Athena Swan activity in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
The Faculty of Health and Life Sciences (HLS) began its journey in 2015 when the Leicester School of Pharmacy assembled a team from the School and wider Faculty to tackle gender inequalities using the Athena Swan self-assessment framework and adopting the . The Leicester School of Pharmacy successfully obtained a bronze award in November 2018 making it the first School at 小湿妹视频 to not just submit for an award but to do so successfully. All four schools within the Faculty can now celebrate holding an Athena Swan bronze award. With a dedicated Athena Swan Lead, each Faculty school is supported with making a submission for an award as part of the Faculty’s strategic aim of dismantling barriers and building pathways for all its staff and students.
The Leicester School of Pharmacy
The Leicester School of Pharmacy successfully renewed its Athena Swan bronze award in 2024 becoming the first 小湿妹视频 school to make a successful renewal submission since first achieving its award in 2019. The school has a reinvigorated 5-year action plan to embed, driving forward an agenda to further embed gender equality in the school's culture and operations.
View the School’s 2024 submission and action plan
View the School’s 2018 submission and action plan
Academic Citizenship
The Schools championing of and approach to academic citizenship (AC) is highlighted as an example of good practice. AC as a term embodies a culture of academic community within a school, and responsibility towards a university at large and wider society. Practically speaking activities can include personal tutoring of students, peer reviewing, journal editing, mentoring of colleagues, representation on committees, or supporting a public enquiry, to name a few.
Led by Leisa Nichols-Drew, members of the School Athena Swan team authored the following posters showing the School’s approach to AC:
The Leicester School of Nursing and Midwifery
In 2021 the Leicester School of Nursing and Midwifery became the second Faculty school to achieve an Athena Swan bronze award. Following this success, the school has been working through the 5-year action plan with a particular focus on staff transitioning from clinical practice to academia, and men in nursing.
View the School’s 2021 submission and action plan
Men in nursing cross-sectional study
Daniel Carter and Prof. Kay De Vries led a cross sectional research study on the perceptions of male accessibility to the fields of nursing practice. This study presented views from teaching staff and students at English based nursing schools.
Formalised staff induction programme development
Staff joining a nursing school as an academic member of staff are often new to higher education and therefore can find themselves in an unfamiliar environment. To facilitate a smoother transition from clinical practice to higher education in 2022/23, led by Penny Tremayne, the school developed a formalised induction programme for all new academic staff. The Induction programme is comprised of several aspects including:
- The new staff member has a prepared ‘desk welcome’.
- An academic mentor with a defined role and responsibilities is assigned to the new staff member.
- The new member of staff is requested to prepare one slide about their professional background. This is the circulated schoolwide by way of an initial introduction.
- A timetable of activities and practical workshops aimed at equipping the new staff member with some knowledge and skills to undertake their new role is arranged.
- A monthly facilitated drop-in session is offered also. This is an informal forum where new staff can share experiences and pose questions in a safe and supported environment.
A link to the induction programmes evaluation will be shared once it has been published.
The School of Applied Social Sciences
In January 2022 the School of Applied Social Science achieved an Athena Swan bronze award. Since this successful submission, the School, which is the largest in the Faculty, has been busy implementing actions that foster a whole school culture of togetherness and inclusion. For example:
- Events are organised that bring the whole School together.
- Staff promotion preparation workshops have been introduced with a particular focus on supporting women.
- A buddy system for staff returning from periods of extended leave (e.g. maternity leave) has been developed and introduced.
- KIT day usage is now monitored to ensure staff are well supported to get the most out of these.
View the School’s 2022 submission and action plan
The School of Allied Health Sciences
The School of Allied Health Sciences received a bronze Athena Swan award in August 2023 and is now working through the submissions ambitious action plan to advance gender equality across the School. A key aim for the School is to embed a structured and accountable approach to EDI. This includes the development of a School wide system where EDI good practice is routinely collated and shared throughout the School’s leadership and across all learning and teaching.
View the School’s 2023 submission and action plan
Media, Events and Publications
- Men in Nursing cross-sectional study: . Led by Daniel Carter and Kay De Vries.
- Advance HE blogpost: In a Faculty Athena Swan Lead Daniel Carter provided some reflections on producing an Athena Swan submission, with a particular focus on grasping the opportunity.
- Chemist and Druggist article: Community pharmacy news publication Chemist and Druggist covered the , highlighting the School’s positive representation of women professors, work on academic citizenship, and focus for the next 5 years.
- “Dismantling barriers – Building pathways conference”: This conference took place in November 2020 with a diverse set of speakers from both 小湿妹视频 and external institutions. The conference title succinctly summarises a key ongoing aim that engaging with Athena Swan as a framework facilitates. View the conference agenda
- “Dismantling the Barriers” women in leadership discussion panel from the Leicester School of Pharmacy
- “Gender Inequalities in Health” by Dr Nicola Ward from the Leicester School of Pharmacy
- “Managing imposter syndrome in HE: an individual or a structural problem?” by Professor Nicky Hudson from the School of Applied Social Sciences
- "The Problem with Toxic Masculinity" panel discussion with Ellen Wright, Geoffrey Hughes, Shardia Briscoe-Palmer, and Victoria Knight, chaired by Momodou Sallah
- “Black female academics in HE: Are we closing the gap?” by Professor Bertha Ochieng from the Leicester School of Nursing and Midwifery