Bournemouth University’s (BU) Department of Design & Engineering has received the Athena SWAN bronze award in recognition of their commitment to working towards gender equality in higher education.
The principles of Athena SWAN relate to gender equality in the areas of representation, progression of students into academia, journey through career milestones, and working environment for staff. The award is given after an internal and external review.
Working with colleagues from across the university, such as Equality and Diversity advisor, Dr James Palfreman-Kay, who acted as a critical friend, along with undergraduate and postgraduate students, the team carried out an internal review and created an action plan which was used as the basis for their Athena SWAN bronze award submission.
Laura Hardy, a representative of the self-assessment team and undergraduate currently studying BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering, said: "Achieving the Athena SWAN bronze award shows that our department appreciates the importance of inclusivity and diversity. This makes me proud to be a part of the engineering department at BU."
Feedback from the Athena SWAN panel commended the department for its work to progress gender equality. Philip Sewell, Professor and Head of Design & Engineering, said: "We are committed to making the Department of Design & Engineering a fully inclusive environment to work and study. This award gives us confidence that the actions we are undertaking will enable us to achieve this aim."
The Department of Design & Engineering are the fifth department within BU to receive the bronze award. The Department of Life & Environmental Sciences, the Department of Media Production, the Department of Psychology and the Department of Archaeology & Anthropology all have bronze award status, whilst BU as an institution also holds an Athena SWAN bronze award.
More information about Athena SWAN can be found on the Advance HE website.
