Athena Swan Institutional Self-Assessment Team

Evaluating progress and priorities in gender equality for Lancaster University

Athena Swan Team
LU Staff

The Athena Swan Institutional Self-Assessment Team (ISAT) will undertake a thorough self-assessment to understand challenges and opportunities in relation to gender equality at Lancaster University.

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About us

The Athena Swan Institutional Self-Assessment Team will work at an institutional level to evaluate and identify where the staff and student experience of gender equality can be improved. This will be a robust and consistent approach using quantitative and qualitative data to understand the progress Lancaster University has made and what our future priorities should be.

The team includes staff from academic and Professional Services roles from across the University and with a range of equality characteristics and experiences to bring diverse perspectives. We will take an inclusive approach that engages and collaborates with staff, students, and wider stakeholders including other Charter Marks and University strategic projects.

The Athena Swan Charter

The Athena Swan Charter is a framework which is used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research.

Established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine (STEMM) employment, the Charter is now being used across the globe to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women.

Visit Advance HE to find out more.

What we do

The ISAT work collaboratively with subject matter experts, functional teams and leaders across the University to develop the application, future action plan and priorities.

Analyse

Explore a range of quantitative and qualitative data to identify challenges and opportunities in relation to gender equality.

Evaluate

Review progress and impact of the current Bronze award Action Plan and evaluate institutional policies and practices.

Listen

Listen to understand the lived experiences of staff, including from the staff experience survey and through holding focus groups.

Respond

Develop gender equality-based priority areas and an evidence-base action plan in collaboration with University subject matter experts.

Athena Swan Current Awards

Lancaster University has held an Athena Swan Bronze award for gender equality since 2008, as part of Advance HE's Athena Swan Charter, a higher education programme for the advancement of gender equality. All our science, technology, engineering and mathematics departments and our Faculty of Health and Medicine hold individual Bronze or Silver awards. Since the expansion of the Athena Swan Charter Mark from STEMM subjects to Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Business and Law, all of our departments in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and our Management School hold Athena Swan Bronze Awards.

To learn about our current Institutional Action Plan and Faculty awards visit our pages https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/edi/athena-swan/

Athena Swan Bronze Logo

Latest news

The ISAT held its introductory meeting on Thursday 19 September 2024. Further details can be found here: https://portal.lancaster.ac.uk/intranet/news/article/athena-swan-institutional-self-assessment-team-is-convened

Get involved

To share your experiences or to find out how to get involved, please contact the Athena Swan Team

Athena Swan Team

Contact Us

If you have questions for the Athena Swan Team please do not hesitate to get in touch athenaswan@lancaster.ac.uk