The award recognises the School’s commitment to gender equality.
Published (Updated )
The School of Health Sciences at City, University of London has been recognised for its commitment to gender equality by achieving the Bronze Award of the Athena SWAN Charter.
The achievement follows City’s Bronze Award last year and the School is the first at City to be recognised individually.
Established in 2005, the Athena Scientific Women’s Academic Network (SWAN) Charter was created to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) fields in higher education and research.
City became a member of the Athena SWAN Charter in 2014. The Charter supports institutions as they strive to improve gender equality by providing, among other things, a framework on which to build on current good practice.
The Charter was expanded in 2015 to recognise work undertaken in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law and it now recognises work undertaken to address gender equality more broadly.
Professor Susan Ayers, who led the School’s Athena SWAN application, said:
“I’m delighted that the School of Health Sciences has been awarded the Athena SWAN Bronze Award. Athena SWAN has been a powerful vehicle for positive change in the School and it was a pleasure for us to prepare our application. We are looking forward to the next phase of implementing actions and working towards a Silver Award in 2020/21.”
Professor Debra Salmon, Dean of the School of Health Sciences, said:
“This is a tremendous achievement and recognition of our commitment to gender equality within the School.
“I would like to thank the members of the School’s Self-Assessment Team who worked tirelessly to construct an excellent application; and colleagues in HR and Student & Academic Administration who provided crucial supporting data. I am very grateful to Professor Susan Ayers for the leadership she provided and to Sophie Battams for her project management.
“We remain committed to building upon our work in this area, and many of the aims of Athena SWAN are reflected in School’s Strategic Plan. I now look forward to working with colleagues to implement the progressive actions included within the School’s Athena SWAN action plan.”
Professor Sir Paul Curran, President of City, University of London, said:
“A commitment to equality and diversity is one of City’s five values. Achieving the Athena SWAN Bronze Award in the School of Health Sciences complements City’s institutional award and is a powerful statement of our commitment to gender equality. I do not underestimate the challenge of implementing our plans but remain confident that with the energy of colleagues across City and the sustained commitment of the senior team, we will succeed in achieving significant change across the institution.”