Athena SWAN Bronze award form …...Athena SWAN Bronze award form 2 (c) Future of the self-assessment team The team currently has several members who work on the silver submission

Athena SWAN Bronze award form www.athenaswan.org.uk

Athena SWAN Bronze university award renewal application Name of institution: Loughborough University Year: 2012 Contact for application: Prof Steve Rothberg, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise) Email: [email protected] Telephone: 01509 223440 Date of previous award: 2009 List of SET departments (highlighting those that currently hold Bronze, Silver or Gold department awards): The University restructured in 2011 into 10 Schools. While some Schools do still currently operate as a federation of departments, most now operate as single Schools. In SET subject areas, Loughborough has 7 Schools: 1. Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering 2. Civil and Building Engineering 3. Design 4. Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering 5. Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 6. Science (comprising Chemistry, Computer Science, Information Science*, Physics,

Mathematics) 7. Sports, Exercise and Health Sciences It is likely that Information Science will shortly transfer out of the School of Science and into the School of Business and Economics. Total number of university Schools: 10 Percentage of SET Schools as a proportion of all university Schools: 70%. The SET schools host 63% of Loughborough‟s academic staff. 1 Letter of endorsement from a Vice-Chancellor – maximum 500 words - included


2 The self-assessment process – maximum 1000 words 2 (a) Description of the self-assessment team In 2009, a self-assessment team was brought together for the preparation of the institutional bronze submission under the leadership of Prof Steve Rothberg, Dean of Engineering. At that stage, the intention was to develop an existing „Women in Science‟ group to take forward the Athena SWAN agenda across the institution as the „Women in SET‟ group. For a number of reasons we have moved away from this structure. First and foremost, the „Women in Science‟ group had until that point been an informal group and we were not successful in developing its role to become more formal. With hindsight, it was probably wrong to try. In addition, the University‟s Equality and Diversity Officer changed in July 2010, bringing new ideas including fresh impetus to a push for departmental silver award submissions and the whole University restructured during academic year 10/11. With this restructure came a new central team including champions for departmental submissions. Prof Rothberg continues to act as University Champion, though now as Pro Vice-Chancellor rather than Dean. The University‟s Equality and Diversity Advisor remains a member of the team but with the change in post-holder came a step change in engagement with Athena. Further continuity with the original team is provided by HR Advisor, Kokila Mistry, who provides staff data. Kokila and her student data counterpart, Tom Wale, are key team members. We are currently placing significant emphasis on streamlining and where possible automating our data collection and analysis processes (Actions 1.2 and 1.3) so that Athena principles can be used to look at a range of E&D characteristics (beyond gender) across all Schools. The new 12 strong team has been in place for over a year and currently meets monthly because of the level of activity associated with submissions. During this year, the SAT has taken on external inputs by attendance at Athena events and through our „Going for Silver‟ profile-raising event in June 2012. Speakers included Prof. Rodger, University of Warwick, who shared her experience of applying for Athena awards, offered advice on the application process from the perspective of a Champion and an Athena judge. 2 (b) Account of the self-assessment process The SAT team will continue to meet through the next three years, on a bi-monthly basis. The SAT enjoys the support of the most senior staff of the University. The Vice-Chancellor supported the renewed emphasis we have given to Athena in two of her newsletters to all staff during 2012 in order to raise awareness. Members of the SAT have presented to the Academic Leadership Team (comprising VC DVC, PVCs and Deans of the 10 School) on several occasions with the next presentation already planned to follow the November submissions (Action 1.1). Athena matters also feature on the agendas of the Equality and Diversity Sub-Committee and Human Resources Committee (HRC). Since the first submission, the Athena process has been a key driver at HRC in the enhancement of E&D reporting for the whole institution (Action 1.6).


Name SAT Role University Role Additional Information

Prof Steve Rothberg

University Champion and SAT Chair

Pro Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise). Formerly Dean of Engineering.

22 years at Loughborough. Led first bronze institutional submission, now judge for Athena. Two school age daughters. Dual career household.

Abida Akram Lead on Bronze resubmission

E&D Adviser Works flexi-time to manage her disabilities. 25 years‟ experience in E&D within different sectors including last 2 years at Loughborough.

Liz Quimby-Fountain

Administrative support Assistant to E&D Adviser and Secretary to E&D sub-committee

Works part time. Has one school age son.

Dr Mary Nevill

Champion for School of Sport, Exercise & Health Sciences Silver Award

(Academic) Director of Institute of Youth Sport

Two teenage children. Caring responsibilities with mother-in-law. Husband also in academia. Member of the School for 23 years.

Dr Katryna Kalawsky

Co-Champion for School of Sport, Exercise & Health Sciences Silver Award

University Research Development and Policy Support Officer

Former undergraduate, postgraduate (research), Research Assistant and Research Associate. Works part-time.

Dr John Morris

Co-Champion for School of Sport, Exercise & Health Sciences Silver Award

Research Fellow in the Institute of Youth Sport

Married to academic at another University. 3-month old son and caring responsibilities for elderly relative. Member of the School for 10 years as Research Associate / Fellow.

Dr Adam Crawford

Champion for School of Civil and Building Engineering

Operations Manager (responsible for technical and administrative support within School)

20 years in HE. Two young children. Dual career household.

Prof Serpil Acar

Champion for Loughborough Design School

Professor of Design for Injury Prevention

Academic at Loughborough for 23 years. Researching in design for safety of pregnant car occupants. Two children. Husband also University professor.

Dr Kathryn North

Research Office Project Lead –Silver Submissions

Research Staff and Student Development Officer

Based in the Graduate School and Research Office since 2007. Has a young child. Works part-time.

Kokila Mistry Staff Data HR Management Officer Works part time. Two sons of school age. In HR for 6 years, at University for 13.

