Athena SWAN Gold department award application
Name of university: Newcastle University Department: Institute of Health & Society Date of application: 30th April 2014
Date of Silver Athena SWAN award: April 2011
Date of university Bronze and/or Silver Athena SWAN award:
University Bronze renewal Nov 2012
Contact for application: Professor Judith Rankin
Email:
Telephone: 0191 208 5267
Departmental website address: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ihs
An Athena SWAN Gold Department award recognises a significant sustained progression and achievement by the department in promoting gender equality and to address challenges particular to the discipline. Applications should focus on what has improved and changed since the Silver award application.
Not all institutions use the term ‘department’ and there are many equivalent academic groupings with different names, sizes and compositions. The definition of a ‘department’ for SWAN purposes can be found on the Athena SWAN website. If in doubt, contact the Athena SWAN Charter Coordinator well in advance to check your eligibility.
It is essential that the contact person for the application is based in the department.
Sections to be included
At the end of each section state the number of words used. Click here for additional guidance on
completing the template.
Application word limit
It was agreed by email with Harri Weeks of the ECU on 14/2/2014 that we can use up to an extra 1,000 words within this application as the Institute of Health Society is part of a medical school. We have indicated at the end of the sections where these words have been used.
Staff and student data is provided for the five years 2009-13.
Abbreviations used in the application
AP - Action point
BCB – Baddiley-Clark Building BMS - Biomedical Sciences
DPD - Degree Programme Director EB - Executive Board
ECR – Early Career Researcher ECU - Equality Challenge Unit EOS - Employee Opinion Survey FEB - Faculty Executive Board FMS - Faculty of Medical Sciences
FMS EDC - Faculty of Medical Sciences Equality and Diversity Committee HESA - Higher Education Statistics Agency
HR - Human Resources
HRG - Human Other Resources Group ICL - Imperial College London
ID - Institute Director
IHS - Institute of Health Society IM - Institute Manager
KPI - Key Performance Indicator
LSHTM - London School of Hygiene Tropical Medicine
MBBS - Bachelor of Science in Medicine and Surgery MRes - Masters in Research
MSc - Masters in Science
NIHR - National Institute of Health Research NU - Newcastle University
PDR - Performance and Development Review PGR - Postgraduate Research student
PGT - Postgraduate Taught student
PH HSR - Public Health Health Services Research PRES - Postgraduate Research Experience Survey
RA - Research Associate SAT - Self-Assessment Team
SS HR - Social Science Health Research SWAN - Scientific Women’s Academic Network UG - Undergraduate
WTE - Work Time Equivalent
WAM - Workload Allocation Model
List of figures
Figure 1: Schematic diagram of Faculty and Institute organisation at Newcastle University Figure 2a: Number of applications and successful applications to the MBBS programme by
gender, 2009-13
Figure 2b: Number of applications and successful applications to the MBBS accelerated programme by gender, 2009-13
Figure 3: Applications, offers and entrants to the MSc in Public Health Health Services Research by gender for the academic years 2009-14
Figure 4: Applications, offers and entrants to the MSc in Social Science Health Research by gender for the academic years 2010-14
Figure 5: Applications, offers and entrants onto PhD programmes in IHS, 2009-13 Figure 6: IHS academic and research staff by grade and gender, 2009-13
Figure 7a: Applications for academic and research posts by grade and gender, 2009-13: grades F-G
Figure 7b: Applications for academic and research posts by grade and gender, 2009-13: grades H-I
Figure 8a: IHS employees by contract type and gender, 2009-13 Figure 8b: Contract types for IHS female employees, 2009 -13
Figure 9: Rashmi Bhardwaj (IHS NIHR doctoral fellow) and Paul Whybrow (SAT member) with Bruce (anatomical model) and Steve (skeleton) at the ‘Meet the Scientist’ event* at the Centre for Life, Newcastle, April 2014
List of tables
Table 1: Total acceptances onto the MSc in Public Health and Health Services Research by year and gender, full-time and part-time
Table 2a: Merit and distinction awards for the MSc in Public Health Health Services by gender and year
Table 2b: Merit and distinction awards for the MSc in Social Science Health Research by gender and year
Table 3: Staff employed in IHS and turnover by gender, 2009-13
Table 4: Applications and offers for academic and research posts by gender, 2009-13 Table 5: Applications for promotion by gender, 2009 – 2013
Table 6: Examples of committees on which IHS has representation
1. Letter of endorsement from the head of department: maximum 500 words
An accompanying letter of endorsement from the head of department should confirm how the SWAN action plan and activities in the department contribute to the overall department strategy and academic mission, and spell out what is next for the department, what difficulties might be experienced, and what the department most looks forward to.
