UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Notes from the Athena Network Group
Held on
Friday 5th December 2014
Present:
Sandra Beaufoy, Elizabeth Blagrove, Katherine Branch, Anna Burchfiel, Sue
Burrows, Amy Hamson, Sara Kalvala, Wilfrid Kendall, Christine Leigh, James Smith
Apologies:
Claire Algar, Joanna Collingwood, Mia Khan, Naila Rabanni, Sandy Sparks, Sam
Cole, Rachel Corke, Ann Dixon, Vanessa Goodship, Judith Klein, Richard Moffatt,
Anne O’Rourke, Sunita Palmer, Nav Patel, Alison Rodger, Orkun Soyer, Leonie
Walls, Peter Winstanley, Annie Young
1.
Matters arising
No Matters arising. Minutes approved for 6th October 2014
2.
Update from ECU on Athena and GEM
REPORTED: (by S Beaufoy)
(i)
That ECU were consulting with the sector and a number of key stakeholders with
regard to the proposed amalgamation of the Athena SWAN Charter Mark and
the Gender Equality Charter Mark with effect from April 2015.
(ii)
Whilst still working primarily to Athena principles a number of changes to the
Charter Mark are proposed as follows:
(a) Inclusion of professional and support staff, honorary staff and some atypical
staff such as visiting lecturers, noting that these staff will be covered
separately in submissions to ensure that data on recruitment, retention and
progression remain clear.
(b) Trans Staff – Institutional submissions will not be expected to include data on
trans staff, but will need to demonstrate how the unfair treatment often
experienced by trans people is tackled by the institution.
(c) Zero contract hours – it is intended to extend beyond the current Athena
SWAN focus of fixed-term and open-ended contracts to include zero-hours
contract staff.
(d) Data Requirements – the data template used in the GEM trial will no longer
be mandatory. Detailed guidance will give comprehensive information on
minimum data requirements and expectations on how to use, interpret and
present data.
(e) There will also be an increased focus on the use of qualitative data, which will
be especially useful for smaller departments, where there are dangers in
interpreting the small numbers involved in quantitative data.
(f) Proposed Timetable – ECU are proposing a change to submission dates from
April and November to March and September.
(g) The name of the Charter Mark is also being discussed.
RESOLVED:
Warwick has responded to the consultation as part of a joint response from other
Russell Group members. In principle we agree to many of the changes suggested
except for the proposed changed to submission deadlines. We have requested that
these remain April and November each year.
3.
Progress on Departmental Action Plans
(i)
Computer Science
REPORTED: (by C Leigh and S Karvala)
(a) Christine Leigh, the departmental administrator attended the meeting for the first
time to understand the data requirements.
(b) Feedback from the ECU had been received on the Bronze submission.
(ii)
Statistics
REPORTED: (by W Kendall)
(a) That from January 2015, Wilfrid will be replaced by Dr Larbi Alili on the Welfare
and Communication Committee in Statistics and who will also therefore attend
the Athena Network meetings.
(b) That Statistics intend to display factual information on the diversity of the
department on their webpages by using google drop box.
(iii)
Chemistry
REPORTED: (by K Branch)
(a) Katherine announced that she will be taking up a new post (Senior Administrator)
in the Physics Department in the New Year.
(b) That Chemistry will be working towards a gold application (or Silver renewal) in
November 2015.
(iv)
Physics
REPORTED: (by S Burrows)
(a) That Physics intend to submit for IoP Juno Champion Award renewal in
November 2015.
(b) That Physics are planning to host an event for International Womens’ Day.
(c) That a new Director of Student Experience has been recruited – Michael Pound.
(d) A Physics café for undergraduates and academics to attend has been created.
(e) All new PhD students will be assigned mentors.
(f) All Physics staff are being encouraged to take the on-line module ‘Diversity in the
Workplace’.
(g) Emeritus staff will be included in more communications, so that the department
becomes more inclusive.
(v)
Engineering
REPORTED: (by A Hamson)
That due to staff changes, Engineering have only recently started to address their
Athena action plan. Meetings have been scheduled monthly and members of staff
assigned particular tasks.
(vi)
Psychology
REPORTED: (by L Blagrove)
(a) That a new Head of Department will be starting in January 2015 who is very
supportive towards the Athena agenda. A meeting will be arranged with him in
the near future to discuss progress and future plans.
4.
Any Other Business
(a)
(b)
5.
Alison Rodger was invited to speak at a meeting of HoDs of Psychology hosted at
Warwick, on the career trajectories for women in science. The session
developed into a more general debate about what Athena means for psychology
departments across the UK. This subsequent discussion has resulted in the
British Psychological Society and HoDs agreeing to develop a UK wide network to
examine the issues around Athena and more generally around gender and work
practices in psychology departments.
To discuss with Pam Thomas the possibility of having a Faculty Athena Group,
similar to those recently set up for the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences.
Date for the next meeting
The date of the next meeting is Thursday 5th February 2015 at 12:00 hrs in the MOAC
meeting room.