Athena Swan Journey:
Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London
Prof Alan Armstrong
Head of Department
a.armstrong@imperial.ac.uk
“Going for Gold” workshop
UCL, 24 March 2015
Academic Opportunities Committee
• Established in 2008
• Silver award 2009, 2011
• Gold award 2013
Dr Mike Bearpark - Disabilities Officer
Eileen Boyce - Department Operations Manager
Rachel Brooks - MRes rep
Dr Nick Brooks - Early career Researcher, member Early
Career Development Committee (ECDC)
Dr Ed Tate - Chair of ECDC
Michelle Cheung - PhD champion
Dr Silvia Diez-Gonzalez. - early career lecturer
Dr Liz Elvidge - Head of Postdoc Development Centre
Dr Matt Fuchter - Senior Lecturer
Dr Ling Ge - Chemistry postdoc development team
Dr Patricia Hunt - Senior Lecturer, Chair
Christopher Roberts, Undergraduate champion
Maria Tortelli - PA to HoD
Prof Tom Welton – HoD (until Jan 2015)
Prof Sue Gibson - Professor
Prof Milo Shaffer
Prof Alan Armstrong
Good practice benefits all, men and women, staff and students alike.
Bad practices affect women more.
About the Department
Imperial Chemistry will ensure the long-term success of its research by appointing the
best scientists and supporting them with a culture of collaboration to fulfil their
potential.
Imperial Chemistry operates in an open environment, where quality, flexibility and
continuous improvement are key features.
All members of the Department join in our open and collaborative decision making
processes.
Imperial Chemistry will continue to work pro-actively attract and strongly support
early career staff via both external and internal research fellowships.
• 50 academic staff
• 110 PDRAs, 40 support staff, 205 PhD students, 98 PG Masters (MRes)
students, 440 undergraduates
• ca. One third of UGs from outside the EU
• 10 academic women, of whom 3 Professors, 2 female fellows at Lecturer
equivalent
Gender balance
• Very low turnover of female academics
• Consistently appoint higher % females than apply
What we focused on: Action plan 2011-2013
1. Data
Key data back to 2003. Have more than required by AS
Staff awareness increased at all levels: meetings, web, informal discussion
2. Culture and Organisation
Build culture where mutual support is ordinary rather than exceptional
Success communicated
Workloads monitored
Admin support reorganised following surveys
Regular social events at all levels
Meetings arranged at family-friendly times
CAOC members initiated and participated in many internal/external events.
3. Academic Appointments and Promotions
Dedicated search committee for new appointments; potential candidates approached on 50:50
M:F basis
Staff encouraged to identify future fellowship candidates ("women tend to wait to be asked")
Barriers to future promotion for individuals identified at annual promotion meeting; mentoring
offered and checked up on
Support at an early stage for staff having difficulty meeting performance criteria (bespoke
mentoring, professional coaching)
Induction processes
What we focused on….continued
4. Early stage career development
Research staff strongly encouraged to take 10 days development time
Postdoc PRDPs monitored
List of fellowships collated and put on web
Postdoc symposium
5. Undergraduate and postgraduate level
Established UG and PG champions
More Outreach activities. Funded female staff member in College outreach office
Three new prizes named after woman Chemists
Encourage student engagement; partners in course development
Future priorities
From action plan to action cycle
Workload monitoring
Re-energise Early Career Development Committee
Development for support staff
Professorial staff development
Future challenge
Imperial Chemistry research to move to
new Imperial West campus (2017-18)
Social space
Facilities - crèche, gym…
Connections to South Kensington campus
Artist’s impression of “building C” at Imperial West