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Department Application Bronze and Silver Award
2
TOTAL WORD COUNT = 9,981
Name of institution University of Stirling
Department Faculty of Social Sciences
Focus of department Social sciences
Date of application June 2020
Award Level Bronze
Institution Athena SWAN award Date: May 2017 Level: Bronze
Contact for application
Must be based in the department Liz Forbat
Email [email protected]
Telephone 01786 467706
Departmental website https://www.stir.ac.uk/social-sciences
Department application Bronze Silver
Word limit 10,500 12,000
Recommended word count
1. Letter of endorsement 500 500
2. Description of the department 500 500
3. Self-assessment process 1,000 1,000
4. Picture of the department 2,000 2,000
5. Supporting and advancing women’s careers 6,000 6,500
6. Case studies n/a 1,000
7. Further information 500 500
3
GLOSSARY
Actions Required activities to continue pursuance of gender equity
AAPC Academic Advancement and Promotions Committee
Achieving Success (AS)
Professional Development Review (PDR) framework, (which refers to the personal development plan paperwork and the related review meetings with research group leaders/subject group leads and Executive Committee members that take place each year)
ARMI Admissions, Recruitment, Marketing and Internationalisation Committee
Aurora Programme offered by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE), which aims to enable a wide range of women in academic and professional roles to think of themselves as leaders
FSS/The Faculty Faculty of Social Sciences
EDI Committee Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (within which the SAT sits)
Grade Staff Job Grading Structure:
1-5 – Professional Services*
6 – Research Assistant
7 – Lecturer (Teaching and Scholarship), Research Fellow
8 – Lecturer (Teaching and Scholarship), Research Fellow
9 – Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow
10 – Professor
*Professional Support Staff can also be appointed at management and supervisory roles on Grades 6-10
LTC Learning and Teaching Committee
PGR Postgraduate – Research (PhD or Professional Doctorate)
PGT Postgraduate – Taught (MSc)
PSS Professional Services Staff
SAT (Athena SWAN) Self-Assessment Team
Stirling Crucible Bi-annual researcher career development workshop scheme open to research staff at the University with annual cohort participation
UG Undergraduate
WAM Workload allocation model
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1. LETTER OF ENDORSEMENT FROM THE HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
1st June 2020
Dear Athena SWAN review panel
I am writing to endorse the application for a Bronze Award within the Athena SWAN Charter for the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS) and I can confirm the information presented in the application (including qualitative and quantitative data) is an honest, accurate and true representation of the Faculty.
As Dean I champion the advancement of equality as core business within the Faculty, including research, teaching, training and career development. I also actively influence organisational policies which impact Faculty activity.
I considered this application an excellent opportunity to continue and extend the equalities work being conducted in the Faculty. The Equality Diversity and Inclusion Committee (within which Athena SWAN work is conducted) provides strategic leadership to enable the Faculty to excel in providing students, academics and professional support staff with an environment in which everyone can flourish. Their work extends to a broad range of activities to ensure equalities issues are considered and addressed for all protected characteristics. Faculty staff already privilege equalities in their research and teaching; our education programme is recognised as leading the field in inclusive education, and our social work programme, renowned for inclusive and anti-discriminatory practice, was ranked top in the UK by the Times and Times Good University Guide, 2020. Thus we have leadership and excellence at all levels in the Faculty offering us a solid base from which we can use the Athena SWAN work to improve our gender equality work.
The Action Plan, endorsed by the Faculty Executive, will enable us to achieve more in the future. We look forward to diversifying our student and staff groups through positive action with the University marketing team, alongside extending the mentoring and support to students and staff to address our ‘leaky pipeline’ from undergraduate to senior academic roles. We also have a suite of actions to support career development among our Professional Support Staff and academics on fixed term contracts, most of whom are women.
I recognise, however, the complex challenges we face. Some of our key targets, such as increasing men in undergraduate subjects which have been historically dominated by women such as Social
Professor Alison Bowes Dean of Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA Scotland UK T: +44 (0) 1786 466142 E: [email protected]
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Work and Primary Education are constrained by the wider sociocultural context. We will work hard to tackle gendered assumptions relating to these professions within and beyond academia. In our Action Plan we recognise we cannot do this alone, and will be working with professional institutions to develop a more balanced student cohort. Between 2020 and 2024 the whole Faculty will work hard to deliver the outcomes of our Action Plan and the Athena SWAN Charter aims.
Yours sincerely
Professor Alison Bowes
Dean of Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences
WORD COUNT: 430
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2. DESCRIPTION OF THE DEPARTMENT
Recommended word count: Bronze: 500 words | Silver: 500 words
The Faculty of Social Sciences is a multidisciplinary faculty offering undergraduate study in Education, Social Work, Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology. At a postgraduate level we also offer taught and research degrees, and professional development, in: Social Research, Housing, Substance Use, Education, and Dementia Studies.
The Faculty occupies three adjacent buildings on the University of Stirling’s campus. Academic and post-graduate students’ offices are located in two buildings, with Professional Services Staff (PSS) in the third. Social spaces and meeting rooms are distributed across all three buildings enabling staff from different disciplines, subject groups and professional roles to meet formally and informally throughout the day.
Governance of the Faculty (Figure 1) is led by the Faculty Executive, chaired by the Dean with membership as ex officio roles for Chairs of core committees. Core committees include the Equalities Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee, the Learning and Teaching Committee (LTC); the Research Knowledge and Exchange Committee (RKEC); the Admissions, Recruitment, Marketing and International Committee (ARMI). Three of these committees are chaired by women and one by a man; all have women and men as members. Staff Assemblies are led by the Dean, and occur each semester, including a video-conferenced Assembly during COVID19, which was recorded to enable staff with caring responsibilities an opportunity to engage asynchronously.
Research in the Faculty is organised in seven research centres/groups. These are: the Centre for Environment, Dementia and Ageing and Research; the Centre for Child Wellbeing and Protection; the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research; the Salvation Army Centre for Addictions Services and Research; the Education Theory/Practice Group; the Public Services and Governance Group; and the Social Surveys and Social Statistics Group. All staff members and research students have a primary affiliation with one centre or group and there is extensive interdisciplinary collaboration between the centres and groups.
There were 141 staff members in the Faculty at the census date in 2018/9 (68% women). Of these, 101 are academic staff (63% women) and 40 PSS (83% women).
In the last academic year (2018/19), there were eight core UG programmes spanning education, social work, sociology, social policy, and criminology. The Faculty had 1101 UG students, of whom 82% were women. Within the 11 PGT programmes, there were 1100 students, of whom 77% were women. In the last academic year (2018/19), there were 128 PGR students (73% women). These numbers combine Professional Doctorates and PhD Research students.
At present, the Department does not hold an Athena SWAN award, but the University holds a Bronze award.
WORD COUNT: 427/500
Figure 1 Faculty Structure (June 2020)
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3. THE SELF-ASSESSMENT PROCESS
Recommended word count: Bronze: 1000 words | Silver: 1000 words
(i) A description of the self-assessment team (SAT)
The SAT is part of the work of the Equality and Diversity and Inclusion committee (EDI). Since the Faculty teaches a diverse range of subjects, each subject is reflected in the make-up of the EDI. This ensures that each subject group is connected to the EDI work of the Faculty, and provides a two-way communication flow to all parts of the curriculum.
The Faculty has been proud to advance equality and inclusivity and the staff survey indicate it as having a culture of equality. The Faculty has been implementing an internal Equality and Diversity Action Plan since April 2016.
Achieving this Athena SWAN award and implementing the Action Plan is a Faculty strategic priority.
Table 1 provides detail on the SAT members. We have proactively invited men and women, across career stage, and academic and professional services staff to join the SAT. We have also sought input from post-graduate students. One member of the EDI also has a strategic role in supporting fixed-term contract research staff, and hence provides input on fixed term contracts equalities issues. SAT members have workload hours allocated for their equalities work.
Undergraduate (UG) and taught postgraduate (PGT) students have been engaged in discussions around equity via student representatives contributing to Faculty Assemblies focused on equalities.
Table 1 Faculty Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team June 2020
Current members
Photo Name Gender
(F/M/NB/O)
Role in the
Faculty
Grade Role on SAT and
description*
Jane
Callaghan
F Director of
Centre for
Child
wellbeing and
Protection
10 Co-chair.
Jessica
Cleary
F PGR student PGR PGR
representative.
9
Linsey
Davies
F Student
Experience
and
Enhancement
Manager
7 Member for
professional
support staff.
Parent of two
young children
and carer of
registered
partially-sighted
partner.
Sandra
Engstrom
F Lecturer
(Social Work)
8 Representing
social work team.
Liz Forbat F Associate
Professor,
Deputy Dean;
Co-director of
PGR
9 Lead author of
application. Co-
chair.
Single parent of
two young
children, and
carer of one
parent.
Sarah
Galloway
F Lecturer
(Further
Education)
8 Further Education
and Access
Programme
representative.
Grant
Gibson
M Lecturer
(Dementia)
8 Dementia and
Housing
representative.
10
Julien
Grammare
M Programme
Support
Advisor - PGR
4 Professional
Services
Representative.
Alison
Hennessy
F Lecturer
(Education)
8 Representing
Initial Teacher
Education.
Peter
Mathews
M Senior lecturer
(Sociology,
Social Policy
and
Criminology),
Deputy
Associate
Dean for
Research
9 Representing
research, fixed-
term staff, and
the University
LGBT+ network.
Kirstein
Rummery
F Professor
(Sociology,
Social Policy
and
Criminology)
10 Disabled, mental
health service
user, carer for
autistic son and
elderly
parent, parent to
3 children.
Dalene
Swanson
F Senior
Lecturer
(Education);
Director of
Access to
Degree Studies
9 Representing
Education and
Access to Degree
Studies.
*not all members wished to share personal details in a public document
Previous members (since 2017): Camilla Barnett (F) PGR, Alison Bowes (F) Dean, Irene Bruce (F) Faculty
Manager; Natasha Collinson (F) Events and communications officer; Alison Dawson (F) Research fellow,
Paul Lambert (M) Professor of Sociology; Vikki McCall (F) senior lecturer in housing; Paul Rigby (M) lecturer
in social work; Melanie Lovatt (F) Lecturer in sociology; Gillian Richardson (F) Business Development
11
manager; Jane Robertson (F) Lecturer; Ashley Rogers (F) PGR; Jane Smithson (F) Lecturer (teaching and
scholarship); Liz Watson (F) HR partner; Sarah Wilson (F) Senior lecturer in sociology.
(ii) An account of the self-assessment process
Our last Athena SWAN submission in 2017 for Silver was unsuccessful and we were encouraged to resubmit for a Bronze award. However, since 2017, we have been striving to improve our practice.
Since 2019, SAT meetings have occurred monthly to plan, deliver and report on the Action Plan. Minute-taking is rotated amongst team members to ensure that no member bears disproportionate responsibility for this role, and to enable all members to participate equally in discussions.
The Faculty SAT co-chairs sit on the Institutional SAT (ISAT). This enables reciprocal learning and ensures that the Faculty actions, while Faculty-focused, align with the Institutional action plan and University policy. The SAT reports to the Faculty Executive Committee (with a standing agenda item) and updates the Faculty using the weekly newsletter.
The current action plan has been derived from a range of activities:
1. Scrutiny of Faculty data to identify pipeline problems and other concerns, as well as good practice.
2. Bespoke staff survey on equalities (January 2020, n=57 respondents). 3. Discussion of equalities issues in a range of Faculty committees, including
‘strategic away days’ for the Faculty Executive. 4. ‘World café’ discussions at annual Staff Assemblies. 5. Circulating the draft application to Faculty members, inviting feedback via: (a)
Athena SWAN discussion fora with Faculty staff and PGRs; (b) email. 6. Scrutiny from the ISAT and Faculty Executive prior to submission.
(iii) Plans for the future of the self-assessment team
The SAT will continue to meet monthly, supplemented by smaller meetings focused on individual actions. The co-chairs will also meet with members of the SAT on an ad-hoc basis as necessary to discuss specific projects and outcomes. This will ensure that the action plan is on track and will help to resolve obstacles as they arise. We will review the SAT membership in 2020, and will refresh the group membership if members leave or we require specific skills to achieve the goals of our action plan.
Implementation of the Athena SWAN Action Plan will feed into the annual business cycle. The Action Plan is outcome-focused: it sets out ambitious, measurable outcomes; with actions aligned to achieve these outcomes.
Completed action: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is now a monthly standing item on Faculty Executive meetings.
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ACTION PLAN AIMS
1.1 Improve ownership and dissemination of EDI initiatives 1.2 Regularly review the work of the EDI committee 1.3 Increase student input to the EDI strategy 1.4 Conduct biennial survey to monitor the EDI work 1.5 Raise awareness of EDI across the Faculty
WORD COUNT: 964
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4. A PICTURE OF THE DEPARTMENT
Recommended word count: Bronze: 2000 words | Silver: 2000 words
All percentages throughout this document are rounded-up, with no decimal points. Consequently, the sum of all given percentages is not always 100%.
4.1 Student data
(i) Numbers of men and women on Access or foundation courses
The Faculty leads University provision of a part time ‘Access to Degree Studies in Higher Education’ programme for students aspiring to undergraduate study, but do not have the required qualifications. Students completing this programme often progress to study a range of disciplinary areas within the health sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Women routinely outnumber men in both applications and registrations, though percentages warrant some caution due to the low numbers in some years.