The letter is an opportunity for the head of department to confirm their support for the application and to endorse and commend any women and STEMM initiatives that have made a significant contribution to the achievement of the departmental mission.
See attached letter. Word count = 500
2. The self-assessment process: maximum 1000 words
Describe the self-assessment process. This should include:
a) A description of the self assessment team: members’ roles (both within the department and as part of the team) and their experiences of work-life balance.
The Institute of Health Society (IHS) Self-Assessment Team (SAT) was established in 2010 to prepare our Silver application, successfully achieved in 2011. The SAT consisted of six members (four women, two men) representing various grades of academic, research and administrative staff. Since 2011, the SAT has expanded and now consists of 11 members:
Mrs Kat Jackson, Research Assistant, began her career with NU in 2007. She was supported by IHS to apply for a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) fellowship, awarded in 2009. Kat works 60%wte. Kat’s SAT role is to provide an early career researcher (ECR) perspective.
Professor Eileen Kaner, Institute Director (ID), progressed from RA to professor over 12 years. She has four children and has had two periods of maternity leave while working in IHS. As ID, Eileen ensures that Athena SWAN activities are included in the IHS strategic plan (AP1.1) and influences gender balance discussions within the Faculty Executive Board.
Mrs Gill Paczynski, Institute Manager (IM), works four long days with one day per week for family commitments. Gill is the Secretary and Casework Coordinator of the Newcastle branch of the University and College Union. Gill has the greatest knowledge of IHS policies and procedures, insight which has been invaluable to the SAT and this submission.
Dr Mark Pearce, Reader, has taken two periods of paternity leave. Within the SAT, Mark provides a male perspective to IHS equality and diversity activities.
Professor Judith Rankin, SAT chair, began her career at NU as a contract researcher and progressed from RA to professor. She has had three periods of maternity leave and worked part-time until 2010.
Dr Tim Rapley (case study 1), part-time Lecturer. Tim provides the perspective of someone in an academic post and as a male staff member working part-time.
Dr Jane Salotti, RA, worked part-time in IHS for 10 years while her family was young, gradually increasing her hours. She undertook a PhD in her 50s, and is now PI on several research projects. Jane contributes to the SAT as an experienced contract researcher and mature PGR student. Jane conducted the 2012 staff survey.
Dr Rebecca Say, doctoral fellow and clinical academic trainee, represents clinical staff on the SAT. She is committed to improving working conditions for all staff within IHS. Rebecca is currently on maternity leave.
Mrs Anita Tibbs, part-time Personal Assistant, joined IHS in 2001. Anita has completed the Senior Support Staff Development Programme with IHS support and has had two periods of maternity leave. She represents clerical staff on the SAT and organises SAT events.
Ms Mary Webster joined the SAT as a PGR student having been a Research Assistant in another NU department. Mary provides a PGR student perspective to the SAT and, with Rebecca, has presented on Athena SWAN to the PGR student group.
Dr Paul Whybrow, RA, is a founding member of the IHS ECR Association. Paul brings the perspective of an ECR to the SAT. Paul and Tim have presented to the IHS staff meeting and other NU Institutes on what Athena SWAN means to men.
Mrs Jan Halliburton, NU Human Resource Adviser for Equality and Diversity, and Miss Nancy Rios, FMS Athena SWAN Project Officer, are advisors to the SAT.