Tom Wale Student Data Senior Planning Officer Career University Manager with 17 years‟ experience with interest in E&D issues, particularly age discrimination

Rosamund Chester-Buxton

Representing Researchers

Research Associate and Chair of LU Research Staff Association

Currently on maternity leave


2 (c) Future of the self-assessment team The team currently has several members who work on the silver submission for the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences (SSEHS). This is the first of Loughborough‟s silver submissions and we are finding our way with the process. Once the bronze institutional resubmission and the silver submission for SSEHS are complete, we will disseminate best practice (Action 1.4) and review the membership of the SAT directly associated with Schools as we then prepare for the next set of silver submissions (Action 1.5). These are likely to be from our Design School and our School of Civil and Building Engineering and their Champions are already part of the central team. This demonstrates the success of the SAT in bringing new Schools into the process. [998 words] 3 Description of the institution – maximum 1000 words Our staff and students make up a community of over 18000 people, including over 3200 employees. One-third of the workforce are academic and research staff, the remainder are administrative, clerical, technical and manual staff. Our community is now organised into 10 Schools, 7 SET Schools as listed at the beginning of this submission together with the School of Arts, English and Drama, the School of Business and Economics and the School of Social, Political and Geographical Sciences. Our activity is concentrated on a 437 acre campus - one of the largest in the UK – with excellent provision for sporting and recreational activities. In 2009, we celebrated 100 years since the formation of the original Technical Institute that has grown into today‟s University. What we now refer to as SET activities, covering engineering, the physical, human and sports sciences, mathematics and design, have been central throughout the life of the institution and SET is the dominant feature of our subject profile, accounting for over 60% of academic activity. Loughborough is also renowned for its achievements in sports science, sports technology and sports performance. This year we hosted the preparation camp for Team GB ahead of the Olympic Games and over 90 Olympic and Paralympic athletes had Loughborough connections of some kind. Loughborough is well known for the quality of its teaching, verified by outstanding results in every National Student Survey and by leading the Times Higher „Best Student Experience‟ rankings every year from 2006 to 2010. In 2011, we were placed second. As a member of the 1994 Group, we are a research intensive University delivering research-led taught programmes that also feature significant engagement with industry. All Schools have a strong research base and contribute to an international reputation that is especially strong within the SET Schools. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, every department (as we were then) was found to be undertaking research that is internationally recognised, with 18% of the University‟s research considered to be „world leading‟. Loughborough‟s special trademark has always been its substantial partnerships with industry, government and the professions, which bring benefits to all our core activities: teaching, research and enterprise. Our major partnerships with Rolls-Royce, CAT and Ford and the 1700-strong workforce employed on our campus in tenant organisations exemplify this.


Female percentage of FTE academic staff and research staff Though it is not specifically requested, we begin this section with a brief look at our pipeline for academic and research staff recruitment in SET. Table 2 shows our undergraduate recruitment slightly above 25% female. This is driven primarily by our subject mix but we are conscious of the need to develop benchmarks (Actions 2.1 and 2.2). There is no evidence of attrition between application and the taking up of places on course. Our PGT applications process also shows no evidence of attrition and the percentage of female students on programmes is higher than it is for undergraduate programmes. Taking into account relatively small numbers, we retain these ratios in our postgraduate research population and in our research staff population. That our pipeline is not leaky through these transition points is encouraging but, in the early career academic positions, there is evidence of attrition (Action 3.1). Since 2009, the Athena process has prompted us to look in this kind of detail at our figures and these will inform our on-going efforts in recruitment.

SET Schools 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12

UK/EU UG Applicants 26.6% 26.5% 25.5%

UK/EU UG Acceptances 27.3% 26.7% 27.5%

Undergraduate 26.7% 26.6% 26.2%

UK/EU PGT Applicants 31.6% 30.5% 31.8%

UK/EU PGT Acceptances 31.9% 30.7% 29.9%

Postgraduate Taught 29.5% 29.2% 31.6%

Postgraduate Research 30.3% 32.0% 29.3%

Research staff 31.8% 31.7% 32.8%

RT6/7 25.6% 29.2% 27.8%

Table 2: Pipeline for academic and research staff recruitment in SET (% female)

Table 3 shows the number of male and female staff on academic and research grades over the last 3 years for both the institution as a whole and for the SET Schools. Also shown is the % of female staff at each grade with corresponding totals. The data are also shown graphically in figures 1 to 4. In the data for academic staff, we can see that female early career recruitment (RT6/7 combined) is now around 37% for the whole institution and 28% in the SET schools. Genuine trends over the last few years are made more difficult to identify by those years having been lean ones for staff recruitment. Looking back at the data submitted in 2009, however, does reveal promising developments. The early career data represents an overall increase of around 2% in each case over the last 5 years. At SL level, a similar trend is apparent, while at professorial level the changes have been quite marked. 17% of LU professors are now female compared to 12% in 2007. In the SET Schools male professors have increased in number over that period from 97 to 121 but female professors have more than doubled from a lowly 6 in 2007 to 13 in 2012, an increase from 6% to just below 10%. Put in other terms, through the combination of leavers (mainly retirements), internal promotions and external appointments, the growth in the number of SET Profs between 2007 and 2012 has been almost 23% female. Female staff at Reader level are also increasing in number. While the data are still clearly dominated by legacy, trends are shifting undeniably towards a fairer gender balance. At Loughborough, research staff are concentrated at grades 6 and 7 from which many will be keen to make the transition to an academic post. In 2007, 32% of SET research staff were


female compared to 26% early career female academics. Those figures now stand at 33% and 28% so both figures have increased and the gap has narrowed slightly. There is still work to do to eliminate attrition at this key transition point and we describe our significant efforts later in this submission.

Whole Institution Apr 10 Apr 11 Apr 12

Academic (RT) F M F % F M F % F M F %

RT9 Prof 32 164 16.3% 32 161 16.5% 35 171 17.0%

RT8 Reader 10 37 20.6% 10 36 21.6% 15 34 30.6%

RT8 Senior Lecturer 44 138 24.2% 45 141 24.2% 45 150 23.1%

RT7 Lecturer 59 120 33.1% 70 114 38.0% 73 131 35.8%

RT6 Lecturer 29 40 42.2% 20 33 37.8% 20 25 44.4%

Academic total 174 499 25.9% 177 485 26.7% 188 511 26.9%

Research (RE) F M F % F M F % F M F %

RE9 0 1 0.0% 0 2 0.0% 0 2 0.0%

RE8 9 9 49.1% 6 7 47.3% 8 6 57.1%

RE7 12 25 32.4% 13 25 34.3% 17 24 41.5%

RE6 93 137 40.4% 85 138 38.1% 84 149 36.1%

RE5 7 16 31.4% 11 10 52.4% 15 14 51.7%

Research total 121 188 39.2% 115 182 38.7% 124 195 38.9%

SET Schools Apr 10 Apr 11 Apr 12

Academic (RT) F M F % F M F % F M F %

RT9 Prof 13 110 10.2% 13 120 9.4% 13 121 9.7%

RT8 Reader 5 21 19.2% 5 24 17.5% 9 20 31.0%

RT8 Senior Lecturer 26 101 20.6% 25 103 19.7% 24 110 17.9%

RT7 Lecturer 26 78 24.7% 30 74 28.9% 31 85 26.7%

RT6 Lecturer 11 27 28.0% 10 22 30.2% 9 19 32.1%

Academic total 80 337 19.1% 82 342 19.4% 86 355 19.5%

Research (RE) F M F % F M F % F M F %

RE9 0 1 0.0% 0 1 0.0% 0 1 0.0%

RE8 2 3 38.5% 3 6 35.3% 4 5 44.4%

RE7 3 19 14.7% 5 25 16.9% 9 24 27.3%

RE6 64 124 34.1% 64 134 32.4% 65 141 31.6%

RE5 5 12 27.9% 9 10 48.3% 12 13 48.0%

Research total 74 159 31.8% 82 176 31.7% 90 184 32.8%

Table 3: Male and female staff on academic and research grades over the last 3 years for

both the institution as a whole and for the SET Schools [945 words]


