Athena SWAN submission

The Department of Materials has held an Athena SWAN Silver Award since 2010 in recognition of its work to promote gender equality. 

Full details of our work are available in our Department of Materials Athena SWAN Gold Award submission 2017

Key points from our 2023 submission:

Key points from our 2023 submission:

      Undergraduate programme

• Increased gender balance in undergraduate programmes with over 30% women in cohorts for the past two years.
• Findings of no significant differences in gender achievement and degree classification at the end of our undergraduate degree.
  

      PhD programme

• Improved supervisor and PhD student experience by introducing two supervisors per student at Imperial. PhD students are also supported by a full-time qualified PGR administrator and the PGR Director also continues as a neutral point of contact. 80% of PGR students are satisfied with supervision.
• Provided bursary extensions and increased hardship funds during the pandemic.
• Introduced PhD representation to the Equality, Diversity, and Culture Committee.

  Staff

• Embedded Athena principles from day one by arranging meetings with Athena SAT committee members for new staff and introducing the departmental culture and code of conduct.
• Increased academic appointments with 42% (3/7) of new appointments and 3/4 fellowships awarded to women.
• Improved consistency and fairness in the promotion process through self-nomination and a new process for reluctant candidates.
• Supported junior staff through mentorship, proposal support, and access to a professional proposal writing coach for early career academics.
• Provided routine fellowship and large-grant mock interview panels.
• Strengthened PRDP appraisals with improved culture and oversight by the Resource Operations Manager.
• Increased uptake of the Carers Fund.
• Achieved 100% paternity leave uptake among eligible staff.
• Enabled multiple staff to take shared parental leave.
  
  Policy
• Formalised policies (2019-2022) in policy documents, reviewed by the DSC, and made available via SharePoint (except flexible working policy, which will align with Imperial’s new post-COVID system under HR development).
• New mechanism for confidential complaints and concerns: ‘Report and Support Tool’. Implemented centrally with heavy promotion from the Faculty of Engineering and Department.
  
  Training
  
• Incorporated staff bias training in the EDI module of 'Imperial Expectations.'
• Raised awareness of training courses, achieving a 50% uptake among all staff.
  
  Outreach 
• Establishment of a National Network entitled Discover Materials, with partners IOM3 and Henry Royce Institute.
  
  Communications and events
• Launched the flagship Bauermann lecture in 2016 with intentional speaker diversity (3/6 speakers have been women since the launch of the lecture).
• Ensured equal gender representation on the website, in testimonials, and in literature.
• Hosted celebratory events for Women at Imperial Week and International Women’s Day.