Northumbria University has been awarded the Athena Swan Charter Silver Award by
Advance HE in recognition of its commitment to promoting and achieving gender
equality.
The Athena Swan Charter was set up in 2005 to recognise commitment
to advancing the careers of women.
It is a framework used worldwide to support and transform gender equality
within higher education and research. It uses a targeted and robust
self-assessment framework to support applicants to identify areas for positive
action and act on any institutional and cultural barriers. Prior to the
successful Silver application, the University held a Bronze Award from 2015.
Northumbria’s achievement of a Silver award
gives recognition to the University’s commitments to advance progress and
strive for greater achievements, including making their processes more
inclusive to help attract and retain women at all levels of the organisation.
The judging panel commended the evidence of
success to date in addressing gender inequalities, including the improved
maternity and paternity benefits and the improvement in the gender pay gap at
senior levels.
Dr Heather Robson, Faculty Pro-Vice
Chancellor and Senior Sponsor for advancing Gender Equality at Northumbria,
said: “I would like to thank everybody who supported the work on this
application, shaping our six key priorities and identifying the specific
actions in our Action Plan. As a University we are committed to promoting and
achieving gender equality and this Silver Award demonstrates the progress we
are making. We have already begun work on the actions outlined in our plan and
we will continue to ensure that our gender equality aims are embedded in all
that we do.”
Professor Andy Long, Vice-Chancellor and
Chief Executive, added: “We are delighted to move from a Bronze to a Silver
Athena Swan Award, highlighting our commitment and progress to date in
achieving gender equality. This award recognises that we have made significant
efforts to make our processes more inclusive. Northumbria’s Strategy 2030
commits to the elimination of median pay gaps for gender, ethnicity and
disability. We fully recognise the work ahead of us, as outlined in the six
priorities. The Action Plan will remain active and will ensure that we continue
to address current and emerging gender priorities, so that all colleagues and
students are in a community where they feel they belong.”
Find out more about Northumbria’s membership of the Athena Swan Charter.
Further information on the Athena SWAN charter, individual
departmental awards and the Athena SWAN action plan can be found on our dedicated pages