The nursing access programme has a high percentage of women applicants and students (ranging from 88-96% women across three years of data, as shown in Figure 2). The science Access programme is more equally gender-balanced (ranging from 50-60% women), as shown in Table 2.
A full review of the Access programme will be undertaken in 2020 and will include a focus on gender and diversity.
Table 2: Applications and headcount for access programm
es
2016/7
2017/8 2018/9
Applications
%
W
Headcount %
W
Applications %
W
Headcount %
W
Applications %
W
Headcount %
W
W
omen
Men
W
omen
Men
W
omen
Men
W
omen
Men
W
omen
Men
W
omen
Men
Access Nursing
56 6
90 22
3 88
35 1
97 21
2ǂ 91
51 4
93 26
1 96
Access Science 55
23 71
3 2
60 69
29 70
6 4
60 53
22 71
2 2
50 Total
111 29
79 25
5 83
104 30
78 27
6 82
104 26
80 28
3 90
ǂ anomalous data w
here applications is <headcount.
Figure 2: Access programm
es gender profile of applicants and headcount
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90100
Applicant
Headcount
Applicant
Headcount
Applicant
Headcount
2016/72017/8
2018/9
%Women
Access N
ursingA
ccess Science
15
(ii) Numbers of undergraduate students by gender
There were 1101 students enrolled over three programmes in 18/19 (82% W). The gender split remains roughly similar (78-82% W) but rising slightly across the three years (Table 3). Most undergraduates (both women and men) study full-time. Figure 3a (below) also illustrates an increasing proportion of women students. Our action plan seeks to address this trend, attracting more male students to our Faculty. Table 4 presents UG subjects which have the highest proportion of women students. Table 3: UG student numbers by programme
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
Women Men Total Women Men Total Women Men Total
Education 294 88 382 333 98 431 364 89 453
Social work 81 15 96 87 17 104 83 13 96
Sociology/social policy/criminology
343 99 442 476 116 582 454 98 552
Total n 718 202 920 895 231 1126 901 200 1101
n full time (%) 664 (92)
180 (89)
731 (82)
165 (71)
787 (87)
181 (91)
Total 920 1126 1101
%W 78 79 82
Table 4: UG student numbers in Professional Education (Primary) and Social Work
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
Women Men Total %W Women Men Total %W Women Men Total %W
Professional Education (Primary)
115 14 129 89 159 18 177 90 184 18 202 91
Social work 81 15 96 84 81 17 98 83 83 13 96 86
Total 196 29 225 240 35 275 267 31 298
%W 87 87 90
The predominance of women students is broadly in line with national student patterns (see Table 5, Figures 3a and 3b, where we have taken the most comparable categories offered by HESA for our Faculty of ‘education’ and ‘social studies’). We note that there are higher proportions of women in our applied social science programmes (Social Work, Sociology & Social Policy) compared with national data-sets (HESA ‘social studies’). This reflects the socio-cultural context where 90% of primary teachers1 and 79% of social workers2 are women.
1 https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-schools-scotland-9-2018/pages/3/ 2 https://socialworkscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/SWS-Gender-1.pdf
16
At present, the University records gender as female or male, and consequently all data presented is binary. We recognise the limitations of this in representing people’s preferred gender identities, and in comparing with HESA benchmarks of students identifying as ‘other’.
Table 5: Headcount of undergraduate students in the Faculty and nationally
Division 2016/7
2016/7 Total (W
%)
2017/8 2017/8
total (W
%)
2018/9 2018/9 Total (W
%)
Wom
en M
en W
omen
Men
Wom
en M
en
University
of Stirling Education
294 88
382 (77)
333 98
431 (77)
364 89
453 (80)
National
data HESA: I (Education)
64,775 12,880
77,655 (83)
115,560 35,455
151,015 (77)
60,580 10,315
70,920* (85)
University
of Stirling Social w
ork/sociology/ Crim
inology/ Social policy**
424 114
538 (79)
563 133
696 (81)
537 111
648 (83)
National
data HESA: B (social studies)
107,360 62,950
170,310 (63)
111,455 65,415
176,870 (63)
116,545 67,555
184,210* (63)
*totals include HESA data, which has ‘other’ as a gender category.
**programm
es which approxim
ate the HESA ‘social studies’ category. HESA data is com
pared in Figures 3a and 3b below w
ith the Faculty’s gender profile. We benchm
ark against HESA category I (education) and B (social studies).
18
Figure 3a: Faculty and HESA gender profile for education students
Figure 3b: Faculty and HESA gender profile for applied social sciences students Applications, Offers and Acceptances The Faculty consistently attracts more women applicants than men, but there have been no major changes in gender balance over time (Table 6). While we receive far more applications from women than from men, but those who do apply are generally treated equally in the application process regardless of their gender.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
% w
omem
stu
dent
s
Percentage HESA
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
% w
omen
stu
dent
s
Female HESAFSS FSS
Table 6: Faculty undergraduate application, offers and acceptances
Year G
ender Applications
Offers
Acceptances %
applicants
made offers
by gender
% of total
applicants
made offers
% offers
accepting
by gender
% of total
offers
accepting
%
applicants
accepting
offers by
gender
% of total
applicants
accepting
offers
2016/17 W
omen
3114 823
326 26
20 40
32 10
8
M
en 936
199 87
21 5
44 9
9 2
N
o gender 2
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
%
W
77 81
79
2017/18 W
omen
3262 1342
499 41
33 37
30 15
12
M
en 844
331 133
39 8
40 8
16 3
%
W
79 80
79
2018/19 W
omen
3389 1380
424 41
33 31
25 13
10
M
en 849
316 97
37 7
30 6
11 2
%
W
80 81
81
20
Degree Awards
The total number of first class degree awards changes considerably by year (range: 29 – 67), with women graduates attaining 70-85% of such awards, reflecting the proportion of women in the cohort groups. There is no discernible pattern with respect to gender, i.e. women and men appear to be equally likely to obtain a given classification. The relative proportion of first class degrees awarded within the Faculty has declined across the three years, with the exception of a spike in 2016/17 for men, when over a third of men obtained a first class degree classification (Table 7).
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Table 7: Degree classification of students completing UG studies
2015/16 2016/17 2017/18
Degree
Class
Women
N
Men
n W%
Women
n
Men
n W%
Women
n
Men
n W%
Honours 1st class
41
(31%)
7
(18%) 85
47
(27%)
20
(37%) 70
24
(14%)
5
(10%) 83
2i 70
(53%)
24
(63%)
74 95
(56%)
25
(46%) 79
109
(63%)
32
(64%) 77
2ii 21
(16%)
7
(18%) 75
28
(16%)
8
(15%) 78
39
(23%)
12
(24%) 76
3rd 1 (1%) - 100 1 (1%) 1
(2%) 50 1 (1%)
1
(2%) 50
Sub total 133 38 77 171 54 76 173 50 78
Ordinary Distinction 5 2 71 4 3 57 2 1 66
Merit 1 2 33 7 3 70 3 3 50
No
classification 24 7 77 15 2 88 10 9 53
Other
UG
awards
(e.g.
Cert HE
and
DipHE)
Distinction 7 4 64 7 - 100 3 1 75
Merit 13 2 87 10 2 83 7 4 63
No
classification 119 43 73 64 21 75 44 19 70
Although women appear to be awarded third class degrees and ordinary degrees (awarded when a student decides to leave at the end of third year, not their fourth year) at a slightly higher rate than would be expected given the gender profile of the courses, the numbers are too small to warrant much inspection and should not be over-interpreted. We will however continue to monitor the data to identify if this becomes a trend.
Under the Faculty’s equalities action plan in 2016/17, an undergraduate sociology student explored gendered differentials in attainment across degree programmes at the University of Stirling using anonymised University administrative data. This study found that gender did not explain the variance in attainment within programmes.
22
Degree classifications mirror our current gender proportions within the Faculty. As the proportion of male students increases in line with our Action Plan, degree classification proportions would be expected to change.
In NSS results, the Faculty attained 88% in 2018 and 84% in 2019 overall satisfaction. The national average was 83% in 2018 and 84% in 2019.
ACTION PLAN AIMS
2.1: Cross-university work to increase the gender diversity of our student population 2.2: Challenge society's gendered perceptions of careers, focusing initially on social work and education 2.3: Work with external organisations to change societal perceptions of roles and careers 2.4: Provide support to UGs to ensure ongoing parity in degree classifications 2.5: Embed equalities in the curriculum (iii) Numbers of women and men on taught post-graduate (PGT) degrees
Table 8 shows a slight trend toward lower percentages of women applicants over the three-year census period in the applications, in offers and acceptances across the five taught postgraduate programmes. The majority of applicants are women, and a similar proportion are offered places and accept them. Table 8: PGT Applications, Offers and Acceptances
Year Gender Applications Offers Acceptances % of
applicants
made
offers
% of those
made offers
accepting
% of
applicants
accepting
offers
2016/17
Women 985 786 440 80 56 45
Men 275 183 111 67 61 40
% W 78 81 80
2017/18
Women 1010 831 466 82 56 46
Men 308 240 151 78 63 49
% W 77 78 76
2018/19
Women 1113 880 468 78 53 42
Men 367 279 150 76 54 41
% W 75 76 76
Course acceptance flows through to similar proportions of women and men in the Faculty headcount (Table 8). As Figure 4 below illustrates, there is little variability in the gender profile for PGT applications, offers and acceptances.
23
Figure 4: PGT applications, offers and acceptances by gender
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Women Men Women Men Women Men
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
n ap
plic
ants
Applications Offers Acceptances
24
Table 9: PGT headcount
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
All Programmes Women Men Women Men Women Men
Total Headcount 878 239 854 248 860 250
% 79% 21% 77% 23% 77% 23%
Full time 222 53 181 76 235 71
% 25% 22% 21% 31% 27% 28%
Part time 656 186 673 172 625 179
% 75% 78% 79% 69% 73% 72%
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
Split by Subject Women Men Women Men Women Men
1. Dementia Studies 147 36 119 29 124 31
2. Housing studies 66 29 66 22 68 17
3. Social Work 322 50 347 48 315 57
4. Sociology/Social Policy/Criminology 38 16 40 23 63 21
Total Social Sciences 573 131 572 122 570 126
Full time % 21% 21% 23% 29% 23% 28%
HESA % FT 38% 23% 40% 34% 41% 33%
5. Education total 305 108 282 126 291 124
Full time % 33% 30% 29% 33% 35% 29%
HESA % FT 30% 13% 34% 13% 36% 14%
25
Figure 5: PGT headcount by year, gender and discipline The gender profile for PGT is similar to our undergraduate profile. Table 9 shows the mode of study varies by year and gender, with 21-27% of women undertaking full time study, and 22-28% of men registering full time. Examining Faculty PGTs by programme reveals that men are more likely than women to study full-time, but that part-time study is much more common for both genders. Our Faculty profile is quite different to HESA data for comparable subjects, with our Faculty more likely to have part-time students; many students within the applied social science programmes continue working alongside their studies, for example within MSc Housing Studies and MSc Dementia Studies, reflecting the flexible provision of our programmes. Postgraduate programmes in social work and education are also designed as part-time as Continuing Professional Development provision for professionals. Many of our programmes are online or with blended delivery, including weekend teaching, enabling students to study from a distance and therefore maintain prior employment during their PGT programme. Men in Education PGT programmes are more likely to be studying full-time than the HESA benchmark (Figure 6). Within applied social sciences (Figure 7), Faculty students are less likely to be studying full-time when compared with HESA data.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Female Male Female Male Female Male
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
num
ber
of P
GT
stud
ents
Social studies Education
26
Figure 6: PGT full-time study with national benchmarks for Education
Figure 7: PGT full-time study with national benchmarks for applied social sciences The gender balance of our programmes reflects normative social attitudes about women and men. The Faculty will commit to a number of actions that aim to shift societal expectations about gender roles and careers.
ACTION PLAN AIM
2.6: Conduct a gendered analysis of PGT applicants, conversion and mode of study to inform future positive action in order to target marketing and recruitment
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
%FT
stu
dent
s
Stirling Women Stirling Men HESA Women HESA Men
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
% F
T st
iden
ts
Stirling Women Stirling Men HESA Women HESA Men
27
(iv) Numbers of women and men on postgraduate research degrees The PGR data indicates a pipeline issue with attracting female applicants. As previous tables illustrate, while women comprise 72-82% of undergraduates, and 77-79% of PGT, they only constitute 54-60% of PGR applicants. Women accept PGR places at a higher rate than men (Table 10 and Figure 8). Table 10: PGR Applications, Offers and Acceptances
Year Gender Applica-
tions
Offers Acceptances % of
applicants
made offers
% of those
made offers
accepting
% of
applicants
accepting
offers
2016/17 Women 45 25 17 56 68 38
Men 28 8 4 29 50 14
% Women 62 76 81
2017/18 Women 62 33 21 53 64 34
Men 46 23 6 50 26 13
% Women 57 59 78
2018/19 Women 75 43 28 57 65 37
Men 50 20 9 40 45 18
% Women 60 68 76
Figure 8: PGR applications, offers and acceptances
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Female Male Female Male Female Male
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
no. o
f app
lican
ts
Applications Offers Acceptances
28
These applications translate into women comprising 63-73% of PGR students (Table 11). The percentage of female PGR students rises over the census period. Figure 9a plots the mode of study for our Faculty against HESA benchmarks for Education. Table 11: University of Stirling and HESA data for PGR students
Panel A 2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
All Programmes
Women Men Women Men Women Men
Total Headcount
73 43 88 37 93 35
% 63 37 70 30 73 27
Full time n 36 16 44 12 49 9
FT % 31 14 35 10 38 7
Part time n 37 27 44 26 44 26
PT % 32 23 35 21 34 20
Panel B 2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
Split by Subject Women Men Women Men Women Men
Social studies 36 26 48 23 52 20
Full time % 34 18 42 9 46 4
HESA % FT 37 35 38 34 38 33
Education 37 17 40 15 41 15
Full time % 24 9 24 9 29 11
HESA % FT 21 8 22 8 22 9
29
Figure 9a: Full-time study for University of Stirling and HESA for PGR Education students The Faculty’s Education mode of study PGR gender profile tracks national data, with a slightly higher percentage of our students studying full time. As Figure 9b illustrates, the percentage of male students on full-time social studies PGR programmes has dropped, while female students are increasingly more likely to be full-time. HESA comparators indicate that this is a University of Stirling trend.
