The University of Manchester’s Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH) has been awarded the Athena Swan Silver Award. The Charter, outlined by the higher education charity Advanced HE, is a framework used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education and research.
The Athena Swan Charter is designed to help institutions achieve gender equality and meet equality legislation requirements. It also identifies areas for positive action, recognises and shares good practices, and supports the promotion of inclusive work environments.
All three Schools (School of Biological Sciences, School of Health Sciences, School of Medical Sciences) were holders of individual Silver Athena Swan awards since the formation of FBMH.
In 2022, the Faculty consolidated efforts into one Athena Swan Award application, rather than submitting three concurrent School applications. This approach was designed to enable the scaling up of initiatives, whilst showcasing achievements in a more detailed way. It also allowed the Faculty to include a larger number of professional services staff, demonstrating commitment to equality and career progression for all staff in FBMH.
There are three levels of the Athena Swan award: bronze (for planning), silver (for doing), and gold (for sustaining). The Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health has been awarded the silver award, which is valid until September 2029.
Established in 2005, the Athena Swan Charter was created to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM).
It has since been expanded to include recognition of work undertaken in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law (AHSSBL), in professional and support roles, and for transgender staff and students. This also includes efforts to combat gender equality more broadly, namely through addressing barriers to progression, irrespective of sex or gender identity.
Professor Natalie Gardiner and Dr Beth Micakovic, Athena Swan Leads of FBMH said: “Creating and maintaining an inclusive and supportive environment where all staff and students thrive is our priority. We have outstanding colleagues driving equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) across FBMH and this award is testament to everyone’s hard work. A huge thank you!
“Through the Athena Swan process our EDI leads and self-assessment team were able to take stock of our progress, reflect on successes and where we need to do more. Through critical self-assessment, consultation with key stakeholders, we have co-created an ambitious action plan to tackle inequalities, to promote a positive learning and working environment for staff and students of all genders.
“We hope you will see a number of commitments already coming to fruition, but we look forward to working with the whole FBMH community in delivering on the commitments set out in the Action Plan.”
Advance HE will host a ceremony for all 2024 Athena Swan award recipients in early 2025.
The University of Manchester’s continued commitment to the principles of the Athena Swan Charter, and to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, will ensure a diverse and vibrant working environment for both staff and students.
