI Foundation Travel Awards – funding for conferences and for caring costs
Athena SWAN embedded across NHLI activities e.g. standing item on meeting agendas
Support for flexible working
Ensuring annual PRDP meetings are held to support career development
Video conferencing facilities to enable staff and students to take part in meetings remotely
Provision of Equality, Diversity, Harassment and Bullying workshops
Faculty of Medicine Ambassador for Women to help identify and encourage women to apply for key external appointments

How do I get involved?

NHLI’s Athena programme is implemented and monitored by the NHLI Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee. Find out more about the NHLI Athena SWAN representatives.

For any enquiries related to NHLI’s Athena SWAN activities, please contact the NHLI EDI Committee.

NHLI applications and action plans


Date	Athena SWAN application	Action plan	Outcome
2018	NHLI Athena Application 2018 (DOC)		Bronze award.
2017		NHLI Athena SWAN Action Plan 2017 (PDF)	Silver award extended by one year. Invited to re-submit by November 2018.
2014	NHLI Athena SWAN Renewal Application 2014 (PDF)	NHLI Athena SWAN Action Plan 2014 (PDF)	Silver award.
2012	NHLI Athena SWAN Renewal Application 2012 (PDF)‌‌‌	NHLI Athena SWAN Action Plan 2012 (PDF)	Silver award extended by one year. Invited to re-submit by April 2014.
2009	NHLI Athena SWAN Application 2009 (PDF)	NHLI Athena SWAN Action Plan 2009 (PDF)	Silver award.

ASSET survey: experiences of STEMM academics

The Athena Survey of Science, Engineering and Technology (ASSET) is a national survey that seeks to examine academics’ experiences, expectations and perceptions of gender equality in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) disciplines and in their HE institution.

The ASSET 2016 results were published in April 2017 and can be found on the Advance HE publication webpages.

The ASSET 2016 survey covered six aspects of academics’ working life:

perceptions of gender equality
recruitment
job and career
caring responsibilities, leave and career breaks
training and leadership
promotion and development

Gender pay gap

Gender pay gap reporting has become a legal requirement for all UK organisations with 250 employees or more. Private and voluntary sector organisations also have the option of including a narrative statement alongside their gender pay gap figures, outlining the reasons behind them and the actions they are taking to close it.

In 2017 at Imperial College:

Women’s mean hourly rate is 19.4% lower than men’s: in other words when comparing mean hourly rates, women earn 81p for every £1 that men earn.
Women’s median hourly rate is 9.4% lower than men’s: in other words when comparing median hourly rates, women earn 91p for every £1 that men earn.

For more information have a look at:

The College's Gender Pay Gap webpage for details of the 2017 gender pay gap at Imperial College
Advance HE's report: The Gender Pay Gap in English Higher Education
Gov.uk: search gender pay gap data
Equality and Human Rights Commission: What is the difference between the gender pay gap and equal pay?
Womanthology: Shining a light on the gender pay gap in higher education institutions
Gov.uk: Effective actions to close the gender pay gap

Inclusive recruitment

NHLI Recruitment Guidelines Jan 2018 (PDF)

When advertising a post it is good to ensure that the advert appeals to a wide audience so that we have the best possible field to consider. The way adverts are written has been found to have an impact on the perceptions of potential applicants.

For examples please see the following articles:

Gaucher, Friesen and Kay 2011 - Evidence that gendered wording in job advertisements exists and sustains gender inequality
BBC 12 June 2018 - Why do some job adverts put women off applying?
The Guardian 19 June 2018 - Language in school job ads puts women off headteacher roles

An online tool has been created by Kat Matfield to determine the proportion of masculine to feminine words in a job advert (the words used are the ones from the Gaucher et al study):