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.
Department of Environment and Geography Silver Award
The Department of Environment and Geography is happy to announce that we have received the Athena Swan Silver award.
The Department’s Silver Award submission documents are available from the University Research Athena Swan pages.
The Athena Swan Silver award is prestigious and it is an indication that the department has taken positive steps in implementing key actions in response to the challenges identified in the last cultural survey and has demonstrated impacts. It highlights the department’s role in championing gender equality.
Full details are available on the Athena SWAN website.
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 Bronze 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.
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 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:
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
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.
Several of our staff have benefited from the Department's supportive policies.
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.'
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.
Note from Head of Department
The Athena Swan Silver Award is a reflection of the strength of our departmental community, which has embraced our five core values:
- We are a friendly and helpful community
- We make a positive difference
- We strive for environmental sustainability
- We are inclusive and celebrate diversity
- We are curious and always learning
We are particularly delighted to be recognised through this award for our work on inclusion, equality and diversity. Next up: Gold!
Head of Department, Professor Roland Gehrels