Figure 1: Whole Institution: Numbers and proportion (%) of female and male staff on academic grades

Figure 2: SET Schools: Numbers and proportion (%) of female and male staff on academic grades


Figure 3: Whole Institution: Numbers and proportion (%) of female and male staff on research grades

Figure 4: SET Schools: Numbers and proportion (%) of female and male staff on research grades


Sections 4-7: Supporting and advancing women’s careers – 4500 words in total 4 Key career transition points 4 (i) Effectiveness of policies and activities that are supportive to women’s career progression in SET departments at key career transition points Equality data, including gender, is now analysed and reported in greater detail than ever before. The Annual Equality & Diversity (E&D) Statistical Report was provided to E&D Sub-committee in May 2011 and 2012 and presented to Human Resource Committees in June 2011 and June 2012. The Single Equality Scheme (SES) was presented to E&D Sub-Committee in 2011 and the progress report was provided in Jan 2012 to the Sub-Committee. Gender statistics were provided in these reports. http://www.lboro.ac.uk/admin/personnel/equality.html

4 (i) (a) Female : male ratio of academic staff on fixed-term contracts vs. open-ended (permanent) contracts

Apr 10 Apr 11 Apr 12

All Schools: fixed F M F M F M

Research 97 177 96 173 88 167

Academic 13 36 14 29 9 27

All Schools: open F M F M F M

Research 51 40 49 44 40 44

Academic 193 526 195 514 198 520


SET Schools: fixed F M F M F M

Research 80 169 79 169 71 159

Academic 7 26 7 17 5 19

SET Schools: Open F M F M F M

Research 34 35 33 40 29 41

Academic 99 366 101 368 102 369

Table 4a: Numbers of academic and research staff on fixed and open-ended contracts

Though this section requests data only for academic staff, we noted in 2009 that most academic staff were already on open-ended contracts and the greatest use of fixed term contracts was amongst research staff as a consequence of the uncertain nature of contract research funding. We added then that the University was committed to working in partnership with campus trade unions to reduce further the use of fixed-term contracts in order to provide greater security of employment. Consequently, in this resubmission, we provide a comprehensive set of data to illustrate this point. Table 4a shows clear evidence of the declining use of fixed term contracts in a period when staff populations have been growing (see Tables 3a&b) and research funding has been even more

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/admin/personnel/equality.html


uncertain. These trends are evident for both research and academic staff across all Schools and across the SET Schools. Table 4b presents data in percentage terms. The percentages shown are relative to the whole group e.g. at April 2010, 65.5% of the whole cohort of female research staff and 81.6% of the whole cohort of male research staff were employed on fixed term contracts. These figures hold quite steady over the 3 year period for all Schools and for the SET schools, suggesting that female researchers are slightly less likely to be on a fixed term contract than their male counterparts. For academic staff, figures are very similar, especially given the small numbers on fixed term contracts.


All Schools: fixed F% of total F

M% of total M

F% of total F

M% of total M

F% of total F

M% of total M

Research 65.5% 81.6% 66.2% 79.7% 68.8% 79.1%

Academic 6.3% 6.4% 6.7% 5.3% 4.3% 4.9%

All Schools: open F% of total F

M% of total M

F% of total F

M% of total M

F% of total F

M% of total M

Research 34.5% 18.4% 33.8% 20.3% 31.3% 20.9%

Academic 93.7% 93.6% 93.3% 94.7% 95.7% 95.1%


SET Schools: fixed F% of total F

M% of total M

F% of total F

M% of total M

F% of total F

M% of total M

Research 70.2% 82.8% 70.5% 80.9% 71.0% 79.5%

Academic 6.6% 6.6% 6.5% 4.4% 4.7% 4.9%

SET Schools: open F% of total F

M% of total M

F% of total F

M% of total M

F% of total F

M% of total M

Research 29.8% 17.2% 29.5% 19.1% 29.0% 20.5%

Academic 93.4% 93.4% 93.5% 95.6% 95.3% 95.1%

Table 4b: Percentages of academic and research staff on fixed term and open-ended

contracts

4 (i) (b) Female : male ratio of academic staff job application and appointment success rates The University places great importance on fair recruitment practices. All staff involved in recruitment undergo recruitment and selection training and all advertised posts have a detailed job description and person specification. The University also places great importance on career development for its new staff, especially for academic staff for whom the probationary training programme ensures first career steps have the right trajectory.


Applications Appointments Adjusted Success rate

All Schools F M Unspec. F% F M F% of total F M

2010 391 852 113 31.5% 23 35 39.7% 5.4% 4.1%

2011 340 1060 150 24.3% 20 52 27.8% 5.3% 4.9%

2012 202 346 40 36.9% 10 20 33.3% 4.6% 5.8%

Total 933 2258 303 29.2% 53 107 33.1% 5.2% 4.7%

SET Schools F M Unspec. F% F M F% of total F M

2010 189 575 76 24.7% 11 26 29.7% 5.3% 4.5%

2011 118 542 70 17.9% 8 31 20.5% 6.1% 5.7%

2012 37 86 8 30.1% 4 11 26.7% 10.2% 12.7%

Total 344 1203 154 22.2% 23 68 25.3% 6.1% 5.7%

Table 5: Application and appointment data for academic staff

Table 5 shows applications data across the last 3 years (2012 is partial). The figure for F% under applications is the percentage where a gender has been declared by the applicant. The success rate figure has been adjusted to distribute those applicants who did not declare a gender in the same proportion as those who did. This, in fact, makes little difference to the success rate calculation and either (adjusted or unadjusted) could have been presented. Looking at the total figures, 29% (22%) of applicants for academic positions in All Schools (SET Schools) are female. These figures are slightly higher than the corresponding population figures, 27% (20%) for Loughborough academic staff. It is then encouraging to see that 33% (25%) of new appointments are female, pushing our gender distribution towards a fairer balance. The differences in success rates are small but significant in the context of the number of appointments made and we are delighted to be attracting and appointing high quality female applicants to our posts in increasing numbers.

