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’

Inspirational Women of the North East - Exhibition at Hatton Gallery

The Hatton Gallery will be giving an exhibition on Inspirational Women of the North East, to clarify the details - the inauguration is on 3rd October from 6 - 10pm. The exhibition will run until 20^th December – for further details, please go to the website: IWNE.

Women in STEM careers: written evidence submitted by the Athena SWAN Committee, Institute of Health and Society

The Government has recognised that many women are lost from careers in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and so asked for evidence from interested parties to explore the reasons why women leave and to recognise good practice from Institutions which are able to retain/support women in academic careers (women-in-stem-careers.) Please see attached our evidence which we submitted to share our experiences in IHS: IHS response STEM Select Committee

Women's development: The Butterfly Programme

Aimed At: For any woman who wants to boost their confidence, feel motivated to achieve their work and personal goals and be more resilient to day-to-day pressures.

Workshop Overview

This 4 x 1/2 day programme combines practical tools and techniques with the bolstering support of a group. The programme will raise self awareness, increase confidence, efficacy and optimism and leave participants with a practical toolkit.

We have found that while people have a limited capacity to learn from being taught, they have unlimited capacity to learn from experience and we will provide you with opportunities to learn from your own experiences and from the experience of others in the group.

The dates for the workshop are: 23/10/2013, 06/11/2013, 21/11/2013, 04/12/2013 or 09/01/2014, 21/01/2014, 05/02/2014, 26/02/2014.

For further information, please go to: Staff Development Opportunities - Staff Development - Newcastle University

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