Athena SWAN Bronze department award application · SAT Chair circulated presentation slides from the University event on 'Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling: A Conversation with Women

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Athena SWAN Bronze department award application

Name of university: University of St. Andrews

Department: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Date of application: 7 December 2015

Date of university Athena SWAN award: Achieved bronze: 25 April 2013

Contact for application: Dr Nicola Allison

Email: [email protected] + [email protected]

Telephone: 01334 463952

Departmental website address: http://earthsci.st-andrews.ac.uk

Dept E&D + Athena SWAN webpage: http://earthsci.st-andrews.ac.uk/equality-and-diversity/

Athena SWAN Bronze Department awards recognise that in addition to university-wide policies the department is working to promote gender equality and to address challenges particular to the discipline.

Not all institutions use the term ‘department’ and there are many equivalent academic groupings with different names, sizes and compositions. The definition of a ‘department’ for SWAN purposes can be found on the Athena SWAN website. If in doubt, contact the Athena SWAN Officer well in advance to check eligibility.

It is essential that the contact person for the application is based in the department.

Sections to be included

At the end of each section state the number of words used. Click here for additional guidance on completing the template.

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://earthsci.st-andrews.ac.uk/

http://earthsci.st-andrews.ac.uk/equality-and-diversity/

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Abbreviations:

DEES Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

DEESE+D DEES Equality and Diversity

DoR Director of Research

DoT Director of Teaching

HoD Head of Department

CAPOD Centre for Academic, Professional and Organisational Development

1. Letter of endorsement from the head of department: maximum 500 words (500 words)

An accompanying letter of endorsement from the head of department should explain how the SWAN action plan and activities in the department contribute to the overall department strategy and academic mission.

The letter is an opportunity for the head of department to confirm their support for the application and to endorse and commend any women and STEMM activities that have made a significant contribution to the achievement of the departmental mission.

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2. The self-assessment process: maximum 1000 words (1000 words)

Describe the self-assessment process. This should include:

a) A description of the self assessment team: members’ roles (both within the department and as part of the team) and their experiences of work-life balance

SAT members were chosen to reflect different roles, career stages, work-life balance scenarios and experience of promotion and recruitment (both as recruits and as recruiters of staff/students). The SAT is approximately gender-balanced and participation is recognised in the DEES workload model.

SAT member Gender DEES role Experience

Nicky Allison (Chair)

F Permanent Research Fellow

Lives with her partner, a reader in the Department, and their two young children. Works 80% (0.8) FTE.

Peter Cawood M HoD, Professor Married with two children who are both studying at the University and live at home.

Catherine Cole F PDRA Joined DEES in 2013 from a PhD. Occasionally works remotely from Aberystwyth where her partner is a postdoctoral fellow.

Sebastian Fischer M PhD student Joined DEES in 2013 to undertake a PhD.

Donald Herd M Technician Married to a teacher with two teenage children.

Timothy Hill M Lecturer Appointed 2011. Lives with his wife (also an academic) in Edinburgh and works flexibly to effectively manage the commute.

Maaret Karjalainen

F Secretary/Finance Officer

Appointed 2013. Maaret works full time but manages her hours flexibly whilst studying for a MLitt in Human Resource Management.

Maia Krall Fry F Undergraduate Graduated in 2015.

Tony Prave M Reader, DoR Joined DEES in 1996.

Ruth Robinson F Senior Lecturer, DoT

Joined DEES in 1996 and lives with her partner, an artist.

Kathryn Roper F Geobus (outreach) coordinator

Joined DEES in 2011 and manages her hours flexibly to balance her visits to schools and her work in St. Andrews.

b) an account of the self assessment process: details of the self assessment team meetings,

including any consultation with staff or individuals outside of the university, and how these have fed into the submission

The DEESE+D Committee (acts as the SAT) was formed in September 2014 to promote E+D in the Department and has met ten times since its inception. The committee includes the HoD, DoR and DoT so ensuring that good practice is supported throughout the Department. DEES provides a budget to support E+D initiatives and members of the committee and wider Department have engaged in a range of activities leading up to the submission (Table 2.1).

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Table 2.1: Highlights of DEES Equality and Diversity Initiatives

October 2015

‘Supporting the Needs of Care Experienced Young People’ information and discussion event attended by Tony Prave.

September 2015

DEES staff handbook published on intranet.

August 2015

DEES Diversity survey results published to all staff/students on intranet.

DEES opportunities webpage and recruitment materials revised to promote University commitment to equality and to highlight DEESE+D initiatives (Figure 2.1).

In-house ‘Recruitment and Selection’ workshop attended by 8 departmental staff.

July 2015

All staff/postgraduates required to complete the University Online ‘Diversity in the Workplace’ training module as a mandatory requirement.

June 2015

SAT Chair circulated presentation slides from the University event on 'Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling: A Conversation with Women in Academia’ and the Royal Society Mothers in Science booklet to all staff /students.

May 2015

DEES Athena SWAN lunch for all staff/postgraduates to promote discussion and networking.

April 2015

'Interconnect: Meet the Professionals' event attended by Tony Prave (Figure 2.2).

27 Mar - 24 Apr 2015

Diversity Survey for all DEES staff/students.

March 2015

HoD circulated details of DEES core hours policy to all staff/postgraduates.

DEESE+D Intranet pages set up to archive minutes and relevant Athena SWAN materials.

November 2014

SAT Chair attended the Equate Scotland ’Unconscious Bias in the Workplace: Does Gender Matter?' event and relayed a summary to the DEESE+D committee.

September 2014

'Interconnect: St Andrews Women in Science' networking event attended by SAT Chair.

University Athena SWAN logo included on DEES home page, DEESE+D Internet page set up signposting University equality policies and initiatives, DEES staff added to University ‘Women in Science’ web page.

Opinions of staff, postgraduates and undergraduates were elicited through networking lunches and anonymously through an online quantitative/qualitative survey. 67% of female staff, 78% of male staff and 100% of postgraduates completed the survey. The DEES E+D Officer (the committee chair) acts as a contact point for staff and students and serves on the University E+D committee. The Officer met with representatives of other SAT teams within the Universities of St. Andrews and Leeds to discuss best E+D practice to feedback to DEES. Minutes of all DEESE+D meetings and results of the survey and action points are archived on an intranet page, accessible to all DEES staff/students. Athena SWAN initiatives/resources are publicised to all via email and

https://www.facebook.com/events/1560103710928641/permalink/1576458932626452/

https://www.facebook.com/events/1560103710928641/permalink/1576458932626452/

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are archived on the intranet. The committee chair reports all DEESE+D activity to the Staff Council (all staff) each semester. The DEESE+D Committee wrote the submission and action plan. The draft submission was published on the Department intranet for two weeks and all staff/students were invited to a meeting to discuss and contribute to the action plan. The final submission was signed off by the Department management group in November 2015.

Figure 2.1: The DEES opportunities page encouraging female applicants and highlighting our

commitment to diversity.

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Figure 2.2: Tony Prave discussing career pathways with a student at the University’s

'Interconnect: Meet the Professionals' (in STEMM) event.

c) Plans for the future of the self assessment team, such as how often the team will continue to meet, any reporting mechanisms and in particular how the self assessment team intends to monitor implementation of the action plan.

The committee will meet quarterly to discuss current and new initiatives to improve working practices and thereby improve the recruitment, retention and progression of women within DEES. As well as on going monitoring, implementation of the action plan will be formally reviewed annually to monitor progress and impact and an update of actions completed and proposed will be published on the intranet. The DEESE+D Committee Chair will continue to report all activity to the Staff Council (all staff) each semester and minutes of the committee meetings will continue to be archived on the intranet where they are accessible to all staff/students. To solicit further feedback we will make the DEES Athena SWAN lunch an annual event (AP2.1) and we will conduct detailed Departmental E+D surveys on a 2-3 year cycle (AP2.2). Other University schools report a drop in the completion rates of annual surveys and we wish to avoid this. Membership of the DEESE+D committee will rotate over time. Staff serve 2-4 year terms and UG and PG representatives typically serve 1 year terms. This will help to ensure that all staff are encouraged to consider and promote gender and diversity in the workplace.

3. A picture of the department: maximum 2000 words (1996 words)

a) Provide a pen-picture of the department to set the context for the application, outlining in particular any significant and relevant features.

DEES was formed in 2012 when the School of Geography and Geosciences divided into two independent departments. DEES has expanded rapidly and the initial staff of 9 academic/ academic-related has grown to 27 supported by 10 technicians and 2 administrative staff. This expansion reflects new appointments and the transfer of 6 academic staff (all male) to DEES from another department in 2012. DEES currently has ~150 undergraduates and 17 postgraduates.

DEES operates a relatively flat management structure. The DEES management group consists of the HoD, DoT and DoR and meets biweekly. Other staff are invited to contribute to this group depending on the agenda. The Teaching Council (all staff involved in teaching) and Staff Council

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(all staff) each meet once per semester. Academic and administrative staff and teaching fellows are managed by the HoD. Technical staff are managed by a designated member of academic staff and research staff are managed by the academic staff responsible for their projects.

Excellence in teaching and research are central to the DEES vision. We are ranked consistently as one of the top UK undergraduate Earth Science programmes, combining high student satisfaction survey results with an outstanding employability record (e.g. 2nd in the UK in The Independent Complete University Guide 2015). During REF 2014, Geography and Geosciences at St. Andrews was ranked 1st for research impact and 5th overall in the UK. The University has invested significantly in DEES, providing state-of-the-art facilities in Geobiology and stable and radiogenic isotope analysis.