4 (i) (c) Female : male ratio of academic staff promotion rates In line with the 2009 Action Plan commitment concerning internal promotions to professor, we have made a detailed analysis of patterns of submission not just for promotion but for all kinds of monetary performance reward. Tables 6a&b show data for academic staff entering the reward review process which covers all non-professorial grades. Deans of School are asked to identify staff deserving of salary increments or lump sum awards (team awards are a type of lump sum award although the reward may not be a cash one). As part of the process, staff may approach Deans proactively and ask to be considered. Senior staff in Schools then consider applicants and the outcome is that the majority of cases finally submitted (though clearly not all) are successful. The percentages shown in the 2 right hand columns describe the number of F or M staff against each award type as a percentage of the whole eligible group. For awards other than promotion to SL, all academic staff on grades 6-8 are eligible. For SL promotion, the eligible group comprises academic staff on grades 6 and 7.


Data for the whole institution suggest that female academics were less likely to be put forward for salary enhancements than their male counterparts in 2010 and 2011. Following requests for Deans to be proactive in identifying suitable staff, this trend reverses in 2012 but the overall data for the 3 years leaves female staff trailing male staff in terms of salary enhancement through reward review (Action 3.2). Consideration of unsuccessful submissions suggest that male staff are more likely to „take a chance‟ than their female colleagues. Data for SET schools show a similar trend with slightly greater overall reluctance to submit for salary enhancement and slightly greater overall likelihood to submit for promotion to SL. Until 2012, the percentage of the eligible group of female staff being promoted to SL was lower than the corresponding male group. In 2012, the figures were close across all Schools and reversed across the SET schools.

All Schools

Award type Female Male Female % of eligible staff

Male % of eligible staff

2010 Salary enhancements 2 14 1.4% 4.2%

Unsuccessful salary enhancements 0 3

Lump sums / team awards 3 5 2.1% 1.5%

Promotion to SL 11 22 12.4% 13.7%

Unsuccessful promotion to SL 2 5




Promotion to SL 4 12 4.4% 8.1%







Total Salary enhancements 13 47 3.0% 4.7%



Unsuccessful salary enhancements 0% 13%

Unsuccessful promotion to SL 19% 16%

Table 6a: Non-professorial performance rewards (all schools)


SET Schools

Award type Female Male Female % of eligible staff

Male % of eligible staff
















Total Salary enhancements 5 26 2.4% 3.8%



Unsuccessful salary enhancements 0% 7%

Unsuccessful promotion to SL 21% 19%

Table 6b: Non-professorial performance rewards (SET schools)

Table 7 shows data from the senior staff salary review in which salary enhancement can be awarded to professorial staff. Data for the whole institution looks fairly even, especially in 2012. Data for SET Schools also looks reasonable, given the smaller number of female SET professorial staff which drives both the higher 2011 success rate and the lower 2012 success rate. Participation rates are important and in 2012 Deans were asked to take to steps to increase participation rates (until then submission had been voluntary) for reasons including a sense that an unintended consequence of a voluntary arrangement might be to discourage female staff disproportionately. The raised 2012 participation rate is welcomed and, though a trend cannot yet be determined from the limited data currently available, there is no suggestion that female staff are disadvantaged.


Number Success rates Participation rates

Year / Schools F M F% M% F% M%

2011 / All Eligible 34 177

Considered 18 74 53% 42%

Awarded 14 42 78% 57%

2011 / SET Eligible 17 129


Awarded 5 32 71% 59%

2012 All Eligible 32 156


Awarded 10 48 50% 51%

2012 SET Eligible 15 76


Awarded 3 24 27% 49%

Table 7: Professorial salary review

Finally, we consider internal and external promotions to professor in table 8. Five year totals have been used as numbers in any one year can be quite low. This analysis was prompted by the 2009 action plan commitment to examine patterns of internal promotion to Professor but has gone further than that commitment. Across the institution, the percentage of women in the total number of appointments to Professor is now running at a figure very close to the percentage of women in grade 8 posts (the highest non-professorial grade) and well ahead of the percentage of women already in professorial posts. The rate of internal promotions looks particularly healthy. The rate through external appointments is lower but close to the figure for women already in professorial posts. As such, this might be regarded not so much a cause for concern but as an indication that we may not be maximising the potential of external appointments. The figure for internal promotions suggests Loughborough is clearly a university where female academic staff can prosper. Looking at SET Schools only, the profile is different but still encouraging. The rate of internal promotions is higher than the current percentage of women amongst the professoriate (in every year considered) but less than the percentage of grade 8 staff who are female. With time, we should see the figures for internal promotion rate and percentage of women amongst grade 8 staff converge and this will be monitored (Action 1.2). The percentage of female professorial staff is also being boosted by external appointments for which the rate is much higher than the percentage for existing female professorial staff. This marks Loughborough‟s SET schools out as attractive destinations for senior female academic staff.


All Schools

5 year period ending Year X

%F (external appointments)

%F (appointment by internal promotion)

%F appointments total

%F academic staff at grade 8 / grade 9 (Year X)

2008 16% 24% 20% 22% / 15%

2009 22% 24% 23% 22% / 15%

2010 18% 25% 22% 23% / 16%

2011 16% 26% 22% 24% /16%

2012 15% 29% 24% 25% / 17%

Total 2004-2012 16% 24% 21%

SET Schools

5 year period ending Year X

%F (external appointments)

%F (appointment by internal promotion

%F appointments total

%F academic staff at grade 8 / grade 9 (Year X)

2008 21% 11% 15% 16% / 9%

2009 23% 13% 17% 20% / 10%

2010 14% 13% 13% 20% / 10%

2011 16% 10% 12% 19% / 9%

2012 9% 15% 14% 20% / 10%

Total 2004-2012 19% 12% 14%

Table 8: internal and external promotions to professor

5 Career development 5 (i) The effectiveness of policies and activities that are supportive to women’s career development in SET departments. 5 (i) (a) Researcher career support and training Developing research careers featured in our 2009 action plan as an area for improvement following concern expressed in our staff survey. We now report significant progress and a commitment evident, inter alia, in the April 2012 decision to transfer staff who had been supporting researchers through the ring-fenced „Roberts‟ funding to core funds and embed them in the Research Office, the Careers and Employability Centre and the Graduate School. Postgraduate research students (PGRs) are the engine of the University‟s research effort. Training and development support for our 1200-strong group of PGRs, along with our Early Career Research staff (ECRs), is provided centrally by the Graduate School which works closely with other support services such as the Careers and Employability Centre (CEC) and the Library.


The Graduate School‟s offering now includes:

A comprehensive training programme mapped to the Researcher Development Framework, including Teaching Skills course.

Annual Research Conference and poster competition for PGRs, ECRs and academic staff

Dedicated inductions for PGRs and ECRs

A dedicated website outlining resources and support available e.g. funding opportunities.

