• News and events home
• News
• Events
• Features
• Press Office contacts

Accolades for York’s commitment to women in science

Posted on 13 March 2007

The University of York’s commitment to women in science has been recognised by three national accolades.

York was the first University in Yorkshire to win the Athena Swan Bronze Award from the Royal Society in recognition of its success in providing positive support for women scientists during their careers.

Now the Departments of Biology and Chemistry have both won Silver Athena Swan awards, which recognise their achievement in having action plans and demonstrating progress on gender equality in science, engineering and technology (SET).

York is the only University to have won two departmental Silver Athena Swan awards, and York’s is the only Biology department in the country to have achieved a Silver award. It is one of a total of only 12 UK universities that have won Athena Swan awards.

There’s a lot of mythology in the world about how difficult it is to pursue a career in science and one of the things that Athena Swan can do is neutralise those myths

Professor Ottoline Leyser

The Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser Professor Sir David King will present the awards to the University at the Royal Society on 13 March 2007.

The Athena Swan Charter is a scheme that recognises excellence in science, engineering and technology employment in higher education.

The University is working to attract women into science, both in academic and technical capacities. It is seeking to retain those women who might otherwise drift away by introducing more flexibility into the workforce - and, at the same time, creating a better work environment for all staff.

Head of the Department of Chemistry, Professor Paul Walton, said: "Equal opportunities, particularly career paths for women scientists, are something that the department takes very seriously indeed. I am, therefore, really delighted that the chemistry department has received this national award in further recognition of its work in this area."

Head of the Department of Biology, Professor Dale Sanders, said: "The award recognises the dedicated efforts and achievements in the area of career progression for women scientists in the Biology Department. We are very proud to be the first biosciences department in the UK to receive this award."

The development of York’s Athena Swan bid has been led by a Working Group, chaired by Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research Professor Alastair Fitter and supported by the Research Policy Office, with input from the University’s Personnel and Equal Opportunities Offices. Science Departments have strongly supported the initiative with involvement from staff in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Electronics, Environment, Health Sciences, Mathematics, Physics and Psychology.

Case studies of women scientists at York

Professor Ottoline Leyser

For someone who believes passionately in the cause of women in science, Ottoline Leyser admits to some unease at the way it is sometimes promoted.

Professor Leyser, a bioscientist at the University of York, is convinced that the emphasis on the difficulties that women face is in danger of dissuading women from participating. A central issue is child care.

She says: "People always think that ‘women in science’ is just about more child-care provision, but that reinforces the notion that women do child-care and men do not. Children have fathers too, and they should have equal opportunity to be involved in child-care. Work-life balance is a gender neutral issue."

Professor Leyser has two children - Francesca, 16, and Joshua, 13 - and her husband works from home and, as such, has been actively involved in child-care.

"I strongly believe that my home and work roles mesh really well. It wouldn’t have worked for me to be only doing the family things. But equally if I was doing only research, I think you can lose focus and perspective."

She played a leading role in helping to achieve the Athena Swan Silver Award for the Department of Biology at York, a department, she says, which has been "absolutely supportive to me as a woman scientist. There is a very collegiate and inclusive atmosphere." It is the sort of environment that is not as common as it should be in Higher Education, she says.

Professor Leyser came to York in 1994 and has noticed a palpable change in the department of Biology, not least because of an increase in the proportion of members of staff with young families. She says it provides a positive environment which assists the substantial numbers of women now coming into the biosciences.

Nevertheless, old preconceptions die hard with many women scientists’ careers stalling even before they take flight.

"A lot of young women I talk to are discouraged by the perception of how impossible it is. But there’s a lot of mythology in the world about how difficult it is to pursue a career in science and one of the things that Athena Swan can do is neutralise those myths," she said.

Fact File

Age 42 Born Bicester. BA and PhD Cambridge University; Post-Doc, Bloomington, Indiana, USA , 1990-1993; Post-Doc Cambridge, 1993-94; Lecturer, University of York, 1994-1999; Reader, University of York 1999-2002; Professor, University of York 2002-present. Married to Stephen Day, with two children, Francesca, 16, and Joshua, 13.

Dr Caroline Dessent

In the 1970s, Nobel Prize winner Professor Dorothy Hodgkin was a familiar sight in the Department of Chemistry at the University of York as she completed her pioneering work on insulin.

Her presence helped to establish a tradition of women scientists at York. Women who have followed, such as laser spectroscopist Dr Caroline Dessent, have benefited from the supportive atmosphere that prevails in the Department.

Dr Dessent, 38, has juggled her Royal Society Research Fellowship and teaching commitments with raising two young children since arriving in York 10 years ago.

The Department of Chemistry’s achievement of a Silver Athena Swan award comes as no surprise to her.

"There is a broad understanding in the department that prejudice isn’t tolerated - and that is not the case everywhere," she says.

"There have always been a lot of women in Chemistry at York and the tradition of women scientists here is well-established. I have thought, on occasion, of moving but when you look at some other departments and realise that there is only one woman there, you do wonder about the atmosphere."

She believes that the supportive environment owes much to successive heads of department. Incremental changes in procedure and practice have also helped to ease the logistical burden on women scientists trying to balance domestic and professional pressures.

South Wales-born Dr Dessent, who specialises in laser spectroscopy of ionic molecules and clusters, acknowledges that with a partner who works from home, the care of their son, aged six, and their 18-month-old daughter is made easier.

But she says: "Something which seems to happen to female scientists with young children is that your research time is compromised by teaching duties. You might like to work 60 hours a week, but you can’t when you have a small child. Nonetheless, even small things can help.

"For instance, changing the times of departmental seminars from 4.15pm to 2pm meant that you could go to the seminar and still pick up your child from a nursery. Simple things like that can improve the working environment - and many improvements like this are just as useful to male academics as well, particularly those with young children or those who are early in their working career. It is helping everyone’s work-life balance."

Fact File

Age 38. Born South Wales. BSc Jesus College Oxford; PhD Yale; Royal Society Research Fellow since 1999. Married to Jonathan, with two children James, aged six, and Grace, aged 18 months.