UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Notes from the Athena Network Group
Held on
Tuesday 14th April 2015
Present:
1.
Claire Algar, Larbi Alili, Sandra Beaufoy, Sue Burrows, Maryanne Heafey, Amy
Hanson, Charlotte Moonan, Sunita Palmer, Naila Rabanni, Alison Rodger, Sandy
Sparks,
Minutes from the meeting held on 5th March 2015
Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 5th March approved.
2.
Matters arising
Due to the success of the International Women’s Day event, the group discussed and
agreed that a similar event will be held next year. The date chosen for the event is
Wednesday 9th March 2016.
2.
Progress on Departmental Action Plans
(i)
Physics
REPORTED: (S Burrows)
(ii)
a)
Sue Burrows represented Physics at the ‘Going for Gold’ Athena event and
picked up some good initiatives and ideas, one of which is a ‘traffic light system’
on their Athena action plan.
b)
Following the XMaS trip to Grenoble by a group of 6th form girls, a presentation
evening is being held on Friday 24th April, where the girls who attended the trip
will give presentations on their experiences of the trip.
Chemistry
REPORTED: (by A Rodger)
a)
b)
The W/C committee met on Tuesday 14th April and discussed the possibility of
using social media as another form of communication in the department.
The department is considering applying for a Gold Athena award in the
November submission round.
(iii)
Statistics
REPORTED: (by L Alili)
a)
(iv)
No updates from Statistics, as they are due to meet shortly.
Life Sciences
REPORTED: (by C Moonan)
a)
b)
c)
(v)
Life Sciences are considering committee membership of their Athena SelfAssessment Group and will also be considering how they can divide the
submission form amongst the members for action.
Life Sciences are waiting to hear the results of their Silver Athena submission
The comments posted to the School’s suggestion box are no longer
anonymised. This change is to enable the School to respond to individuals on
their suggestions.
Warwick Medical School
REPORTED: (N Rabbani)
a)
The Medical School has been examining their Outreach activities and will be
compiling a list of Outreach activities in other departments and the central
administration to indicate the work being undertaken and to encourage
collaboration on projects.
ACTION: C Algar to invite P Blagburn (Senior Assistant Registrar – Outreach)
to a future meeting to understand what work is being done centrally and how
possible collaborative work could be formed.
The launch of Science GRRL took place on 1st April 2015 and WMS were
pleased with the excellent turnout. WMS also had a Science GRRL
information stand at the International Women’s
(vi)
Economics
REPORTED: (by M Heafey)
a)
3.
Economics are holding their first meeting of their Self-Assessment Group
shortly, but are still trying to recruit the correct membership. An update on
progress will be given at the next meeting.
Update from International women’s day
REPORTED: (by S Beaufoy)
A successful event was held on Tuesday 10th March 2015 in the Chancellors Suite,
Rootes. Twelve speakers (external and internal) gave various talks on topics focused
on Inspirational Women. The audience numbers fluctuated throughout the day with
the later talks having a fairly low audience. Feedback following the event has been
collated and will be taken into account for next year’s event. It has been noted that
Non-STEM departments have expressed an interest in being involved next year.
4.
Demystifying the Promotions Process
REPORTED: (by S Beaufoy)
37 members of staff attended the event held on Thursday 12 th March. Positive
feedback was received following the event. The gender balance of the audience was
23 male and 14 females
5.
Research led action
REPORTED: (A Rodger)
Alison Rodger posed the question: As a leading research led University if we look at
the outcome from the research being done are our actions measurable and not just a
tick box exercise.
6.
Research Council Diversity Data
REPORTED: (by A Rodger)
(i) That RCUK have circulated data on grant submissions versus grants awarded.
The data has indicated that there is an overall gender disparity in both
submission and success rates.
ACTION:
(ii) Sandra Beaufoy to obtain data sets from Research and Impact Services (RIS)
to see how Warwick compares against the national data.
5.
Any Other Business
a)
6.
When is the next Pulse Survey being held – S Beaufoy advised it was indicated
that this would be in June/July although this has not yet been clarified. The
network also asked if Gender questions would be included.
Date for the next meeting
The date of the next meeting is Thursday 7th May 2015 at 12:00 hrs in the MOAC
meeting room.