Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, the University of Sheffield

Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, The University of Sheffield

Athena SWAN Action Plan 2012

Action / Description of action / Action taken already and outcome at November 2012 / Further action planned at November 2012 / Responsibility / Timescale / Success Measure
1 / Transforming culture
1.1 / Engagement with training, networking and mentoring opportunities. / TUoS-run mentoring schemes are available and open to participation by all.
Women-specific programmes such as Springboard for Women and Women@TUoSNETwork provides additional mentoring opportunities.
APS staff provided with a mentor when hired but the process is largely informal with little oversight. / Create an APS Mentoring Committee that determines and implements best practice relevant for the department. / Athena SWAN Committee / 1/1/13-onwards / Increased satisfaction in APS and TUoS mentoring for research and academic staff, determined via our survey and HR feedback.
1.2 / Unconscious bias training for all staff members / Only 7% of APS staff have formal training in unconscious bias. / Focussed training session on unconscious bias for all APS staff / Athena SWAN Committee, HoD, HR / Beginning 1/1/13, with goal of all current staff trained by Autumn 2013. / Increased awareness of gender bias issues in all staff, but particularly those making policy/recruitment decisions.
Consequently, increased recruitment and retention, either within APS or within STEM (e.g. for researchers who take up contracts elsewhere) of females across all hierarchical levels
1.3 / Improved induction document for researchers and staff / New staff are provided with an induction, assigned a mentor and meet with the Director of Teaching regularly. / Induction handbook to reflect APS culture on the well-rounded academic, including flexible working arrangements, TUoS policy on gender, equality and diversity, parental/carer leave, and mentoring and networking opportunities within APS and TUoS. / Athena SWAN Committee, HR / 1/3/13 – to be completed by Autumn 2013, and subsequent annual updates and review / Increased awareness of the positive actions APS takes to encourage female staff at all levels as measured by staff survey
1.4 / Creation of APS “Support for You” web page reflecting APS female-friendly culture. / Family-friendly culture embedded by: 1) APS Facebook page regularly highlighting success stories of female staff and students, 2) APS foyer displaying successful female images, and 3) continual evaluation that APS web sites use many female images. / Make family-friendly culture more externally visible and internally accessible, including case studies of flexible working, continuing to celebrate success, particularly of female staff, and to link with improved induction material (Action 1.3) emphasizing policies that positively impact female researchers. / Departmental Web Support Team / Autumn 2013, following completion of Action 1.3 and updated as required / Web page serves as a reference resource to support managers and staff in understanding, providing guidance, and implementing family friendly policies, advice on promotions, etc. Measured internally by increased awareness of such policies on staff survey.
Indirect positive effects on other external facing actions, including increased numbers of applications from females (see also Action 4.3).
1.5 / Increase the visibility of female role models. / Departmental seminar in which the seminar organisers manage the invitation process to include successful female academics.
See also Action 1.4 / Approach female speakers earlier in the invitation cycle.
Create a named seminar as a celebration of female success
See also Action 1.4 / Seminar organisers; HoD / Speakers approached one semester in advance (so Autumn 2013 speakers will be approach by April 2013), continued every semester
Launch of named seminar Autumn 2013; annual event thereafter / Increase the proportion and visibility of female speakers in departmental seminars.
1.6 / Review timing of meetings, social gatherings and teaching. / APS avoids setting meetings in half-term.
Most APS meetings held between 930-400. / Consult with staff to determine best solution. / Athena SWAN Committee / 1/1/13 – 1/3/13 / Greater staff satisfaction as evidenced by improved survey scores.
1.7 / Implement a departmental workload allocation model (WAM) that is aligned with APS values. / STEM faculties currently have proto- WAM. / Test model in APS to ensure that departmental values (i.e., investment in the well-rounded academic) contribute appropriately to WAM calculations. / HoD / Second iteration of APS WAM completed by July 2013.
Full implemen-tation completed by July 2014. / Transparent WAM piloted, with staff input, by 2013 and used widely by 2014.
1.8 / Launch of Athena SWAN
Renewal of Athena SWAN award / Athena SWAN Committee met 3 times to gather, process, and interpret data relevant to application process, and discuss action plans.
Supported by external consultants and HR. / Ensure responsive and progressive action plans are implemented.
Self-assessment process embedded in APS culture / Athena SWAN Committee / Athena SWAN Committee to meet every semester commenc-ing January 2013. / Launch and celebratory event upon award
Renewal of award in 2016.
1.9 / Sharing of Athena SWAN best practice / Reporting to TUoS Faculty of Science Equality and Diversity Committee / HoD @ Equality and Diversity Board meetings
APS Athena SWAN champion disseminates information at other opportunities organized by TUoS (see TUoS Bronze renewal application) / ongoing / Contributions to successful Athena SWAN awards from other TUoS STEM departments
2 / Gender balance and student performance
2.1 / Monitor gender of applications, offers and acceptances for UG programmes. / Proportionally fewer females applied for and accepted MBiolSci offers in 2011-12 than in the previous two years in APS. / Monitor and if trend continues, investigate potential causes by reviewing the TUoS Decliner’s Survey to identify any patterns in why female applicants decline our offers. / Director of Admissions / October 2013 after receipt of full admissions statistics for 2013 admissions / Proportion of females on MBiolSci degrees at or above equivalent HEI average