Figure 9b: Full-time study for University of Stirling and HESA for PGR education students
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
%FT
stu
dent
s
Stirling Women Stirling Men HESA Women HESA Men
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
%FT
stu
dent
s
Stirling Women Stirling Men HESA Women HESA Men
30
The Faculty’s applied social sciences PGR gender profile shows a marked reduction in full-time male students, consistently lower than HESA benchmarks. There has been an increase in the proportion of full-time female students. Current data does not indicate reasons for this trend.
Qualitative feedback from Faculty staff indicates that there is scope to diversify the demographic profile of PGRs, including by gender, ethnicity, age, and disability.
Across three years of data, the proportion of women reduces from undergraduate through to PGT, PGR and staff (see Figure 10). Thus, whilst our strategy focuses on increasing participation from men at undergraduate level, there is a need to support women as they progress from PGR through their academic careers.
Figure 10: Faculty pipeline from undergraduate to academic staff
ACTION PLAN AIMS
2.7: Diversify our profile of PGR students, by gender, ethnicity, and age 2.8: Ensure part-time doctoral researchers feel more included in Faculty life 2.9 Address structural issues which prevent students from attending student/staff consultative committees, in order to increase student participation in equality and diversity discussions
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
UG TPG PGR Academic staff
% w
omen
Faculty group member2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
31
4.2 Academic and research staff data
From here onwards we present staff data at the Faculty level. 68% of academic staff are female in the Faculty.
(i) Academic staff by grade, contract function and gender: research-only, teaching and research or teaching-only
Table 12 presents raw data on staff by grade across the Faculty. The data are illustrated in Figure 11, which indicates pipeline issues with women’s progression, with percentages of women reducing with seniority (with the exception of Grade 10, where percentages increase albeit in small numbers).
The data demonstrate a positive story with an increased percentage of women at Grade 9 in the most recent year of data. This improvement stemmed from positive action introduced from our previous Athena SWAN application, on promotions (Section 5iii)
32
Table 12: Academic staff by job role, grade and gender
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Mean
(2016-19)
Grade Job Role W M
%
W W M
%
W W M
%
W % W
6 Research 3 1 75% 1 1 50% 5 2 71%
Total 4 1 80% 1 1 50% 5 2 71% 71%
7 Research 11 1 92% 10 2 83% 5 2 71%
Teaching & research 2 1 67% 3 1 75% 1 0
100
%
Teaching & scholarship 1 1 50% 0 1 0% 1 0
100
%
Total 14 3 82% 13 4 76% 7 2 78% 79%
8 Research 2 0
100
% 1 0
100
% 2 0
100
%
Teaching & research 11 9 55% 12 9 57% 16 12 57%
Teaching & scholarship 5 5 50% 4 4 50% 4 4 50%
Total 18 14 56% 17 13 57% 22 16 58% 57%
9 Research 2 0
100
% 3 0
100
% 3 0
100
%
Teaching & research 8 10 44% 6 10 38% 10 9 53%
Teaching & scholarship 3 4 43% 4 3 57% 4 3 57%
Total 13 14 48% 13 13 50% 17 11 61% 53%
10 Teaching & research 11 4 73% 8 3 73% 11 5 69%
Off
scale
Teaching & research 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0%
Total 11 4 73% 8 3 73% 11 6 65% 70%
GRAND
TOTAL
60 36 63% 52 34 60% 63 37 63% 62%
33
The majority of academic and research staff employed within the Faculty are women. This reflects both UG and PG numbers in these disciplines, which attract a higher proportion of women both in terms of subjects under study, and in the professions, which students from these courses will enter upon graduation (e.g. social work, education, dementia studies). The proportion of women at higher grades remains greater than men at all grades, although this does decline slightly when comparing higher to lower grades. Figure 11 illustrates staffing pipeline from research assistant (Grade 6) to professor (Grade 10).
Figure 11: Pipeline by grade of all academic staff (2016-2019)
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
6 7 8 9 10
% W
omen
Grade
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9 Mean (2016-19)
Table 13: Staff contract type
2016/7
2017/8 2018/9
Role Contract type
FT/PT W
omen
Men
Total (%
W)
%
W
Wom
en M
en Total (%
W)
%
W
Wom
en M
en Total (%
W)
%
W
Academic and
research O
pen-Ended
FT 37
28 65 (57)
59%
34 26
60 (57) 57%
42
28 70 (60)
61%
PT 6
2 8 (75)
4 2
6 (67) 6
3 9 (67)
Fixed-term
FT 2
2 4 (50)
77%
4 1
5 (80) 70%
4
2 6 (67)
68%
PT 15
3 18 (83)
10 5
15 (67) 11
5 16 (69)
Total 60
35 95 (63)
52
34 86 (60)
63
38 101(62)
35
Most staff were on open-ended contracts. Most fixed-term contracts were held by women working part-time. Over the three years of data examined, however, the percentage of women on fixed-term academic contracts has reduced (from 77%-68%) indicating a positive direction of travel. This is linked with the active pursuit of permanent posts for staff in teaching and/or research roles. Staff on temporary contracts are now given fixed hours for teaching, and hence are treated as full employees attracting the benefits of, for example, annual leave.
(ii) Academic and research staff by grade on fixed-term and open-ended/permanent and zero hours contract by gender.
As Table 14 shows, Men are more likely to be on open-ended contracts and less likely to be on fixed-term contracts. Overall, the majority of Faculty academic staff are likely to be on open-ended contracts compared with fixed-term. A mean of 73 staff are employed on open-ended contracts across genders and years, and a mean of 21 staff employed on fixed-term contracts across genders and years.
Table 14: Academic and research staff by contract type
Year Contract
Type
Gender Mode Total Proportion
Part Time Full Time Part Time
2016/17
Fixed
Term
Women 2 15 17 88
Men 2 3 5 60
% W 50 83 74
Open
Ended
Women 37 6 43 14
Men 28 2 30 7
% W 57 75 59
2017/18
Fixed
Term
Women 4 10 14 29
Men 1 5 6 71
% W 80 66 70
Open
Ended
Women 34 4 38 11
Men 26 2 28 7
% W 57 67 58
2018/9 Women 4 11 15 73
36
Fixed
Term Men 2 5 7 29
% W 67 69 68
Open
Ended
Women 42 6 48 13
Men 28 3 31 10
% W 60 67 61
Figure 12 below illustrates that overall there has been a reduction in fixed-term contract use overall, and a rise in open-ended contracts among women. To improve career support for fixed-term contract staff we have introduced a suite of actions, which are described in Section 5.3 (iii) below.
Figure 12: Academic and research employment contract and gender
(iii) Academic leavers by grade and gender and full/part-time status
Academic staff leave the Faculty by resigning, end of FTC or ‘other’ (retirement or redundancy). Data is presented for the last three years below (Tables 15 and 16).
Table 15 illustrates that female staff cease fixed-term contracts at a higher rate than men, which reflects their higher level of employment in these roles.
Table 15: End of fixed term contracts by gender and contract type
2016/17 2017/18 2018/9
Women Men %W Women Men %W Women Men %W
Grade 6 2 3 40 2 0 100 8 2 80
Grade 7 4 0 100 9 1 90 8 1 89
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9 2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
Fixed term contacts Open ended Contracts
n st
aff
FT Women FT Men PT Women PT Men
37
Grade 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 100
Grade 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 100
Grade 10+ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 6 4 11 1 22 3
Percentages in Table 15 should be interpreted with caution due to the overall low numbers.
Table 16: Resignations by gender and contract type for academic and professional support staff
2016/17
n
2017/18
n
2018/19
n
Women Men Women Men Women Men
Grade 3 2 0 1 0 0 0
Grade 4 0 0 2 0 0 0
Grade 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
Grade 6 0 0 0 0 0 0
Grade 7 1 0 0 0 2 0
Grade 8 1 0 0 0 1 1
Grade 9 2 0 1 0 2 1
Grade 10 7 1 0 0 0 0
Total 13 1 4 0 5 2
% resignations 93 7 100 0 71 29
Some of the loss of Grade 10 staff in 2016/7 reflects University restructuring alongside changes in Education departments across the sector. At present, although HR collect survey data from leavers, this is not routinely shared with Faculties.
The staff data indicate a number of areas of action and activities that will help to strengthen our Faculty:
ACTION PLAN AIMS
3.1: Increase the diversity of Faculty staff
3.2: Increase equality of opportunity when applying for short-term research assistant work
38
WORD COUNT = 2,097 (excluding tables)
39
5. Supporting and advancing women’s careers
Recommended word count: Bronze: 6000 words | Silver: 6500 words
Women are well represented within the Faculty, from students in our Access to Degree Studies course through to professors. The following text therefore reflects on our data and the desire to achieve more gendered balance in our Faculty at all levels, including the need to increase the number of men in our student and staff cohort, and women at Grade 9.
5.1 Key career transition points: academic staff
(i) Recruitment
Data on applicants and hires by grade and gender over the last three years are presented in Table 17. Sixty-four percent of applicants were women, and 34% men. Seventy-seven percent of hires were women, and 18% were men.
Table 17: Applicants and hires by gender and grade
Applications Successful Applicants as % of total applicants
Year/Grade Women Men prefer
not
to say
Total
per
grade
Women Men prefer
not
to say
Total
per
grade
2016/2017 n % n % n % n n % n % n % n
Grade 6 2 100 0 0 0 0 2 1 50 0 0 0 0 1
Grade 7 21 65 10 31 1 3 32 3 9 1 3 0 0 4
Total 23 67 10 30 1 3 34 4 80 1 20 0 0 5
2017/2018 n % n % n % n n % n % n % n
Grade 6 23 62 13 35 1 3 37 3 8 0 0 0 0 3
Grade 7 3 60 2 40 0 0 5 3 60 0 0 0 0 3
Grade 9 16 55 13 45 0 0 29 5 17 2 7 0 0 7
Grade 10 2 67 0 0 1 33 3 1 33 0 0 1 0 2
Total 44 60 28 38 2 2 74 12 80 2 13 1 7 15
2018/2019 n % n % n % n
Grade 6 2 50 2 50 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Grade 7 14 82 2 12 1 6 17 1 6 0 0 0 0 1
Grade 10 0 0 0 0 1 100 1 0 0 0 0 1 100 1
40
Total 16 73 4 18 2 9 22 1 50 0 0 1 50 1
3 Years
Grand Total 83 64 42 32 5 4 130 17 77 3 18 2 5 22
Table 18 below provides data by gender on hiring, and is visualised in Figure 13. Across three years of data, 59% of applicants were women, and 77% of those hired were women. Our HR data do not allow for reporting of all the requested data (e.g. long listed v short listed). Recruitment is always conducted by a mixed-gender and mixed-faculty panel. All interviewers are mandated to undertake unconscious bias training.
Table 18: Applicants and hires for academic posts
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
Women Men Prefer
not
to say
Women Men Prefer
not
to say
Women Men Prefer
not
to say
Applications 23 10 1 44 28 2 16 14 2
Hires 4 1 0 12 2 1 1 0 1
% successful 17 10 0 27 7 50 6 0 50
Figure 13: Staff applications and hires by gender
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Applications Hires Applications Hires Applications Hires
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
n ap
plic
ants
/hir
es
Women Men Not stated
41
(ii) Induction
New staff complete a formal University induction. Mandatory online induction modules completed during their first few months of hire include equality and diversity, GDPR and health and safety. Additional modules are available for those expecting or wanting to be on recruitment panels.
Since October 2015, all line-managers are responsible for organising a formal meeting with new staff members at their commencement. At this meeting, staff discuss probation (where applicable), career development and workload, which involves designing a personal development plan, the purpose and structure of Achieving Success (AS)/Probationary Reports and the workload model. In June 2018, led by members of the SAT, the Faculty launched its Faculty staff handbook with information for the first day, first week and as a reference source for all staff (e.g. links to University policies, staff development opportunities, internal resources for research/training/conferences and health and safety). This handbook is provided to all new staff, and stored on an easily accessible cloud server and it is regularly updated by Faculty staff.
