Athena SWAN Research Articles

Navigating unChartered waters: anchoring Athena SWAN into Irish HEIs

ABSTRACT The UK Athena SWAN (AS) Charter was extended to Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in 2015 to provide a catalyst for change towards gender equality and to transform institutional cultures, through AS Gender Action Plans. This paper charts: the journey of Athena SWAN to Ireland; its rate of adoption by Irish HEIs; and its impact on the sector. Drawing upon the perspective and contribution of Trinity College Dublin, as an institutional case study accelerator, the paper examines some prevailing critiques of the Athena SWAN Charter and demonstrates how some of these shortfalls have been overcome in the Irish HEI sector, most notably through linking Athena SWAN awards to sectoral and research funding.

Male allyship in institutional STEMM gender equity initiatives.

This article examines men’s involvement in an institutional gender equity award scheme and how their self-concept as allies develops over time. It draws specifically on a subset of qualitative data from the four men participating in a study involving in-depth interviews with university staff involved in the self-assessment team of one Australian institution’s Science in Australia Gender Equality (SAGE) Athena SWAN pilot. Data related to the men’s experiences is the article’s focus. Key themes from the data include: 1) men’s motivations for engagement; 2) men’s self-understandings as ‘champions for change’ 3) the barriers/risks associated with male championship; and 4) men’s evolving perceptions and critiques of the male champions model. Findings show that men demonstrated personal growth and increased awareness through their participation in the pilot. Yet, their frustration with how equity and diversity was managed in their organisational context highlights pitfalls in the concept of a male ‘champion’. This article provides timely guidance for institutions seeking to engage allies in gender equity initiatives.

Not Simply ‘Counting Heads’: A Gender Diversity Index for the Team Level

This article proposes a new composite measure of gender diversity for research teams that goes beyond simply ‘counting heads’. This measure adopts a more elaborated understanding of gender diversity than merely relying on the proportion of women and men, by taking into account the outcomes of gendered processes along seven grounds of diversity (age, care responsibilities, marital status, education, tenure, seniority, contractual position). Rather than focus on the individuals or the organisations, this measure is computed at the level of teams. This is because teams constitute a unit of analysis highly relevant to the context of higher education research but are often neglected. Illustrations of the results for STEM research teams are provided to show the potential uses of the Gender Diversity Index as a diagnostic tool (e.g. in certification schemes such as Athena SWAN in the UK and elsewhere), or to measure and report on the progress of gender change within higher education institutions.

Promoting gender equality and structural change in academia through gender equality plans: Harmonising EU and national initiatives

Gender equality has been actively promoted in EU academic institutions by the European Commission’s Science with and for Society (SwafS) programme through the implementation of gender equality plans (GEP). GEP formulation and implementation was strongly influenced by involvement in EU projects in Irish as well as Italian higher education institutions. The paper draws upon experience of the EU project SAGE (H2020), in which Irish and Italian universities actively cooperated, the Athena SWAN Charter in Ireland, Positive Action Plans (PAP) in Italy, and semi structured interviews with gender experts in Irish and Italian higher education institutions to explore the degree to which participation in EU and national initiatives can promote similar outcomes by the adoption of positive actions. The paper concludes that a harmonised strategy, focusing on common priorities and respecting cultural, political and social diversity, could promote the internationalization of the higher education sector and accelerate the process towards gender equality in academia.

Developing a theoretical framework for exploring the institutional responses to the Athena SWAN Charter in higher education institutions—A feminist institutionalist perspective

Why does the institutional response of higher education institutions to a ‘potentially institutionally transformative’ gender equality programme such as the Athena SWAN (AS) Charter matter? If a higher education institution seeks and attains the AS award, then the institutional response would be to embed the Charter’s action plans thoroughly without resistance or variation across higher education institutional contexts? These are the initial and broader reflective questions underpinning and inspiring this article. The reality is that the Athena SWAN Charter actions and commitments are not simply installed into the technical rules and procedures of higher education institutions, resulting in the organisational and cultural change it seeks. It is argued in this article that applying a feminist institutionalist lens, which deals with the exchange between formal and informal rules, norms and practices, and the roles played by actors working with the rules – the micro-foundations of gendered institutions – will inform our understanding of how a change programme such as Athena SWAN can instil institutional change- if any change. This article details a theoretical framework, drawing from the FI perspective, which will be applied to an empirical study exploring the institutional responses of higher education institutions to the Athena SWAN process in Ireland.