The Department is small and characterised by a friendly and inclusive atmosphere. However the expansion in staff numbers creates some challenges. While all staff and postgraduates have office space in the Irvine Building, the laboratories of some new staff are housed in two other buildings, one of which is 15 minutes’ walk away. DEES recognises the importance of staff interactions in maintaining a strong sense of community and now organises a weekly Wednesday lunchtime gathering and a Friday afternoon social event to enable all staff and postgraduates to interact informally outside seminars and meetings.

Data analysis

Where possible we have included data from five years to provide more detail. Data before 2012 (when the department become independent) reflect the numbers of staff teaching on the Geology degree and the associated undergraduate, research and technical communities. Where relevant, comparator data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) are provided. We include analysis of the DEES survey (conducted March-April 2015) throughout this document and representative survey quotes are reproduced in italics.

b) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning.

Student data

(i) Numbers of males and females on access or foundation courses – comment on the data and describe any initiatives taken to attract women to the courses.

DEES does not currently offer foundation courses.

(ii) Undergraduate male and female numbers – full and part-time – comment on the female:male ratio compared with the national picture for the discipline. Describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and the impact to date. Comment upon any plans for the future.

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Summary: percentage of female undergraduates above national average.

Table 3.1: Total number of DEES undergraduates by gender

Academic Year Female Male

Total Students

Percentage Female

National Average (HESA)

2010-11 42 36 77 54% 45%

2011-12 44 45 89 50% 45%

2012-13 41 55 96 42% 44%

2013-14 61 63 123 49% 44%

2014-15 74 74 147 50% -

All years 262 273 532 49% 45%

DEES offers an MGeol and BScs in Geology and Earth + Environmental Science (EES). The three programmes typically recruit ~ 10, 35 and 4 students/year respectively. The Department also offers joint degrees in Geology with Biology or Chemistry. These typically recruit 1 student/year. The MGeol launched in 2011 and recruits to this programme are gradually increasing. As student numbers on the MGeol, BSc EES and joint degrees are currently small, we have combined the data for all undergraduate degree programmes for analysis.

There is approximate gender balance in recruited undergraduates. The female percentage was relatively low in 2012/13, reflecting numbers of female entrants that year, but increased the following year reflecting an increase in female entrants (see 3b)(v)). 37-39% of UK high school students study maths and physical sciences at higher level (Scienceogram, 2013) and ~58% of undergraduates are female (HESA 2012). This suggests that ~46% of physical science undergraduates will be female, assuming no gender bias in application and recruitment. This is close to the observed 45% national subject average (Table 3.1). Our female percentage is usually above the national average by several percent (Table 3.1). DEES makes a concerted effort to attract female undergraduates. The DEES and University websites and promotional materials feature prominent pictures of female undergraduates (Figure 3.1) and female staff always attend undergraduate Open Days.

Since 2014/15 all incoming undergraduates have been required to complete the University online module in Diversity before matriculation. We hope that the training will promote a culture of inclusion and we will assess this in future diversity surveys (AP2.2).

From 2015/16 onwards we will conduct end-of degree exit interviews with undergraduates to solicit feedback to further improve the undergraduate experience (AP3.1).

Figure 3.1: Photograph of female DEES student in undergraduate promotional materials.

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(iii) Postgraduate male and female numbers completing taught courses – full and part-time – comment on the female:male ratio compared with the national picture for the discipline. Describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and the effect to date. Comment upon any plans for the future.

The Department does not currently offer any postgraduate taught courses.

(iv) Postgraduate male and female numbers on research degrees – full and part-time – comment on the female:male ratio compared with the national picture for the discipline. Describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and the effect to date. Comment upon any plans for the future.

Summary: percentage of female research postgraduates relatively low and below national average.

Table 3.2: Number of DEES research postgraduates by gender

Academic Year Female Male Total

Students Percentage

Female National

Average (HESA)

2012-13 3 5 8 38% 46%

2013-14 4 6 10 40% 45%

2014-15 3 6 9 33% -

All years 10 17 27 37% 46%

The number of postgraduates is small but the percentage of females is consistently lower than that of males and is below the national subject average. This reflects low female applications (see 3b(v)).

(v) Ratio of course applications to offers and acceptances by gender for undergraduate, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research degrees – comment on the differences between male and female application and success rates and describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and their effect to date. Comment upon any plans for the future.

Summary: Female undergraduate applications rates are higher than expected from high school data and above the national subject average. Female postgraduate application rates are lower than expected. No gender bias in recruitment process for undergraduates or postgraduates.

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Table 3.3: Number of undergraduate DEES applications, offers, acceptances and entrants by gender

Year of Entry Offer Type Female Male % Female

2010-11 Applications 78 71 52%

Offers 55 38 59%

Acceptances 20 16 56%

Entrants 14 10 59%


Offers 46 41 53%


Entrants 12 10 53%

2012-13 Applications 110 107 51%

Offers 55 62 47%


Entrants 10 14 40%

2013-14 Applications 114 134 46%

Offers 78 77 50%


Entrants 26 14 65%

2014-15 Applications 156 150 51%

Offers 95 107 47%


Entrants 26 27 50%

All years Applications 541 555 49%

Offers 329 325 50%


Entrants 88 75 54%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

Figure 3.2. Percentage of DEES undergraduate female applications, offers, acceptances and entrants

Entrants Acceptances Offers Applications

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Table 3.4: Percentages of undergraduates proceeding to successive stages of the recruitment process by gender.

Year of Entry Female Male

2010-11 Offers/Applications 71% 54%

Acceptances/Offers 36% 42%

Entrants/Acceptances 70% 63%

Entrants/Applications 18% 14%

















Overall Offers/Applications 61% 59%




49% of undergraduate applications are from females (Table 3.3), a figure above the national subject average. Approximately equal percentages of females and males proceed to each stage of the recruitment process (Table 3.4) suggesting no gender bias in recruitment. The total number of applications and entrants has increased over the census period. Undergraduate numbers are relatively small and changes in headcount can cause large changes in percentages. In 2012/13 females made up 40% of entrants but gender balance would have been achieved if 2 more entrants had been female rather than male.

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Table 3.5: Numbers of DEES postgraduate research applications, offers, acceptances and

entrants by gender

Year of Entry Offer Type Female Male % Female


Offers 0 2 0%

Acceptances 0 2 0%

Entrants 0 2 0%


Offers 2 4 33%

Acceptances 2 4 33%

Entrants 2 3 40%


Offers 1 1 50%

Acceptances 1 1 50%

Entrants 1 1 50%

Overall Applications 12 22 35%

Offers 3 7 30%

Acceptances 3 7 30%

Entrants 3 6 33%

Note: Pre-2012/13, postgraduate recruitment was handled at the School level and we do not have application rates for DEES projects by gender.

Postgraduate numbers are small and vary yearly but the percentage of female applications averages 35% and is considerably less than expected for the subject. Nationally, 45% of earth science undergraduates (Table 3.1) and 46% of postgraduates (Table 3.2) are female.

The gender balance of postgraduate offers, acceptances and entrants approximately reflects that of the applicant pool (Table 3.5) suggesting no gender bias in the recruitment process. The

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

Figure 3.3. Percentage of DEES postgraduate research female applications, offers, acceptances and entrants

Applications Offers Acceptances Entrants

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percentage of female applications has increased steadily over the census period and 50% of postgraduates recruited in 2014/15 were female. Given that 45% of earth sciences undergraduates are female, the Department is seeking to achieve at least this percentage in application rates for postgraduate places (AP3.2). Postgraduate positions are usually advertised on the department and doctoral training partnership websites. For the next round (2015/16), postgraduate projects will also be advertised on the ‘Find a PhD’ website to enhance our profile and all staff will disseminate details of postgraduates projects to their contacts at other universities (AP3.2). All DEES recruitment materials now contain text (Figure 2.1) encouraging female candidates to apply and highlighting our commitment to diversity. The DEES home page contains a link to the University Women in Science website which highlights the positive achievements of female staff/students in DEES (Figure 3.4). We will review application/offer/acceptance/entrant rates for postgraduate positions each year by gender to monitor how these changes impact female postgraduate recruitment and we will hold discussion groups in late 2016 and 2017 to assess the response of postgraduates recruited in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 to our advertising and recruitment procedures (AP3.2).

We sought to understand the low female application rates for postgraduate places by asking current undergraduates their career intentions in the Departmental survey. Respondent number were low and 27/147 undergraduates (21 female and 6 male) completed the survey. 24% of females and 83% of males planned to continue in academia suggesting that female DEES undergraduates do not view academia as a favourable career choice. To solicit further feedback on career choice we will conduct and analyse end-of-degree undergraduate exit interviews by gender in 2015/16 (AP3.1). To highlight academic careers to female undergraduates we are committed to obtaining gender balance in both the invited seminar speaker programme (AP3.3) and the careers talks which include academics (AP3.4).

Figure 3.4: DEES news item on the Women in Science website.

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(vi) Degree classification by gender – comment on any differences in degree attainment between males and females and describe what actions are being taken to address any imbalance.

Summary: Equal proportions of male and female students obtain either 1st or 2.1 degrees however a higher proportion of female students consistently obtain 1st degrees

Table 3.6: Number and percentage of undergraduate awards in DEES by degree classification by gender. Percentages indicate proportion of each year group that obtain each degree classification.