New staff meet their line manager on their first day and a member of Professional Support staff (PSS) to help arrange office/desk space. Line managers introduce new starts to colleagues on their first day and outline the induction programme of meetings/discussion with various people over the first 6-8 weeks.
New academic staff on probation (i.e. new lecturers) are also allocated a senior colleague, whose role is to offer mentoring, advice and guidance and provide informal tutelage as a more experienced colleague during the probationary period (and usually beyond). This is a formal University scheme, monitored by the Dean. Other staff can request a senior mentor, either within or outside the Faculty, and we particularly encourage those new to research to do so. Staff on probation are also given a reduced workload for the first year of probation, comprising 66 hours of remission of teaching hours per year. For lecturers with teaching-only responsibility the expectation is that teaching load will be less than the average of those not on probation. Probationers must also submit a probationary plan for their teaching, research and administrative duties to the Senior Deputy Principal for approval within two months of starting.
The staff survey (January 2020) indicated dissatisfaction with induction processes, with only 14% of staff reporting them as fit for purpose.
ACTION PLAN AIM
3.3: Improve and formalise induction processes for all staff.
(iii) Promotion
As Table 19 below indicates, only a small number of academic staff apply for promotion each year (making breakdown by grade and whether full time or part time not meaningful). The data illustrate high levels of success in the last two years. This is due to a number of strategies that were adopted in after our previous Athena SWAN application, including proactively discussing promotion in Achieving Success meetings, encouraging promotions applications when staff have achieved the necessary threshold
42
and increased transparency from the university on promotions criteria. Staff are encouraged to meet with the Dean or other senior Faculty staff to discuss promotions.
The university runs promotions workshops, including sessions specifically targeted at female staff. Faculty members are encouraged to attend these sessions through the weekly Faculty newsletter. All members of Faculty and University promotions panels have completed unconscious bias training. All applicants are aware of this requirement, in order to offer reassurance of parity and equity.
Nevertheless, our staff survey reflects the need for better information about the promotions process, since only 53% of staff reported understanding it.
ACTION PLAN AIM
3.4: Improve communication about promotions
Table 19: Academic promotions
Applications Supported/
Successful
Unsuccessful
Women Men Women Men Women Men
2016/7 Faculty panel - 1 - 0 - 1
University panel - 0 - - - 0
2017/8 Faculty panel 3 2 3 2 - -
University panel 3 2 3 2 - -
2018/9 Faculty panel 6 2 6 2 - -
University panel 6 2 6 2 - -
(iv) Department submissions to the REF
In 2013, staff were submitted to Unit of Assessment (UoA) 22 Social Policy and Social Work and UoA 25 Education. In UoA 22, 89.9% of women and 82.5% of eligible men were submitted. The gender disparity in submission was more notable in UoA 25 with only 52.1% of eligible women submitted, compared to 77.6% of eligible men. At the time of the last REF, staff were employed in two different Schools, with different leadership.
All teaching and research staff are supported to have a research-active career and to produce high quality REF outputs. Since 2016 staff have been asked to identify their publications for REF as part of their Achieving Success meeting to determine who might require further support. The Faculty held a mock REF in 2018/9, which helped identify staff who needed this support.
43
In REF 2020 staff are being submitted to UoA20 Social Policy & Social Work and UoA23 Education. The Faculty REF team has had unconscious bias training. The ratio of papers submitted to the mock REF was proportionate to the gender profile of the Faculty across both UoAs.
A gendered analysis of the draft REF submissions has been conducted. In UoA20, 34 women and 14 men are REF eligible. We anticipate submitting 81 outputs from women, with an average of 2.38 per person, and 32 from men with an average of 2.29 per person. Six women have five outputs submitted and 14 women have one output submitted. One man has five outputs submitted and five men have one output submitted. In UoA23 the Faculty is submitting 15 women and 9 men, with 57 outputs. We anticipate submitting 34 outputs from women, with an average of 2.26 per person, and 23 from men with an average of 2.56 per person. One woman will have five outputs submitted and six women will have one output submitted. One man will have five outputs submitted and four men will have one output submitted.
ACTION PLAN AIM
3.5: Conduct a gendered analysis of impact case studies
5.1 Key career transition points: professional and support staff
N/A (silver application only)
5.2 Career development: academic staff
(i) Training
The University of Stirling intends to remain a research-led institution by building upon and sustaining its high-quality research activity. To support this aim, the University has made a commitment, in line with the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, to provide a wide range of training and development opportunities. Research and Innovation Services organises the Researcher Development Programme (RDP) to meet the generic, personal and professional development needs of researchers. The programme is mapped to the Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF) which sets the national standards for researcher development. Content includes: Research Management, Writing and Publishing, Personal Effectiveness, Leadership, Funding, Communication and Impact, Public Engagement, Data Management.
The University has held the HR Excellence in Research badge since 2011 (our current plan covers 2019-2021). Stirling participates in the Scottish Crucible, a professional and personal leadership and development programme for early career researchers, and runs a local version of this programme.
Within the Faculty, all staff are encouraged to take developmental and leadership programmes, and women are encouraged to take the gender-specific University of Stirling Stepping Stones programme, as well as HE Advanced Aurora Programme (an
44
external, women-focused networking and leadership development programme); ten Faculty staff have completed Aurora since 2016.
The HR & OD Directorate also provide staff induction, leadership and management training, mentoring, unconscious bias training, online learning (equality and diversity; health and safety; data protection; recruitment and selection). Equality and diversity training is compulsory for all new staff and an additional module on equalities and diversity in hiring practices is mandated for all staff involved in recruitment. Unconscious bias training is mandatory for Faculty and University panel members assessing promotions applications.
Uptake (Table 20) and effectiveness of all University-run training is monitored centrally. The HR Partner reviews the data to inform future planning. Feedback received in the development of this submission identified that training was often a whole or half-day, on the same day of a week, which could be a barrier for staff working part-time.
Table 20: Researcher development training undertaken
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
W M total % W W M total % W W M total % W
25 10 35 71.4 29 11 40 72.5 20 5 25 72.5
Throughout the year, the Faculty runs a several Research Bite and Teaching Bite training sessions. These brief (20-60 minute) sessions are intended to offer opportunities for staff to access training where a half-day commitment is not feasible, for example due to part-time work or caring responsibilities.
Achieving Success meetings (see section 5.3 (iii) below) are used to identify training and development needs, promotions, and seek to assure parity in opportunity. Previous action within the Faculty involved a review of Achieving Success, which made it more developmental in focus to support the identification of training needs.
Mentoring has been identified as an area for growth within the Faculty, with only 23% of staff reporting that there were sufficient opportunities for being mentored.
(ii) Appraisal/development review
The Faculty uses the University Achieving Success (AS) review process, with Faculty-specific changes to enhance coverage of equalities issues. AS is an annual review whereby staff document professional successes in research grants, publications, scholarship, teaching, and impact/engagement in the prior year, and plans for the same areas in the coming year. Professional services also participate in the AS process, with recording of professional successes and areas of future development. The AS document includes prompts to describe the support needed to achieve success. Since 2016, all staff now have this annual appraisal/development meeting. AS reviewers ask about equalities issues and invite feedback on personal circumstances or areas of concern
45
more widely. AS reviews also identify how activities align to the University Strategy and the Faculty Strategy Action Plan.
Meetings happen in Spring each year, with planning for the year beginning 1 September. Teaching and research staff have an AS meeting with their Research Group Leader and Subject Group Lead for teaching; teaching and scholarship staff have a meeting with their Subject Group Lead for teaching and a member of LTC; and researchers have a meeting with their Research Group Lead and line manager on their current contract. The AS meeting is linked with workload planning, so that career and developmental aspirations can be integrated into the year’s workload.
At the end of the review period, a one-day meeting is held across the team of reviewers to highlight any structural or systematic issues across the Faculty, which includes discussion of gender and other inequalities. Staff leading Achieving Success meetings have attended unconscious bias training.
(iii) Support given to academic staff for career progression
The Dean facilitates a supportive atmosphere for staff. New staff on open-ended teaching and research contracts in their probationary period are given a lighter teaching load and senior mentor from within the Faculty. Although the University do not mandate probationary staff to have annual Achieving Success meetings, they are offered a meeting within the Faculty to ensure staff have the opportunity to discuss their training needs and professional goals.
The Achieving Success process described above provides academic staff with career progression guidance. It is a venue to discuss both promotion and research leave.
All internal leadership roles are advertised, with a person specification in the weekly newsletter to raise awareness amongst staff of these opportunities and to encourage them to apply.
A key part of career development support is the University’s Research Leave provision: for every six teaching semesters, teaching and research staff can apply for one semester of research leave. Applications are managed within the Faculty, along with transparent processes for reallocating teaching. There is University oversight of Faculty decisions to ensure consistency. Faculty staff on the applications panel have all undertaken unconscious bias training. Mini-research leave can also be applied for to Research Group Leaders, to provide a short period to focus on a specific output.
Most research staff on fixed-term contracts are seeking greater stability and security. The University and Faculty provide and support opportunities for identifying needs in Achieving Success appraisals and developing skills and attributes to equip researchers for career progression. Fixed-term contract researchers are encouraged to attend the training opportunities outlined above.
The University has a redeployment policy, which allows eligible employees to join a Redeployment Register and in defined circumstances be offered a ‘suitable alternative role’. We do not have data on how many researchers have benefitted from this policy. Researchers have expressed concerns around continuity of employment and redeployment, and the longer-term impact of this situation.
46
The Faculty has undertaken a range of actions to support the career development of staff on fixed-term contracts and to support them into open-ended contracts. As noted above, all fixed-term staff are included in Achieving Success. A Faculty fixed-term researcher forum was developed in 2011 to provide a venue for discussing concerns, which can be raised with the Faculty Executive and Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee.
An identified priority for action is increased support for academic staff on fixed-term contracts.
ACTION PLAN AIMS
3.6: Improve career progression for staff at all levels
3.7: Improve retention/career progression for early career researchers and fixed-term contract researchers
3.8: Monitor and strategically support equity in research leave applications and successes
3.9: Ensure sufficient time and support for research and scholarship activity for academic staff
(iv) Support given to students (at any level) for academic career progression
Based on HESA Destination of Leavers in Higher Education survey, at least 97% of our UGs, 97% of TPGs and 100% of our PGRs are in employment or further education within six months of leaving their studies. In the Faculty, we design and develop our courses with relevant employment partners to enhance the relevance to work for our students. All modules (UG and PGT) now have an employability section in their description detailing work-based learning, work-related learning, career management, skills development and employer engagement.
Progression of students in the Faculty is supported by
x Personal tutors
x Peer support (student representatives and student societies)
x Informal learning/social spaces
x Involvement in events
x Funding application support.
At undergraduate level, each student has a personal tutor for pastoral support. Frequent contact with academics’ office hours supports learning, and final year students are allocated a dissertation supervisor.
There are two Undergraduate Faculty Officers appointed by the Students’ Union to represent student interests at Staff-Student Committee meetings, and class representatives. There are a further two Faculty Officers at PG level for PGT and PGR students.
Undergraduates in year three are made aware of opportunities for taught postgraduate and doctoral funding, particularly through the ESRC’s funded Doctoral Training
47
Partnership, the Scottish Graduate School for Social Sciences. In fourth year, students are encouraged to discuss doctoral research ideas with the PGR Directors and potential supervisors to develop applications.
For taught postgraduate students, advancement opportunities are discussed during induction. Current and former doctoral researchers are invited to discuss their personal experiences of choosing further study.
Since 2017, doctoral cohort groups are run each year, with the new intake and include students with mid-year commencements. Qualitative feedback on these has been positive. In 2017/8, monthly cohort group meetings were introduced with a flexible agenda to support formal learning, reflection on the PhD process and formation of a peer support network. In 2018/9, the cohort groups were extended to include web-conferencing facilities for part-time or distance-learning PGRs.
Free in-house training is provided for all postgraduate students, covering, for example: NVivo, statistical analysis, writing for publication, and well-being seminars. Most seminars are run on campus, so we have an action to provide more online opportunities. Doctoral researchers are encouraged to be active members of Research Groups to support their development as well.
There is also an annual Faculty Doctoral Conference, which is organised by PhD students with the support of the PGR directors. The Faculty hosts PhD seminars every Thursday during the semester. These provide opportunities for doctoral researchers to present their work in a supportive, yet formal, context.
Each doctoral researcher has a Tutor to discuss matters which they might not be able to speak to their supervisors about. The Faculty has funds to strategically allocate to support PGR academic development, such as conference attendance or funding external training.
Postgraduates have also developed informal supports and (prior to COVID19 restrictions) made regular use of the Common Room, including an informal lunch each Thursday prior to the PhD seminars. This space provides opportunities for building peer networks and informal mentoring, building resources which will aid their career. These activities support on-campus, full-time students. However, over half of PGR students study part-time, and are less able to attend and/or participate in Faculty. The gender division of seminar presenters has to date not been monitored, and hence forms an action in our plan.
ACTION PLAN AIMS
2.7: Diversify PGR student cohort seminar presentations
2.8: Ensure part-time doctoral researchers feel more included in faculty life
(v) Support offered to those applying for research grant applications
All academic staff are allocated time in their workload plan for research grant applications. Staff are actively encouraged to explore research interests and are supported via AS to devise a research grant strategy.
