Athena SWAN Award for Archaeology and Ancient History

We are pleased to announce that the School of Archaeology and Ancient History (SAAH) has received an Athena SWAN Bronze award in recognition of its commitment to advancing gender equality in higher education. Led by Dr Sarah Scott, the award is valid until 2022.

The Athena SWAN Charter acknowledges work undertaken to advance gender equality and, in May 2015, the Charter was expanded to recognise the work undertaken in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law. This is the second Athena SWAN award for the College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities and the School have set themselves an ambitious action plan to advance gender equality in their area.

Professor Henrietta O’Connor, Head of the College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that SAAH have received this Athena SWAN award. Their success is due to the hard work of the Athena SWAN team and colleagues across the School in addressing issues around gender equality. What is evident is that a real step change has taken place in SAAH and they have successfully embedded practices to ensure that the School is a positive environment for everyone who works there. To have this work recognised is a fantastic outcome for SAAH.”

The University of Leicester signed up to the Athena SWAN Charter in 2006 and first gained its institutional Athena SWAN Bronze award in September 2008, renewed in 2011 and 2014. In 2018, the University of Leicester was awarded an institutional Silver Athena SWAN award, recognising a significant record of activity in addressing gender equality challenges and implementing actions across the institution. The University now holds 13 departmental awards - six departmental Silver and seven Bronze.

For the November 2018 round there were 164 applications, and the success rate was 66%. More information can be found on the Athena SWAN website.