Two departments in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) have recently received Bronze Athena Swan awards, in recognition of their commitment to advancing gender equality.

Both History and Educational Research have been successful with their applications, and will now hold the awards until December 2026.

Dr Fiona Edmonds, Reader in History, who led the History Department's application said, “The Athena Swan process has been a catalyst for significant and positive changes in the department. There is more to be done, but in the meantime we are delighted to receive the Bronze award as recognition of our work so far. I would like to thank my predecessor in the role, Professor Naomi Tadmor, and all of the students and staff who have given their time to the self-assessment team.”

Dr Sue Cranmer, Senior Lecturer in Digital Education and Social Justice who led the Educational Research self-assessment team said, “We are delighted that we have been awarded the Bronze award. This is recognition of the self-assessment team’s careful and detailed analysis, and staff and students’ willingness to engage in activities to support the Athena Swan process to advance gender equality in the Department.”

Professor Carolyn Jackson, Associate Dean for Equality, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI) and People in FASS added, “This is excellent news for these two departments and their successes are richly deserved. A huge amount of work goes into securing an Athena Swan award and it demonstrates a real commitment to bring about significant and long-term change. I’m delighted that all nine departments in FASS now have Athena Swan awards; they provide recognition of one important element of our wide-ranging work across the faculty to promote equity.”

The Athena Swan Charter was formed in 2005 to challenge the under-representation and inequalities of women within science at higher education and research levels. In 2015, it was broadened to include the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Business and Law, as well as looking at issues around gender equality more widely.

The Charter has recently undergone a transformation resulting in a new set of revised principles which now include recognising gender as a spectrum, greater focus on the intersectionality of gender with other protected characteristics, and ensuring the efforts of individuals working on Athena Swan and gender equality is recognised and supported.

For more information about Lancaster University’s work on gender equality and the Athena Swan awards, please see Lancaster University’s EDI webpage.