48
The Faculty has a peer review system in place to ensure that all staff applying for grants receive feedback to strengthen their proposals. External consultation and feedback on grant proposals is offered to all staff across the Faculty.
Strategic support for applying for research grants is devolved to the Research Group Leaders. Research group leads take part in AS to ensure staff have ambitions for developing research bids and time is allocated within their workload. The Research Groups facilitate the dissemination of information about research opportunities and bring networks of staff together. Faculty members also have access to external professional grant writing support (through Grantcraft), which is made available to funding applications with meet the Faculty’s strategic aims.
Research Leave Scheme
Research leave is advertised across the Faculty. Staff are invited to apply for research leave, for example to support their REF submission or to prepare a large research grant proposals. Table 21 illustrates that women are declined research leave at a higher rate than men. Applications are in line with the current gender profile of the Faculty.
Table 21: Research Leave applications and success
Year of application
Applications Not approved
Approved
2016/17
Women 3 - 3
Men - - -
%W 100 100
2017/18
Women 4 3 1
Men 4 - 4
%W 50 20
2018/19
Women 7 1 6
Men 2 - 2
%W 78 100 88
Total
Women 14 4 10
Men 6 0 6
%W 70 100 63
49
ACTION PLAN AIMS
3.8: Monitor and strategically support equity in research leave applications and successes
3.9: Ensure sufficient time and support for research and scholarship activity for academic staff.
5.3 Career development: professional and support staff
N/A (silver application only)
5.4 Flexible working and managing career breaks
(i) Cover and support for maternity and adoption leave: before leave
Following University policy, expectant parents are provided support to ensure they can attend ante-natal sessions, and pregnant staff are entitled to paid time off to attend such sessions. This is enabled by flexible time-management. Planning cover for leave happens at a team level for all staff.
(ii) Cover and support for maternity and adoption leave: during leave
The news of any colleague becoming a parent is celebrated in the good news section of the weekly Faculty newsletter, if the parent agrees. From 2016, the University established a central fund to support teaching teams while staff are on leave and the Faculty draws on this. For academic staff, an individual's teaching is covered while on leave.
Academic and PSS staff on parental leave are encouraged to organise KIT (Keeping in Touch) days. This has been used by four people, with seven days in 2016/7, 11 days in 2017/8 and two days in 2018/9.
The KIT days are flexible and can be used (or not) by the person on leave in a variety of ways. For example, they have been used for attending conferences, or finishing papers within the maternity period. Importantly, there is no obligation to use these days and they are aimed at increasing the choices available. Ten days are permitted and have to be agreed by line managers. On return from maternity leave, HR & OD contact the individual to advise of annual leave due. Feedback from staff who have been on maternity leave has indicated that greater communication from the University during their period of leave would have been helpful.
(iii) Cover and support for maternity and adoption leave: returning to work
The Faculty has taken advantage of the University scheme to cover teaching on return from parental leave. This fund was used once in 2018/9 and once in 2019/20. This enabled the members of staff concerned to have a planned transition back-to-work and focus on their research activities for a period of six months. One of the staff members who benefited from this scheme returned to work part-time.
The Faculty supports returning to work in a range of informal and formal ways. The University central fund covers teaching for six months following return to work, and
50
Faculty staff have used this to enable a phased return to teaching and a re-establishment of research activity. The return-to-work transition is managed at team level to respond to individual and team needs. A phased return can be arranged for staff if requested and the flexibility of working hours for academic staff helps support this. The staff survey identified that 15% of staff do not think there is equal access to replacement cover for staff on parental leave.
(iv) Maternity and parental leave return rate
Since 2016/7, 17 members of staff have taken parental leave, only one of whom was a man. Ten staff taking parental leave were PSS.
Table 22 and Figure 14 below illustrates that most staff taking parental leave return to work (70% over 3 years). Our action plan seeks to provide an environment conducive to higher retention rates.
Table 22: Parental leave and return to work for all staff
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
Women
(returned)
Men
(returned)
Women
(returned)
Men
(returned)
Women
(returned)
Men
(returned)
Professional
services
Grade 4 1(1) 1(1)
Grade 5 1(1) 3(1)
Grade 6 1 (0) 1(1) 1(1)
Offscale 1(0)
Academic Grade 6 1(1)
Grade 7 1(1) 1(1) 1(0)
Grade 8 2(2) 1(1)
Total (%
returned)
6(67) 0 4(100)
0 6(50) 1(1)
51
Figure 14: Parental leave and return rates
ACTION PLAN AIM
4.1: Provide improved support to staff before, during and after parental leave.
(v) Flexible working
University provision follows national legislation for flexible working. Within the Faculty, informally, staff often work flexible hours, following discussion with line-managers including those who do not meet statutory minimum threshold of continuous employment for 26 weeks.
Data gathered through focus groups highlighted that flexible working was a major benefit for academics and a fundamental part of how they negotiate their work/life balance. The staff survey identified that 46% of staff see flexible working as inequitably applied across the Faculty, with a particular inequity for professional support staff.
ACTION PLAN AIM
5.1: Professional support staff development to be improved, including through flexible working
(vi) Transition from part-time back to full-time work after career breaks
The University and Faculty do not have a formal policy for this, although line managers can discuss with the Executive where a staff member wishes to transfer to full-time work.
Those transitioning back from a career break are supported by the University, Faculty and colleagues. The Faculty ensures everyone returning from a long-term sickness-related absence is given an occupational health assessment. Prior work to investigate issues on return-to-work found that a lack of communication and connection with the University while on leave can make the transition back to work challenging for those with long-term limiting illnesses. As a result, there is greater flexibility in allowing staff on long-term absence to be in contact with the Faculty. Staff are invited to attend
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
2016/7 2017/8 2018/9
Women taking leave W Returned Men taking leave M Returned
52
support and guidance meetings during prolonged periods of leave to maintain communication and identify ways of supporting their return to work.
5.5 Organisation and culture
(i) Culture
Many staff undertake research drawing on feminist, queer and post-colonial epistemologies and seek to understand social diversity and intersectionality across academic disciplines. Members of the SAT have led initiatives on countering misogynistic behaviour, promoting safety on campus, activities to support transgender and LGBTQIA+ students in the University, and supporting interdisciplinary gender-focussed teaching and research groups (Centre for Gender and Feminist Studies)
Teaching programmes within the Faculty also embed equalities, for example the service user and carer group that supports the social work programme is comprised of a diverse group of individuals that have experience with social work. Membership is gender diverse and members have a range of physical and mental health challenges.
The social culture of the Faculty was identified in the survey and Athena SWAN fora as being an area for action.
ACTION PLAN AIM
6.1: Increase Faculty social activities and ensure their inclusiveness
(ii) HR policies
The University has well-established HR policies for equality, bullying and harassment, and grievance and disciplinary processes. Currently, awareness of these policies within Faculties relies on relevant line managers and the Faculty induction handbook. Our most recent staff survey indicates that 24% of staff do not consider policies to be applied equally across the Faculty. Further, many staff report not being aware of policies on core equalities issues such as where to get information on equality and diversity (26%) or bullying/harassment (21%).
ACTION PLAN AIM
1.7: Raise awareness of equalities work and policies across the Faculty
(iii) Representation of men and women on committees
There are five core Faculty committees (Table 23), with four chaired by women and one by a man. Committee Chairs are predominantly ex-officio. Mean female representation is 77%, mirroring the staff gender ratio in the Faculty. To progress toward more even gender equality, progress will need to keep pace with the gender profile of staff, in order that there is not undue burden on the smaller number of men, while ensuring women are not prevented from advancing due to time-consuming administrative and pastoral roles.
53
Table 23: Gender representation on internal committees (2020)
Committee Name Women n men n Total % W Chair
Executive 11 3 14 79 F
Learning and
Teaching Committee
15 4 19 79 M
Research and
Knowledge Exchange
15 3 18 83 F
ARMI (admissions,
recruitment,
marketing and
internationalisation)
6 2 8 75 F
Equality, Diversity
and inclusion
10 3 13 77 F
The Faculty has the following Leadership roles, held by 80% women:
Dean: 1 woman
Deputy Dean: 1 woman
Associate Dean for Internationalisation: 1 woman
Associate Dean for Research: 1 woman
Deputy Associate Dean for Research: 1 man
Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching: 1 man
Deputy Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching: 2 women
Director of Postgraduate Studies: 2 women
Chief Examination Officer: 1 woman.
ACTION PLAN AIM
6.2: Support gender diversity in leadership roles and membership of key Faculty committees.
(iv) Participation on influential external committees
Faculty staff have been on a number of external committees to promote diversity and women’s advancement. These have included: the REF 2020 Equality and Diversity Panel; Athena SWAN panels; and the Scottish Universities Inclusion Group to promote inclusion and an understanding of diversity in the education of teachers. More broadly, staff have been members of the Scottish Women’s Budget Group; Scottish Parliament Cross Party Groups, and Women and Justice.
54
Many staff are members of professional associations (SSSC, GTCS, BASW, SPA) and/or learned societies. Staff have also served on diversity and inclusion committees in learned societies (AcSS, RSA).
ACTION PLAN AIM
2.3: Work with external organisations to change societal perceptions of roles and careers.
(v) Workload model
The workload model (WAM) is set by the University. The current model has been in place since July 2016 with a commitment to balancing workload between teaching, research and academic citizenship as a 40/40/20 split for staff on teaching and research contracts. Staff on teaching and scholarship contracts have a balance of 60/20/20 as teaching, scholarships and academic citizenship. Workload is agreed at AS meetings for the forthcoming academic year.
New academic staff and staff returning from career breaks have lower teaching loads than average. Completed WAMs are not shared faculty-wide; while Faculty-wide transparency could be positive, the Faculty Executive wish to protect those staff with reduced hours or special circumstances from having their data shared/questioned without this contextual information. The Dean and Heads of Subject review WAMs annually to ensure there is equality in workloads across the Faculty.
However, the survey data indicates a need for further action, since 45% of staff reported views that they do not see workload as equitably distributed. Further, 29% of survey respondents reported that staff are not supported to take all their annual leave.
ACTION PLAN AIMS
6.2: Support gender diversity in leadership roles and membership of key Faculty committees
6.3: Increase trust and transparency in the WAM system to allocate workload fairly
(vi) Timing of departmental meetings and social gatherings
All Faculty-wide, committee or ‘business’ meetings are scheduled prospectively for the whole academic year, to occur between 10.00am and 4pm, in-line with University policy on core hours. These meetings are organised by PSS who are aware of the policy and this is included in the staff handbook. Research seminars are organised for lunchtimes or early afternoons. Reminders about adhering to ‘core hours’ are included in regular Faculty newsletters.
(vii) Visibility of role models
The Faculty website was purposefully developed with a focus on using gender-balanced imagery. The website will be gender audited under the current Action Plan, along with ensuring our recruitment and marketing approach challenges stereotypical gender assumptions. The separate programmes work to ensure gender diversity at University open-days. The Faculty prides itself on many high profile women acting as role models,
55
appearing regularly in the media, and representing their research publicly. For example, the gender balance of articles in The Conversation in 2019 (6F, 2M).
The former Faculty Manager (retired November 2019), held numerous roles as a mentor and coach across the HE sector, including with Aurora, and a prominent role in the Association of University Administrators and the Chartered Management Institute, representing women as senior University professionals. As part of the activities to increase the diversity of our student intake, we will ensure the continued support for diverse role models, including men in traditionally-female roles.
Data on the gender of Faculty seminar speakers has not historically been recorded.
ACTION PLAN AIMS
3.1: Increase the diversity of faculty staff
6.4: Ensure gender equity in staff seminars
(viii) Outreach activities
The applied nature of much of our research means a substantial number of staff carry out external engagement activities representing their research and the University publicly. No systematic data are collected on this, however as part of the preparation for the REF and development of Impact Case Studies, this will be systematised through the Research Management System. Such activities are included in workload planning discussions, or incorporated into research funding proposals.
Faculty staff carry out specific outreach activities to encourage under-represented groups to apply to study, for example Social Work and Education colleagues visiting local schools. Such outreach activity and attendance at open days is allocated in work-load planning as part of allotted “citizenship” hours. Extending outreach activities is a key area for action.
ACTION PLAN AIMS
2.1: Engage in cross-university work to increase the gender diversity of our student population
2.2: Challenge society's gendered perceptions of careers, focusing initially on social work and initial teacher education
2.3: Work with external organisations to change societal perceptions of roles and careers.
WORD COUNT = 5,803
6 CASE STUDIES: IMPACT ON INDIVIDUALS
N/A (silver application only)
56
7 FURTHER INFORMATION
Recommended word count: Bronze: 500 words | Silver: 500 words
Please comment here on any other elements that are relevant to the application.
The feedback from the ECU on our prior Silver application has informed our strategy and activities in the subsequent years.
The feedback insightfully concluded that the merger of two departments was in its infancy and that our staff and equalities strategies were not fully integrated. Since April 2017, the Faculty has operated as a fully-integrated unit at all levels. Consequently, both this application and the action plan reflect our cohesive Faculty, while providing space in the U/G and PGT programmes to reflect the diverse programmes we teach.
Feedback also informed a range of activities, including:
x Involvement of PSS on the SAT, where we now have two members
x Greater focus on induction procedures in our Action Plan
x Support for improving promotion processes, which has involved change at both University and Faculty level to address structural issues that may have limited successful and equitable promotions
x Collecting data on the uptake of KIT days which is included in this application
x Ownership of the action plan, which is explicitly and purposefully shared across a range of roles.
