Athena Swan Gold
The Department of Psychology at York has held the Athena Swan Gold award continuously since 2019. We emphasise the importance of equal opportunities in participation, advancement, and achievement for everyone. Our aim is to create an environment for work, study, and social exchange that empowers every member of our staff and student body to engage, thrive, and surpass expectations.
The Department is committed to the Athena Swan Charter which focuses on recognising advancement of gender equality. In particular, we recognise the importance of the equal participation of women across the subject.
What is Athena Swan and why is it important?
The Athena Swan Charter provides a robust framework through which higher education institutions, academic schools and professional services directorates can progress gender equality.
The Charter was established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths, and medicine (STEMM) employment. It is now being used across the globe to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women.
In 2020, Advance HE revised and transformed the UK Athena Swan Charter. The Transformed Charter was developed in consultation with sector practitioners; equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) champions; and the charter’s governance committee. The changes are based on the recommendations of an independent review led by the Athena Swan Steering Group.
An Athena Swan application involves undertaking a targeted self-assessment of the institution/academic school/directorate to understand key issues and to identify areas for positive action as well as recognise and share good practice.
Applications cover gendered analysis in academic roles, professional, managerial and support staff roles, students at all levels and overall organisational or local culture. Applications are assessed against set criteria as published by Advance HE.
