Through Athena SWAN, NHLI aims to promote equality for all in the workplace by providing support, training and networking events
Athena SWAN
The Department's Athena SWAN Silver Award was renewed in 2021.
We are working hard to ensure that NHLI provides a supportive and inclusive working environment, where we are committed to equality of opportunity and in which diversity is valued. We want all our staff and students to be treated with dignity and respect and to be able to work or study without being subjected to inappropriate/unacceptable behaviour or discrimination.
Reviewing and developing our procedures and activities is an ongoing process and we and use the Athena SWAN programme and action plan as a means of determining areas for concern, implementing actions and assessing their impact.
The Athena SWAN Charter and Awards enable organisations to demonstrate their commitment to, and progress on, equality and diversity by recognising advancement of gender equality, representation, progression and success for all. We currently hold an Athena SWAN silver award and are committed to continuous improvement (for more information please see our Athena SWAN webpage).
Key NHLI Athena Swan achievements:
- Increase in female non-clinical academic staff at Lecturer, Reader and Professor levels.
- Our new NHLI Fellowship scheme, with 50% of these awarded to women, including several returning from career breaks and a Wellcome re-entry Fellowship.
- Support of our female clinical academic cardiologists with a new and extremely vibrant Women in Cardiology Network.
- Male staff taking shared parental leave and obtaining Elsie Widdowson Fellowships to support their return to work.
- Decrease in the number of female academic and research staff reporting bullying and harassment (from 21% in 2017 to 5% in 2019).
Our Equality and Diversity priority areas:
- Improve the gender balance in new academic appointments
- Increase the number of staff and students nominated for internal and external awards
- All staff to undertake unconscious bias and active bystander training
- All managers and leadership to undertake management and leadership training and bullying and harassment training
- More staff connecting with a mentor and become trained mentors themselves
- Continue the fortnightly Research and Culture online Seminars
- To identify work practices developed during lockdown that staff would like to retain beyond lockdown
- To continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on staff and students wellbeing
