Southampton Athena SWAN success signals new beginning for gender equality.
The University of Southampton's aspirations to improve fairness and equality for women have been rewarded through the Athena SWAN (Scientific Women's Academic Network) Charter administered by the Equality Challenge Unit.
The Faculty of Engineering and the Environment is committed to promoting Equality and Diversity for all staff and students regardless of age; gender; ethnic origin; national identity; disability; sexual orientation; religious belief; and socio-economic background. A dedicated team of staff and students meet quarterly to develop ways of producing a more inclusive culture for everyone.
The Athena SWAN Charter recognises commitment to advancing women's careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in academia. We strongly believe that developing a fairer Faculty for all will particularly benefit the career progression for women. Following analysis of data and feedback from staff and students we established key areas, including: improved methods of communication throughout the Faculty; improved awareness of promotion and recognition processes; and encouraging more young women onto engineering subjects. We were particularly proud to have received an Athena SWAN Bronze award in September 2013 in recognition of our proposed actions for addressing these issues and intend to continue on this journey to further improve the representation of women in engineering.