Athena SWAN gender equality plans and the gendered impact of COVID‐19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thereza Raquel Sales Aguiar ◽  
Shamima Haque ◽  
Keith A. Bender
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Athena Swan

scholarly journals Certifying Gender Equality in Research: Lessons Learnt From Athena SWAN and Total E-Quality Award Schemes

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charikleia Tzanakou ◽  
Kate Clayton-Hathway ◽  
Anne Laure Humbert
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Quality Award ◽  
Research Organisations ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Athena Swan

In the past 2 decades, many Certification and Award schemes (CAS) related to gender equality, diversity and inclusion have emerged in the higher education, research and industry sectors. According to a recent report, there are as many as 113 CAS which have been identified across Europe and beyond. These CAS aim at addressing inequalities in relation to the grounds of sex, gender, race, sexual orientation, and disability among others. The high number of CAS, and their continued growth, has taken place in parallel to the shift of policies and efforts from “fixing individuals” to “fixing the system.” In these schemes, gender equality is often understood as a structural, systemic challenge, with a recognition that advancing gender equality is complex and requires drivers and interventions at micro, meso and macro level. Studies focused on analysing and evaluating gender equality initiatives in higher education have been scarce, and often limited to specific schemes. This paper aims to fill this gap by providing a better understanding of the CAS landscape through comparing two of the main gender equality schemes used by research-performing organisations in Europe Athena SWAN (in the UK) and Total E-Quality Award (in Germany). Based on qualitative interviews with stakeholders across Europe and document analysis, this paper focuses on strengths, challenges faced by and the impact of these CAS. This comparative exercise highlights particular learning points that can inform potential reviews of existing schemes and/or the development of new schemes such as a Europe-wide scheme. The latter is the focus of a Horizon 2020 project entitled CASPER (Certification-Award Systems to Promote Gender Equality in Research), which aims at making recommendations to the European Commission as to the feasibility of a Europe-wide CAS for gender equality in research organisations.

scholarly journals What role can Athena SWAN play in gender equality and science communication?

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (04) ◽  
pp. C06
Author(s):  
Clare Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Culture Change ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Change Initiatives ◽  
University Departments ◽  
Athena Swan

This essay discusses how gender-focused culture change initiatives developed for science (like Athena SWAN) might offer models for science communication. Such initiatives can seek to mobilise change amongst university departments and practices, but there are also potential pitfalls in such approaches. Using experiences in a department at UWE Bristol as a basis, the article will consider whether such schemes in science offer potential for science communication to reflect on its own gender imbalances.

scholarly journals Understanding the Athena SWAN award scheme for gender equality as a complex social intervention in a complex system: analysis of Silver award action plans in a comparative European perspective

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evanthia Kalpazidou Schmidt ◽  
Pavel V. Ovseiko ◽  
Lorna R Henderson ◽  
Vasiliki Kiparoglou
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Action Planning ◽  
Research Area ◽  
European Research Area ◽  
European Research ◽  
Action Plans ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Award Scheme ◽  
Athena Swan

AbstractBackgroundGiven that the complex mix of structural, cultural, and institutional factors has produced barriers for women in science, an equally complex intervention is required to understand and address them. The Athena SWAN award scheme for gender equality has become a widespread means to address barriers for women’s advancement and leadership in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, the United States of America, and Canada, while he European Commission is exploring the introduction of a similar award scheme across Europe.MethodsThis study analyses the design and implementation of 16 departmental Athena SWAN Silver action plans in Medical Sciences at one of the world’s leading universities in Oxford, United Kingdom. Data pertaining to the design and implementation of gender equality interventions were extracted from the action plans, analysed thematically, coded using categories from the 2015 Athena SWAN Charter Awards Handbook, and synthesised against a typology of gender equality interventions in the European Research Area. The results were further analysed against the complexity research literature framework, where research organisations are perceived as dynamic systems that adapt, interact and co-evolve with other systems.ResultsAthena SWAN is a complex contextually-embedded system of action planning within the context of universities. It depends on a multitude of contextual variables that relate in complex, non-linear ways, and dynamically adapt to constantly moving targets and new emergent conditions. Athena SWAN Silver action plans conform to the key considerations of complexity: 1) multiple actions and areas of intervention with a focus on the complex system embedded in and the local dynamics, 2) the non-linearity of interventions and the constantly emerging conditions, 3) impact in terms of contribution to change, improved conditions to foster change, and the increased probability that change can occur.ConclusionsTo enact effective sustainable gender equality structural and cultural change, it is necessary to acknowledge and operationalize complexity as a frame of reference. Athena SWAN is the single most comprehensive and systemic gender equality scheme in Europe and can be strengthened further by promoting the integration of sex and gender analysis in research and education. Gender equality policies in the wider European Research Area can benefit from exploring Athena SWAN’s contextually-embedded systemic approach to dynamic action planning and inclusive focus on all genders and categories of staff and students.

scholarly journals Gender Equality and Positive Action: Evidence from UK Universities

2019 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 105-109
Author(s):  
Danula K. Gamage ◽  
Almudena Sevilla
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Women In Science ◽  
Female Faculty ◽  
Engineering Mathematics ◽  
Employment Trajectories ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Athena Swan

This paper examines the impact of the Athena Scientific Women's Academic Network (SWAN) Charter on the wages and employment trajectories of female faculty. The Athena SWAN Charter is a gender equality initiative that formally recognizes good practice towards the representation and career progression of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) through an accreditation process. We find that the gender wage gap closes after Athena SWAN accreditation. However, female faculty at the non-professorial level are not more likely to be promoted to professor after accreditation, or to move to an Athena SWAN accredited university. Taken together these results suggest that the higher wage growth experienced by female non-professorial faculty after Athena SWAN accreditation is likely to come from pay rises within a particular rank.

scholarly journals Promoting gender equality and structural change in academia through gender equality plans: Harmonising EU and national initiatives

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1-2021) ◽  
pp. 27-42
Author(s):  
Rita Bencivenga ◽  
Eileen Drew
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Structural Change ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
National Initiatives ◽  
Positive Action ◽  
Eu Project ◽  
Athena Swan ◽  
The Eu

Gender equality has been actively promoted in EU academic institutions by the European Commission’s Science with and for Society (SwafS) programme through the implementation of gender equality plans (GEP). GEP formulation and implementation was strongly influenced by involvement in EU projects in Irish as well as Italian higher education institutions. The paper draws upon experience of the EU project SAGE (H2020), in which Irish and Italian universities actively cooperated, the Athena SWAN Charter in Ireland, Positive Action Plans (PAP) in Italy, and semi structured interviews with gender experts in Irish and Italian higher education institutions to explore the degree to which participation in EU and national initiatives can promote similar outcomes by the adoption of positive actions. The paper concludes that a harmonised strategy, focusing on common priorities and respecting cultural, political and social diversity, could promote the internationalization of the higher education sector and accelerate the process towards gender equality in academia.

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