Athena SWAN Bronze Award

An Athena SWAN Bronze award demonstrates that an institution as a whole has a solid foundation of policies and practices to eliminate gender bias and an inclusive culture that values female staff. The University was awarded the Bronze Award in September 2009, and our application (PDF, 168kB) shows our commitment to the six Athena SWAN principles at a senior level:

  • To address gender inequalities requires commitment and action from everyone, at all levels of the organisation
  • To tackle the unequal representation of women in science requires changing cultures and attitudes across the organisation
  • The absence of diversity at management and policy-making levels has broad implications which the organisation will examine
  • The high loss rate of women in science is an urgent concern which the organisation will address
  • The system of short-term contracts has particularly negative consequences for the retention and progression of women in science, which the organisation recognises
  • There are both personal and structural obstacles to women making the transition from PhD into a sustainable academic career in science, which require the active consideration of the organisation.
Dr Candy Rowe and Dr Chris Phillips

Dr Candy Rowe and Dr Chris Phillips accept the Bronze Athena SWAN award on behalf of Newcastle University at the the Awards celebratory lunch at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on the 29th September 2009.

The Bronze award evidences that the University is committed to the journey towards advancing women in science, engineering and technology (SET). As a starting point, we have identified from our baseline data (PDF, 19kB), areas where the greatest attrition lies or where women are underrepresented, so that interventions we make are targeted.

The University has formed an Athena SWAN Self Assessment Team to lead and support this process and to monitor progress of our Action Plan (PDF, 86kB). This plan identifies five strategic areas which will help to address the areas of gender inequality in SET: Support structures; Visibility and perception; Communication; Pay and promotion; Policies and procedures.