Year of Award Classification Female Male Distribution among degree classes

Female Male All

2010-11 1st 5 0 28% 0% 19%

2:1 8 7 44% 88% 58%

2:2 5 1 28% 13% 23%

3rd 0 0 0% 0% 0%

2011-12 1st 3 2 33% 20% 26%

2:1 6 5 67% 50% 58%

2:2 0 3 0% 30% 16%

3rd 0 0 0% 0% 0%

2012-13 1st 3 2 43% 22% 31%

2:1 4 6 57% 67% 63%

2:2 0 1 0% 11% 6%

3rd 0 0 0% 0% 0%

2013-14 1st 4 4 31% 24% 27%

2:1 8 12 62% 71% 67%

2:2 1 1 8% 6% 7%

3rd 0 0 0% 0% 0%

2014-15 1st 5 6 45% 33% 38%

2:1 6 9 55% 50% 52%

2:2 0 3 0% 17% 10%

3rd 0 0 0% 0% 0%

All years 1st 20 14 34% 23% 28%

2:1 32 39 55% 63% 59%

2:2 6 9 10% 15% 13%

3rd 0 0 0% 0% 0%

Approximately equal proportions of males and females obtain either 1st or 2.1 degrees, however a higher proportion of females consistently obtain 1st degrees compared to males. We will track the performance of students through the degree programme by gender to identify if females outperform males throughout the degree programme or at certain stages (AP3.5). Anecdotally staff considered that females reflected on staff feedback and learnt how to improve their work more than males. In 2015/16 DEES will implement the CAPOD training ‘Making feedback work for you: A student intervention’. This tutorial was developed in 2014/15 to encourage students to review feedback more thoroughly. All third year DEES undergraduates will attend the tutorial in 2015/16 and we will review if the training impacts male and female assessment scores (AP3.6).

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Staff data

(vii) Female:male ratio of academic staff and research staff – researcher, lecturer, senior lecturer, reader, professor (or equivalent). comment on any differences in numbers between males and females and say what action is being taken to address any underrepresentation at particular grades/levels

Summary: Percentage of female staff has increased over the last 3 years. Approximate gender balance in research and teaching fellow posts but low female percentages at lecturer/senior lecturer and no females employed at reader/professor

Table 3.7 Overview of staff grades/roles in DEES and grading of HESA data for comparison

DEES role Grade HESA pre 2012/13 HESA 2012/13 onwards

Research A 5-6 Researcher Researcher

Research B 7-9

Teaching A 5-6 Other academic

Lecturer

Teaching B 7-8 Lecturer/senior lecturer

Lecturer 7

Lecturer /Senior lecturer

Lecturer

Senior Lecturer 8 Senior lecturer

Reader 8

Professor 9 Professor Professor

Note: Pre-2012/13, HESA graded staff as professor, lecturer/senior lecturer (including reader), researcher or other academic (all other academic grades including teaching fellows). After 2012/13 HESA graded staff as professor, senior lecturer (including reader and higher grade teaching B staff), lecturer (including all teaching A, lower grade teaching B) and researcher.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1st 2:1 2:2 3rd 1st 2:1 2:2 3rd 1st 2:1 2:2 3rd 1st 2:1 2:2 3rd 1st 2:1 2:2 3rd

2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15

% o

f th

at y

ear'

s ge

nd

er g

rou

p

Figure 3.5. Undergraduate DEES degree classification by gender

% Female % Male

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Table 3.8. Academic and research staff (FTE) by gender and role for DEES and national average data (Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences).

DEES National average (HESA)

Year Role Female Male % Female Female Male % Female

2010 Researcher 0.8 0.0 100 475 760 38 Teaching 1.0 0.0 100 580 1435 29 Lecturer/Snr Lecturer 1.0 4.0 20 540 1055 34 Professor 0.0 1.0 0 40 380 10

2011 Researcher 0.8 1.0 44 490 715 41 Teaching 1.0 0.0 100 655 1460 31 Lecturer/Snr Lecturer 1.0 7.0 13 615 1090 36 Professor 0.0 1.0 0 45 370 11

2012 Researcher 1.8 2.0 47 480 500 49

Teaching 1.0 0.0 100 675 1480 31

Lecturer/Snr Lecturer 1.0 12.5 7 630 1110 36

Professor 0.0 1.0 0 45 385 10

2013 Researcher 5.2 4.0 57 335 480 41

Lecturer/Teach. fellow 3.0 7.0 30 515 765 40

Snr Lecturer 1.0 5.5 15 125 410 23

Professor 0.0 1.0 0 60 440 12

2014 Researcher 4.2 3.0 58 470 635 43

Lecturer/ Teach. fellow 2.0 5.0 29 485 725 40

Snr Lecturer 1.0 5.0 17 130 420 24

Professor 0.0 1.0 0 75 485 13

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Figure 3.6 % Female FTE by Academic Role: DEES vs all UK departments

DEES All UK Earth/Marine/Environmnetal Science Departments

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The total number of staff in the Department has more than doubled in the last 5 years. Staff numbers are relatively small so changes in headcount can have a large effect on the percentages of female staff, particularly by academic role. The percentage of female researchers usually exceeds the national average (Table 3.8) and is high given that ~46% of postgraduates in the subject area are female (Table 3.2). The percentage of females at lecturer/senior lecturer is below the national average and no female staff are employed at reader/professor level.

In DEES, academics are usually recruited at lecturer level while more senior roles are filled from the promotion of existing academics. To address the gender imbalance in academic roles DEES is taking action to increase the numbers of female applicants for academic posts and to encourage female staff within the Department to apply for promotion (see section 4).

(viii) Turnover by grade and gender – comment on any differences between men and women in turnover and say what is being done to address this. Where the number of staff leaving is small, comment on the reasons why particular individuals left.

Summary: turnover rate low with no gender difference

Table 3.9: Total FTE of staff and leavers by gender and role.

(ix)

Female Male

Year Role FTC

Leavers STD

Leavers FTE

Total Leave

Rate FTC

Leavers STD

Leavers FTE

Total Leave

Rate

2012 Research A 1.00 0% 1.00 2.00 50%

Research B 0.80 - 0.00 -

Teaching A 1.00 - 0.00 -

Teaching B 0.00 - 0.00 -

Lecturer 0.00 0% 1.00 7.00 14%

Snr Lecturer 1.00 - 2.50 -

Reader 0.00 - 3.00 -

Professor 0.00 - 1.00 -

2013 Research A 1.00 3.00 33% 1.00 2.00 50%

Research B 2.20 - 2.00 -

Teaching A 0.00 - 0.00 -

Teaching B 0.00 - 0.00 -

Lecturer 2.00 0% 2.00 7.00 29%

Snr Lecturer 1.00 0% 0.50 2.50 20%

Reader 0.00 - 3.00 -

Professor 0.00 - 1.00 -

Note: No staff left in 2010, 2011 and 2014.

DEES is small and staff turnover is low so leaver numbers are too small for statistical analysis. Over the census 1 female researcher left to take up a permanent lectureship and 2 male researchers left to research posts at other institutions. 3 lecturing staff (all male) left to take up academic posts at other universities; in two cases this involved promotion. 1 part-time senior lecturer left to pursue a career in music. The gender balance of leavers broadly reflects the gender balance of staff in the Department and there is no evidence that leavers are skewed to 1 gender.

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4. Supporting and advancing women’s careers: maximum 5000 words (4998 words)

Key career transition points

a) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning.

(i) Job application and success rates by gender and grade – comment on any differences in recruitment between men and women at any level and say what action is being taken to address this.

Table 4.1: Application and success rates for academic and research posts by gender. The bottom row indicates the percentages of applications and offers from/to females.

All Applications Offers Made Success Rate

Year Post Female Male Total F M Total F M Overall

2010 Research A 8 17 25 0 1 1 0.0% 5.9% 4.0%

Research B 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Teaching A 9 8 17 1 0 1 11.1% 0.0% 5.9%

Teaching B 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Lecturer 58 118 176 0 3 3 0.0% 2.5% 1.7%

Senior Lect. 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Reader 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Professor 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

2012 Research A 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Research B 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Teaching A 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Teaching B 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Lecturer 38 88 126 2 1 3 5.3% 1.1% 2.4%

Senior Lect. 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Reader 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Professor 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

2013 Research A 19 19 38 1 0 1 5.3% 0.0% 2.6%

Research B 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Teaching A 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Teaching B 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Lecturer 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Senior Lect. 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Reader 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

Professor 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - -

All years

Research A 27 (43%) 36 63 1 (50%) 1 2 3.7% 2.8% 3.2%

Teaching A 9 (53%) 8 17 1 (100%) 0 1 11.1% 0.0% 5.9%

Lecturer 96 (32%) 206 302 2 (33%) 4 6 2.1% 1.9% 2.0%

All roles 132 (47%) 250 382 4 (44%) 5 9 3.0% 2.0% 2.4%

Note: i) No positions were advertised or filled in 2011 and 2014. ii) The university does not currently collect data on candidates shortlisted.

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Table 4.2: New starts by gender for academic/research posts.

Year Female Male % female

2010 1 1 50

2011 0 3 0

2012 0 0 -

2013 6 4 60

2014 0 0 -

Note: New starts includes staff recruited and awarded personal fellowships to work in DEES. It does not include 6 staff (all male) who transferred to DEES from another Department in 2012.

Over the census period, females made 43% of applications for Research A posts and 53% of applications for Teaching Fellowships. Nationally, 46% of Earth Science research postgraduates are female (Table 3.2) and we observe a small female gender bias in applications for teaching fellowships and no bias in applications for research A posts. The percentage of females applying for lectureships (32%) is low given that ~43% of researchers in our subject are female at the national level (Table 3.8). Although numbers are small, the success rates of female and male lectureship applicants are similar suggesting no gender bias in the recruitment process.

Our data suggest that encouraging a better gender balance in the lectureship applicant pool would be an effective way to improve gender balance in academic posts in DEES. To improve the proportion of female applicants for academic posts DEES staff will be more proactive in seeking potential female lecturer applicants and encouraging them to apply for positions (AP4.1).

