UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Notes from the Athena Network Group
Held on
Thursday 5th March 2015
Present:
Claire Algar, Larbi Alili, Sandra Beaufoy, Sue Burrows, Vanessa Goodship,
Maryanne Heafey, Sharon Howard, Charlotte Moonan, Sunita Palmer, Alison
Rodger, Antonia Sagona, Sandy Sparks,
Apologies:
Mia Khan, Sam Cole, Joanne Collingwood, Rachel Corke, Ann Dixon, Amy Hamson ,
Judith Klein, Richard Moffatt, Anne O’Rourke, Nav Patel, Naila Rabbani, Orkun
Soyer, Lila Tennent, Kate Thomas, Leonie Walls, Peter Winstanley, Annie Young
1.
Matters arising
No Matters arising. Minutes approved for 5th February 2015.
2.
Update from ECU on Athena and GEM
REPORTED: (by S Beaufoy)
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
3.
That ECU had consulting with the sector and a number of other 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.
That the consultation will inform the new submission forms.
That the name of the Charter Mark is being discussed.
There has been an increase in submission fees which will be effective from April
2015. Departmental fees have increased to £500 with the institutional Athena
membership increasing to £3000.
International Women’s Day
REPORTED: (by S Beaufoy)
Departments were thanked for their efforts in securing speakers for the International
Women’s Day event being held on Tuesday 10th March 2015 in the Chancellors Suites,
Rootes. Twelve speakers (internal and external) will be giving talks on various topics
focused on Inspirational Women. Members were asked to encourage colleagues and
students to register for the event via the online registration form.
Members were asked to consider prospective speakers to visit Warwick to talk on
inspirational women throughout 2015. The E&D team are happy to support the events
by assisting with the publicity of each event.
4.
Progress on Departmental Action Plans
(i)
Physics
REPORTED: (S Burrows)
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
(ii)
S Burrows attended a Juno Champion event in York and circulated details of
some of the initiatives from the event.
Following the York event, Physics will consider implementing some of the
initiatives, including looking at the gender balance in UG dropout rates
York offered child care whilst individuals attended for interview.
For departments to apply for an Athena gold award, a letter of support is advised
from the VC.
Physics are investigating the possibility of setting up a departmental netball
team and suggested an inter-department netball league to help bring female
students together.
Chemistry
REPORTED: (by A Rodger)
a)
b)
(iii)
No recent meeting has taken place, a meeting is scheduled to take place in the
next couple of weeks
Chemistry are aiming to apply for Gold Submissions in November 2015.
Computer Science
REPORTED: (S Howard)
a)
(iv)
Next meeting is due to be held in 2 weeks’ time when it is planned to l start
addressing some of the actions on t the action plan.
Statistics
REPORTED: (by L Alili)
a)
b)
c)
(v)
The Welfare and Communications group meet on a regular basis.
Some improvements to the W/C webpage have been made, including providing
case studies on Maternity/Paternity leave.
The department are collecting metrics on their departmental diversity.
Life Sciences
REPORTED: (C Moonan)
a)
(vi)
A webpage is being created to celebrate Women in Life Sciences or Excellence
in Life Sciences
The membership of the Athena group will be reviewed to ensure the
membership remains diverse.
Warwick Medical School
REPORTED: (S Palmer)
a)
(vii)
Monthly reports are being monitored for the completion of the online E&D Elearning modules. It had been acknowledged that Clinical Academics already
have various mandatory equality training within the trust which is reviewed
annually. WMS are currently investigation if this data is obtainable.
Economics
REPORTED: (M Heafey)
a)
b)
(viii)
Economics are in the process of setting up a working group with their first
meeting scheduled shortly.
Economics are considering whether to submit for a bronze award in the
November 2015 round of submissions
WMG
REPORTED: (V Goodship)
a)
5.
WMG are considering whether to submit for a silver award in November
2015. Evidence is being gathered on a monthly basis to collate ready for
their submission
Any Other Business
a)
That the ‘Demystifying the Warwick Promotion Process’ event will take place
on Thursday 12th March 2015 and that registration is available on line:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/equalops/athena/demystifyingtheprom
otionprocess
b)
S Sparks (LDC) reported that some Time Management courses have been
arranged, which can be booked via the LDC web pages. In term 3 a Vitae
Leadership training course is being held for Research Staff over a period of 3
afternoons.
A Career Development course will be held over a lunchtime period.
6.
c)
Sue Burrows confirmed that she will attend the forthcoming event organised
by ECU on ‘Going for Gold’.
d)
A Rodger reported that the Conference Care panel require new panel
members to replace existing members. For consistency sake, members will
be replaced at intervals, starting with James Smith being replaced by Sandy
Sparks.
Date for the next meeting
The date of the next meeting is Tuesday 7th April 2015 at 12:00 hrs in the MOAC
meeting room.