Gender Inequalities and Academic Journal Publishing: The View from the Journal of American Studies

This virtual special issue is the outcome of a project entitled Women and JAS, which was launched by the coeditors of the Journal of American Studies in October 2019 to document the involvement of women in the journal's day-to-day business from its inception in 1956 as the Bulletin of the British Association for American Studies. The project arises out of – and will hopefully contribute to – larger conversations about the progression of women scholars in academia. While the UK and US higher-education contexts (the contexts most pertinent to this discussion) differ, there are notable similarities in terms of the relationship between gender and career advancement. Both witness attrition of women from academia as they progress from undergraduate studies to PhD and beyond; both see disproportionate numbers of women scholars employed in precarious, part-time and/or teaching-only roles; both see a very low proportion of women in senior professorial roles; fewer women in both locations apply for (and are, therefore, awarded) major grants. In the UK, specifically, recent conversations around gender inequality in higher education have revolved around issues (and initiatives) such as the gender pay gap, Athena SWAN, sexual harassment and the effects of nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), caring responsibilities and affective labour.

Narratives of academic staff involvement in Athena SWAN and race equality charter marks in UK higher education institutions

ABSTRACT In line with other national higher education systems, the UK has, since 2005, taken a formalised approach to improving gender equality in academia in the form of the Athena SWAN charter mark; in 2016, an additional charter mark focusing on race equality (the REC) was introduced. This article, based on data from a multi-site case study exploring the experiences of those in UK higher education who are working on the charter marks, looks at how academic staff become involved in this work. Using a narrative analysis based on the conceptual tools of policy enactment, the article sets out a typology of trajectories of academic involvement in charter mark work. This focus on how academic staff become involved in work on charter marks as policy translators is set alongside a chronological account of the development of the charter mark awards in the UK higher education sector. Through locating staff trajectories in their particular context, we are able to ask questions of how work that seeks to address serious and enduring inequalities in academia is currently allocated and implemented, and with what kinds of expertise.

What are the barriers and facilitators to success for female academics in UK HEIs? A narrative review

ABSTRACT Gender inequality prevails in academia; there is currently no review on the barriers and facilitators to success for female academics in UK Higher Education. We conducted a systematic search identifying 32 papers addressing this issue. Narrative review revealed six themes: networks (prohibiting the inclusion of women), home-work balance (where women are expected to make a binary decision between the two), everyday sexism (leading to compromised psychological wellbeing and reduced likelihood of application for career advancement), inclusion/hierarchy/power structure (the assignment of less valued roles), intersectionality, and facilitators (supportive partner and Athena SWAN). The manifest, overarching narrative was of continued biases, barriers, double-standards, and unsupportive work environments. Law and resulting institutional policy should, but does not appear to, address identified barriers; consideration should be given to processes employed to implement and culturally embed these. Findings suggest we must challenge institutional norms, attitudes and expectations through facilitating accessible networks, consciousness raising and mentorship.

A Personal Perspective: Is Bullying Still a Problem in Medicine?

Bullying of whatever form should have no place in the Medical Profession. Reforms to junior doctor training and reduction in working hours have helped to control most of the individual bullying which may have existed in the past. However, the complexities of institutional bullying still exist. In the United Kingdom, centralised monitoring systems, such as Athena SWAN, are designed to reward academic and medical institutions for positive steps to introduce equality and mitigate bullying. However, the reality is that such processes may be conducted in healthcare or educational establishments that have little intention to address the problem thoroughly. We report the personal experience of both individual and institutional bullying in the medical career of a medically-qualified interviewee and reflect on ways to mitigate the problem. We also consider whether unconscious bias affects our relationships with patients. In a caring medical profession, there should be no room for intolerance, unconscious bias or bullying.

Women in economics: a UK perspective

Abstract The status of women in economics in the US has come increasingly under the spotlight. We exploit high-quality administrative data to paint the first comprehensive picture of the status of women in UK academic economics departments in research-intensive universities. Our evidence indicates that, as in the US, women in economics are under-represented and are paid less than men. The issues facing women in economics in the UK are similar to other disciplines, particularly STEM, but have received less national policy attention to date. We conclude with a discussion of interventions that might improve the status of women in academia and we present new evidence that a UK academic diversity programme (Athena SWAN) has narrowed the gender pay gap at a senior level.

