Athena SWAN at MDX
Working towards gender equality in higher education
At MDX we believe in the importance of gender equality. We have signed up to the Athena SWAN Charter to strengthen our efforts in this area.
The Athena SWAN Charter recognises and celebrates good practice in higher education and research institutions towards the advancement of gender equality: representation, progression and success for all.
About Athena SWAN
The Athena SWAN Charter was established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) in the higher education sector, spanning both teaching and research. In 2015, the Charter was expanded to recognise work undertaken in non-STEMM subjects, and now includes staff in professional and support roles.
Athena SWAN is managed by AdvanceHE. More information about Athena SWAN can be found on the AdvanceHE website.
Bronze Award application
We have begun our application for institutional Bronze Award status. The Bronze Award recognises a solid foundation for eliminating gender bias and developing an inclusive culture that values all staff. This includes:
- a thorough and robust assessment of gender equality in the institution, including quantitative (staff data) and qualitative (policies, practices, systems and arrangements) evidence, and identifying both challenges and opportunities;
- a plan that builds on this assessment, as well as information on activities that are already in place and what has been learned from these;
- the development of an organisational structure, including a self-assessment team, to carry proposed actions forward.
Self-assessment team
The Athena SWAN self-assessment team (SAT) currently meets once every month. The SAT is working together to identify necessary actions to improve gender equality at MDX, and using data and research to put together a Bronze Award application.
The main focus of the SAT is to:
- Reflect on a range of quantitative and qualitative data to identify both challenges and opportunities with regards to gender equality;
- Evaluate relevant policies, practices and activities;
- Respond to the findings of the above, and establish gender equality-based priority areas with appropriate aspirations and targets;
- Develop an evidence-based, comprehensive action plan to underpin advancement against the agreed priorities over the whole award period (four years), after which time the University will apply to renew or upgrade our award;
- Evaluate the effectiveness of actions undertaken on an ongoing basis, to ensure actions are delivering desired impact against objectives, and evolve the action plan in response to evaluation.
The SAT has representation from a breadth of career stages and staff types, including professional and support staff, research and academic staff, and students. Membership of the SAT is gender-balanced, taking account of intersectionality in its make-up so far as is practicable, and is representative of the diversity inherent within MDX.
MDX staff can meet the SAT on the staff intranet (please note, this page is for MDX staff only and requires a login).
Research activities
Our research activities for Athena SWAN is following four strands:
- Recruitment, promotion, picture of institution, supporting trans people and intersectionality
- Parental leave, care and flexible working
- Training, outreach, staff development, career progression
- Senior level, governance, policy
We will update this area with key findings in due course.
Gender pay reporting
Find out more about MDX's gender pay data on our gender pay policy page.