Funds available to support PGRs including studentships, travel and conference funds, Graduate School Prizes and the Research Culture Fund.

The Research Culture Fund was established in direct response to the 2011 Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) to support student-led initiatives such as networking events and conferences. Support for ECRs is provided through the Research Office and includes:

A dedicated website, blog and weekly email bulletin.

Support for the researcher-led Research Staff Association.

2012 Developing Future Research Leaders Programme; of the 10 participants on this programme five were female, four of whom were from SET Schools.

Mentoring scheme in conjunction with the Graduate School and Careers and Employability Centre

With the Graduate School and human resources, coordination of the University‟s implementation plan for the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers for which we were awarded the European Commission‟s HR Excellence in Research badge.

Research staff and students receive career development support from the dedicated Careers Advisor for Researchers including one-to-one advice, workshops and tailored events. Recent CEC-led events have included

Broadening Horizons: a one day programme in collaboration with Nottingham University run in 2010 and in 2011 to provide researchers with skills and tools to engage proactively in their own career development.

Careers in Education (2011) event featuring employers: 55 research students and staff attended

Careers in Research (2011): 65 research students and staff attended. Researchers also receive support from the Teaching Centre at two levels:

„Successful Teaching and Assessment for Researcher‟ (STARs) certificated programme which follows on from „Teaching Skills‟ and provides a stepping stone to the Associate Teaching Course,

Associate Teaching Course – a 12-month programme available to researchers with higher teaching loads incorporating teaching observations and a reflective portfolio, leading to Associate of Higher Education Academy status.

Research staff can attend any of the Staff Development workshops open to academic staff, including Institute of Leadership and Management accredited courses. There is now an expectation that all research staff should receive a departmental induction, a managed probation period with adequate support to enable the researcher to fulfil the duties of their role and thereafter an annual Performance and Development Review, in line with the process for all staff. We will continue to develop and promote these interventions (Action 4.3).


5 (i) (b) Mentoring and networking The 2009 action plan commitment to developing research careers has also brought significant benefit in this area. There is a successful mentoring scheme for research staff, which is now in its fourth year and which we will continue to promote (Action 4.2). Participation from female mentees was 11/13 in 2009, 7/13 in 2010 and 10/12 in 2011 (8, 6 and 7 mentees from SET schools). Of the mentors, 7/13 in 2009 and 2010, 8/12 in 2011 were female. Mentees are matched to mentors from outside their School. Specific events such as the „Managing your academic career for women in SET‟ (November 2011) and the Leadership for Women workshop (June 2012) offered females from SET subjects opportunities to network and discuss their particular challenges. Other networking opportunities are available through the Loughborough University Research Staff Association (LURSA) seminar programme and social activities. Mentoring for probationary staff including the assignment of an experienced probation adviser is well-established at Loughborough. This is especially the case for probationary academic staff who are also able to access peer review for research applications and teaching observations by experienced staff. The probationary training programme ensures that first career steps have the right trajectory. Agreed work plans ensure that probationer, adviser and Dean are all agreed and clear on performance expected in teaching and research. Probationers produce a substantial teaching portfolio, which includes an extended reflective commentary, feedback from a range of sources and other supporting evidence. This discipline is maintained beyond probation through the use of Personal Research Planning (an annual exercise in which all staff agree research targets with the Dean) and through on-going student feedback on teaching. The outcome of these arrangements is that staff progress quickly towards Senior Lecturer level, assisted by the availability of simple and transparent promotion criteria. These criteria combine teaching and research requirements and make direct reference to the impact of career breaks. They have been extremely successful in steering staff on a course that is simultaneously aligned with University strategy and with the achievement of career ambitions.‟ The Staff Development team runs the successful Springboard Women‟s development programme led by an accredited trainer, part of a suite of workshops offering a reflective style of professional development, which allows participants to develop a supportive network. 5 (ii) The effectiveness of activities that raise the profile of women in SET departments. We will introduce an Athena website to support this activity (Actions 5.5 and 6.2).

5 (ii) (a) Conferences, seminars, lectures, exhibitions and other events. The Annual Conference and Poster Competition for all ECRs significantly promotes career and skills development and provides a showcase for the research of this important group whose SET community has a high percentage of female staff. The bi-annual Café Academique offers an additional opportunity, in this case communicating research to non-specialists. The „Careers for Women in SET‟ workshop (January 2011), run in partnership with Vitae and UKRC, was attended by 39 researchers from several Universities with internal and external guest speakers, including Vice Chancellor Professor Shirley Pearce and Prof Rachel Thomson (Loughborough University). Wherever possible, prominent female speakers are invited to the University to inspire future generations. In July 2011, Tana Utley, Chief Technology Officer at Caterpillar Inc., spoke about her experiences of juggling career and family responsibilities.

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/service/sd/pdawb/sb.html


The probation scheme very explicitly encourages new academic staff to use conference, seminar, lecture and exhibition opportunities to develop their profile while the same is true for more experienced staff through the Personal Research Planning process. Criteria for promotion to senior lecturer provide further early incentive. The University is very active in outreach work in schools, including activity to encourage more young women to consider a career in SET. Our longest running intervention is the WISE Outlook course, which we organise in partnership with the Leicestershire Education Business Company. This is now a two day course for 20-25 year 9 girls who undertake a project, visit labs, meet female Loughborough students and make a site visit to a local company. Our Dragonfly Day, at the end of the Engineering Headstart Course, gives the girls attending the Headstart Course the opportunity to take part in an event aimed at younger female students and to act as role models themselves. In a new project with GE Measurement and Control, seven schools have been recruited to participate in a longer term project starting in year 9 and potentially going through until year 13. The interventions will include taster sessions, careers information and skills development. The University also has a long standing Women‟s Engineering Student Society which is led by a committee of female students with funding from local businesses and the four Engineering Schools. As well as providing a useful networking opportunity, the students also have an opportunity to act as role models themselves by participating in the outreach activities organised above and also to meet prospective applicants at the University‟s general Open Days.

5 (ii) (b) Providing spokeswomen for internal and external media opportunities.

Media training opportunities have included those through external bodies such as Royal Society, a media training session at the Annual Conference this year and a Training in Media and Communication Skills session organised by the Research Office on which 44% of participants have been female (2008-2012).

5 (ii) (c) Nominations to public bodies, professional bodies and for external prizes. Academic staff are explicitly encouraged to engage with public and professional bodies and to compete for external prizes through the annual Personal Research Planning (PRP) process. Recent examples of staff and student successes include:

Carol Robinson (Mathematics), elected to the Council of the Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications

Natalie Pearson (SSEHS), awarded the Early Career Award by the UK Society for Behavioural Medicine.

