The Department of Economics has achieved a Bronze Athena SWAN award.
The awards, managed by the Equality Change Unit (ECU), provide recognition of a department's commitment to addressing gender equality in academia. This is a fantastic achievement for the department, for whom work to implement the action plans agreed as part of their Athena SWAN applications is already underway, and is a clear indicator of the division's commitment to enhancing diversity and promoting equality amongst our staff and students. The Department of Economics joins other departments within the Social Sciences Division who have achieved the Bronze award, including the Faculty of Law and The School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography. The School of Geography and the Environment and the Saïd Business School also hold Bronze awards.
The ECU Athena SWAN Charter evolved from work between the Athena Project and the Scientific Women's Academic Network (SWAN), to advance the representation of women in science, technology, engineering, medicine and mathematics (STEMM), with the first awards conferred in 2006. In May 2015 the scope of ECU's Athena SWAN Charter was expanded to cover gender equality in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law disciplines.
Work has already commenced to implement the proposed action plan in Economics. Their work will ensure equality in representation, progression and success for all staff and students.
