The Journey to Silver

Tanja van MourikReader, School of ChemistryChair, Chemistry Athena SWAN TeamDiversity & Equality Officer, Chemistry

Evolved from:• Athena Project• Scientific Women’s Academic Network (SWAN)

Original goal: advancing representation of women in Science, Technology,Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) in HE

May 2015: charter expanded to:• arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law (AHSSBL)• professional and support roles• trans staff and students• gender equality addressed more broadly

Athena SWAN Awards

Future planning. Department is working:• to promote gender equality• identify, and address challenges

Department:• has taken action in response to previously

identified challenges• can demonstrate impact of actions

implemented

• Sustained progression and achievement• Well-established record of activity and

achievement• Complemented by data demonstrating continued

impact• Champion and promote good practice to the

wider community

University of St Andrews

University Award Bronze: 25 April 2013

Chemistry

Silver: 24 Sep 2014

Bronze: 26 Sep 2013

Biology Bronze: 30 Sep 2015

Maths & Stats Bronze: 24 Sep 2014

Medicine Bronze: 30 Sep 2015

Psychology & Neuroscience Bronze: 24 Sep 2014

Juno Practitioner: Jul 2013Physics & Astronomy

SubmittedEarth & Environmental Sciences

Computer Science Submitted

Contents

• The Team (Chemistry’s Self-Assessment Team)

• Timeline (from Bronze to Silver Award)

• Picks of the application

• Chemistry Gender Survey (held in 2013 and 2014)

• Case Studies (required for Silver Sward application)

• Action Plan

The Team

Rosanna Alderson Third-year PhD student. Currently theUniversity’s Interconnect Champion.

Sukhi Bains E&D Officer. Supports the School and theSAT on equality law compliance for staff andstudents. Married with one child.

Ross Blackley Electron Microscopy Technician. Gained aM.Phil. Chemistry from the Universitystudying part-time.

James Gordon Fifth-year MChem student. ChemistrySchool President for 2013-2014.

Fiona Gray Principal Teaching Fellow and Director ofTeaching. Balances family commitmentswith an academic career.

(in alphabetical order)

Iona Hutchison Office Manager and Secretary to the Headof School. Iona and her partner share theschool and childcare duties for their son aswell as the care of a disabled parent.

Neil Keddie Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Postdoctoralrepresentative on the School andPostgraduate Councils. Married with twosons.

Petr Kilian Lecturer. Director of Postgraduate Taughtprogramme and Convenor for PostgraduateResearch programme. Married with twochildren.

Finlay Morrison Reader. Married with two children. Finlayhas benefitted from flexibility of workinghours.

The Team (continued)

Alexandra Slawin Chemical Crystallographer and Professor.Developed a pastoral care scheme initiallyaimed at early-career women but nowextended to all postgraduate students.Married with three children.

Upulani Somisara Postdoctoral Researcher. Married with ason who she had during the second year ofher PhD at the University.

Tanja van Mourik Reader and Team Chair. Married to anothercomputational chemist, who also works atthe University. Active member of theinstitution’s successful SAT.

Derek Woollins Professor and Head of School January 2008– June 2014. Married with three children.

The Team (continued)

Timeline

26 Sept 2013 Athena SWAN Bronze Award

3 Oct 2013 “Equality for Women in Higher Education: Now,Sometime, Never?” by Prof Paul Walton(Chemistry, York) about their successful AthenaSWAN Gold Award experience

21 Feb 2014 –14 Mar 2014

2nd Gender Inclusion Staff Survey

17 Mar 2014 Presentation on “Unconscious bias” by SukhiBains at the Chemistry Staff Council meeting.

5 Apr 2014 Talk on “Women in Crystallography” by RachaelSkyner (PhD student in Chemistry), as part of apublic lecture series celebrating the InternationalYear of Crystallography in St Andrews Museum.

Timeline (continued)

30 Apr 2014 Silver application submitted

14 May 2014 Tanja van Mourik attended a course organised byEquate Scotland entitled “Let’s Talk About Sex:Developing and Supporting Your Female STEMStudents & Staff” .

9 Sep 2014 The first draft of the Women in Science in StAndrews web page, set up up by Tracey Gloster(Biology) and Tanja van Mourik is madeaccessible.

25 Sep 2014 Athena SWAN Silver Award

• Letter by Head of School signed by both outgoing and incoming Head of School=> Shows continued support from School management

Picks of the application

• Table with Highlights of Positive Gender Equality and Athena SWAN Tasks=> Shows continuous gender equality action

• Encouraging senior female postdoctoral researchers to sit onappointment panels for new PDRAs=> Used as “good practice example” in the Award booklet

Strong female presence in the images in the undergraduate recruitment materials

Picks of the application (continued)

Picks of the application (continued)

Comparison with national data:

Gender-inclusive information/guidelines have been included onthe School’s Equality webpage

Picks of the application (continued)

Chemistry Gender Survey

Chemistry Gender Survey (Continued)

Comparison with 2013 survey results

Total survey respondents

2013 results 2014 results

75 52

How would you describe your sex/gender?

2013 results 2014 results

Gender: Count % Count %

Female 28 37.30% 22 42.3%

Male 42 56.00% 25 48.1%

Prefer not to say 5 6.70% 5 9.6%

Chemistry Gender Survey (Continued)

Example question

Gender

3. Can you think of an occasion where you

were treated less favourably due to your

gender in the School or across the University?