To foster links with potential future applicants we will invite high profile female researchers to give seminars in DEES. Visitors will be encouraged to view DEES facilities and to meet with staff with whom they may potentially collaborate. The Department has recently revised its application materials to particularly welcome female applicants, to emphasise the family friendly work environment, where flexible working is the norm, and to highlight diversity initiatives in DEES (Figure 2.1).

The University does not currently store short-listing data. We shall monitor the short-lists for all new posts to determine if our interactions improve the numbers of female applicants and females shortlisted and if these translate into more women in post (AP4.1).

(ii) Applications for promotion and success rates by gender and grade – comment on whether these differ for men and women and if they do explain what action may be taken. Where the number of women is small applicants may comment on specific examples of where women have been through the promotion process. Explain how potential candidates are identified.

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Table 4.3: Success rate for promotion application by gender for academic/research staff.

Female Male

Year Role Successful Un-successful

Success Rate % Successful

Un-successful

Success Rate %

2010 Snr Lecturer 0 0 - 0 0 -

Reader 0 0 - 0 0 -

Professor 0 0 - 0 0 -

2011 Snr Lecturer 0 0 - 0 0 -

Reader 0 0 - 0 0 -


2012 Snr Lecturer 0 0 - 0 2 0

Reader 0 0 - 0 0 -

Principal Teaching Fellow 0 0 - 0 0 -


2013 Snr Lecturer 0 0 - 0 0 -

Reader 0 0 - 0 1 0


2014 Snr Lecturer 0 0 - 0 0 -

Reader 0 0 - 0 2 0

Professor 0 0 - 0 2 0

Overall 0 0 0 0 9 0

There have been no successful applications for promotion in either gender over the last 5 years. No female applicants have applied for promotion over this period. The numbers of female staff in the Department were 2.8 in 2010 and 8.2 in 2013. Recent appointments are unlikely to have applied for promotion over the census period (within 1-2 years of appointment). It is a cause of concern that longer term female appointments (>5 years) have not applied for promotion in this period. This suggests that female staff require more encouragement to apply for promotion.

Increasing the numbers of female promotion applications and the success of all applications is a key DEES goal (AP4.2). The promotion process is handled at the University rather than the Department level. Any member of staff can apply for promotion and applications are submitted directly to HR by the applicant and are scored centrally by the University Promotions Committee. The annual promotion round has clear criteria for research, teaching and service, with modified emphasis on each category for research only and teaching only posts. Unsuccessful candidates are given feedback from the Deputy Principal.

To date, DEES has had no Departmental procedure to review staff for promotion. Starting in academic year 2015/16, DEES has embedded discussion of promotion in the annual staff appraisal (AP4.2). This will serve to identify and encourage suitable applicants (particularly females) to apply and to identify key needs to ready other staff for promotion in future years. Promotions procedures are now highlighted in the DEES staff handbook and this will be updated annually (AP4.3). Staff are encouraged to discuss promotion applications with senior colleagues in the Department. We will monitor future promotion rounds to determine if these actions increase promotion application and success rates (AP4.2) and will hold a promotion discussion group to solicit staff views on the promotions process and to determine how to further improve departmental support for promotion (AP4.2).

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In the DEES survey only 30% of all staff respondents (approximately equal percentages of males and females) were optimistic about career progression and many negative comments were made about the promotion process: “University promotions system unreliable, not objective nor fair across Departments or Schools”

Comments on promotion from the DEES survey and the DEESE+D Committee were fed into a major review of the University’s Academic Promotions Procedure. The Equality Impact Assessment on this procedure also included an Online Feedback initiative that saw increased feedback from DEES staff in relation to gender inclusion.

The University’s Director of HR will be scheduling training sessions across the University academic departments during 2015-17 for academic staff to gain awareness of the process as a way of demystifying the promotions procedure. The DEES HoD will encourage DEES academics to attend once the session has been confirmed.

b) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed.

(i) Recruitment of staff – comment on how the department’s recruitment processes ensure that female candidates are attracted to apply, and how the department ensures its short listing, selection processes and criteria comply with the university’s equal opportunities policies

The Department is committed to improving the percentage of female applications for academic posts in DEES and is adopting a proactive approach to encourage more female candidates to apply for lectureships (section 4(i)).

DEES follows the University’s ‘Inclusive Recruitment Guide’ (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/inclusiverec) from job design to final appointment. The online guidance has been created by HR in consultation with equality groups; feedback from ECU; alignment with the Equality & Human Rights Commission Equality Act (2010) Statutory Code of Practice for Employment; plus factors in the good practice guidance which was published by the UKRC for Women in SET. For >15 years all Recruitment Panels in the Department/School, for all roles (including researchers and non-academic posts), have been mixed gender with an emphasis that all panel members have equality of input as part of decision making.

The Department home webpage has been reviewed to showcase the University Athena SWAN Bronze award and job application materials and the DEES opportunities page contain text (Figure 2.1) encouraging female candidates to apply and highlighting the Department’s commitment to diversity. The DEES home webpage links to the University of St. Andrews Women in Science web site which details the roles of female academic staff in the Department, highlights work-life balance e.g. part-time working and summarises scientific achievements by females at the University, including DEES staff.

Eight Departmental staff attended the ‘Recruitment and Selection’ Workshop organised in house in August bringing the total number of staff trained to 10. All Department staff and students are now required to complete the University’s online 'Diversity in the Workplace - HE' Training Module’ (since July 2015) and to date >80% of all staff (research/academic/administrative and

http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/inclusiverec/

http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/inclusiverec/

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technical) have completed the training. The University online training on Unconscious bias will go live later this year and all staff will be encouraged to complete this (AP4.4). The Departmental Administrator will check that convenors of all recruitment panels have completed both the Unconscious Bias and Recruitment training (AP4.4) and will continue to ensure that all staff use the online ‘Inclusive Recruitment Guide’, to promote good gender equality practice throughout the stages of Job Design, Advertising, Application, Interviewing and Selection.

(ii) Support for staff at key career transition points – having identified key areas of attrition of female staff in the department, comment on any interventions, programmes and activities that support women at the crucial stages, such as personal development training, opportunities for networking, mentoring programmes and leadership training. Identify which have been found to work best at the different career stages.

In DEES the key areas of female attrition are from undergraduate to postgraduate (see Career development a)iii) for a discussion of action), from researcher to lecturer and from lecturer to reader/professor. The first two attrition points reflect low female application rates for posts while the third reflects low application rates for promotion.

All new lecturing staff are assigned a DEES mentor by the HoD. New research staff are encouraged to participate in mentorship but this is not compulsory and over the census period no research staff had taken up mentoring. We wish to improve the uptake of mentoring in DEES over the next 2 years (AP4.5). We now include a discussion of mentoring opportunities as part of staff induction and the staff handbook includes a summary of options.

Researchers can request a mentor through CAPODs ‘Cross-Institutional Early-Career Academics’ mentoring scheme which is run in collaboration with the University of Dundee. This programme was recognised by ECU as an example of good practice in 2012. Researchers can also approach the DoR if they wish to be matched with a mentor inside DEES, outside the CAPOD scheme. We anticipate that gender specific mentor requests will be met. Senior staff also encourage early-career staff to submit all applications for research funding and draft publications to colleagues for constructive comment before submission. We will monitor uptake of mentorship across DEES staff and review the staff response to mentoring and support for early-career staff through a discussion group on staff training in the next two years (AP4.5).

CAPOD provides resources and training opportunities for early career researchers/lecturers covering research, teaching and service. These resources are promoted through the CAPOD website and are highlighted at staff induction. The Department also actively promotes external female career development opportunities, for example the L’Oreal-UNESCO fellowships for Women in Science and the Aurora programme, facilitated by the Leadership Foundation in HE (for female professional/academic staff at grades 6-8). The University funded four places on the Aurora programme last year although no staff from DEES applied to attend. We will explore the reason for this at the annual Athena SWAN lunch (AP2.1) and through the DEES diversity survey (AP2.2).

All new lecturing staff are provided with start-up funds and DEES has a fund to support conference attendance/fieldwork/training which is available to staff who do not have research funding support. In the survey, female (and male) staff were positive about opportunities to network. The University Caring Fund provides financial support to enable staff with caring responsibilities to attend essential events.

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The DEES staff handbook now summarises all training, mentoring and funding options and a discussion of these opportunities is part of induction. The staff handbook will be updated annually (AP4.3). New opportunities are flagged to all relevant staff and students by email. The DEESE+D officer maintains an intranet archive of Athena SWAN resources which is promoted to all staff and students. Some of these materials showcase the potential career paths of female academics in science e.g. The Royal Society Mothers in Science booklet. These materials have generated a positive response:

‘Thanks for sharing the ‘Mothers in Science booklet’ (by email)

To solicit further feedback from all staff on improving DEES staff support and working practice we will establish the Athena SWAN lunch as an annual event (AP2.1). This event serves as an opportunity for staff and postgraduates to network informally and to discuss equality and diversity issues. Starting in 2015/16 we will also conduct exit interviews with departing postgraduates and staff (AP4.6). An analysis of the exit data by gender will be discussed by the DEESE+D committee and will be reported annually to the Department management group.

Career development

a) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed.

(i) Promotion and career development – comment on the appraisal and career development process, and promotion criteria and whether these take into consideration responsibilities for teaching, research, administration, pastoral work and outreach work; is quality of work emphasised over quantity of work?

New lecturers have a reduced teaching load (50% in year 1 and 75% in year 2) for the first two years of appointment.

The University operates a mandatory annual staff appraisal scheme. Staff are appraised by their line manager and the Departmental administrator ensures that all appraisals are completed. The format of the scheme changed in 2015 to include reflection on research, teaching and service (administration, outreach, mentoring etc.) and to more closely mirror the University promotion application. DEES has embedded discussion of promotion in staff appraisal to ensure that suitably qualified staff (especially females) are identified and encouraged to apply (AP4.2) and that the needs of other staff are identified to ready them for promotion in future years. The HoD reviews all staff appraisals to consider the suitability of staff for promotion. We will review the staff response to the appraisal process in future DEESE+D surveys (AP2.2).