Engineering student Lexy Pares, named as the national winner of the 2012 Women in Property (WiP) National Student Award presented by the Association of Women in Property.

National University Entrepreneur 2012 title has been awarded to Felicity Milton, a current

Biomechanics masters student.

We routinely publicise external recognition in for staff in our magazine news@lboro. Recent examples include:

Dr Sophia Jowett, reader in Psychology, has been ranked as the most influential author in coaching science in Europe.

KIT Catalogue project, led by Professor Rachel Thomson, Director of the Materials Research School short-listed for 2012 Times Higher Education awards.


6 Organisation and culture 6 (i) The effectiveness of policies and activities that show a supportive organisation and culture in your SET departments. Communication of institutional policies and procedures, together with associated training, is embedded in a number of established mechanisms. Equality issues feature strongly in our staff training programmes, beginning with the induction programme for new staff which also includes details of human resources policies and procedures and how these can be accessed. In 2009, we committed to a refresh of our E&D training provision to ensure that diversity issues were „main-streamed‟ in all decision making. From September 2010, a new interactive half day Respecting Diversity training course was introduced. In April 2011, three new online E&D courses were provided to all staff (Action 5.2): Diversity in the Workplace (Equality Act 2010), Bullying and Harassment for all staff and Bullying and Harassment for Managers. From September 2010, Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) training and coaching has been provided to managers. Since 1 January 2012, 512 staff, including 300 female staff, have attended one of 38 equality and diversity courses run at the University.

6 (i) (a) Female : male ratio of Heads of School/Faculty/Department across the whole institution and in SET departments. Across our 10 Schools, the Dean of Loughborough Design School is female and the other 9 Deans are male. Until recently, the Dean of Sports, Exercise and Health Sciences had been female but she was promoted to PVC (Research) in August 2012.

6 (i) (b) Gender balance on the senior management team at university level. Until restructure, the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) was the body uniting senior management at the University. With small numbers, female representation varied but was always healthy at 37%, 27% and 33% in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively. Following restructure in 2011, the Academic Leadership Team (ALT) was formed as the equivalent body: In April 2011, there was 39% female representation. Currently, female representation on ALT comprises 1 of the 10 Deans, 2 of the 3 Pro Vice-Chancellors, the Director of Planning and the Chief Operating Officer, a total of 5 in a membership of 18 (28%).

6 (i) (c) Gender balance on influential committees at university level. Senate is responsible for the academic work of the University. Its membership, currently 58, ought to reflect the gender balance within the population of academic staff with a bias towards more senior staff as a result of the ex-officio memberships of senior managers and the likelihood of elected members being more rather than less senior. Invitations to nominate state explicitly that „the University actively welcomes nominations which reflect the diversity of the University …, encompassing ethnicity, religion, gender, class, sexual orientation, age, disability or special need‟. While not suggesting the exclusion of staff on lower grades, an estimate based on academic staff numbers at grade 8 and above would indicate a likely percentage of female senators in the low twenties while current membership is 25%, up from 20% in 09/10. The inclusion of lay members raises the current percentage of female Council members to 34%, the same as it was in 09/10. Human Resources Committee has percentage female membership at 33%, up from 21% in 09/10, while, at Operations Committee, female representation has increased from 30% to 57% over the last three years. These figures are all strong in the context of our overall gender profile.


The SAT has been proactive in encouraging female applicants for vacancies on influential

committees (Action 5.3).

6 (i) (d) Evidence from equal pay audits/reviews. The University has a policy on equal pay and conducted its last equal pay audit in 2007. It was conducted in line with the equal pay review guidance issued by the JNCHES (Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff). The HR Implementation Plan (the University Strategy is supported by Implementation Plans for each activity) has an action point to ensure our reward systems are equitable and transparent. In 2011 and 2012 the outcomes of the Reward Review and the Senior Staff Salary Review were reported to the Trades Unions, the Equality and Diversity Sub-Committee and through to Human Resources Committee and University Council.

6 (i) (e) Female : male ratio of staff in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise These data have not changed since our 2009 submission. In April 2008, 17.6% of academic staff in SET departments were female. Amongst the SET staff returned in RAE2008 (census date 31 October 2007), 17.5% were female, as shown in Table 9. Loughborough‟s strategic intention was to return as many staff as possible and so very few academic staff from SET departments were not returned. E&D issues have received significant attention in our preparations for REF2014, particularly with regard to the selection of staff to be returned.

Dept. Female Male %F

Design and Technology 4 18 18.2%

Chemical Engineering 1 19 5.0%

Chemistry 5 25 16.7%

Computer Science 6 13 31.6%

Civil and Building Eng. 7 49 12.5%

Ergonomics 6 11 35.3%

Electronic and Electrical 1 30 3.2%

Human Sciences 18 16 52.9%

Mathematics 9 42 17.6%

Wolfson School 3 60 4.8%

Materials 5 18 21.7%

Physics 2 26 7.1%

Sports and Exercise Sciences 15 32 31.9%

Aeronautical and Automotive 3 29 9.4%

Grand Total 83 390 17.5%

Table 9: Submission in RAE2008


6 (i) (f) Transparent workload models An extensive agreement is in place, but under review (Action 5.4), between Loughborough University and UCU on workload. Deans are obliged to make workload models available to staff. The workload model must identify and balance the research, teaching and administration workload for each member of staff. This is further strengthened through the annual Performance and Development Review process for which reviewer and reviewee training has been provided over the last two years.

6 (i) (g) Work-life balance While academic workloads can be high, this differs from a long hours culture in the sense that our focus is typically on meeting deadlines rather than keeping long office hours. This allows for a degree of flexibility. University committee meetings and Staff Development training courses are scheduled with start and finish times that fit with the school day. In our second Staff Survey, completed earlier this year, research staff reported relatively high satisfaction with work-life balance issues but academic staff were much more concerned on this point (Action 5.1).

6 (i) (h) Publicity materials, The University makes a concerted effort to represent an equal balance of gender and ethnicity in its marketing publications and website. In materials for student recruitment materials and for wider audiences, we aim to encourage and promote positive images of women working in SET. Since 2009, we estimate that 20% of University press releases (124/606) have included significant input from women or focused on women‟s achievements. In its past few issues, the University‟s main research magazine, The View, has featured:

„Start active, stay active‟- Professor Fiona Bull, co-director of the British Heart Foundation National Centre for Physical Activity (BHFNC) in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences.

„A question of sport‟ - Drs Trish Gorely and Rachel Sandford from the University‟s Institute of Youth Sport, aimed to establish when and why girls turn away from an active lifestyle.