Judith and Gill have taken the lead in preparing this application but all SAT members have provided personal perspectives on gender balance within IHS and commented on application drafts.
b) An account of the self assessment process: details of the self assessment team meetings, including any consultation processes that were undertaken with staff or individuals outside of the university, and how these have fed into the submission.
The SAT meets bimonthly; the agenda consists of standing items and other items put forward by individual SAT members. Meeting minutes are recorded and distributed among the SAT; these will be available to all staff via the Institute’s intranet (Action Point (AP) 5.7). Athena SWAN is a standing agenda item at the IHS staff meetings (AP5.6). As with our Silver application, all staff were invited to participate in preparing this submission through a staff meeting presentation, a question and answer session and an invitation to have a 1:1 meeting with any SAT member to share their experiences of working in IHS. Athena Swan is a standing item on the IHS Executive Board (EB) agenda and informs all strategic decisions made by this group.
We discussed our desire to go for a Gold award with Professor Paul Walton, University of York, who was invited by the IHS SAT to give a seminar in May 2013; he was very supportive and provided helpful insights. SAT members visited Paul Browne, Jane Garvey and Professor Yvonne Galligan at Queen’s University Belfast in Oct. 2013 to discuss their approach to equality and diversity. Judith is an Athena SWAN panel member and chair. These activities have facilitated our external consultation. IHS ensures that at least one SAT representative attends each North East Athena SWAN Network meeting; we will be contributing to organising the June 2014 meeting in Newcastle (AP5.9).
Within NU, we have consulted with Mrs Veryan Johnston, Executive Director of Human Resources (HR), Professor David Burn, FMS EDC Chair and members of the IHS EB. Judith and Gill have given advice and commented on Athena SWAN applications submitted by other FMS Institutes and NU Departments and Judith has given advice to other Universities on their applications. Paul has attended the Athena SWAN SAT consultation meeting within the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering to discuss IHS’s Athena SWAN activities. The IHS SAT submitted comments to the recent House of Commons Science and Technology Committee on Women in Scientific Careers.
This application is built on the guidance and advice received from a number of experienced sources as well as the views and ideas of IHS staff and students.
c) Plans for the future of the self assessment team, such as how often the team will continue to meet and how the department will deal with the turnover of team members, any reporting mechanisms and in particular how the self assessment team intends to monitor implementation of the action plan.
Since our Silver award, two SAT members have stood down due to changes in job position. Following this, we reviewed SAT membership and concluded that the SAT should expand to ensure implementation of our action plan and to give other staff members the opportunity to shape the development of our Athena SWAN activities. New members were recruited in two ways; the membership review highlighted the lack of PGR student representation resulting in PGR students being invited to become SAT members through a presentation to the PGR group; staff were invited to put themselves forward at an IHS staff meeting. We are delighted that five new members (Jane, Rebecca, Mary, Tim, Paul) agreed to join the SAT. We will review the SAT membership annually (AP5.3). As SAT members step down, new members will be sought as before; a targeted approach when a particular perspective is viewed necessary and an invitation to staff to ensure that all perspectives are represented and that new staff members have an opportunity to contribute.
Following the Silver award, the SAT decided to increase their meetings to quarterly to implement and monitor the action plan, with communication by email between meetings. During the past year, whilst preparing this application, we have met bimonthly. We will continue to meet bimonthly (AP5.4) to enable delivery of our increasing Athena SWAN activities and events and to enable us to continue to support NU Institutes and other Universities to prepare their applications. There is a standing item at SAT meetings on monitoring implementation of the action plan. We will set up SAT working groups to lead on different activities (AP5.8).
Athena SWAN is a standing agenda item in IHS EB, the Institute’s decision-making body and staff meetings. Through these fora, the SAT communicate information on Athena SWAN activities, including monitoring progress on implementing the action plan, and decisions made at the EB in relation to gender, diversity and equality. We have developed an Athena SWAN webpage which we actively promote to IHS staff and continually refresh (AP5.5).
Word count = 1262/1000: using 262 of the extra 1000 words in this section
3. A picture of the department: maximum 2000 words