Athena SWAN at the Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment

As a university, we currently hold an Athena SWAN Bronze Award and the Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment (TDE) has also achieved a Bronze Award. The Athena SWAN Charter recognises commitment to advancing women's careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in academia. The Charter was launched in June 2005. Any higher education institution or publicly funded STEMM focused research institute which is committed to the advancement and promotion of the careers of women in STEMM in higher education and research can apply for membership.

The beliefs underpinning the Charter are:

  • The advancement of science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine is fundamental to quality of life across the globe.
  • It is vitally important that women are adequately represented in what has traditionally been, and is still, a male-dominated area.
  • Science cannot reach its full potential unless it can benefit from the talents of the whole population, and until women and men can benefit equally from the opportunities it affords.

For more information, visit the Athena SWAN website. 

The Athena SWAN Bronze award recognises that in addition to University-wide policies, the faculty has identified particular challenges and is planning activities for the future. This includes:

  • an assessment of where the faculty is regarding gender equality in quantitative (staff and student data) and qualitative (policies, practices, systems and arrangements) terms, identifying both challenges and opportunities;
  • a plan that builds on the assessment, the activities that are already in place and what has been learnt from these; and
  • an organisational structure (the self assessment team) to carry proposed actions forward.

For further information please contact Ruth Collins, TDE Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team Lead at ruthcollins@brookes.ac.uk

Download the Athena Swan Bronze TDE application

The TDE Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team is currently finalising documentation for submission under the new Charter during the latter half of 2020.