University of Leicester retains award for commitment to advancing gender equity

The University of Leicester has been recognised for commitment to advancing gender equity across higher education and research with the successful renewal of an institutional Athena Swan Silver award. 

The University is one of a small number of Universities in the UK to successfully renew their Silver award under the transformed Athena Swan Charter process. This new framework builds on and enhances the strengths of the existing Charter with greater flexibility, transparency and support.

The Athena Swan Charter supports universities in addressing gender inequalities and helps foster greater inclusivity for students and staff in all disciplines and roles, irrespective of sex and gender identity. 

Leicester’s Athena Swan application was based on a rigorous self-assessment process that involved a range of staff and students from across the University, who reviewed our progress and achievements and developed a five-year plan detailing how we will address and remove identified barriers to gender equity. 

The Self-Assessment Team was chaired by Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Henrietta O’Connor who said: “We are thrilled to announce the renewal of our Athena Swan Silver Award. This fantastic achievement reflects our ongoing commitment and progress as a university to promote gender equity and create a more inclusive working, learning and research environment. 

“The award is a testament to the hard work and collaboration of our entire community, who together are making collective efforts to advance gender equity in their areas. The Silver renewal process gave us an opportunity to reflect on and review the progress we have made and identify areas of development and priority. 

“There is still more work to be done to achieve gender equity, but I have every confidence that we will make continue to make significant progress as we deliver against our new ambitious action plan over the next five years. 

As we look to the next five years, self-assessment findings have identified the following key priorities: 

• Increasing the representation of women staff in senior academic roles.

• Enhancing provision to raise awareness of gender-based/sexual violence and better support students who experience these behaviours.

• Improving the representation of women students at Undergraduate level in the College of Science and Engineering.

• Enhancing the support provided to staff with caring responsibilities on return from family leave.

• Ensuring fairness and transparency in workload.

• Enabling an effective and safe engagement environment to improve the experiences of trans and non-binary staff and students at the University. 

The award which has been granted by Advance HE is valid until July 2029. It was awarded at the same time as The School of Archaeology and Ancient History had their Athena Swan Bronze Award renewed.

The School’s successful application was supported by a self-assessment team and led by Professor Oliver Harris, Chair of the School’s Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team, who said: 

 “It is enormously gratifying to have our Athena Swan Bronze Certificate renewed. The Covid-19 pandemic presented significant challenges and increased workload for everyone in the School, and this award demonstrates that we have managed to continue to maintain a critical focus on gender equity even in difficult circumstances. 

 "It is also a major achievement for everyone who has worked on EDI issues in the School and testament to the quality of support we have received from the central Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Team. We see this award as a critical recognition of the work we have down and an outstanding foundation to build to an Athena Swan silver award in the future.”  

You can find out more about the University of Leicester’s involvement and commitment to the Athena Swan Charter on our EDI Awards webpages.