Historically, the university has only recorded gender data in binary categories. In future, we anticipate being able to report data that reflects a more nuanced understanding of gender.
Our action plan is lengthy. To aid us in planning delivering on this plan we have prioritised a number of core actions. We have also integrated ‘quick wins’ as well as more ambitious actions to address structural issues that can help dismantle inequalities within the Faculty.
WORD COUNT: 260
57
8 EQUALITIES AND COVID-19
The response to the COVID-19 crisis has thrown into stark relief the systemic issues that the Athena SWAN Charter attempts to tackle. The strategic response to the crisis, and most decisions, have been made centrally within the University of Stirling. Within the Faculty, we have ensured that decisions and communications have been implemented with equalities and diversity at the forefront of our mind. We have been proactive in a number of areas:
1. A bespoke survey was conducted in April 2020 to understand the impact of COVID19 on Faculty members. Eighty-six people completed the survey (70 of whom were women, reflecting the gender profile of the faculty). This highlighted a vast array of issues such as lack of appropriate office equipment at home, care responsibilities (including home learning for school-aged children), amount of reported and unreported sickness, and proportion of usual capacity achieved. Findings were disseminated with Faculty colleagues and with the Institutional Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and the Director of Human Resources. A follow-up meeting with the Dean for EDI provided opportunity to influence a whole-system institutional response and support for staff on the basis of hard data. We will run a follow-up survey later in the year to track ongoing impact. The survey has also been shared with other Faculties to enable them to monitor the impact on staff and equalities issues.
3. We consistently ensure that messages from the senior leadership team, and especially the Dean of Faculty, have emphasised that we understand the challenges staff will face in working in this new environment and balancing care with work. An update from the Dean starts each weekly Faculty Newsletter.
4. We are working rapidly and proactively with fixed-term contract research staff to listen to their concerns, reassure them where we can, and ensure their interests are prioritised within the broader institutional response. We liaised with HR about potential staff for furlough to address concerns about job security.
5. Equalities remains an agenda item on all meetings to ensure this impacts decision-making, for example with the move to online learning.
6. Pro-actively and prospectively feed into the University COVID-19 Response Team equalities issues to ensure they are on the University’s agenda.
7. Identified longer term impacts for staff for monitoring: for example, reduced grant applications or journal articles among women working from home with younger and school aged children and caring responsibilities.
7. Adjusted our Action Plan to reduce burden on the Faculty as we undertake a substantial shift of teaching from face-to-face toward online delivery and encourage staff to use annual leave over the summer. Consequently, we have moved completion dates into later semesters or years. This is responsive to the high level of demands on staff at present, and the limitations on making changes that impact schools and social care organisations directly impacted by COVID-19. We will
58
progress ‘easy wins’ over the coming six months, with more complex and system-wide changes following on when university business reverts to more usual approaches.
WORD COUNT: 487
9 ACTION PLAN
59
Action Plan: University of Stirling,
Faculty of Social Science
Priority actions are identified in red. Abbreviations are all in the Application glossary
1. Self-assessment team
, governance and implem
entation of the action plan
Objective: The Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion W
orking Group continues to be a key part of the Faculty structure, prom
oting best practice in equalities and diversity, and prom
oting the Athena SWAN
Charter
Aim
Rationale Actions
Ow
ner(s) O
utcome targets
Completion
date
1.1 Im
prove ow
nership and dissem
ination of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives across Faculty
The 2020 Faculty survey indicated 9%
of staff felt equality and diversity w
as not supported by senior faculty staff, 14%
did not understand w
hat Athena SW
AN sought to achieve,
26% did not know
where to
a. All Faculty com
mittees to
submit an annual
Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion report for m
onitoring against agreed actions
EDI Comm
ittee Co-Chairs
Mainstream
equalities work across
all sitting faculty Comm
ittees - EDI should be standing point of discussion in all Faculty com
mittees
Spring 2021
60
go for advice on equality and diversity. W
e want to
improve dissem
ination of com
mittee w
ork, and increase staff aw
areness of the equalities w
ork being conducted.
b. Briefing notes created from
the m
inutes of the EDIW
G will be
shared with
teaching/subject groups
EDI Comm
ittee Co-Chairs
EDIWG subject reps should act as
champions for ideas, taking
issues/ideas from subject group to
EDIWG and vice versa so they can
be addressed and good ideas and practice acted on quickly and easily
Spring 2021
1.2 Regularly
review the w
ork of the EDI com
mittee
We w
ant to be responsive to changing context and priorities (for exam
ple our response to CO
VID19)
a. A EDIWG w
ork plan is developed to m
onitor progress tow
ards action plan across Faculty in line w
ith annual business m
anagement cycle
EDI Comm
ittee Co-Chairs
The Action Plan is regularly review
ed, in order to reflect changes to Faculty, University and N
ational priorities.
Summ
er 2020
1.3 Increase student input to EDI strategy
Qualitative feedback from
staff and students indicated this as an area for developm
ent to ensure that students are represented in the EDI team
and decision-m
aking, to support us to constantly im
prove our teaching and practice as
a. Students are invited to join the EDIW
G and structured feedback is sought on equalities issues from
students in U
G, TPG and RPG courses
AD Learning &
Teaching Tw
o students join the EDIWG; 2 U
G and 2 PG program
mes seek
structured feedback on Faculty equalities issues from
students
Autumn
2021
61
well as teach them
how to
tackle sexism in the
academy.
1.4 Conduct biennial Faculty survey
The 2017 survey of staff identified a num
ber of areas of im
provement in
terms of staff satisfaction
with w
ork in the University and Faculty, particularly in the areas of equality and inclusion. The survey w
ill be used to continue to m
onitor levels of satisfaction, and areas that require im
provement
a. Construct, circulate and analyse a com
prehensive survey of staff
EDI Comm
ittee Regular m
onitoring of the action plan and associated im
pacts, successes and areas for further action. Biannual review
of staff needs to be conducted by the EDI
Spring 2022
1.5 Raise aw
areness of equalities w
ork across the faculty
2020 Athena Swan Faculty
survey indicated low level
of awareness of the
ongoing equalities work
(53%). These actions w
ill therefore provide inform
ation and
a. All EDI mem
bers to place a statem
ent on their out of office m
essage indicating w
here equalities queries can be sent
EDI Comm
ittee Faculty surveys reflect that 90%
of staff know
where to go to raise
equalities issues (Baseline 53%)
Summ
er 2020
62
reassurance that equality is being actively progressed w
ithin the Faculty b. All EDI m
embers
to place a sign on their office door indicating they are an EDI m
ember, and
willing to hear
queries or concerns
EDI Comm
ittee Faculty surveys reflect that 90%
of staff know
where to go to raise
equalities issues (Baseline 53%)
Spring 2021/return to cam
pus post-CO
VID
c. Faculty new
sletter items
scheduled across the academ
ic year to include inform
ation about EDI, including w
here to find key policies/procedures, focused on areas identified in the 2020 Faculty survey
EDI Comm
ittee Faculty survey show
s 90% of staff
know w
here to go to raise equalities issues (Baseline 26%
)
Summ
er 2020
d. EDI issues to be placed on all subject group com
mittees
as a standing order for review
. EDI
EDI comm
ittee All subject groups have an EDI representative and standing item
for discussion of EDI issues w
ithin m
eetings. Baseline 0
Winter
2020
63
representatives to program
mes to
hold responsibility for EDI issues w
ithin program
mes.
2. Diversity of student body
Objective: O
ur student profile better reflects society and begins to change societal perceptions
Aim
Rationale Actions
Ow
ner(s) O
utcome target
Completion
date
2.1 Cross-
university work
to increase the gender diversity and balance of our student population.
Programm
es available w
ithin the Faculty provide routes into professionals that have traditionally been highly gendered, w
ith a preponderance of w
omen
in the professions that program
mes w
ould feed into. As a result representation of w
omen in
both Faculty structure, teaching and research staff
PRIORITY a. Action
plan agreed with
admissions to
address horizontal inequalities in applicants by Discipline. W
ork w
ith Marketing
Officer on various
campaigns to
encourage more
male applicants on
Student Experience and Enhancem
ent M
anager; AD Teaching &
Learning; Chair of ARM
I
Increase male social w
ork students from
16% to 19%
consistently across years and prim
ary education students from
10 to 15%
Spring 2022
64
across grades and professional services is high. Ensuring greater gender diversity and balance in Faculty program
mes therefore
requires us to identify factors that m
ay influence m
en to be less likely to engage w
ith Faculty program
mes (as students or
as staff mem
ber teaching or researching w
ithin faculties). In addition, the Faculty needs to put in place m
easures to ensure that achieving greater gender diversity including m
aking programm
es and careers in the Faculty m
ore attractive to m
en.
the identified courses (such as initial teacher education and social w
ork) via case studies and advertising
b. Work w
ith the Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport to increase m
ale applications to Access to N
ursing program
me
Director of Access program
me
Increase male Access nursing
students from average of 8%
across three years to 12%
Autumn
2022
c. Produce gender disaggregated data for understanding progression and com
pletion in taught and research postgraduate program
mes,
including extenuating
Student Experience and Enhancem
ent M
anager, Learning and Teaching Com
mittee, Policy
& Planning
Intervene more effectively to
disrupt explicit and hidden sexism
in the academy
Autumn
2023
65
circumstances
applications
PRIORITY d. W
ork w
ith Admissions to
generate gender disaggregated and other equalities data for the Access program
mes
Director of Access program
me
Disaggregated data flows into the
development of a Faculty action
plan to increase diversity (as per 2.1b)
Autumn
2021
e. Work w
ith social w
ork colleagues and M
arketing to increase m
ale applicants to social w
ork via access to nursing and access to social sciences routes, e.g. through changing m
arketing m
aterials to include m
ore men, m
en conducting school visits, m
en
Director of Access program
me
Achieve 16% m
ale social work
students to 19%
Spring 2023
66
representing social w
ork at open days
PRIORITY f. W
ork w
ith Stirling Adult Learning Partnership and JobCentrePlus to discuss gender balance and prom
otion of courses e.g. m
ale applicants for N
ursing routes and fem
ale applicants to the Science routes of this program
me
Director of Access program
me
Increase male Access nursing
students from an average of 8%
to an average across 3 years of 12%
Put in place relationships w
ith Stirling Adult Learning Partnership and JobCentrePlus.
Spring 2023
2.2 Challenge society's gendered perceptions of careers,
Socio-cultural factors influence gendered choices regarding careers associated w
ith the Faculty's program
mes (such
a. Gender-specific m
arketing materials
on “careers in” produced
Heads of Education and Social W
ork; Chair of ARM
I
Annual webinars for each discipline.
Ensure a gender balance and other protected characteristics are represented in program
me and
faculty marketing m
aterials
Spring 2021
67
focusing initially on social w
ork and initial teacher education
as social work, and prim
ary school education). Im
provements in the
gender diversity and balance of Faculty staff and students requires EDI issues to challenge gendered perceptions around careers.
b. Student Am
bassadors recruited to assist w
ith open-day, outreach activity and com
munications
reflecting diversity by protected characteristics
Head of Education; Head of Social W
ork
Widen the diversity of visible role
models to potential applicants for
each programm
e of study
Autumn
2020
c. Audit gender balance of staff attending open-day and outreach activities
Chair of ARMI
Improve gender balance
representation of staff in key recruitm
ent activities
Winter
2020
d. Positive action to inform
gender diversity of staff attending open-days and outreach activities to attract under-represented genders
Chair of ARMI
70% staff at STEM
education prom
otion are wom
en, and 70% of
staff promoting prim
ary teaching are m
en
Spring 2021
68
PRIORITY e. Develop
and trial student packs and w
orkshops to tackle gendered assum
ptions of social w
ork careers. Packs w
ill include elem
ents which
address gender, dispel m
yths about social w
ork and de-stigm
atise client use of social w
ork support. Delivery this in partnership w
ith ARMI to
increase Faculty engagem
ent with
schools to tackle gender im
balance earlier and to tackle gender stereotypes
Social Work
subject group lead; ARM
I Chair
Annual programm
e targeting local schools and production of video for use at training. Trial program
me
with 2 schools.
Spring 2023
69
f. Develop a m
entoring scheme
for male new
ly qualified social w
orkers and prim
ary school teachers
Head of social w
ork; Head of Education
All male new
ly qualified social w
orkers and teachers are paired w
ith a mentor to provide visible
role models and to provide a forum
for critically engaging in dialogue about structural inequalities
Summ
er 2023
2.3 W
ork with
external organisations to change societal perceptions of roles and careers
To influence the external environm
ent which is the
context for both (i) recruitm
ent to the courses and (ii) in w
hich graduates w
ill be working
a. Staff join key Equalities and Diversity Com
mittees for
professional organisations, such as Scottish Social Services Council
LTC, Dean of Faculty via Achieving Success
4 staff contribute to professional organisations' gender equality w
ork Autum
n 2023
b. Develop em
ployer packs to tackle gendered assum
ptions during w
orkplace placem
ents
All subject group leads
Transform attitudes in the
workplace for em
ployers. Increase in w
orkplace placements am
ong em
ployers in contact with Faculty.
