SWAN awards 2008

In the latest round of awards, which will be presented at a celebratory lunch at the Zoological Society of London on 18 September, the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Bristol, the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham and the School of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Nottingham all receive silver awards. Bronze awards are given to the University of Bedfordshire, King’s College London, Lancaster University, the University of Leicester, the University of Manchester and the University of Reading.

Silver submissions included a variety of positive initiatives. The University of Bristol’s Physiology and Pharmacy Department has developed a Staff Review and Development Programme to identify barriers or gaps in CVs that could potentially hold up career progression, and introduced action to address these barriers, such as mentoring.

The University of Nottingham’s School of Psychology suspends research grants during maternity leave and employs contract research staff from the grants as temporary teaching fellows until the staff member’s return.

The University of Nottingham’s School of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering has introduced a range of part-time working strategies to support staff, including extended lunch breaks to enable care of elderly relatives, variable hours to enable staff to complete school pick up, and gradual changes in hours to facilitate a return to full-time working for new parents.

Julie Ashdown, Manager of the Athena SWAN programme, comments: 'Increasing the participation of women in SET is vital for innovation and, in a traditionally male dominated discipline, these awards show which universities care about making their SET departments an attractive place for women to work in order to attract and retain them. The award winners have clearly shown their commitment to making positive changes in their working practices.'