Athena SWAN Charter for Women in Science: Bronze University status for Exeter University

Last month Exeter University was successful in its application for Bronze University Status in accreditation with the Athena SWAN Charter.  The charter is concerned with the underrepresentation of women in STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering and mathematics and works to help eliminate the imbalance. 

The achievement of the Bronze status recognises that ,

“the university overall has a solid foundation for eliminating gender bias and developing an inclusive culture that values all staff. This includes: (i) an assessment of where the university is in quantitative (staff and student data) and qualitative (policies, practices, systems and arrangements) terms, which has identified both challenges and opportunities; (ii) a plan that builds on the assessment, the activities that are already in place and what has been learnt from these; and (iii) an organisation (the self assessment team) to carry proposed  actions forward.”

The application for Bronze status was made by a team of academic and professional staff from the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences and the College of Life and Environmental Sciences.  In order to work towards attaining the next level of Silver status, the Athena SWAN working group has been set up, with STEM departments and Equality and Diversity Groups working together.  The group has just been expanded to include the Students’ Guild Gender Equality Representative so if you have any concerns or questions with regards to this issue, please contact me at: gender-equality@hotmail.co.uk.

For more information in the Athena SWAN Charter, please refer to their website: www.athenaswan.org.uk

For more information on Exeter University’s Athena SWAN status, please refer here: http://emps.exeter.ac.uk/about/athena-swan/