Gender equality awards for University of Brighton

The university’s School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Science (PABS) has received a Silver Award from Advance HE’s highly-regarded Swan Charter, which promotes gender equality in the representation, progression and success of staff and students in Higher Education.

The Silver Award was granted in recognition of actions implemented to advance careers of women in science over the past few years.

The School of Applied Social Science, meanwhile, won a Bronze Award for their first submission which was the result of concerted effort from across the school. The schools join the university’s School of Environment and Technology (SET) and Brighton and Sussex Medical School in holding an Athena Swan prize. The awards are valid for four years.

Professor Tara Dean, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, is Chair of the Athena Swan Steering Group and is the university’s Gender Equality Champion.

She said: “I am delighted that two more of our schools have secured Athena Swan recognition. In order to receive the award, schools need to provide evidence through robust self-analysis of how they engage, support and develop staff and students and devise an action plan to help them work towards their goals of gender equality.

“These awards are an endorsement of our commitment to equality in our working practices across our broad subject portfolio. We continue to enhance our policies and practices to promote a culture of equality of opportunity and aspiration among our staff and our current and future students.”

The University of Brighton has held an institutional Athena Swan Bronze Award since 2013 and in 2016 it became one of only a handful of higher education institutions nationally to achieve an institutional award under the new expanded charter which now includes disciplines beyond STEMM.

The new awards will be presented at a ceremony to be in Southampton. Meanwhile, the university is committed to all schools achieving a Bronze Awards by 2020.