The Equity and Diversity Committee works to ensure that the Department of Environment and Geography embraces, celebrates and raises awareness about issues of equity, inclusion and diversity. We identify barriers that prevent us from reaching our full potential as a department and create solutions to overcome those barriers.
We have enthusiastically adopted the Athena Swan charter of gender equality. We are delighted to receive the Silver Athena Swan Award in December 2022. This is in recognition of the support we offer to all staff, especially female staff in the Department. For instance, with departmental support, there has been a significant increase of senior female academics (Reader and above) from 1 FTE to 7.1 FTE over the last few years. Over the same period, the department has also seen an increase of female professors from 0% to 43% of professors.
Committee
The Department's Athena SWAN committee meets regularly to discuss equality and diversity issues. We feed into a number of other departmental and University committees to ensure that we are making progress in implementing the Action Plan we set out in our Silver award application.
Our committee members cover a range of roles in the department: academic, technical, support, PhD students and postdocs; levels of experience and personal circumstances.
DEG Dignity contacts
Dignity Contacts are members of staff from the department who have volunteered to listen to the experiences of reporting students and staff who have concerns about harassment, bullying, hate incidents and/or discrimination as outlined in the University’s Dignity at Work and Study policy. They provide advice and guidance on the Dignity at Work and Study Policy and procedures, and provide information on how to navigate informal and formal reporting procedures.
Speaking to a Dignity Contact does not commit you to taking any further formal or informal action. A conversation with a Dignity Contact is not the start of any procedure, but an opportunity for you to discuss your concerns in a supportive and non-judgemental space and explore options, before deciding whether, or how, to proceed with further action.
You can also reach out to our dignity contacts if you have any general EDI related concerns, for example, if you feel being marginalised, your voice/concerns not being heard by your representatives, committees and in other departmental settings and activities.
This role also sits within a wider university network of dignity contacts, so if need be we can pull further support from the university.
DEG dignity contacts:
Best Practice
Our Athena SWAN committee keeps practices and procedures within the Department under review, to consider ways of improving these to ensure fairness for all staff and students and raise awareness of equality and diversity. Examples of best practice are already embedded in many of the Department's activities:
- The department is highly supportive of requests for part-time and flexible working.
- Our Action Plan was informed by our staff equality survey.
- Our departmental meetings and seminars are within core working hours.
- A work allocation model for academic staff continues to be developed, to improve transparency of workload management and to ensure fair recognition of all work performed inside and outside the department.
- We have an internal Promotions Committee which has a remit to provide advice and encouragement for those Academic, Research and Teaching staff who are considering submitting a case for promotion.
Athena Swan
The Athena Swan Charter is a scheme which recognises excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education. The Charter was launched in June 2005.
The beliefs underpinning the Charter are:
- The advancement of science, engineering and technology (SET) is fundamental to quality of life across the globe.
- It is vitally important that women are adequately represented in what has traditionally been, and is still, a male-dominated area.
- Science cannot reach its full potential unless it can benefit from the talents of the whole population, and until women and men can benefit equally from the opportunities it affords.
To be successful, applicants to the charter mark need to undertake detailed analysis of their practices, enabling them to plan measurable action that makes a real impact.
The Department of Environment and Geography received its first bronze award in September 2014, which was renewed in September in 2017. It achieved Silver Award status in December 2022
Family friendly
We operate a family-friendly culture, including arrangements for part-time working, annualised hours and flexi-time. There are many examples of successful part time working across different job roles. There is a commitment to equal opportunities from the Department Management Team.
Case studies
Several of our staff have benefited from the Department's supportive policies.
Nancy Baines - Support Staff
Nancy Baines is a member of support staff working with students to increase their links with employers through internships and graduate roles as well as managing our Year in Industry programme in the Department. She has worked with us since August 2014.
'Since working for the Department of Environment and Geography my contractual hours have been increased from 50% to 80% FTE on my request when my youngest daughter started full time education. The fact that the Department considered and granted this change in working hours had a large positive impact on me personally as well as my ability to provide a more comprehensive service to our students. As a working mother with two school aged children I really value the support that I gain from both my line manager and the Department in terms of my working arrangements. Being able to work flexibly allows me to manage those unexpected times when I am needed at home as well as enabling me to arrange my work diary such that I can take on additional responsibilities associated with my children's upbringing, for example being a school governor. The sense of value that comes from being trusted to manage my own time really adds to the satisfaction of my working and personal life.'
Kate Arnold - Reader
Dr Kathryn Arnold is a Senior Lecturer in ecology and leads the Ecology and Conservation research group in the Department. She an elected member of the Sciences Faculty Board and chairs the Department's Athena SWAN committee. She studied Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia, UK and received her PhD from the University of Queensland, Australia. After holding research positions in Australia and the UK, she was awarded a prestigious Royal Society University Research Fellowship. She became a Lecturer in 2013 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2015. In 2018, Kathryn was promoted to Reader. Over the last ten years, she has worked part-time ranging from 50% to 80% depending on the needs of her family.