Autumn
2024
70
2.4 Provide support to U
Gs to ensure ongoing gender parity in degree classifications
Degree classifications indicate that generally gender parity in perform
ance is being achieved w
ithin the faculty degree program
mes. The
Faculty needs to recognise factors that are contributing to this result, in order to ensure that parity in perform
ance continues to be achieved am
ong future cohorts of Faculty program
mes.
PRIORITY a. Adjust
and diversify the curriculum
and assessm
ent practices to enable students to engage w
ith and display learning in a range of form
ats, such as key readings by w
omen, and black
and minority ethnic
academics
AD Learning &
Teaching Achieve and m
aintain parity in degree classifications by gender
Spring 2022
b. Run 'tutoring for success’ sem
inars, w
ith positive action targeting genders identified as under-achieving in annual data review
AD Learning &
Teaching Address structural inequalities in assessm
ent techniques and seek equality in degree classifications
Spring 2021
71
c. Run tutoring for success for other m
arginalised or m
inoritised groups, as identified in future data collection
AD Learning &
Teaching M
aintain equality in degree classifications, m
easured in terms
of no significant difference in degree classifications w
ithin program
mes
Autumn
2023
2.5 Embed
equalities in the curriculum
Faculty programm
es should ensure that gender and w
ider equalities are em
bedded within their
curricula. Programm
es should be taught in w
ays that are equitable, by reflecting upon the im
pact
a. Integrate a lecture on equality and diversity into all U
G degrees within
the Faculty
AD Learning &
Teaching; EDIWG
Chair
Embed the principles of Athena
SWAN
and equality and diversity into all faculty teaching program
mes.
Spring 2023
72
of social/gender and wider
inequalities (e.g. colonialism
) on program
mes and their
content.
b. Audit and revise reading lists to ensure diversity in required and recom
mended
reading
Subject Heads Em
bed the principles of equality and diversity into the teaching of Faculty courses. All program
mes
adapt reading lists to include m
inimum
of 1 required reading and 3 recom
mended reading of fem
ale authors and/or black and m
inority ethnic authors and/or authors from
the global south.
Autumn
2021
c. Information
about Athena SW
AN w
ill be added to m
odule handbooks
Subject Heads Em
bed the principles of equality and diversity into the teaching of all Faculty courses
Autumn
2022
2.6 Conduct a gendered analysis of TPG m
ode of study
Analysis of applicants and students in TPGs highlights discrepancies in level and m
ode of study by gender. Figures for full tim
e and part tim
e staff within the
Faculty diverge significantly w
hen compared to HESA
benchmarks. The m
ajority of students on taught
a. Conduct face-to-face and video-conference focus groups w
ith students, applicants and supervisors to identify structural issues to address
AD Learning &
Teaching Data collection w
ith students will
Inform the EDIW
G strategy to institute structural changes to im
prove equality in TPG program
mes
Autumn
2021
73
postgraduate programm
es are w
omen, but there are
significant differences in m
ode of study. Men are
more likely to study full
time, and significantly m
ore w
omen are part tim
e students than m
en.
b. Conduct a gender-analysis to identify reasons for m
ode of study
AD Learning &
Teaching Gender analysis w
ill Inform the
EDIWG strategy for im
proving gender parity in TPG program
mes
Spring 2021
c. M
onitor impact
of the adapted strategy through follow
-up qualitative data collection and prospective analysis of applications, conversions and m
ode data
Chair EDIWG
Refine strategy and address any further gaps prospectively w
ith annual data
Summ
er 2023
74
2.7 Diversify new
PGR student cohorts and engage in positive action to increase representation in sem
inars
We have identified pipeline
issues in the proportion of w
omen progressing from
U
G, TPG to PGR studies. This suggests that a pipeline issue exists in relation to attracting w
omen as
applicants to Postgraduate research program
mes.Percentages of
full time m
ale PGR students are in decline, w
hile full tim
e female PGR students
are rising. This trend diverges from
HESA benchm
arks. There may be
structural issues preventing w
omen from
engaging in
a. Provide training to supervisors to actively recruit students from
a range of socio-dem
ographic backgrounds, including targeted gender recruitm
ent w
here appropriate; and present recent data on Faculty PGR gender trends
Postgraduate Research Director
Increase the diversity of the PGR student cohort
Autumn
2021
PRIORITY b. Insert
statements about
equalities into advertisem
ents for doctoral students
PGR professional support
All future advertisements for PGR
courses include a statement
reflecting comm
itment to equalities
Autumn
2020
75
doctoral study which w
e need to understand better, increase the diversity of the PGR cohort by gender and other protected characteristics and com
mence actions to
increase the visibility of w
omen PGR students in the
Faculty.
c. Audit the gender balance of PG sem
inar presenters and invite under-represented groups (e.g. w
omen in
statistics, men in
social work) to
present their work
Postgraduate Research Director
Parity in presenters at PGR sem
inars by gender when
compared to PGR student body
Autumn
2021
2.8 Ensure part-tim
e doctoral researchers feel m
ore included in faculty life
Access to activities such as Faculty sem
inars or training have been identified as specific gaps faced by part tim
e students, who often
do not live close to the cam
pus.
PRIORITY a. Sem
inar presentations to be m
ade available online using the virtual learning environm
ent
Postgraduate Research Directors
20% of all sem
inars to be available online in the first year, and 50%
by tim
eline end date
Autumn
2020
b. provide online forum
s/spaces for part tim
e and distance learning students
Postgraduate Research Director
All PGRs to have access to dedicated online forum
s Spring 2021
76
2.9 Address structural issues w
hich prevent students from
attending student/staff consultative com
mittees, in
order to increase student participation in equality and diversity discussions
Qualitative feedback from
staff and students identified lack of reim
bursement for
travel as a barrier to participation
a. Student reim
bursement for
expenses to attend
AD Learning &
Teaching Address structural barriers to students' participation in equalities initiatives
Autumn
2021
77
3. Staff recruitment, advancem
ent and promotions
Outcom
e: All academic staff have equal opportunities to advance their careers
Aim
Rationale Actions
Ow
ner(s) O
utcome target
Completion
date
3.1 Increase the diversity of Faculty staff
Wom
en make up the
majority of faculty
mem
bers, particularly at low
er academic grades. The
majority of our staff are
white British. Faculty
marketing m
aterials need to represent our aspirational goals for diversity and equality.
PRIORITY a. Text
added to all job descriptions stating the Faculty's com
mitm
ent to equality and diversity in the w
orkplace
HR lead increase diversity, across all protected characteristics, in our staff group
Summ
er 2021
b. Blog posts and further inform
ation provided for roles w
here we are
specifically looking to diversify
Subject Heads O
ne blog post per advertised job, prom
oting our quest for equality and diversity
Summ
er 2021
78
PRIORITY c. Inform
all short-listed candidates about our recruitm
ent processes as these are not alw
ays easy to identify from
the outside
HR lead Increase diversity am
ongst applicants, and ensure that offers to suitably qualified applicants broadly reflect the diversity of applicants
Spring 2021
d. Work w
ith M
arketing and the W
ebsite team to
ensure that external m
aterials dem
onstrate diversity in staff
ARMI Chair
All marketing m
aterials include a diversity of gender and protected characteristics w
hen promoting the
Faculty and its programm
es.
Summ
er 2022
3.2 Increase equality of opportunity w
hen applying for short-term
research assistant w
ork
Short term research
assistant work can provide
beneficial opportunities for faculty and for fixed term
and/or early career researchers or PGR students. O
pportunities to such w
ork should be
a. Advertise all opportunities in the new
sletter
Research group leaders
In the biennial faculty survey, all PGRs report aw
areness of and accessibility of research assistant w
ork
Summ
er 2020
79
equitably accessible within
the faculty.
3.3 Improve and
formalise
induction processes for all staff
Only 14%
of staff in our 2020 survey felt that current induction arrangem
ents were fit for
purpose. This suggests there is scope to im
prove induction processes w
ithin the faculty.
PRIORITY a.
Update and
improve the
induction processes, to include W
orkload Allocation M
odel inform
ation, holiday planning cycles.
Deputy Dean All new
staff have a full and com
prehensive induction. Faculty survey show
s that 70% staff
satisfaction (baseline 14%).
Summ
er 2021
3.4 Improve
promotions
comm
unication and feedback w
ithin the Faculty
While w
omen m
ake up the m
ajority of faculty staff, there are pipeline issues affecting w
omen's career
progression, apparent am
ong wom
en at Grade 9.
a. Formalise
feedback process for unsuccessful applicants
Deputy Dean All unsuccessful prom
otions applicants offered a 1:1 m
eeting to debrief
Summ
er 2020
b. Conduct analysis of prom
otions applicants com
pared with the
gender profile of the Faculty
Chair EDI Com
mittee
Identify gendered application patterns to inform
further actions Autum
n 2020
80
c. Provide prom
otions inform
ation and advice to staff annually via the Faculty new
sletter, Achieving Success and face-to-face briefing sessions
Chair EDI Com
mittee
Faculty survey shows 90%
of staff understand the process (baseline 53%
)
Winter
2020
3.5 Conduct a gendered analysis of publications and im
pact case studies subm
itted to the REF
Gender inequities were
recorded in submission of
papers to the RAE, with
greater percentages of eligible m
en being subm
itted than wom
en to the last tw
o assessment
exercises. Improvem
ent w
as recorded between
2008 and 2013, but further support is required to ensure that such gains continue.
a. Conduct a gender analysis of REF im
pact case studies, and develop an action for addressing any evident gender disparities for subsequent REFs
AD Research Continued m
ove towards an
equitable gender proportionality in REF subm
issions beyond 2020
Winter
2021
81
3.6 Improve
career progression for staff at all levels, and ensure U
niversity provided training is equitable to all m
embers of
staff, including part tim
e or staff w
ith caring responsibilities.
Our 2020 Faculty survey
conducted for Athena SW
AN found only 53%
understood the prom
otions process. The m
ajority of staff com
pleting the same
survey also felt they were
too busy to attend training. This suggests m
ore work is
required to ensure opportunities for training and prom
otion are equitably distributed.
a. Run research and teaching bite sessions to provide career progression and skill support for staff at all levels, w
ith recordings for staff to w
atch when
suitable for them
EDI Comm
ittee Chair
Minim
um of one teaching and one
research bite per semester
Spring 2022
b. Review w
ith HR the tim
ing of U
niversity training opportunities
EDI Comm
ittee Chair
Faculty survey indicates that 60%
staff have capacity to attend training (baseline: 36%
do not feel they have tim
e)
Spring 2021
c. Include gender and equalities in the Achieving Success briefing docum
ent
Deputy Dean Briefing docum
ent will be am
ended to include explicit orientation to equalities and career progression.
Spring 2021
d. Promote the
stepping stones program
me and HE
Advanced Aurora Program
me for
female staff, via
Deputy Dean Annual com
munications cam
paign to all eligible academ
ic wom
en to prom
ote the programm
e
Spring 2022
82
direct emails and/or
1:1 conversations
3.7 Im
prove retention and career progression for early-career researchers and fixed-term
contract researchers
Ensuring opportunities are in place for both continued career progression (w
hether at Stirling or elsew
here) as well as
fairness in pay and conditions for this group is im
portant. Gender inequity influences the use of fixed term
contracts, w
ith wom
en being m
ore likely to be em
ployed on part-time,
fixed term contracts
compared to m
en. U
se of fixed term contracts
in the faculty is declining (from
77%-68%
), which is
positive, reasons for this
a. Annual workshop
for doctoral researchers on careers w
ithin and beyond academ
ia
Postgraduate Research Director
Improved support for careers and
destinations for PGRs W
inter 2020
PRIORITY b.
Principal Investigators to invite existing fixed-term
contract researchers to be actively involved and nam
ed in the identification and developm
ent of new
proposals. Use
research groups to
All research grant holders; RKEC and Research Group Leads; Research Support M
anager
90% of fixed term
contract academ
ics invited to be co-investigators on one or m
ore grants. Q
ualitative feedback in the 2020 Faculty survey suggests current practice to be m
uch lower
than this. A quantitative question w
ill be added to future surveys to capture change over tim
e.
Autumn
2020
83
decline need to be identified in order to reinforce and replicate good practice.
promote this and
provide exemplars.
All staff desiring it are given opportunities to develop their ow
n funding applications.
PRIORITY c.
Achieving Success review
ed for fixed-term
contract researchers to provide additional career guidance and to bring forw
ard m
eetings for fixed-term
contract researchers nearing the end of contract
Dean All fixed term
contractors have a m
eeting with line m
anager or senior faculty m
ember (grade 9 or
above) to discuss options and opportunities w
ithin 3 months of
the termination of contact
Summ
er 2020
84
d. Achieving Success guidance notes adapted to reflect the need for tailored conversations w
ith fixed-term
researchers and explicitly address equalities issues
Dean All fixed term
contract researchers supported to identify strengths, and are signposted to appropriate resources and/or training
Summ
er 2020
e. PIs provide targeted career pathw
ay guidance for fixed-term
contract researchers
AD Research; Fixed-Term
Contract Researchers Forum
Career guidance is provided in a structured and targeted w
ay. Greater adoption of Research Concordat for fixed term
contract researchers
Spring 2021
f. Ensure representation of fixed-term
contract researchers on core Faculty com
mittees
(Teaching and Learning; Equality
Deputy Dean Fixed term
researcher presence is achieved on relevant key faculty com
mittees
Autumn
2021
85
Diversity Inclusion, ARM
I)
g. New
com
prehensive induction processes to identify fixed-term
contract researchers’ career aspirations at the start of contracts to facilitate support and developm
ent
Research grant holders; research group leads
Career guidance is provided in a structured and targeted w
ay to support contract researchers to achieve their goals.
