Newcastle's School of Computing awarded Athena Swan Silver

The School of Computing has been awarded the Silver Athena Swan award by Advance HE.

The Athena Swan framework is used globally to transform gender equality and inclusivity in Higher Education and research. Being awarded the Silver Award reflects the school’s significant ongoing commitment not only to gender equality, but also the intersectional impact of the school’s efforts. 

The School of Computing was previously awarded a Bronze Athena Swan award in 2019, and since then the team (led by Dr Tong Xin, Chair of the School’s Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team) has continued to progress its efforts to promote gender equality. Activity includes: 

• An 80% increase in the number of applications received for our Undergraduate degrees from female applicants between 2017 and 2023. Our offer and acceptance rates also increased over the same period. 
• Introducing a dedicated quiet room in our Urban Sciences Building, which can be used by breastfeeding mothers, as well as staff and students of faith to use for prayer 
• Raising awareness of prominent Computer Scientists from groups including women, LGBTQ+ people, people of colour, and disabled people 
• Ensuring feedback from our student-staff committee is taken into account when planning our EDI work 
• Hosting events including the annual inclusivity Games Jam (in collaboration with Newcastle University Business School), Trans+ solidarity coffee hour, religious celebrations, and outreach events with local schools and colleges. These initiatives aim to inspire young people - particularly those from under-represented backgrounds - to consider a career in computing 

Dr Christopher Bull, Lecturer in Computer Science and Chair of our school EDI committee, said: “I’m so proud that our school has passed the assessment for Athena Swan silver on our first application, with no corrections required. This recognition wouldn’t have been possible without the outstanding work of Dr Xin and the wider Self-Assessment team, and I would like to extend my thanks for their leadership and commitment throughout the process. 

“I’m passionate about gender equality in computer science and a firm believer that greater inclusion leads to better outcomes for the field. When more women are represented, computing benefits from a wider range of ideas, perspectives, and innovations that drive progress across STEM.  

“We have improved gender representation in our school committees. Our core (strategic) School Executive Board, for example, now has an equal split of male and female members. Having better representation of women in senior positions in our school is encouraging, not only to our current staff and students, but it also gives young girls who are thinking about their future careers the confidence to consider Computer Science. 

“We’re also aware that there is still more work we can do to promote gender equality within the school. We want to encourage more staff and students to get involved in our future actions so that more voices can be heard. Throughout our Athena Swan application, we had excellent buy-in from the School’s leadership, and this gives us more power to create further change.” 

For more information visit the School's EDI page.