2.2 / Monitor gender of acceptances from Home/EU PGR students / PGR acceptances from UK/EU students has decreased annually over the last 3 years. / Monitor and investigate potential causes by conducting a Decliner’s Survey. / Graduate Committee / June 2013 following end of admissions process / Proportion of female acceptances similar to or greater than proportion of female applications
2.3 / Investigate reasons for discrepancy between the genders in UG underperformance. / Female UG students consistently outperformed male students. / Identify cause for underperformance in male UG (i.e., analysis of gender bias in performance by assessment method) / Teaching Committee / Data analysis by May 2013 following next set of exam marks.
Determine whether, and if so, implementation of revisions to different assessment methods by
Spring 2014 (due to lag between resulting actions and regulation changes). / Performance ratio in males should match that of female UG students
3 / Female researcher and PG career development and progression
3.1 / Identify effective mechanisms for discussing career progressions, especially for females. / Postdoc Society holds regular well-attended social and career-orientated events with APS providing funds to support these activities. / See Action 1.1.
Make confidence and resilience training available through Women@TUoSNETwork. / Mentoring Committee, Postdoc Society, Women@TUoSNETwork / 1/1/13-onwards / Increased retention of female researchers in STEM as measured by exit/alumni survey.
3.2 / Enhance career prospects by increasing opportunities to engage in professional activities / The APS survey revealed that researchers wanted more opportunities to engage with APS at departmental level via committee participation and research-led teaching. / Encourage staff to create research-led teaching opportunities with appropriate support and review committee membership to include researchers in relevant committee participation. / HoD, Departmental Committees, Director of Teaching. / academic yr 2013 onwards / Increased involvement of researchers on departmental committees and research-led teaching.
3.3 / Encourage, support and monitor fellowship applications / University-wide fellowship application guidance courses and mentoring schemes available to all researchers.
APS internal review system for fellowships ensures feedback is provided prior to submission. / see Action 1.1 / Mentoring Committee / 1/1/13-onwards / Greater proportion of APS-trained women researchers applying for research council fellowships with ambition to exceed national application proportions.
Increased attendance at relevant TUoS-wide courses and schemes.
3.4 / Ensure Postdoctoral Society continues to deliver career-oriented and informal support / See Action 3.1 / Increase visibility and academic staff engagement with Postdoctoral Society to broaden the base of advice and support to female researchers.
See also Action 1.5 / Postdoctoral Society, HoD, Mentoring Committee / 1/1/13 - onwards / Improved retention of APS-trained female researchers in STEM measured by exit/alumni surveys.
3.5 / Initiate PG Away Day / Graduate Committee already committed to this process / Graduate Committee / Annually, first in Spring 2013 / Improved retention of female PGs in STEM measured by exit/alumni surveys.
3.6 / Initiate female PG forum / Establish the formation of a forum for female PGs to discuss career development and progression, including inviting role model speakers. / Graduate Committee / Spring 2013 / Raised awareness of issues affecting career development and progression as evidenced by survey.
4 / Recruitment to and promotion of female academic staff
4.1 / Recruit cohorts of academic staff where possible / In the last recruitment round we explicitly used cohort recruitment.
We ensure there are females on recruitment and appointment panels. / Continued use of cohort recruitment with monitoring and assessment of all methods used.
Unconscious bias training (see Action 1.1) / HoD, HR, Job panels, Policy committee. / 1/12/12-onwards / Proportion of female appointments similar or greater than female applicants.
4.2 / Raise awareness of the department’s family-friendly and supportive culture. / These aspects of our culture are currently internally visible during formal SRDS and informally evident during professional and social events. / Formalize induction process (see Action 1.3) particularly with respect to retention and promotion.
Externally visible family-friendly policies via Action 1.4. / HoD, line managers / 1/1/13- onwards / Increased agreement with current staff that department offers visible and effective provision in all aspects of this issue.
4.3 / Increase applications from females / Used endowed funds to support female postdoc to apply for fellowship funding.
Advertising material encouraged application from females. / Ensurecontinued supporting material on job adverts to encourageapplications from females
Encourage additional advertisement via appropriate networks
MakeAPS female researchers aware of recruitment opportunities and provide career support/confidence training where appropriate. / HoD, HR and policy committee. / 1/1/13-onwards / Increase in the proportion of female applicants.
See also Actions 1.4, 4.2.
4.4 / Raise awareness of promotion criteria and their interpretation, recognising mixed contribution portfolio / HoD discusses promotion cases during annual SRDS and feedback provided by the Departmental Promotion Panel.
NB: 75% of eligible female academic staff have been promoted over the last 3 years. / Publicize promotion criteria on the enhanced APS web site (Action 1.4) and in induction materials (Action 1.3).
Confidence/Resili-ence training through Women@TUoSNETwork, offered to encourage females to put themselves forward. / HoD continues; Women@
TUoSNETwork / See Actions 1.3, 1.4
Annual SRDS completed each July / Promotion applications and awards reflect gender balance of eligible staff.
4.5 / Ensure career breaks are adequately considered during promotion. / Promotion rounds now ensure that adequate account is taken of career breaks in writing and when discussing promotion cases.
NB: All such cases have been successful. / Remain vigilant that career breaks are adequately considered during promotion at the Faculty level and continue to monitor the impact of this policy. / HoD / 1/7/13 – 31/9/13 (next promotion cycle);
Continued annually / Proportion of successful promotion applications and awards do not differ between staff with and without career breaks