Sean McWhinnie
Oxford Research and Policy

• Each panel sees around 7 submissions
• It takes between 2 and 3 hours to read one thoroughly
• Make things easy for panels to find and assimilate the information they want
• Do not assume that all your institutions’ submissions will be seen by the same panel
• Athena SWAN is about the recruitment, retention and progression of women and you need to bring this out in your submission

• Cross reference action points to the action plan so that panels can easily find the relevant actions while they read the submission
• Bear in mind that although successful submissions are on the internet, you don’t know which parts a panel thought were good and which were not so good

• Should show the head is involved and engaged in the Athena SWAN work
• Should demonstrate real personal commitment
• Ought to include one or two key examples of good practice
• Might like to highlight the head will ensure the resources are in place to deliver the action plan

• State the numbers of men and women on the SAT, and if appropriate a brief description of the breakdown by grade, etc.
• Give brief backgrounds of SAT member to illustrate the variety of experiences.
• Say when the SAT started work and how often it has met.
If you already hold a Bronze (or Silver) award describe how the SAT has managed the implementation of your
Action Plan.
• Ensure there is a description of how the self assessment has been carried out, including what consultation there has been with staff and students.

• How is Athena SWAN communicated to the rest of the department? Will the average postdoc know anything about it?
• Who has signed off the action plan? Has it been shared with staff?
• Is there an outline of your plans for the future including how often the SAT intends to meet?
• It is good idea to set up an annual meeting schedule including an annual review and revision of the action plan

• Give an outline of the department including:
 Brief details of numbers of staff and students
 Location details, especially if the department split over a number of buildings or sites. Describe how this affects staff
 Use this section to describe how line management works in the department. How are line managers chosen? Do the roles rotate?
 Describe how research groups are organised (this may be related to the line management issue)
 Any other important and relevant details

• Remember to provide at least three years’ data or explain why you can’t.
• Write a commentary on each section identifying the key issues for action. Do not just describe the data. Focus on whether there are gender differences and, if there are, what action(s) you can put in place to tackle the differences.
• Plot the full pipeline from UGs to professors to help you identify problematic transition points.

In general the method to follow is:
1.
Describe the process e.g. for appraisal, how often does it happen? Who does it? What does it cover?
2.
Present relevant data e.g. for appraisal, completion rates.
3.
Tell the panel what staff consultation has happened and what staff think about the process from surveys, focus groups, interviews.
4.
Consider your postdocs.
5.
Define what actions you will be taking to address any issues.

• Silver department
 Significant record of activity and achievement
 Identified particular challenges
 Implemented activities
 Can demonstrate the impact of these activities

• The panel expects data from all the constituent units in the faculty, not averages
• Faculties need to demonstrate clearly good practice
(and impact) across all units, and that issues specific to different subject areas have been identified
• Communication of the Charter principles needs to be apparent across the faculty; it should not driven by one single unit within
• Faculties need to find suitable comparators for benchmarking: ideally individual subject areas should be benchmarked separately

• Recruitment: what is done to encourage women to apply? How do you know if representative number of men and women apply for posts?
• Promotion: how are promotion candidates identified and supported? Is there a pro-active system whereby staff who are ready are encouraged to apply? What are the schemes to support promotion candidates such as workshops, mentoring? Are there any specific actions aimed at women, and if there are what are they?

• Appraisal: Who carries out appraisal? How often? Is there a separate scheme for postdocs? If not, is the general scheme fit for postdocs?
• Induction: What is in place for new staff? Describe departmental and university induction. What are the mentoring arrangements and training opportunities for new staff? Is there E&D training? What are the take up rates and what do staff think of it? Are new academics given research funds and lower teaching loads?
• Support for female students: Describe what is in place and if there isn’t anything special - say why.

• Committees: This is not just about the numbers of women on committees per se . When numbers of women are low focus on how a female perspective is fed into committees. How often are committee roles rotated to give staff the opportunity to build up their experience?
• Fixed-term staff: Present these data by grade as most fixed-term staff will be researchers? Look at the proportion of men and women who are on fixed-term contracts? What are your policies about transferring staff to permanent contracts? If staff are not transferred, why not?

• Workload model: This is important. You should have something in place for Silver or have a good reason why you don’t. The key issue is transparency: not everyone having exactly the same workload. Does the model take into account all activities?
• Timing of meetings and gatherings: You ought to have considered core hours (not office hours), e.g. 10 – 4. At least some social events should be held at times to maximise the ability for all staff to attend.

• Culture: Departments often find this section difficult to write. Look at your information on what people think of the department. What kind of social spaces do you have?
How supportive are staff to one another? What about communication? What do staff think about working in your department?
• Outreach: What happens? In areas where there are few women students describe any special efforts made to interest them. Activities should be included in the workload model.

• Parental/adoption leave: Present the numbers although they are likely to be small. If staff haven’t returned to work after maternity leave do you know why?
• Flexibility: The panel will know that academics work flexibly, but have there been any formal application for changes to working hours, etc? For informal flexibility, all staff should feel they have the same opportunities to work flexibly. Is there opportunity to specify when staff are not available for teaching?

• Support for maternity leave: It is important to describe what the arrangements are:
 Before maternity leave - how preparations are made to cover teaching, administration and research
 During leave, e.g., use of Keeping in Touch (KIT) days and meetings to discuss return arrangements
 After – how returners are supported, e.g. reduction in teaching, support to get research going again, monitoring of how well the returner settles back into work.
• There may be few, or no, examples of women having taken maternity leave, even so you must have procedures in place.

• Remember that case studies should be used to explore the individual’s experiences in the department. Make sure they are honest and talk about the good and the bad
– especially if you have actions in place to tackle the bad.

• Action should be SMART
 What: Description of action
 Who: Responsibility (a named individual)
 When: Timescale (start and target completion dates)
 Measurable Success Criteria

• Action taken already and outcome at March
2013
• Further action planned
• Progress Log

1
2
3

• Action: Set up a forum for postdoctoral researchers
• Responsibility: Postgraduate tutor
• Timescale: By end academic year 2012/13
• Success measure: Held meeting of forum with at least one representative from each research area.

• Action: Ensure postdoctoral forum is meeting regularly and reporting issues to management team
• Responsibility: Postgraduate tutor
• Timescale: By end academic year 2013/14
• Success measure: Regular meetings of forum take place with at least one representative from each research area, and any issues are passed to management team

• Share it with the HoD at an early stage
• Once you have buy in - sell it
• Use it to drive change and report on progress

• Make sure you have a clear rationale – why are you doing this?
• Make your plans fit with your department’s culture.
• Don’t just copy someone else’s – what works for Poppleton Media Studies may be wrong for you.

• Make sure you seek external advice/ information: especially if there are reports in your subject area.

• Make sure you seek external advice/ information: especially if there are reports in your subject area.

• Be honest
• Things that can go wrong
 Information overload
 No communication
 Over sophisticated analysis of small numbers
 Lack of joined up thinking
 Plan that doesn’t reflect what the department looks like or can realistically achieve

Sean McWhinnie
Tel: 01235 439188
Email: sean.mcwhinnie@oxfordresearchandpolicy.co.uk