BU Research Blog

Following achievement of BU’s Department of Design & Engineering  the Athena SWAN bronze award, in recognition of commitment to working towards gender equality in higher education, we would like to share the journey, briefly.

We are very proud that the Athena SWAN  Panel from Advance HE commends the Department for its work to progress gender equality, including the development of an organisational structure to carry this work forward.

Athena SWAN was introduced in May 2019 by two members of the BU SWAN steering group to Design and Engineering Department. The Self-Assessment Team (SAT) leaders were appointed after an open call for expressions of interest by the HoD in October 2019.  A call for SAT membership was made in December 2019. The SAT was formally introduced by the SAT leaders in January 2020, and seven individuals with various backgrounds (academic, professional & support, and students (UG and PGR)) were appointed and contributed to the development of the application.

For the preparation of the application there had been several face to face and virtual Self-Assessment Team meetings and two focus groups conducted virtually to further explore the related topics. There has been a high level of interest from D&E SAT members who are from diverse backgrounds in addressing gender equality within the department during the pandemic. Although the lockdown caused cancellation of some outreach activities, virtual SAT activities enabled everyone to take pride in being part of a community that is contributing to engineering and technology advancements.

During this journey, Dr James Palfreman-Kay, BU Equality and Diversity Advisor, has acted as the advisor of the the teamwork leading to an action plan which was used as the basis for the Athena SWAN bronze award submission.

The Design & Engineering department is committed to a fully inclusive environment to work and study in addressing fusion, Research, Education and Professional Practice. This award gives us confidence that the actions we are undertaking will enable us to achieve this aim.