Summ
er 2021
h. Ensure that fixed-term
contract researchers have opportunities to contribute to and receive authorship credit for peer-review
ed publications; audit conducted annually; research bite
All research grant holders; RKEC and Research Group Leads
All fixed term contractors are
appropriately named as co-authors
on project reports and academic
papers. Fixed term
contractors are given opportunities to lead on paper w
riting where appropriate.
Winter
2020
86
sessions on authorship; ethics discussions w
ithin research groups; and are aw
are of and use the Faculty's peer review
college
i. Introduce m
entoring scheme
for fixed term
contract researchers
Deputy Dean All fixed term
contract researchers are offered a m
entor from outside
their line managem
ent and project team
s
Summ
er 2021
j. Highlight to all line-m
anagers/PIs are aw
are of U
niversity policy that researchers have 10%
allocation of w
orktime to
pursue professional developm
ent opportunities
EDI Comm
ittee Chair
All fixed term staff report having
protected time to pursue career-
oriented development in the
biennial survey
Winter
2021
87
k. Ensure all line-m
anagers/PIs are aw
are of the U
niversity redeploym
ent policy and procedure, and that use of the redeploym
ent policy is adequately m
onitored
EDI Comm
ittee Chair
Fixed term researchers are
supported to find acceptable new
roles either within or beyond the
Faculty or University.
Autumn
2020
l. monitor use of the
redeployment
policy among fixed
term contract
employees to
ascertain its effectiveness
PIs; EDI Comm
ittee Chair
Fixed term contact staff have
equitable access to redeployment
opportunities within the
Faculty/University
Autumn 2020
3.8 Monitor and
strategically support equity in research leave
Faculty staff have opportunities to apply for research leave. Research leave is aw
arded to the m
ajority of applicants, but
PRIORITY a.
Conduct an annual audit of research leave applications and outcom
es
AD Research Audit of research leave applications conducted by O
ctober 2020
Autumn
2020
88
applications and successes
wom
en appear to be more
likely to be declined research leave com
pared to m
en. Further work is
required to identify factors w
hich may result in
increased decline rates for w
omen.
Further information can be
collected regarding how
staff benefit from research
leave in terms of applicants
meeting their agreed
outcomes, in order to
support future applications to the schem
e, and the reinforce the im
portance of research leave to faculty m
embers.
b. Develop strategies and actions to im
prove gender proportionality in research leave applications if required, e.g. by encouraging under-represented groups to apply or have support in constructing their applications
AD Research Action plan to support m
aking applications for research leave (including needs of w
omen in
relation to research leave) developed and im
plemented
Autumn
2020
c. Address structural inequalities w
hich im
pact promotion
applications, such as reduced journal outputs and grant incom
e for wom
en staff w
ith caring responsibilities (including hom
e
EDI Comm
ittee Chair
Institutional Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion apprised of the im
pact of COVID-19 on
wom
en's participation in (for exam
ple) publishing/grant applications
Summ
er 2020
89
schooling) during CO
VID-19
3.9 Ensure sufficient tim
e and support for research and scholarship activity for academ
ic staff.
Workload planning and
staff satisfaction surveys indicates that having sufficient tim
e and support to support research and scholarship activity is a particular problem
highlighted by the academ
ic staff. Q
uestions emerge
about how the Faculty can
support staff with sufficient
time to support research
and scholarship activity. The survey identified specific challenges of ensuring greater trust in the w
orkload planning process, in providing support in developing funding applicants and specifically in support w
here
PRIORITY a.
Publicise use of m
ini-research leave program
me w
hich com
menced in
2018, through new
sletter and Achieving Success
AD Research Increase the num
ber of staff using m
ini-research leave by to at least 8 per year (from
zero during 2020 due to CO
VID)
Winter
2022
PRIORITY b. M
onitor use of m
ini-research leave program
me
AD Research; Research Support M
anager
Collate information on applications
to mini research leave schem
e by grade and gender. Establish if there is equity in m
ini-research leave, and establish action to adjust policy if required
Winter
2022
c. Conduct a gender audit of grant success and failure, and PI/RA roles to inform
future strategic actions
AD Research Gender audit conducted on 2 years of grant capture data
Winter
2021
90
applications are unsuccessful.
d. Enhance support for groups of staff w
ho are under-represented in successful applications and introduce processes for feedback and support on unsuccessful grant applications introduced, draw
ing on GrantCraft, Research Bites and individualised support/feedback to ensure parity
AD Research Increased num
bers of staff submit
revised applications. Increase in successful grant funding.
Winter
2021
91
4. Parental leave and long-term absences
Outcom
e: All staff feel knowledgeable and supported before, during and after parental leave and long-term
absence
Aim
Rationale Actions
Ow
ner(s) O
utcome target
Completion
date
4.1 Staff are
better supported before, during and after parental leave
Staff wishing to take up
parental leave regardless of gender, should be supported to do so, w
ith clear w
ays of transitioning those taking parental leave back to their regular responsibilities. Current low
uptake m
ay indicate that know
ledge of the available support could be better com
municated.
a. The Faculty m
akes full use of the U
niversity budget to cover teaching responsibilities during and after parental leave in line w
ith university policy
Dean of Faculty, Subject Group Leads
All academic staff going on parental
leave to have 40% of their roles
covered during and after their leave. Professional Services Staff to have their roles covered w
here there is a business case.
Summ
er 2021
b. Faculty academic
staff to lobby funders to develop return-to-w
ork
Associate Dean for Research, All academ
ic staff
Staff are better supported to re-engage in their careers after parental leave
Summ
er 2023
92
grants, and better parental leave provision in research grants.
c. Developed ways
to better com
municate w
hat support is available and how
to access it before, during and after leave and have w
orked with
HR&O
D to ensure parity of support.
Dean and Line M
anagers All current and potential parents/carers are aw
are of provisions, and can easily access these provisions
Autumn
2021
PRIORITY d
Opportunities for
flexible working are
discussed with staff
prior to parental leave com
mencing
All line-managers
All current and potential parents/carers are aw
are of provisions
Autumn
2020
93
5. Professional Support Staff
Outcom
e: Professional Services feel they are valued mem
bers of the Faculty Comm
unity and have opportunities for advancement and
promotion
Aim
Rationale Actions
Ow
ner(s) O
utcome target
Completion
date
5.1 Professional support staff developm
ent to be im
proved
Staff retention has been identified as a factor across the various roles w
ithin the faculty. W
omen are m
ore likely to leave em
ployment
within the U
niversity. How
ever information
regarding reasons for leaving em
ployment are not
routinely provided to faculties by HR. The Faculty survey identified that 46%
staff did not feel that
a. Opportunities for
flexible working for
professional support staff explored w
ith HR&
OD
Dean All current and potential parents/carers are aw
are of provisions and procedures
Winter
2020
b. Ensure professional support roles w
ithin the Faculty are developed to allow
progression w
ithin the Faculty
Line Managers
All staff recognise that a vacancy is an opportunity to review
operation Sum
mer
2021
94
flexible working w
as equitably distributed across the faculty. Such issues m
ay be felt by a higher proportion of professional support staff, w
ho are less likely to be able to access flexible w
orking when
compared to academ
ic staff. Attention needs to be paid to retention rates am
ong staff, with em
phasis on professional services staff.
PRIORITY c.
Achieving Success (personal developm
ent review
) is m
andatory for all staff in order to review
career guidance, continuing professional developm
ent, m
entoring, coaching and peer support netw
orks
Line Managers
All professional support staff are able to acknow
ledge that they are being supported to reach their potential
Spring 2021
d. Support secondm
ent opportunities through active discussion of career am
bitions and personal learning objectives
Line Managers
All staff report in the biennial survey that they are confident that they are m
eeting personal developm
ent review objectives
Summ
er 2021
95
6. Organisation and culture
Outcom
e: The Faculty is an inclusive, collegiate environment w
here all staff and students feel welcom
e
Aim
Rationale Actions
Ow
ner(s) O
utcome target
Completion
date
6.1 Ensuring the inclusivity of Faculty social activities
Historically, there have been very few
social activities w
ithin the faculty; yet as highlighted in the staff survey they are recognised as an im
portant m
eans of maintaining
collegiality.
PRIORITY a. N
ew
social events and com
munal activities
considered (e.g. coffee m
ornings to w
elcome new
colleagues, regular Faculty team
lunches, online coffee breaks during CO
VID lockdow
n) for staff and PGRs and m
oving pigeon holes to facilitate
EDI Comm
ittee Chair
70% of staff report in survey that
the Faculty is inclusive and w
elcoming (qualitative baseline
suggests figure is substantially low
er than 70%). A quantitative
question will be added to future
surveys to capture change over tim
e.
Spring 2022
96
more m
icro social interactions
b. Facilitated session at 2021 Aw
ay Day to im
prove organisational culture
EDI Comm
ittee Chair
Co-production of organisational culture change goals
Summ
er 2021
6.2 Support gender diversity in leadership roles and
The majority of leadership
roles within the faculty are
held by wom
en with 77%
of com
mittee chairs being
a. Use Achieving
Success to discuss leadership roles w
ith all staff
Dean Leadership roles are proportional to gender profile in the Faculty
Winter
2020
97
mem
bership of key Faculty com
mittees.
held by wom
en, reflecting the overall gender profile of the faculty. 80%
of senior faculty leadership roles are currently held by w
omen.
However the 2020 Faculty
survey identified that a m
ajority of staff either disagreed or w
ere am
bivalent in views
regarding gender balance on faculty com
mittees and
leadership roles. Progress is required to ensure that com
mitm
ents to senior leadership roles keep pace w
ith the gender profile of staff, and that w
omen are
not prevented from
academic duties due to
administrative or pastoral
roles.
b. Analysis of the w
orkload model to
map academ
ic citizenship and leadership roles to increase understanding and transparency and rectify any identified inequities
Deputy Dean Academ
ic citizenship is proportional to gender profile in the Faculty
Winter
2022
98
6.3 Increased trust and transparency in the W
orkload Allocation M
odel (WAM
)
The 2020 Faculty survey identified that 46%
of staff m
embers felt that w
ork in the W
AM w
as not fairly distributed. This suggests trust in the W
AM needs
strengthening.
a. Academic
citizenship activities (leadership roles) w
ithin Faculty m
apped
Faculty Executive O
ver 80% staff believe w
orkload is allocated fairly and transparently
Spring 2022
6.4 Ensure gender equity in presenters at staff sem
inars
Ensuring seminars reflect
the gender diversity of the Faculty and of the w
ider subject area is as an im
portant factor when
planning seminar series,
providing opportunities for role m
odelling of under-represented genders (e.g. m
en in social work; w
omen
in statistics)
PRIORITY a. Audit
2019/20 seminar
programm
es for gender of speaker
AD Research Audit com
pleted and result relayed to Research Group leads to adjust invitations, as required to achieve ~50/50 gender diversity in speakers (noting approxim
ations and non-exclusion of people w
ho identify as non-binary)
Spring 2021
b. Adjust seminar
speaker invitations by gender and other protected characteristics to increase diversity, including diverse
Research group chairs
Greater diversity in speakers at research group sem
inars. Sum
mer
2021
99
panels rather than individual speakers
100
Timeline illustrating distribution of actions across the years w
ith com
pletion dates
2020 2021
2022 2023
Actions
Summ
er Autum
n W
inter
Spring
Summ
er Autum
n W
inter
Spring
Summ
er Autum
n W
inter
Spring
Summ
er Autum
n W
inter
1. Self-assessment
team, governance and
implem
entation of the action plan
1.2a; 1.5a; 1.5c
1.5d
1.1a; 1.1b; 1.5b
1.3a
1.4a
2. Diversity of student body
2.2b; 2.7b; 2.8a;
2.2c 2.2a; 2.2d; 2.4a; 2.6b; 2.8b;
2.1d; 2.5b; 2.6a; 2.7a; 2.7c; 2.9a
2.1a; 2.4a
2.1b; 2.3a; 2.5c
2.1e; 2.1f; 2.2e; 2.5a
2.2f; 2.6c;
2.1c; 2.3b; 2.4c
3. Staff recruitment,
advancement and
promotions
3.2a; 3.4a; 3.6c; 3.6d; 3.8c;
3.4b; 3.6b; 3.6k; 3.6l; 3.8a; 3.8b;
3.4c; 3.6a; 3.6h
3.1c; 3.6b; 3.6c; 3.6e;
3.1a; 3.1b; 3.3a; 3.6g; 3.6i
3.6f 3.5a; 3.6j; 3.9c; 3.9d
3.6a; 3.6d;
3.1d;
3.9a; 3.9b;
4. Parental leave and long-term
absences
4.1d
4.1a
4.1c
4.1b
101
5. Professional Support Staff
5.1a 5.1c
5.1b; 5.1d
6. Organisation and
culture
6.2a;
6.4a 6.1b; 6.4b
6.1a; 6.3a
6.2b
