Equality and diversity
Athena Swan
The Athena SWAN Charter evolved from work between the Athena Project and the Scientific Women’s Academic Network (SWAN), to advance the representation of women working in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) research and academia.
It covers:
- Women in academic roles
- Progression of students into academia
- Working environment for all staff
The Charter which is funded by the Equality Challenge Unit, the Royal Society, the Biochemical Society and the Department of Health, has six principles:
- To address gender inequalities
- To change cultures and attitudes
- To guarantee diversity at management and policy-making levels
- To reduce the high loss rate of women
- To improve the retention and progression of women
- To ease the transition from PhD into a sustainable research career by tackling personal and structural obstacles
Loughborough University works hard to follow the principles of the Athena SWAN Charter by wishing to attract, support and promote women in STEMM irrespective of position. It was one of the founding members of the Charter in 2005.
We have held the Bronze Institutional Award since 2009.The School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences was awarded Silver accreditation in 2013. Loughborough Design School was awarded Bronze accreditation in April 2014. A joint submission from Mathematical Sciences and the Mathematics Education Centre was awarded Silver accreditation in April 2015.
Further information is available on our Athena SWAN webpages.