Promotion applications are submitted by the individual directly to HR where they are considered and scored by the University’s promotions panel. The annual promotion round has clear criteria for research, teaching and service, with modified emphasis on each category for research only and teaching only posts. To emphasise quality over quantity an individual’s research performance is graded on the basis of the applicant’s best four publications while teaching is graded based on student feedback and external examiners reports etc. We will hold a promotion discussion group to solicit staff views on the promotions process and to determine how to further improve departmental support for promotion (AP4.2).

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(ii) Induction and training – describe the support provided to new staff at all levels, as well as details of any gender equality training. To what extent are good employment practices in the institution, such as opportunities for networking, the flexible working policy, and professional and personal development opportunities promoted to staff from the outset?

The University holds full staff induction days, which include career development, in January and September. These are well received but may take place several months after arrival. The University also offers monthly workshops to inform new staff of essential information (e.g. safety, diversity, staff appraisal).

At a Department level, all new staff usually meet their line manager on their first day and complete the DEES induction checklist. The Departmental administrator ensures that all new staff have completed this in their first week.

New staff are furnished with a copy of the DEES staff handbook which highlights the Department flexible working policy, mentoring provision, E+D, wellbeing, social activities and opportunities and funding for networking and training both within and outside the University. The handbook will be updated annually (AP4.3). All new staff are required to complete the University diversity training. All new staff are welcomed to DEES at Friday coffee time. Satisfaction with the Department and University induction packages will be assessed in a discussion group (AP4.7) and future diversity surveys (AP2.2).

(iii) Support for female students – describe the support (formal and informal) provided for female students to enable them to make the transition to a sustainable academic career, particularly from postgraduate to researcher, such as mentoring, seminars and pastoral support and the right to request a female personal tutor. Comment on whether these activities are run by female staff and how this work is formally recognised by the department.

We provide excellent pastoral care to all students. Undergraduate students may approach the sub-honours or honours degree advisors (both male), the degree champions (2 male and 1 female), the HoD (male) or HoT (female) for advice or support. Undergraduates can also approach the DEES Equality and Diversity Officer to raise any concerns or issues. Each first year undergraduate is informally mentored by two third year undergraduates, one of whom studies the same subject while the other studies outside the department. DEES arranges a BBQ for staff and undergraduates at the start of the academic year to facilitate matching of mentors and mentees.

Undergraduates receive comprehensive training in job applications at the start of their final year. They produce a CV and cover letter tailored to a job of their choice and are then interviewed for the post by a panel including academic staff and industrial professionals. The interviews are recorded and undergraduates receive a copy of their own interview and verbal and written feedback on their performance. DEES encourages all undergraduates to attend the Earth Sciences Careers Day in Edinburgh in November and arranges transport to this event. Undergraduate training of specific subject skills is embedded in teaching modules.

Postgraduates are allocated 2 supervisors to ensure they are supported by multiple staff. Either both supervisors have academic input into the project or the second supervisor is appointed in a pastoral only capacity. Additional specialist pastoral support is provided centrally by the

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University Advice and Support Centre. Postgraduates can raise concerns with any member of the Postgraduate Committee which includes a female member of staff. All postgraduates complete an annual review with the postgraduate committee. Supervisors do not sit on the committee and the review provides an opportunity for the committee to ensure that the student:supervisor relationship is functioning well and for postgraduates to raise any concerns. Supervision (academic and pastoral) and service on the PG committee are recognised in the workload model. PG supervisor training is offered on an annual basis by the University and DEES expects all supervisors to attend this.

CAPOD offers a wide range of courses to support student career development (GRADskills). Postgraduates are encouraged to contribute to the undergraduate teaching programme and must complete CAPODs ‘Tutoring and Demonstrating in the Sciences’ and are assigned a department teaching mentor (usually the module co-ordinator).

All postgraduates present their research at the annual DEES postgraduate science conference and showcase conference presentations at the DEES lunchtime gathering. All postgraduate students are encouraged to nominate and meet speakers for the DEES seminar series. DEES has a small fund to support postgraduate training, fieldwork and conference attendance. Application procedures are highlighted in the postgraduate handbook.

Postgraduates/undergraduates were included in the DEESE+D survey. Female students scored the statement ‘the gender balance of career speakers is about right’ slightly negatively and several students requested a higher female percentage of visiting seminar and career speakers. Male students scored the statement slightly positively. The percentage of invited external female seminar speakers increased from 0% in 2012/13 to 28% in 2013/14 and 40% in 2014/15. Additional informal seminars were given by other visitors and these were almost exclusively male. Typically 4 career speakers visit DEES each year and at least one of these is female. DEES is committed to improving the gender balance of both seminar and career programmes (AP3.3 and 3.4).

Attracting high profile female (and male) career speakers can be challenging due to the long travelling distances to St. Andrews and the likelihood that visitors have their own caring commitments. To improve our provision of career speakers we have developed sessions (‘Windows into the Workplace’) where students can skype career speakers for 1-2 hour periods. We are optimistic that this approach will increase the proportion of female speakers in the career programme. We will gauge the response of undergraduates to this programme in the end-of-degree exit interviews (AP3.1).

Female role models are important in promoting academia to all career stages. DEES participates in the University’s Women in Science website which celebrates our women, their successes and career pathways (Figure 4.1). Female (and male) students scored the statement ‘I believe that there are strong role models for me within the department’ strongly positive. We will review how many students are aware of and use the website in future DEES surveys (AP2.2).

St. Andrews participates in Interconnect, a positive action network across Scotland for women studying STEM subjects. Details of Interconnect events (primarily aimed to facilitate networking between students/professionals and employers) and Interconnect organised paid work placements are circulated to all DEES students. St. Andrews has hosted 2 ‘Interconnect’ events since the formation of the DEESE+D committee and both of these have been attended by DEES staff. We will assess participation of undergraduates and postgraduates in Interconnect events in future DEES surveys (AP2.2).

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Figure 4.1: News item on the University ‘Women in Science’ website highlighting research awards to a female DEES undergraduate student.

Organisation and culture


(i) Male and female representation on committees – provide a breakdown by committee and explain any differences between male and female representation. Explain how potential members are identified.

Table 4.4: Representation on groups/committees by gender for academic/research staff.

2012/13 2013/14 2014/15

Name of group

Frequency Female (%) Male (%) Female (%) Male (%) Female (%) Male (%)

CORE group 2/month 0 (0%) 3 (100%) 1 (33%) 2 (66%) 1 (33%) 2 (66%)

Teaching council

1/semester 3 (18%) 14 (82%) 5 (28%) 13 (72%) 5 (25%) 15 (75%)

PG committee

1/semester 0 (0%) 1 (100%) 1 (25%) 3 (75%) 1 (25%) 3 (75%)

UG committee

1/semester 0 (0%) 2 (100%) 0 (0%) 3 (100%) 1 (25%) 3 (75%)

E+D Committee

Monthly 5 (56%) 4 (44%) 6 (55%) 5 (45%)

Notes: Before 2013/14 Departmental postgraduate affairs were discussed at a school wide committee. The E+D Committee was formed in 2014.

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The CORE group (HoD and Directors of Teaching and Research) is the DEES management group. Other staff are invited to contribute to this group depending on the agenda. The teaching council includes all staff involved in teaching. Membership of other committees is determined by the HoD who considers workload, gender balance, conflicts of interest (there are 4 couples on DEES staff and both members of a couple do not serve on the same committee with the exception of the teaching committee) and requests from staff (volunteering). Research staff do not typically serve on department committees (with the exception of the E+D committee). It is positive that the representation of females on DEES decision making committees has increased markedly over the last 3 years and female representation now broadly reflects the gender balance of academic staff in the department. Committee membership is reviewed annually and typically rotates on a 2-4 year cycle. The Department will maintain female representation on all committees whilst seeking to avoid overburdening female staff.

(ii) Female:male ratio of academic and research staff on fixed-term contracts and open-ended (permanent) contracts – comment on any differences between male and female staff representation on fixed-term contracts and say what is being done to address them.

Table 4.5. Analysis of fixed term (FT) and open-ended (open) contracts for academic, teaching

and research staff by gender.

Female Male

Year Role FT Open % on FT FT Open % on FT

2010 Researchers 0 0.8 0% 1 0 100%

Teaching 1 0 100% 0 0 -

Academic 0 1 0% 0 5 0%

2011 Researchers 0 0.8 0% 1 0 100%

Teaching 1 0 100% 0 0 -

Academic 0 1 0% 0 8 0%

2012 Researchers 1 0.8 56% 2 0 100%

Teaching 1 0 100% 0 0 -

Academic 0 1 0% 1 12.5 7%

2013 Researchers 4.4 0.8 85% 4 0 100%

Teaching 1 0 100% 0 0 -

Academic 0 3 0% 0 13.5 0%

2014 Researchers 3.4 0.8 81% 3 0 100%

Teaching 0 0 - 0 0 -

Academic 0 3 0% 0 11 0%

Numbers of staff in the Department are small but there is no evidence of a gender bias in the use of fixed term contracts. Fixed terms contracts are usually issued to Research staff (PDRAs and independent fellows working on projects of finite length) and Teaching Fellows (employed to cover for academic staff sabbaticals). All DEES staff employed in these roles over the census period were employed on fixed term contracts with the exception of one female researcher who has been at the University since 2001 and is employed on an open-ended contract. One male lecturer joined the Department in 2012 on a fixed term contract from another Department and was converted to an open-ended contract the following year.

