12 schools within University College Dublin (UCD) have now received Athena SWAN Bronze awards for their commitment to gender equality.
The UCD School of Medicine, School of Biology and Environmental Science, and College of Engineering and Architecture (made up of a further six Schools) have achieved recognition together with four previous UCD schools that achieved the awards in Spring 2019.
These awards were made on the basis of a gender equality action plan that describes how the schools involved will drive gender equality for their faculty, staff and students.
The schools encompass around 1,350 faculty and staff, and almost 10,000 students.
UCD said examples of steps these schools are taking to create an inclusive culture include:
• A minimum of 40% representation of women on interview boards and committees
• Gender-proofing workload distribution models to ensure work is transparently and equitably allocated
• Developing female talent via the Aurora mentorship programme
• Outreach to secondary schools to increase participation of the underrepresented gender in their subject.
Chair of UCD’s Gender Equality Action Group, Orla Feely said: “I am delighted to congratulate the Schools that have achieved this success on the basis of their commitment to delivering gender equality, encouraging greater female participation in STEM and ultimately making UCD a more inclusive place to work and study for everyone.”
A further nine schools and one college in UCD are progressing further Athena SWAN applications.
