News & Events

April 2015

Athena SWAN Bronze Award

On the 23rd April, the Liverpool’s School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science was one of several schools to be awarded a Bronze ECU Athena SWAN award.  The Athena SWAN Charter and Awards recognise and celebrate commitment to advancing women’s careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine (STEMM) in higher education and research.  The University of Liverpool has been a member of the Athena SWAN charter since 2009 and was awarded an Institutional Bronze Award in 2010, which was renewed in 2014.

This charter was originally launched with the support of Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) and the UKRC (United Kingdom Research Councils) to address the principles of gender inequality, and unequal representation of women in science. The Athena SWAN initiative is supported at the highest levels of the Faculty, with the developments and actions led by senior staff and designed for female members of staff in relation to transparency of information for career progression, appraisal, equal opportunities, networking, mentoring and work-life balance.  The Athena SWAN principles also play a significant part in the Faculty’s contribution to ‘Achieving Institutional Excellence’ (AEI), which is intended to engage staff at all levels in innovating and improving the way the institution functions.

"...Promoting Diversity and Equality is a main driver in EEE&CS, and for STEM subjects like ours, this especially means making our studies attractive to female students, and helping our female staff to further their academic career up to the highest levels. Our Athena Swan action plans will help us achieve those goals..."
Professor Wiebe van der Hoek, Head of School.

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