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(i) Representation on decision-making committees – comment on evidence of gender equality in the mechanism for selecting representatives. What evidence is there that women are encouraged to sit on a range of influential committees inside and outside the department? How is the issue of ‘committee overload’ addressed where there are small numbers of female staff?

Women are represented on all the Departmental decision making committees (Table 4.4) and the gender balance of committee membership broadly reflects the gender balance of academic staff in the Department, avoiding overburdening of female staff.

Women are also encouraged to (and do) sit on University wide committees. At present the HoD (male) sits on Academic Council and Heads of School, the Director of Teaching (female) sits on the Teaching and Learning Committee, the Director of Research (male) sits on the Research Committee and the E+D officer (female) sits on the University Ethnicity and Diversity Committee.

(ii) Workload model – describe the systems in place to ensure that workload allocations, including pastoral and administrative responsibilities (including the responsibility for work on women and science) are taken into account at appraisal and in promotion criteria. Comment on the rotation of responsibilities e.g. responsibilities with a heavy workload and those that are seen as good for an individual’s career.

The Department workload model was developed in 2012 and includes teaching, research, outreach, pastoral responsibilities and service (including E+D). Following comments in the DEES survey, the workload model is now published to all staff on the Department intranet and is used to inform the distribution of teaching and administrative roles by the CORE group. The Department is small and parity of workload cannot always be achieved for all individuals in one year. Rather the model is used to ensure fairness and transparency in workload distribution over periods of 2-3 years.

DEES recognises that administrative work is a component of career development and a pathway to gain first-hand knowledge of the operations of the Department and University. Administrative workload allocation is reviewed annually and roles typically rotate every 2-4 years. Administrative service is recognised in the university promotions procedures. Both female and male staff scored the statement ‘I feel that the type of work allocated to me is fair and appropriate’ positively in the survey (1= strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree, female mean score (± standard deviation) = 2.0±1.1, male score = 2.1±0.6). Similarly female and male staff scored the statement ‘I feel that my workload is appropriate’ positively.

(iii) Timing of departmental meetings and social gatherings – provide evidence of consideration for those with family responsibilities, for example what the department considers to be core hours and whether there is a more flexible system in place.

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The Department set core hours of 10.00-16.00 in March 2015 to ensure that most staff can participate in meetings and seminars. Following this, 100% of females (and 93% males) felt that meetings were scheduled at convenient times. Staff and postgraduates meet for tea/coffee in the School coffee room at 11am. This is well attended, particularly on Fridays. Staff and postgraduates also meet on Friday at 5pm for drinks in the main DEES building and there are annual daytime BBQs. Partners and children are welcomed to these events. The DEES Christmas lunch is held on a weekday lunchtime in St. Andrews.

DEES has organised a weekly Wednesday lunchtime gathering for the 2015/16 academic year. The gathering provides an opportunity for staff and students to socialise and discuss science and for the occasional timetabling of internal seminars. We will solicit opinion on the gathering informally, at the annual networking lunch (AP2.1) and in the next DEESE+D survey (AP2.2).

(iv) Culture –demonstrate how the department is female-friendly and inclusive. ‘Culture’ refers to the language, behaviours and other informal interactions that characterise the atmosphere of the department, and includes all staff and students.

The Department is characterised by a friendly, inclusive and respectful environment. Staff and students use first name terms and interact well. Both staff and students scored the statement ‘I feel that social activities within the Department are equally welcoming to all’ strongly positively (no gender difference). The Director of Research emails all to highlight the successes of Department staff and postgraduates e.g. grants awards and high impact papers.

A very large majority of staff, postgraduates and undergraduates (>96% in each case) had not observed or experienced discrimination or harassment based on race, sexual orientation or religious belief. However 17% of staff and 11% of students had witnessed or experienced gender harassment in the Department. This largely took the form of inappropriate jokes and banter. To address this, the HoD sent an email to all staff/postgraduates outlining their obligations under the Equality Act (2010), asking all to complete the University online Diversity training and to reflect on future behaviour.

To date >80% of all staff have completed the training. The Diversity training is now compulsory for all incoming staff, postgraduates and undergraduates. Future training levels will be monitored (AP4.4) and levels of harassment/discrimination will be assessed in future DEESE+D surveys (AP2.2). The Department has appointed an E+D officer who acts as a contact for students and staff who wish to raise any E+D concerns. Suggestion boxes have been placed in the staff/postgraduate coffee room and in undergraduate laboratories to enable all department members to comment anonymously on current or proposed practice.

(v) Outreach activities – comment on the level of participation by female and male staff in outreach activities with schools and colleges and other centres. Describe who the programmes are aimed at, and how this activity is formally recognised as part of the workload model and in appraisal and promotion processes.

The Department has a large active outreach program and all activity is included in the workload model. Outreach is recognised in the University’s promotion criteria.

Geobus - DEES developed Geobus in 2011 to visit secondary schools throughout Scotland and the North of England and deliver interactive teaching packages in earth system sciences. Since its establishment, Geobus has delivered material to over 36,000 pupils in 171 different schools. Geobus is directed by a female academic and supported by 3 full time technical staff (currently all

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female). Geobus provides opportunities for early career researchers to develop research based teaching activities and for undergraduates/postgraduates to deliver the activities. Participants receive a half-day training session in working with young people and delivering STEM activities. Over the last 2 years 38-40 undergraduates and 6-8 postgraduates have participated in delivering activities each year. 73-80% of participants each year are female and the gender balance is similar for both undergraduates and postgraduates. One female member of Geobus staff is leaving in October 2015 and her replacement (already recruited) is male. We will monitor the involvement of students in Geobus to determine how this staff change affects participation by gender (AP4.8).

International Science School – International high school age students visit DEES for a week each summer. Classes are delivered by teaching and research staff and the percentage of female staff involved ranged from 25-40% over the last 3 years and is broadly representative of the gender balance of DEES.

Royal Society of Edinburgh masterclass – Typically 20 early secondary school children visit DEES for two half-day workshops each year. The workshops are co-ordinated by 2 staff (one female, one male) and are each supported by 4-5 undergraduates (approximately gender balanced).

University of St. Andrews Space School – DEES runs one day each year of the multi-day University space school. Approximately 60 primary school children and their teachers visit DEES for a full day of workshops. All activities are delivered by undergraduate students overseen by a member of staff (female). There is approximate gender balance in the undergraduates involved in this activity.

Sutton Trust Summer School – About 15 high school children from non-privileged backgrounds visit DEES from across the UK each year to attend classes and gain an insight into University life. The percentage of female staff delivering the classes ranged from 33-40% over the last 3 years and is representative of the DEES staff gender balance.

Flexibility and managing career breaks


(i) Maternity return rate – comment on whether maternity return rate in the department has improved or deteriorated and any plans for further improvement. If the department is unable to provide a maternity return rate, please explain why.

The Department is small and only one staff and no students have taken maternity leave since 2010. The staff member, a Teaching Fellow, took leave in 2012 and returned to work in 2013.

(ii) Paternity, adoption and parental leave uptake – comment on the uptake of paternity leave by grade and parental and adoption leave by gender and grade. Has this improved or deteriorated and what plans are there to improve further.

No staff have sought paternity/adoption/parental leave since 2010.

(iii) Numbers of applications and success rates for flexible working by gender and grade – comment on any disparities. Where the number of women in the department is small applicants may wish to comment on specific examples.

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One staff (female) requested a revision of her hours from full-time to part-time after returning from maternity leave and this request was met (see b) (ii)). No other staff have formally requested flexible working since 2010 however almost all staff (> 93%), including research, technical, administrative and academic staff, report working flexibly i.e. varying the numbers of hours worked each day or varying the timings of working.


(i) Flexible working – comment on the numbers of staff working flexibly and their grades and gender, whether there is a formal or informal system, the support and training provided for managers in promoting and managing flexible working arrangements, and how the department raises awareness of the options available.

The Department is supportive of staff working flexibly. 93% of staff, including individuals spanning all grades, work flexibly and 93% occasionally work from home. Only 18% of staff had discussed flexible working with their line managers before varying their working hours:

‘I didn’t specifically (discuss informal flexible working with my line manager), but I suppose I take for granted that this is normal in academia’.

The DEES staff handbook states the flexible working policy. Staff are encouraged to work flexibly but are requested to usually limit home working to one day a week during teaching periods as staff presence is important in building/maintaining a sense of departmental community. Staff with children can request that their teaching is not timetabled during school holidays and these requests are usually met.

(ii) Cover for maternity and adoption leave and support on return – explain what the department does, beyond the university maternity policy package, to support female staff before they go on maternity leave, arrangements for covering work during absence, and to help them achieve a suitable work-life balance on their return.

The Department supports all staff and students in fulfilling their family commitments so far as possible. After staff notify the HoD of a pregnancy they complete a risk assessment with the Departmental Health and Safety advisor. Staff are encouraged to work flexibly and from home during pregnancy if they wish. The individuals teaching and research commitments are reviewed and other suitable staff are identified to cover these responsibilities if necessary e.g. PhD student supervision is usually covered by second supervisors. A plan for a return to work is agreed and pregnant staff can request that their hours are changed either temporarily or permanently. The University allows staff on maternity/paternity leave to undertake up to 10 paid Keeping in Touch (KIT) days. These are optional and can be used to attend conferences, for training or for away days etc. The University also maintains a Caring Fund to support staff with child minding (or other caring responsibilities) to attend events as part of their role. The fund can be used to pay for respite care, childminder costs etc. We have had only one case of maternity/paternity/adoption leave since 2010. This was for a Teaching Fellow who was granted maternity leave in 2012. Her fixed term contract expired while she was on maternity leave but the Department created a post for her (Field Academy Manager)

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to return to part-time (at her request). After a year her hours were increased (again at her request). The Teaching Fellow did not elect to take up KIT days.