Female Male Prefer

not to

say

Grand

Total

Yes 3 1 2 6

No 19 24 3 46

Grand Total 22 25 5 52

Chemistry Gender Survey (Continued)

Free comments

Please advise us on how we can enhance the gender equalityexperience in the School or across the University:

“Develop Athena Swan to Silver”

“Increase provision for male staff to take more time for childcare byallowing flexible working for postdocs”

“Keep working at making women in the School more visible. Ensure goodgender balance in seminars, committees etc. “

“Offer better family support - such as a nursery and kids activities during theholidays. “

Case Studies

Two case studies, one by SAT member, the other by non-SAT member

We also referenced case study that was included in the previous application

“The School of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews has been verysupportive by matching a postdoc position for me in the group of my spouse”

“Although my PhD funding was fixed-term and the formal solution was forme to take an unpaid leave of absence, the School extended the period ofmy PhD and paid for 6 months of maternity leave. “

“The number of academic staff seeking flexible working arrangements isconsistently low. Unofficial arrangements would be put in place foracademic staff seeking to work flexibly for a period of time. The followingis extracted from Andrew Smith’s case study (which was included in lastyear’s application):”

Action Plan

“As requested by the Assessment Panel in the feedbackfor the Bronze award, the Action Plan has become more detailed

with more considerations given to measurement.”

Diversity in PG Recruitment

1. The School of Chemistry’s current recruitment statistics

2. EPRSC-funded Centre for Doctoral Training CRITICAT

3. Chemistry’s take on the CSC-St Andrews Scheme

4. Views from a current PGR student

5. The continuing challenge in Chemistry across the UK

The School of Chemistry’s CurrentRecruitment Statistics

Year of Entry Applications Offers Acceptances Entrants

2013-14 53% 71% 50% 50%

2014-15 38% 40% 0% 0%

Percentage of Female Postgraduate Taught ChemistryApplications, Offers and Acceptances

Year of Entry Applications Offers Acceptances Entrants

2009-10 32% 33% 38% 41%

2010-11 31% 43% 43% 38%

2011-12 28% 20% 20% 24%

2012-13 37% 36% 35% 38%

2013-14 35% 33% 40% 38%2014-15 39% 42% 46% 50%

Percentage of Chemistry Female Postgraduate ResearchApplications, Offers and Acceptances

2015-2016* 52% * process ongoing

The School of Chemistry’s CurrentRecruitment Statistics

Academic Year Female Male Total StudentsPercentage

Female

UK

Averagea

UK Average

RSC datab

Scotland

Average RSC

datab

2009-10 38 63 101 38% 40% 39% 40%

2010-11 50 85 135 37% 40% 41% 47%

2011-12 47 102 149 31% 39% 41% 36%

2012-13 48 97 145 33% 40%

2013-14 49 92 141 35% 40%

2014-15 55 85 139 39%

Number of Postgraduate Research Students in Chemistry by Gender

a RSC data From the Royal Society of Chemistry’s “Statistics of Chemistry Education”(http://www.rsc.org/education/statistics/). The numbers are for doctorate students.b National Average data comes from HESA. National data is only available from 2009-10 to2011-12

EPSRC CDT – Criticathttp://www.criticat.org/index.php

Prof. Andrew Smith

Criticat Director

2015-2016First RoundTotal applications = 38 (Female = 15, Male = 23)Shortlisted candidates = 22 (Female = 12, Male = 10)Successful applicants offered position = 16 (Female = 10, Male = 6)Successful applicants accepting position = 12 (Female = 7, Male = 5)

Second RoundTotal applications = 15 (Female = 8, Male = 7)Shortlisted candidates = 6 (Female = 3, Male = 3)Successful applicants offered position = 3 (Female = 1, Male = 2)Successful applicants accepting position = 3 (Female = 1, Male = 2)

2016-2017First RoundTotal applications = 51 (Female = 18, Male = 33)Shortlisted candidates = 25 (Female = 10, Male = 15)Successful applicants offered position = 19 (Female = 8, Male = 11)Successful applicants accepting position = 16 (Female = 7, Male = 9)

Percentage of Female Students on Criticat Programme = 48%

Dr Kevin Jones

Criticat Guru

CSC-St Andrews Scheme – Chemistry

For September 2016 entryTotal applications = 31 (Female = 15, Male = 16)Shortlisted candidates based on academic quality = 21 (Female = 11, Male = 10)Successful applicants offered position = 14 (Female = 8, Male = 6)Successful applicants current status = 6 (Female = 3, Male = 3)

Percentage of Female Students (hopefully) on CSC-St Andrews Programme = 50%

Views From a Current Researcher – Chemistry

Dr Amanda JarvisCurrent PDRA inChemistry

At Postgrad level:PGA committee with postgraduate reps from different areas ofchemistry, including one who sits of the university wide forum. Minutesfrom these meetings are freely available on the chemistry website.

A female PhD or Postdoc speaks about their experience in PhD/year inindustry at the Undergraduate industrial day for 3rd-final years lookingeither at industrial placements or moving forward with their degree.

Active ChemSoc committee which organises events for bothundergraduate and postgraduates (from what I have heard I believe thequiz nights are well attended).

At postdoc level:Postdoc representative sits on School Council, PGA committee andAthena Swan. Introducing summaries of these meeting which aredistributed to the postdoc community has been appreciated by thecommunity and made some of the workings of the School a bit moretransparent.Introduction of postdoc coffee mornings once a month to allownetworking and welcoming of new postdocs.

The Continuing Challenge in Chemistryhttp://www.rsc.org/awards-funding/awards