Multi-Level State Interventions and Gender Equality in Higher Education Institutions: The Irish Case

Much of the work on gender equality in higher educational institutions (HEIs) has concentrated on the organizational level. The original contribution of this article lies in its focus on state policy developments and interventions. We focus on Ireland as a specific national context, highlighting multi-level state interventions and looking at their impact on HEIs. Using secondary data analysis (including documentary analysis) and focusing particularly on the period since 2014, state initiatives to tackle the problem of gender inequality from various angles are outlined. They include the introduction of Athena SWAN; the Expert Group Review; the Gender Equality Taskforce; the Senior Academic Leadership Initiative; research funding agency initiatives and those around sexual harassment. In evaluating their impact, we look at the gender pay gap, the gender profile of the professoriate and senior management as well as other indicators of cultural change in HEIs. The article concludes that the best possibility of leveraging change arises when it is driven at the state (macro); the HEI (meso) and the situational (micro) level simultaneously, by gender competent leaders willing to tackle the historically male dominated, masculinist criteria, procedures, processes and micropolitical practices that are “normalized” in HEIs.

Narrowing the gap in careers in clinical research and academia for healthcare professionals

Differential attainment (DA) exists in research and academia, where individuals with protected characteristics face barriers to progression at different stages from selection in training or career pathways through to obtaining funding and getting research published. The causes of DA are multifactorial, however, more barriers are associated with an individual’s gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability or other social and economic factors rather than academic factors related to research. DA is seen across medicine and healthcare therefore it is likely a manifestation of wider inequalities experienced by these individuals within a society. This scoping review takes a first step at exploring DA through the lens of equality, diversity and inclusion in research and academia, specific to healthcare professionals in medicine, in the UK. Given the paucity of published data, benchmarking and investigation of the causes of DA and access in this area, this review seeks to identify what published reports exploring this issue reveal. There has been mixed success in the area of gender equality with the Athena Swan benchmarking exercise; however differences in outcomes exist within gender when other protected characteristics, such as ethnicity, are also explored. The DA observed among women despite the Athena Swan programme demonstrates other factors such as allyship, apprenticeship, sponsorship and mentoring which may be accessible to some individuals, but not others. Furthermore, ethnicity appears to be a barrier to accessing this form of support, and non-Black and minority ethnic women appear to be more privileged to receiving this type of support. Without more research into the lived experiences of individuals from non-traditional backgrounds at the micro-level, as well as data across the career progression pathway overtime at the macro-level, the problem of DA is unlikely to improve. If anything, lack of openness and transparency around such data at an organisational level, may exacerbate the sense of injustice within research and academia among individuals with protected characteristics, especially given that the perceived sense of DA is very real for them. The purpose of this paper is to start the conversation with stakeholders within research and academia, about DA and commence the process of reducing the gap using equality, diversity and inclusion as fundamental concepts for achieving a level playing field for all. This type of accountability is essential for developing trust and in the system. Such open conversations need to happen across every organisation, that is a stakeholder of research and academia in the UK.

Acknowledging complexity in evaluation of gender equality interventions.

Acknowledging complexity in evaluation of gender equality interventions.

Gendering knowledge in tourism: gender (in)equality initiatives in the tourism academy

The tourism academy is a key site through which gender is produced, reproduced and, potentially, challenged. In this paper, we draw on Acker’s (1990) concept of gendered organisations to present a case study of a tourism department preparing to apply for an international gender equality charter-accreditation, Athena SWAN. Ketso was used as a method to try to stimulate active involvement of all staff members and breakdown traditional hierarchies within the team, and to encourage honest discussion about gender and inequality in this context. This was only partially successful, however, and we discuss how explicit focus on gender (in)equality through this process both enabled discussion of usually ignored topics and revealed entrenched gender power dynamics and structural and institutional barriers to reform. The paper illustrates both the possibilities of gender equality initiatives like Athena SWAN to highlight many of the gendered practices of tourism academia and the limitations they hold for overcoming deep-rooted gender inequality.

Athena SWAN 2020 - Countdown to Silver

I began working as the NDS Athena SWAN Coordinator in September 2019, a little over a year before our next Athena SWAN submission was due. As we enter the new year, I thought I’d take the opportunity to give an update on our priorities as we look ahead to November.

An exploration of perceptions of gender equity among SAGE Athena SWAN self-assessment team members in a regional Australian university

ABSTRACT Gender inequality in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) is well documented internationally. The Athena SWAN (AS) Charter was launched in the UK in 2005 to provide an impetus for positive cultural and structural changes to advance gender equality in UK universities. The Australian pilot of the AS Charter began in 2015 and is overseen by the Australian Academy of Sciences. Despite extensive engagement with AS over the last 15 years in the UK and more recently in Australia, qualitative research on the awards application process and its impact on AS Self-Assessment Team (SAT) members is limited. To fill this knowledge gap, we undertook a qualitative interview study examining how gender and gender equity are operationalised and understood by SAT members in the first year of an AS pilot at a regional Australian university. Findings indicate key gender differences in SAT members’ motivations for AS participation which, we argue, potentially translates into unequal gendered workload distributions on the SAT. Although AS is positioned as a key mechanism for addressing inequality in STEMM broadly, this study suggests that the initiative’s impacts in Australia risk being undermined by its unintentional reproduction of gender inequality in the academic workforce.