The University offers a childcare voucher scheme to support staff members with children by paying for childcare before tax. All survey respondents with nursery or primary school age children were aware of the scheme and 86% of eligible parents had claimed vouchers in the last three years. Details of University support for expectant/new parents and for staff requiring parental leave are highlighted in the DEES staff handbook. The DEESE+D committee will review Departmental support for staff and students requiring maternity/paternity/special leave in the next two years (AP4.9).

5. Any other comments: maximum 500 words (411 words)

Please comment here on any other elements which are relevant to the application, e.g. other STEMM-specific initiatives of special interest that have not been covered in the previous sections. Include any other relevant data (e.g. results from staff surveys), provide a commentary on it and indicate how it is planned to address any gender disparities identified. Mental Health: In response to comments in the DEES survey, the DEESE+D Committee has agreed to work to highlight awareness of mental health across DEES. Over the next 3 years we will work to highlight the symptoms of and University support for mental illness (AP5.1). The Handbook co-ordinators will ensure that University support for mental wellbeing is emphasised in the undergraduate, postgraduate and staff handbooks. The DEESE+D Officer will maintain a poster campaign across the Department noticeboards to highlight the prevalence of mental illness in society and to advertise the services of the University Advice and Support Centre. The HoD will encourage multiple staff, including staff running residential fieldtrips, to attend the University ‘Mental Health First Aid course’ (2 days). This training aims to help participants identify others suffering from mental illness; offer them support and comfort; and encourage them to seek professional help and support. Gender + Race Intersectionality diversity: From March 2015 the DEESE+D Committee will be annually analysing statistics provided by HR Data and Registry relating to intersectionality of staff; Postgraduate and Undergraduate students of different ethnicity and nationality in relation to gender (AP5.2). This task is being mainstreamed across the institution as part of the University’s Race Equality Charter initiative. DEES staff and students are able to raise Race related issues through the DEESE+D Committee to be escalated to the University Race Charter Group (AP5.3). This follows-on from the promotion of the University’s Race Equality Survey (Jan-Feb 2015) by the DEESE+D Committee encouraging our staff and students to complete it online. The DEESE+D Officer has been involved in promoting the recent range of race diversity events to staff and students, such as the Indian ‘Diwali’ celebrations and the ‘Feminism in Islam Conference’ both held on campus for all staff and student attendance. Inclusive studying environment: We recognise that a fair studying environment results better studying practice as students can perform better when they can be themselves. To ensure that our students of different gender and

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diverse backgrounds gain an equitable student experience, the DEES DoT and staff involved in designing and delivering the curriculum will be utilising the updated version of the University’s Online Inclusive Curriculum Toolkit, which takes into account good sector practice by the Equality Challenge Unit and the Higher Education Academy (AP5.4). The current online guidance has been sign-posted to use together with learning gained on diversity in the curriculum through the University’s staff workshop at the annual Academic Forum (Nov 2015).

6. Action plan

Provide an action plan as an appendix. An action plan template is available on the Athena SWAN website.

The Action Plan should be a table or a spreadsheet comprising actions to address the priorities identified by the analysis of relevant data presented in this application, success/outcome measures, the post holder responsible for each action and a timeline for completion. The plan should cover current initiatives and your aspirations for the next three years.

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Action plan

The DEES E+D Committee is responsible for overseeing many individual actions with work load shared amongst DEESE+D Committee members, led by the DEES E+D Officer. The DEES Head of Department is strategically responsible for the Action Plan to be progressed at high-level.

Act

ion

Aim Activities underway and planned Overseeing Responsibility

Implementing Lead

Timescale Evaluation

Section 2. Self-assessment

2.1 Establish Athena SWAN lunch as an annual event to enable staff and postgraduates to network and to solicit feedback on DEES E+D.

Establish ‘Athena SWAN Engagement Lunch’ as a regular departmental event.

DEESE+D Officer

Departmental administrator

Starting mid-2016

Lunch established as an annual event. Comments routinely discussed at DEESE+D committee and relayed to DEES management group with recommendations for changes in DEES practice.

Share good practice within the University by inviting members of the ‘Institutional Athena SWAN Committee’ to the lunch.

DEESE+D Committee

DEESE+D Officer

By mid-2016.

2.2 Establish detailed E+D Survey on a 2-3 year cycle and report data to the DEES Management Group.

Design and conduct a detailed anonymous E+D Survey of Staff and Student working and studying experiences with the aim of soliciting opinion on DEES culture, working practices and discrimination, with benchmarking based on the 2015 survey.

We will expand the remit of the 2015 survey e.g. to identify how many staff and students are aware of and use the University ‘Women in Science’ website, to solicit student opinion to diversity training, to solicit staff opinion to the appraisal process etc.

DEESE+D Officer

University E+D officer, DEESE+D Officer

By end 2017

Redesigned Survey held with a response rate of at least 70%. Analysis of data by gender discussed at DEESE+D committee and relayed to DEES management group together with recommendations for changes in DEES practice.

Revise survey based on experience and repeat. DEESE+D Committee

DEESE+D Officer

By end 2020

Revised survey run and analysis repeated.

Further issues that are outwith the Department’s own control to be addressed at University level through representation at the ‘Institutional Athena SWAN Committee’ (systematic feedback mechanism).

DEESE+D Committee

DEESE+D Officer

Jan 2018 Issues discussed and minuted at Institutional Athena SWAN Committee.

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Act

ion

Aim Activities underway and planned Overseeing

Responsibility Implementing Lead


Section 3. A picture of the department

3.1 Implement undergraduate exit interviews and report gender disaggregated data to the Teaching Council and DEES Management Group.

Design and test exit interview pro-forma to assess undergraduate response to E+D initiatives in DEES e.g. to solicit opinion to ‘Windows into work’ career interviews and to improve the undergraduate experience.

DoT DoT By end May 2016

Pro-forma designed, tested and if necessary revised.

Run exit interviews for all completing UGs. Data analysed by gender and discussed at DEESE+D committee meeting and reported to teaching council and DEES management group with recommendations for changes in DEES practice.

DoT DoT By end June 2016

Exit interviews held (target completion rate 70%). Data analysed and reported/discussed at DEESE+D and teaching committees and recommendations made.

Revise pro-forma as required and run exit interviews.

DoT DoT By end May 2017

Activities established as an annual exercise.

3.2 Increase proportion of postgraduate applicants who are female to ≥45%

Broaden publicity of postgraduates projects via other websites and through staff contacts at other institutions.

Chair of PG committee


2015/16 recruit-ment round

Review gender balance of PG applications and achieve 45% female application rate.

Review response of newly recruited postgraduates to DEES recruitment procedures through a discussion group. Analysis of data by gender for discussion at postgraduate committee and relayed to DEES management group with recommendations for changes in DEES practice.



Late 2016, 2017

Discussion group held and analysis of data carried out. Result and recommendations reported to DEES management group.

Ensure that the gender breakdown of applicants is monitored throughout the applications process and if female proportion is <45% take further action (see points above) to encourage more female candidates

DEESE+D committee


Starting 2015/2016 recruit-ment round

Achieve 45% female applicant rate.

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to apply.

3.3 Achieve gender balance in visiting research seminar programme

Increase numbers of female seminar speakers by soliciting suggestions for more female speakers from staff and postgraduates.

Ensure seminar organisers are instructed to aim for 50% female speakers and introduce a requirement to produce explanation when target is missed in an academic year.

Seminar organisers

Seminar organisers

Academic year 2015/16

Achieve 50% of seminar speakers are female.

Establish 50% target as normal expectation thereafter.

3.4 Achieve gender balance in career speaker programmes (including academics)

Increase numbers of female career speakers by soliciting suggestions from staff and postgraduates. Use ‘Windows into work’ (skype conferencing) to improve percentage of female career speakers.

Ensure career seminar organisers are instructed to aim for 50% female speakers and introduce a requirement to produce explanation when target is missed in an academic year.

Career seminar organiser

Career seminar organiser

Academic year 2015/16

Achieve 50% of career seminar speakers are female.

Establish 50% target as normal expectation thereafter.

3.5 Explore the relative performance of females and males in each year of the undergraduate degree programmes.

Review female and male performance in each year of the undergraduate programme. Discuss analysis and implications for undergraduate performance at DEESE+D committee and then teaching committee and DEES management group with recommendations for changes in DEES teaching practice.

DoT DoT Academic year 2015/16

Performance of current final year undergraduate cohort analysed by gender and if appropriate recommendations made for changes in DEES teaching practice.

3.6 Review impact of undergraduate feedback intervention on undergraduate assessment scores by gender.

Run ‘Feedback Intervention’ tutorial in 2015/16 to encourage all 3rd year undergraduates to reflect on assessment feedback.

DoT DoT By end April 2016

Tutorial held.

Review impact of feedback tutorial on module assessment scores by gender. Discuss findings at DEESE+D committee and then teaching committee and DEES management group with recommendations for changes in DEES teaching practice.

DoT DoT By end September 2016

Review carried out, findings discussed, and recommendations made for changes in DEES teaching practice.

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Act

ion

Aim Activities underway and planned Responsibility Implementing

Lead Timescale Evaluation

Section 4. Supporting and advancing women’s careers

4.1 Increase numbers of female applicants for lectureship posts to ≥40% (in line with the approximate percentage of female researchers in the subject).

