As part of the WOMENinSTEM@IC mission, we would like to connect the excellent groups, individuals and societies championing the inclusion of women in STEM education and careers at Imperial College London. Stay tuned as this page is updated!
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Centre
The College has a dedicated Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Centre (EDIC), previously called the Equality and Diversity Unit. The EDIC is mandated to promote and embed all aspects of equality throughout the College’s communities. They help to develop policies, training, initiatives and development programmes, many of which are undertaken with input from our equality and diversity staff networks. Their main responsibilities and remit includes the following:
- Influencing and advising on best practice in equalities, specifically ensuring compliance with equalities legislation and the College’s own policies, procedures, and processes
- Mainstreaming equality and inclusiveness throughout all practices and functions
- Providing a variety of equality and diversity training courses for members of the College, as well as development programmes
- Ensuring the College’s diversity networks groups are maintained, facilitating two way communication, and ensuring year on year progress
- Building collaborative working relationships with appropriate community groups, professionals and sector-wide peers
- Working in collaboration to promote equality and to eliminate all forms of discrimination
Assistant Provost for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Reporting to the Provost, Professor Curry is Imperial College's current Assistant Provost for ED&I. He helps lead the College’s commitment to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion for staff and students across all protected characteristics. In this new role, Professor Curry will be responsible for engaging with senior leadership and colleagues across College to help facilitate appropriate and necessary cultural change, and will continue the gender equality work that has been spearheaded until now by Professor Dorothy Griffiths.
Follow his blog Inclusion Matters, and below you can find a talk given by Professor Curry on the upcoming ED&I Strategy to be published late 2018.
Imperial College's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy
Student societies
Women in SET (Science, Engineering and Technology) is an established student society within the Imperial College London Union. Their aims are to promote scientific careers to the female population of Imperial, inspire local school girls to study science subjects and pass on relevant information about career and research opportunities within SET.
Focused predominately on undergraduate career development, and seeking to inspire school students to enter SET subjects at university, this society has long achieved a great impact in this area.
RoboGals is a student-run organisation at Imperial College that aims to engage school girls in engineering topics from a young age, with the long-term goal of increasing female enrolment in engineering, science and technology courses at university.
Their primary activity is having primary and secondary school girls visit Imperial College where university student volunteers conduct fun, educational LEGO robotics workshops.
Athena SWAN
Imperial holds an institutional Silver Athena SWAN award.
The 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 Athena SWAN Charter was expanded to recognise work undertaken in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law (AHSSBL), and now includes staff in professional and support roles, as well as 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. Through its award system, Athena SWAN aims to recognise and celebrate good practice on recruiting, retaining, and promoting women in higher education.
To find out more, visit Imperial's Athena SWAN website where you can see details of the awards different faculties and departments hold. We are very proud of our institution and all the great work the departments are doing!