Why is it so difficult to reduce gender inequality in male-dominated higher educational organizations? A feminist institutional perspective

ABSTRACT Using a Feminist Institutional perspective, and drawing on a wide range of evidence in different institutions and countries, this article identifies the specific aspects of the structure and culture of male-dominated higher educational organizations that perpetuate gender inequality. Gender inequality refers to the differential evaluation of women and men, and of areas of predominantly female and predominantly male employment. It is reflected at a structural level in the under-representation of women in senior positions and at a cultural level in the legitimacy of a wide range of practices to value men and to facilitate their access to such positions and to undervalue women and to inhibit their access. It shows that even potentially transformative institutional interventions such as Athena SWAN have had little success in reducing gender inequality. It highlights the need to recognize the part played by the ‘normal’ structures and culture in perpetuating gender inequality.

Understanding the Athena SWAN award scheme for gender equality as a complex social intervention in a complex system: analysis of Silver award action plans in a comparative European perspective

BackgroundGiven the complex mix of structural, cultural and institutional factors that produce barriers for women in science, an equally complex intervention is required to understand and address them. The Athena SWAN Award Scheme for Gender Equality has become a widespread means to address barriers for women’s advancement and leadership in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, the United States of America and Canada, while the European Commission is exploring the introduction of a similar award scheme across Europe.MethodsThis study analyses the design and implementation of 16 departmental Athena SWAN Silver Action Plans in Medical Sciences at one of the world’s leading universities in Oxford, United Kingdom. Data pertaining to the design and implementation of gender equality interventions were extracted from the action plans, analysed thematically, coded using categories from the 2015 Athena SWAN Charter Awards Handbook and synthesised against a typology of gender equality interventions in the European Research Area. The results were further analysed against the complexity research literature framework, where research organisations are perceived as dynamic systems that adapt, interact and co-evolve with other systems.ResultsAthena SWAN is a complex contextually embedded system of action planning within the context of universities. It depends on a multitude of contextual variables that relate in complex, non-linear ways and dynamically adapt to constantly moving targets and new emergent conditions. Athena SWAN Silver Action Plans conform to the key considerations of complexity – (1) multiple actions and areas of intervention with a focus on the complex system being embedded in local dynamics, (2) the non-linearity of interventions and the constantly emerging conditions, and (3) impact in terms of contribution to change, improved conditions to foster change and the increased probability that change can occur.ConclusionsTo enact effective sustainable structural and cultural change for gender equality, it is necessary to acknowledge and operationalise complexity as a frame of reference. Athena SWAN is the single most comprehensive and systemic gender equality scheme in Europe. It can be further strengthened by promoting the integration of sex and gender analysis in research and education. Gender equality policies in the wider European Research Area can benefit from exploring Athena SWAN’s contextually embedded systemic approach to dynamic action planning and inclusive focus on all genders and categories of staff and students.

What role can Athena SWAN play in gender equality and science communication?

This essay discusses how gender-focused culture change initiatives developed for science (like Athena SWAN) might offer models for science communication. Such initiatives can seek to mobilise change amongst university departments and practices, but there are also potential pitfalls in such approaches. Using experiences in a department at UWE Bristol as a basis, the article will consider whether such schemes in science offer potential for science communication to reflect on its own gender imbalances.

Competing inequalities: gender versus race in higher education institutions in the UK

ABSTRACT This article explores findings from two projects that explore the impacts and institutional experiences of the Athena SWAN (ASC) and Race Equality (REC) Charter Marks in UK universities. The article offers an important, timely and original insight into the ways that these two charter marks are shaping and influencing practice in universities. We argue that in higher education policymaking, there has been a privileging of gender over race in terms of addressing inequalities in higher education. Whilst acknowledging the persistence of inequalities in both groups, the data from our projects highlight a significant risk that gender and race inequalities become conflated in current equalities work. We argue that as a consequence of a logic of efficiency that drives Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to combine gender and race equalities work, and the privileging within this combination of gender, HEIs can publicly work towards equality and inclusion in general terms, without having to confront uncomfortable and deeply embedded practices that perpetuate White privilege in the academy.