This action is multi-faceted:

i) Establish the culture that all staff routinely identify both internal and external, researchers (particularly females) at, e.g., conferences who are suitable candidates for lecturer posts.

ii) Invite identified candidates to visit the department and give a presentation. Sell the department to the researchers

iii) When posts are advertised, contact the suitable identified candidates to encourage them to apply. Also encourage staff to use their networks to identify other suitably qualified candidates and approach them.

iv) Ensure that the gender breakdown of applicants is monitored throughout the applications process and if proportion who are female is less than 40% take further action (see iii) above) to encourage more female candidates to apply.

v) Report on progress to DEESE+D Committee and DEES Management Group.

DEESE+D Committee

HoD

By end academic year 2016/17.

By end 2017/18

By end 2015/16

Starting 2016

Culture of routinely identifying candidates and inviting them to visit the department established. HoD and seminar organiser to review numbers of potential applicants invited for seminars annually to assess this.

Lecturer posts advertised will have attracted at least 40% of candidates who are female.

Regular progress reports given to DEESE+D committee and DEES management group.

4.2 Increase numbers of female promotion applications and increase success rate of all applicants. We wish to increase the numbers of female promotion applications and success

‘Demystifying promotion’ workshop to be held in DEES, chaired by head of HR.

HoD HoD, HR Promotions

By end 2016

Workshop held.

Discussion of progress towards and readiness for promotion embedded in staff review in 2015/16. The departmental administrator will check that this discussion occurs in all staff reviews.

HoD HoD, Departmental administrator

Academic year 2015/16 and annually thereafter

Checks show that promotion is discussed in staff reviews.

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rate of all promotion applications (no women have applied for promotion in the last 5 years and no male applications have been successful).

Senior staff carry out a review of all staff who are eligible for promotion. Those identified are approached by HoD and invited to apply for promotion. Support is offered to those staff members to help them complete their applications.

HoD HoD, HR promotions, Departmental administrator

Academic year 2015/16 and annually thereafter

Checks that review takes place.

Establish annual review of gender balance of promotion applications and success rates.

HoD, DEESE+D Committee

HoD Academic year 2015/16 and annually thereafter

Review completed and discussed at DEESE+D Committee and DEES Management Group

Hold promotion discussion group to solicit staff opinion on how DEES could further support promotion applications.

HoD, DEESE+D Committee

HoD By end 2016.

Discussion group held and analysis discussed at DEESE+D Committee and DEES Management Group.

4.3 Establish annual review of DEES Staff Handbook

Review and update the DEES Staff Handbook which documents all DEES policies and highlight promotions procedures, mentoring provision, E+D, wellbeing, social activities within the Department and opportunities and funding for networking and training both within and outside the University.

Implement the review process as an annual procedure by incorporating into DEES administrator’s tasks.

DEES administrator

DEES administrator

By Sep 2016

Handbook revised and published on DEES intranet.

Revision established as an annual procedure.

4.4 Obtain 100% E+D training rates of all staff and PGs

Online ‘Diversity’ Training required for all staff and PGs (since July 2015).

DEESE+D Committee, HoD

DEES Administrator working with HR E+D

By Sep 2016

100% of all current staff and postgraduates have passed Diversity training module.

Online ‘Unconscious Bias’ Training required for all staff and PGs.

DEESE+D Committee, HoD

DEES Administrator working with

By Sep 2016

100% of all current staff and postgraduates have passed Unconscious Bias

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HR E+D training module.

All new staff required to undertake ‘Diversity’ Training and ‘Unconscious Bias’ training.

DEES Administrator

DEES Administrator working with HR E+D

By Sep 2016 plus conduct 6 month checks

100% of all new staff and postgraduates pass both Diversity and Unconscious Bias training modules.

Online ‘Recruitment & Selection Training’ mandatory for all convenors of recruitment panels and all convenors will follow the University ‘Inclusive recruitment guide’.

DEES Administrator

DEES Administrator working with HR Recruitment

By Sep 2016

Checks made before convening panels show that all recruitment panel convenors have been trained and use the university Inclusive recruitment guide.

HoD to systematically discuss training completion issues with untrained staff mainstreamed through staff appraisals (academic and professionals services staff).

HoD HoD By Oct 2016

Discussions held.

4.5 Improve uptake of mentorship by DEES staff

Promote the university Early Career Academics' mentoring scheme through staff induction and through the staff handbook for all Research staff and also encourage new lecturers & Teaching Fellows to consider this scheme as well as using their DEES mentor as part of the Academic Probationers mentoring scheme.

HoD, DoR DoR working with CAPOD (Staff Development)

By Sep 2017

Monitor uptake of mentoring across DEES. Aim to increase uptake of mentoring in early career research staff to ≥40%.

Solicit opinions to mentoring through a discussion group on staff training and support.

DoR DoR By Dec 2016

Discussion group held and analysis discussed at DEESE+D committee and DEES management group.

4.6 Implement staff/postgraduate exit

Design pro formas for staff and postgraduate exit interviews.

DEESE+D Committee

HoD (staff), DEES PG

By June 2016

Pro formas designed.

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interviews and report gender disaggregated data to DEES management group

representative (PGs)

Implement exit interviews for all staff and postgraduates to assess staff/postgraduate response to E+D initiatives in DEES and to improve the DEES work environment.

DEESE+D Committee

HoD (staff), DEES PG representative (PGs)

Sep 2016 to Sep 2017

Exit interviews established and held for staff and postgraduate leavers (target completion rate 80%). Process established as normal practice.

Data analysed by gender and discussed at DEESE+D committee meeting and relayed to DEES management group with recommendations for changes in DEES practice

DEESE+D Committee

DEESE+D officer (staff), DEES PG representative (PGs)

By Dec 2017

Data analysed and recommendations passed to DEES management.

4.7 Evaluate staff and postgraduate response to DEES and University induction

Hold a staff and postgraduate discussion group to review induction.

DEESE+D Committee


By June 2017

Discussion group held.

Analyse data by gender for discussion at DEESE+D committee and feedback to DEES management group with recommendations for changes in DEES practice.

DEESE+D Committee


By Sep 2017

Data analysed and recommendations discussed at DEES E+D committee and passed to DEES management.

4.8 Improve gender balance of undergraduates in the DEES outreach project Geobus to 33% male participants (male participation is currently 20-27%).

Monitor impact of staff changes on recruitment of undergraduates to Geobus outreach project in particular by checking the gender balance of undergraduate participants. Male Geobus to network with undergraduates to explain the advantages of public outreach engagement. If over each academic year < 33% of Geobus undergraduate participants are male undergraduate recruitment procedures.

Geobus co-ordinator

Geobus co-ordinator

By Sep 2016

Regular monitoring of gender balance of undergraduate Geobus participants implemented. If over each academic year < 33% of participants are male.

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4.9 Produce a formal policy for department support for maternity/paternity/special leave

‘Demystifying maternity, paternity and adoption leave’ workshop to be held in DEES, chaired by HR representative.

HoD HoD, HR representative

By end 2016

Workshop held

The DEESE+D Committee will review Departmental support for staff and students requiring maternity/paternity/special leave. We will collect examples of best practice from around St Andrews and elsewhere in HE and will produce a formal transparent departmental policy in the next two years.

HoD HoD, HR representative

By end 2017

Revie of best practice completed and new policy published.

Act

ion

on

Aim Activities underway and planned Responsibility Implementing Lead


Section 5. Any other comments

5.1 Promote and enhance support for mental health issues

Highlight support for mental health issues in staff and students’ handbooks.

Highlight prevalence of mental ill health and advertise University support in a poster campaign.

DEESE+D Committee, DoT, Chair of PG committee

DEESE+D Officer working with School President, Students’ Association Director of Representation, Student Services Disability Advisor

By Dec 2016

Publicity initiatives in place.

By end 2017

Monitor student and staff response to campaign in DEES survey and staff and student exit interviews.

Ensure staff attend the University ‘Mental Health First Aid course’ (2 days).

HoD DEESE+D Officer working with CAPOD (Staff Development)

By end 2018

Monitor staff training rates. Target is 3 trained staff by 2018.

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5.2

Better understand staff and students diverse intersectionality data trends

Analyse statistics on student and staff gender, disability and race provided by HR Data and Registry annually.

DEESE+D Committee

DEESE+D Officer, University E+D officer

Mar-Apr 2015-2018

Create report on what the data analysis means for DEES using appropriate sector benchmarks.

5.3

Further understand ethnicity and nationality related issues

Raise awareness to all DEES staff and students of the next Institutional Race Equality Charter Survey.

DEESE+D Committee

DEESE+D Officer

Oct-Nov 2017

Awareness raising exercise undertaken – response rate of at least 60% obtained.

Consider DEES-specific responses to the survey. DEESE+D Committee

HR representative, DEESE+D Officer

By March 2018

Assess staff and student responses specific to DEES.

Ensure that Race for Ethnicity and Nationality is covered in consultations with staff and students and also that any issues identified are escalated to the University ‘Institutional Race Equality Group’ as part of the ECU ‘Race Equality Charter’.

DEESE+D Committee

DEESE+D Officer working with the Institutional Race Equality Group

By Sep 2017

Checks confirm that race is covered in consultations and that DEESE+D Committee meetings cover race-related issues.

5.4

Sustain a studying environment that is gender and diversity inclusive

Raise awareness of the updated version of the Online Inclusive Curriculum Toolkit containing further good sector practice resources developed by the ECU and the HEA with Directors of Teaching and encourage them to utilise the resources.

DEESE+D Committee

DoT By June 2016.

Checks show that Directors of Teaching are using the resources.

Collect feedback for the University E+D Committee on the effectiveness of utilising the guidance. Feedback will be collected in Athena Swan lunches.

DEESE+D Committee

DoT By June 2017

Provide feedback to the University E+D Committee.

Documents

Athena SWAN Bronze department award application · SAT Chair circulated presentation slides from the University event on 'Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling: A Conversation with Women