Athena Swan Gold award renewed

News | Posted on Monday 5 August 2024

We are absolutely delighted that the Department of Biology has been successful in achieving renewal of their Gold Athena Swan award, retaining the award for the next five years.

The Athena Swan Charter is a framework used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research. We were the first Biology department in the UK to be granted a Gold award (in 2014), and the retention of this position of strength in tackling gender inequality for the last decade is something we are very proud of.

Vice-Chancellor Charlie Jeffery said: “This is quite brilliant news and testament to all the hard work in making a compelling submission, but more importantly to the deep and fundamental commitments Biology has to making equality, diversity and inclusion every day, lived practice in the department.” 

Kiran Trehan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise Partnerships and Engagement, and Chair of the University’s Athena Swan Steering Group, said: “I’m delighted that Biology’s lasting, positive impact in enhancing gender equality has been recognised with another Gold award. This work and the commitment to equality is fundamental to creating an environment where all can thrive and is an inspiring example of excellence, that is an exemplar of best practice we can all learn from."

Our approach is evidence driven and the key to success has been embedding EDI processes into the mainstream of all activities within the department. We have made great strides in stemming the ‘leaky pipeline’ of women in science and making progress achieving gender parity from post-doctoral Researcher to Lecturer, a key career transition previously marked by a drop in female staff.

Over the next five years, our priorities will include new initiatives to:

  • Proactively support staff and students of all genders.
  • Further stem the leaky pipeline.
  • Reduce the gender pay gap.
  • Continue to share good practice within and beyond the University of York.

Head of department, Professor James Moir, said: “I am proud to be part of a department that is so proactive in driving the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion agenda, and will be delighted to continue the work that drives a culture in which biology at York is ‘a place where we can all be ourselves’.”