„Helping the police to stay on the beat‟ – Drs Tom Jackson and Louise Cooke working with Leicestershire Constabulary

7 Flexibility and managing career breaks 7 (i) The effectiveness of policies and activities that are supportive of flexibility and managing career breaks in your SET departments. The University‟s policies on family leave, flexible working and childcare provision are made known to new staff joining the University and full details are available from the HR website (Action 6.1 and 6.2).

7 (i) (a) Flexible working Employees with certain caring responsibilities may apply for flexible working patterns, such as job-share, reduced hours or part-time working. There is a legal right for parents caring for a child up to the age of sixteen, or with a child with a disability aged under eighteen years, to apply to work flexibly. The University also has a flexi-time scheme specifically for secretarial, clerical, administrative and academic-related staff. In brief, the scheme allows most employees to vary their start and finish times to suit personal circumstances. Line managers in departments communicate details to their staff and administer the scheme.


For academic and research staff, conditions of service state that „hours of work, whilst not fixed, are such as are necessary for the efficient discharge of a Member‟s duties as reasonably required by the Head of Department‟. This builds a degree of flexibility into these posts.

Data on flexible working are not currently collected.

7 (i) (b) Parental leave Maternity leave data is shown in tables 10a&b for all schools and for the SET Schools, respectively. Over the last 3 years just one member of staff (from the research grades) did not return to work after maternity leave. The 10 paid „Keeping in Touch‟ days, introduced near the time of the 2009 submission, are now in regular use. Employees on maternity (or adoption) leave can go into work to undertake training and keep in touch without bringing a period of maternity leave to an end. There is no obligation on the employee to make use of these days. In the period 01.04.2011 – 31.03.2012, 18 staff took paternity leave, with an average of just under 9 days. No adoption leave was taken in this time period.

All Schools 2009 2010 2011 Grand Total

Did not return

RE6 1

1

Still on leave

RE6

2 2

RE7

1 1

RT8

1 1

Returned

RE5

2

2

RE6 6 7 1 14

RE7 1 1 1 3

RT6 3 1

4

RT7 2 7

9

RT8 1

1 2

RT8 Reader

2

2

Grand Total 14 22 7 43

Table 10a: Maternity leave data, all schools


SET Schools 2009 2010 2011 Grand Total

Still on leave

RE6

1 1

RE7

1 1

RT8

1 1

Returned

RE5

1

1

RE6 5 6

11

RE7 1 1

2

RT6 2

2

RT7 2 3

5

RT8

1 1

RT8 Reader

2

2

Grand Total 10 13 4 27

Table 10b: Maternity leave data, SET schools

7 (i) (c) Childcare General guidance on childcare provision is available to all staff through the HR website including details of the scheme run in conjunction with ComputerShare whereby salary can be exchanged for childcare vouchers. Such vouchers are exempt from National Insurance contributions and income tax and therefore represent a saving for employees who use them to purchase childcare. Our provision includes a registered day nursery on campus for pre-school children from the age of three months. The University continues to subsidise places for children of employees and the subsidy of £40k/yr is fully spent each year. Additionally, the University subsidises several school holiday play-schemes for the children of staff at the level of £5/child/day totalling £6.2k last year. [4288 words]

8 Any other comments – maximum 500 words In the Staff Survey 2012, the Equality and Diversity report showed that female staff at the University had not reported any perceptions that were “significantly worse” than the overall University score. In contrast, male staff responded to 12 questions with scores that were “significantly worse” than the overall university score. Female staff did report a number of perceptions that were “significantly better” than the overall University score particularly in the areas of work-life balance, job satisfaction, culture and values (of the institution) and their role. The survey also revealed that only 43% Research staff and 63% Research and Teaching Staff had had their Performance and Development Review in the last 12 months (Action 4.1). [114 words]

9 Action plan: Included.

1

Appendix A: 2009 Action Plan with progress report

To address gender inequalities requires commitment and action from everyone, at all levels of the organisation

Action Responsibility Date expected Progress (as at Nov. 2012)

Review of HR Implementation Plan to incorporate specific Women in SET issues.

Director of HR Summer 2009 Completed. Athena commitment explicit in Plan.

Concordat Working Group and the Staff Survey ‘Research Assistance’ Working Group will formally re-assess their action points from the perspective of the Athena SWAN principles generally and with particular focus on career development for female SET researchers.

PVC (Research) as Chair of the Groups

Autumn 2009 Completed. The plan for implementation of the Concordat was published in 2010, and we received the HR Excellence in Research badge.

Monitoring necessary for on-going renewal of the Bronze Award will be added into existing gender equality monitoring and reporting undertaken by the Equality and Diversity sub-committee of the Human Resources Committee and reported to the University Council. A paper outlining requirements will be submitted to the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity sub-committee.

Dean of Engineering (paper) and Chair of Equality and Diversity sub-committee (on-going monitoring)

October 2009 (next meeting of the sub-committee) for paper. Annually for on-going monitoring.

Completed. Report to committee dated Sept 2009.

Refresh the E & D training provision, including induction, ensuring that diversity issues are ‘main-streamed’ in all decision making.

Director of HR 9/09 Completed. See section 6(i)

Formation of the Women in SET committee building on the success of the Women in Science Committee.

Dean of Science (as Chair of the Committee)

6/09 (next meeting of the committee)

Not progressed. Issues now taken forward by Athena SWAN Working Group along with School Athena SWAN champions

2

To tackle the unequal representation of women in science requires changing cultures and attitudes across the organisation


Greater representation of female SET academics and researchers within University publications and, where possible, in the external media through more systematic efforts to publicise their work and achievements.

Faculty marketing officers

Summer 2010 Efforts on-going. See section 5(ii)(b)

Paper to Equality and Diversity sub-committee asking for consideration of participation rates in reward review by gender and for analysis of patterns of internal promotion to Professor (including average time spent at RT8 before promotion), based on findings emerging from this self-assessment.

Dean of Engineering October 2009 (next meeting of the sub-committee)

Completed Sept 09.

Women in SET Committee to review gender equality data from Equality and Diversity sub-committee on an annual basis and to request specific further analysis where required.

Dean of Science (as Chair of the Committee)

June 2010 and annually thereafter

Not progressed. Data now routed through more formal channels. See section 4(i).

The absence of diversity at management and policy-making levels has broad implications which the organisation will examine


Encourage female staff to be nominated for Senate, from Faculties of Science and Engineering in particular.

Deans and Heads of SET departments

At each invitation to nominate

Completed. Led by Chair of Athena SWAN Working Group.

3

The high loss rate of women in science is an urgent concern which the organisation will address


Support female researchers in submitting proposals to the Research Staff Development Open Competition

Research Staff Career Development Officer

7/09 and annually thereafter

Completed 6/16 projects awarded to female SET researchers before cut in Roberts funding.

