Athena Swan and Stirling Management School
Stirling Management School is committed to leading on issues to do with equality, diversity and inclusion. Our commitment to lead on these issues and to make a difference to working lives
What is Athena Swan?
Athena SWAN is a charter established in 2005 by the Equality Challenge Unit. It was originally set up to advance the representation of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM).
In 2015 the charter was expanded to include staff in academic, professional and support roles and broaden the substantive areas to include arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law. The focus of the charter was also expanded to address gender equality more broadly not just barriers that affect women. It also saw the inclusion of 'intersectionality' – which recognises that people can face discrimination based on different elements of their identity not just their gender – e.g. age, disability, race, religion and sexuality.
10 key principles of Athena SWAN
1. We acknowledge that academia cannot reach its full potential unless it can benefit from the talents of all.
2. We commit to advancing gender equality in academia, in particular, addressing the loss of women across the career pipeline and the absence of women from senior academic, professional and support roles.
3. We commit to addressing unequal gender representation across academic disciplines and professional and support functions. In this, we recognise disciplinary differences including;
- The relative under representation of women in senior rules in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law (AHSSBL)
- The particularly high loss rate of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM)
4. We commit to tackling the gender pay gap.
5. We commit to removing the obstacles faced by women, in particular, at major points of career development and profession, including the transition from PhD into a sustainable academic career.
6. We commit to addressing the negative consequences of using short-term contracts for the retention and progression of staff in academia, particularly women.
7. We commit to tackling the discriminatory treatment often experienced by trans people.
8. We acknowledge that advancing gender equality demands commitment and action from all levels of the organisation and in particular active leadership from those in senior roles.
9. We commit to making and mainstreaming sustainable structural and cultural changes to advance gender equality, recognising that initiatives and actions that support individuals alone will not sufficiently advance equality.
10. All individuals have identities shaped by several different factors. We commit to considering the intersection of gender and other factors wherever possible.
A statement of what we're committed to
At Stirling Management School we are committed to lead on all issues connected with Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, so as to make a difference to the working lives and culture in the faculty. This is reflected in our application for an Athena SWAN Bronze Award. Over the following year we shall be scrutinising the current position of the Faculty in relation to diversity and inclusion. This involves collecting and analysing statistical data we have on staff and students. This will be followed by us undertaking qualitative research with staff and students within the Faculty to understand in more depth people’s views towards various issues in the Faculty.
We are committed to ensuring that Stirling Management School is leading on issues to do with equality, diversity and inclusion. We shall be producing a four year action plan as part of our application. Where we can, we shall implement actions with immediate effect. Already we have placed Athena Swan as a standing item on the School Executive. We have also made the issue of ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ a standing item on divisional committee meetings. These will report on a wide range of activities and initiatives to do with equality, diversity and inclusion going on within the Faculty and the wider university.
We welcome comments from all our staff and students on our work so please get in touch with us and give us your views and opinions.
Meet the team and find out why they are committed to the Athena SWAN process.
| Dr Craig Anderson | Dr Adelina Broadbridge (Chair) |
| Ms Liz Carroll | Ms Joanne Fairbrother |
| Mrs Alie Hilda de Vries | Ms Jenoah Joseph |
| Ms Sasha Hird-Saunders | Dr Maria Grydaki |
| Dr George Maglaras | Dr Oliver Mallett |
| Dr Carol Marshall | Miss Maria Massaro |
| Dr Mirko Moro | Ms Jennifer Paton |
| Ms Susan Steggles | Dr Aleksandra Webb |
| Dr Kevin Campbell | |
| Lynne Brierley (student) | Rafael Crossa Arteaga (student) |
| Helena Sarkodie (student) | Sandis Sjomkans (student) |