Athena SWAN

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Newcastle University was awarded the Athena SWAN (Scientific Women's Academic Network) bronze award in 2009 (Equality and Diversity - Athena Swan ). IHS is committed to providing a good working environment for its staff and has attained or is working to attain the 6 Charter Principles (Equality Challenge Unit). In 2011 this commitment was endorsed with a silver Athena SWAN award. This national award recognises good employment practice and the promotion of women working in science, engineering and technology. This level of award particulary acknowledges significant and sustained progression and achievement in promoting gender equality. IHS is the first academic department at Newcastle University to achieve this status.

IHS Submission documents:

Feedback from the Athena SWAN panel:

IHS was commended on:

"its approach to open ended contracts, which recognised the need for security."

‘recognised that the overall picture indicated a long recognition of addressing issues of work-life balance and family friendly policies for women’.

‘noted that there were a number of good actions with respect to maternity leave and returners’

‘liked the proposal for an internal leadership course’

Staff Profiles:

Find out about how our staff have been supported by the employment practices in place within IHS.

Committee Member Profile (Rebecca Say)

I am currently an NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow in IHS. I joined the Athena SWAN group as I would like to contribute to improving the working environment in IHS and helping to promote women working in science. As an academic trainee in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, I am very aware of the challenges which remain for women working in medicine and academia. For example, a recent BMJ editorial reported a 25% gap between men and women doctors’ pay [1]. The reasons suggested for this included: women’s caring roles, a ‘hostile culture’ and women being unable to move around the country as easily as men [1]. Similarly a recent Guardian blog discussing why women are more likely to leave academia than men reported that many women are put off by unappealing working practices; barriers to success; and the perceived sacrifices required [2]. Despite these high profile revelations and discussion, I have heard some people suggest that challenges and inequalities no longer exist for women on the basis of gender. Sadly this has not been my experience so far in my career and I am very aware of some of the likely challenges ahead. Therefore, I was impressed to see IHS tackling these issues with enthusiasm and imagination. By making even small changes we can all contribute to improving working practices for men and women.

John, A., Is there equal pay in healthcare? Not if you are a doctor. BMJ, 2012. 345.
Rice, C., Why women leave academia and why universities should be worried, in Guradian Higher EducationNettwork. 2012