Encourage externally-funded Fellowship applications and provide support and mentoring through the process. Be proactive in identifying female candidates.

Heads of SET departments (encourage applications), PVC(R) (review application rates)

December each year for review

Embedded in Research Office practice. Scope remains to be more proactive in identifying female candidates

Heads training to include dealing with maternity (and other) returners.

Director of HR Autumn 2009 onwards

Completed.

The system of short-term contracts has particularly negative consequences for the retention and progression of women in science, which the organisation recognises


Discussion with UCU trade union. Director of HR On-going Since 2009, the University’s use of fixed term contracts has reduced by 10%.

4

There are both personal and structural obstacles to women making the transition from PhD into a sustainable academic career in science, which require the active consideration of the organisation


Pilot a Career Mentoring Programme for research staff including a Women in SET group

Research Staff Career Development Adviser

Spring 2010 This programme has now run for 3 years now (2010/11/12). See section 5(ii)(b)

Provide induction, probation, and appraisal for all RAs.

Director of HR Beginning summer 2009

The Engineering Schools, where most research staff are employed, introduced a new and consistent induction process in 2009.

Mentoring scheme for maternity returners.

Women in SET committee

Available from autumn 2009

No take-up to the Mentoring Scheme but ‘Keeping in Touch’ days now in regular use.

Loughborough University: Bronze Athena SWAN renewal three year action plan: 2012 to 2015

1

Acti

on

Description of action Action taken already and outcome at November 2012

Further action planned at November 2012

Progress Log Responsibility Start date Timescale Success Measure

1 Baseline Data and Supporting Evidence

1.1 Debrief on submissions to Academic Leadership Team

Athena champion Jan 2013 Presentation delivered

1.2 Establish standard dataset for gender monitoring at School Senior Management Teams and University committees

Dataset almost established.

Final iteration required with respect to optimising data collection and analysis

Athena champion working with HR and planning

Once bronze resubmission outcome is known

Complete April 2013

Dataset specification agreed, first sets of data distributed to schools.

1.3 Automate as far as possible the data preparation from 1.1

Some aspects now automated especially with respect to student data

Complete the task especially with respect to staff data and student benchmarking data

Athena champion working with HR, planning and IT services

April 2013 Complete December 2013

Reports available with minimal manual intervention

1.4 Disseminate good practice established in first departmental silver submission

Document lessons learned. Make survey tools available

E&D Advisor Once silver submission outcome is known

3 months Written guidance available

1.5 Review SAT membership and plan next silver submissions

SAT membership has worked well for bronze institutional renewal and first silver departmental submission

Identify next submissions and shape SAT

SAT November 2012

Complete December 2012

SAT membership agreed

1.6 Review / enhance E&D reporting

Reporting enhanced during 11/12 cycle, including reward / promotion data

Refine data and incorporate school responses

E&D Advisor Summer 2013 Summer 2014

Enhanced reports delivered to E&D sub and HR committees


2

Acti

on




2 UG and PG Students

2.1 Identify school level benchmarks for ug, pgt and pgr recruitment

Completed for 1 school Complete for remaining schools (6 remaining SET Schools as priority)

Planning Feb 2013 Summer 2013

Benchmarks agreed, feed into 1.2

2.2 Identify shortfalls apparent from benchmark exercise and build into action plan

Summer 2013 Identify by summer 2014. Act by Summer 2015

Shortfalls identified. Measures in place as necessary.

3 Key Career Transition Points, Appointments and Promotions

3.1 Focus on transition point between research grades and early career academic positions: Review existing research staff career development activity

Wide range of measures currently in place

Evaluate current measures and consider revisions / additions (see also 4.1 - 4.3)

PVC(R) January 2013 Launch October 2013.

Narrow gap across transition point between research grades and early career academic positions

3.2 Ensure managers are proactive in identifying staff for performance reward and promotion

First complete analysis of reward and promotion processes by gender.

Modify guidance and strengthen message through Academic Leadership Team.

DVC and Deans As for 1.1 Repeat at each call

Equality in participation and success rates


3

Acti

on




4 Career Advice and Support

4.1 Increase use of Performance and Development Review (PDR)

Annual review is compulsory but staff survey 2012 revealed that only 43% Research staff and 63% Research and Teaching Staff had had reviews in the last 12 months

Establish causes and implement changes

Director of HR and Deans

Jan 2013 On-going Significant increase for both job families.

4.2 Promote researcher mentoring scheme

Scheme has been running well for 4 years.

Maintain momentum. Proactive in attracting female mentees / mentors. Use participant feedback to develop scheme.

. Research Office / Staff Development / Careers & Employability Centre.

Nov 2012 On-going High demand from mentees / supply of mentors. Outstanding feedback.

4.3 Promote careers workshops and events for researchers

Careers workshops and events programme in place.

Maintain momentum. Proactive in attracting female participants. Improve gender monitoring

Graduate School / Research Office / Careers & Employability Centre.

Nov 2012 On-going High demand for events. Outstanding feedback.

5 Culture, Communications and Departmental Organization

5.1 Address work-life balance concerns raised in Staff Survey

Institution-wide staff survey completed September 2012. Feedback programme currently underway

Staff survey next steps under consideration

Director of HR 2013 12 months To be determined by staff survey group


4

Acti

on




5.2 Promote Equality and Diversity training

In place: Mandatory Respecting Diversity training for new staff, Recruitment & Selection, Induction

Encourage uptake of new online courses

E&D advisor. Nov 2012 On-going Increase participation

5.3 Encourage female candidates for key committee vacancies

Female candidates to be identified for all key committee elections

E&D advisor / Academic Registrar

Nov 2012 On-going Female candidate for all elections to key committees

5.4 Review School Workload Models

Wide review initiated Discussions with Union and in Academic Leadership Team to develop significant new agreement

DVC, PVC(E), Director of Change Projects and Deans.

Underway 12 months Formal Workload Model agreement updated (with explicit recognition of E&D work)

5.5 Set up Athena website Dedicated website within HR webpages

E&D Advisor, Marketing & Communications

Nov 2012 12 months Website available with content including submissions

6 Career breaks / flexible working

6.1 Review awareness of parental leave, return to work and flexible working policies.

HR policies available on website.

Refresh awareness amongst staff and line-managers, and review method of recording on i-Trent,

Director of HR and Deans

Jan 2013 9 months


5

Acti

on




6.2 Develop career break case studies and make available on website.

Case studies complete for departmental silver submission

Obtain permissions, develop further case studies

E&D Advisor Jan 2013 On-going 5 case studies by Summer 2014.

Documents

Athena SWAN Bronze award form …...Athena SWAN Bronze award form 2 (c) Future of the self-assessment team The team currently has several members who work on the silver submission