Oxford recognised with Silver Athena Swan award
Oxford University has been awarded an institutional Silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our collective and continued efforts to advance gender equality across the University
A Silver Athena Swan award recognises that a University has demonstrated progress against its previous five-year action plan and has been successful in addressing gender inequalities in at least two priority areas. Oxford’s successes include:
- Sustained progress in addressing the gender gap in academic roles, with female staff comprising 27% of all professors (up from 18% in 2012) and 20% of Statutory Professors (up from 11% in 2012).
- Introducing a suite of measures to support parents and carers, including Day 1 entitlement to paid family leave in 2020;
- A huge leap in the number of departments/faculties with Athena Swan awards over the last ten years, from 7 awards in 2012 to 42 awards (21 Silver and 21 Bronze).
Vice-Chancellor Irene Tracey shared her delight at hearing the news, “This is a fabulous achievement and a terrific outcome for the entire collegiate University. Congratulations to everyone involved. It is a real testament to all the work undertaken by many staff across the University, both centrally and at divisional and departmental levels. I could not be more thrilled.”
Anne Trefethen, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for People and Digital, who sponsored the application said, “This is a fantastic achievement and I’d like to thank everyone who worked so hard to contribute to this Silver award, including the Equality and Diversity Unit for their work in developing the application and all colleagues across the University who have, through their actions, made this award possible.
Tim Soutphommasane, Chief Diversity Officer, also welcomes the news adding, “This Silver Award demonstrates the passion and perseverance of colleagues who have worked for gender equality. There is still more to do, but we have the momentum and the plan to drive further progress.”
The application was led by the University’s central Equality and Diversity Unit (EDU) which also coordinates the Race equality charter application. A number of objectives for these charters are aligned so that actions will be undertaken in partnership towards both action plans.
Visit our Athena Swan webpage to find out more about Oxford University’s Athena Swan plans for the next 5 years.
