Report on the Athena SWAN survey. March-April 2017

Transcription

1 Report on the Athena SWAN survey March-April 2017

2 Acknowledgement The Board would like to thank Dr Sue Sherman for conducting the survey and producing this report on its behalf. The British Psychological Society 2018 The British Psychological Society St Andrews House, 48 Princess Road East, Leicester LE1 7DR, UK Telephone Facsimile Website Incorporated by Royal Charter Registered Charity No If you have problems reading this document and would like it in a different format, please contact us with your specific requirements. Tel: ; P4P@bps.org.uk.

3 Contents 1. Executive summary... 2 Insights from survey... 2 Concluding comments Introduction Insights from survey... 5 Good practice relating to teaching practice (N=12)... 5 Good practice relating to research (N=12)... 6 Good practice relating to administration (N=12)... 7 Good practice relating to transgender issues (N=10)... 8 Good practice relating to intersectionality (N=10)... 8 Other examples of good practice (N=10)... 9 Issues and barriers (N=14) How can the BPS help? (N=8) Concluding comments... 12

4 1. Executive summary Introduction: The Research Board, in collaboration with the Social Justice and Inclusion Task Force, conducted a survey of Psychology Schools/departments across the UK regarding Athena SWAN. The survey was launched on International Women s Day, 8 March 2017 and ran for five weeks, closing on 10 April There were 16 responses, representing a response rate of approximately 14 per cent based on 116 Psychology schools and departments across the UK. 60 per cent of respondents were from Schools/departments with an existing Athena SWAN award (53.3 per cent Bronze, 6.7 per cent Silver). 87 per cent of respondents are from Schools/departments with an Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team (SAT) and five respondents from Schools/departments without an award are either working towards an award or awaiting the outcome of a recent application. Insights from survey Good practice relating to teaching practice (N=12): Five main themes emerged for the good teaching practice identified: balanced gender visibility and representation; actions around timetabling; equitable workload allocation; actions to address male undergraduate recruitment and achievement; ongoing consultation and data monitoring. Good practice relating to research (N=12): Five main themes emerged for the good research practice identified: maternity/parental leave; mentoring; financial support; work-life balance; identifying barriers and opportunities. Good practice relating to administration (N=12): Five main themes emerged for the good administration practice identified: Reviewing committee membership; supporting professional support staff; use of workload model to ensure teaching and administrative task equity; role of Equality and Diversity Committees; clarifying role requirements for teaching and administrative tasks. Good practice relating to transgender issues (N=10): gender-neutral toilet, a psychology rainbow flag for raising above the building during Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) week; revising guidelines for conducting research to ensure they are inclusive; staff and student survey to identify issues; developing webpages to include positive statements for all demographics including transgender individuals. Good practice relating to intersectionality (N=9): Appointment of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex+ (LGBTQI+) and parents/carer champions; hosting a School Diversity lunch with a further diversity poster session and lunch planned; looking at recruitment processes; promoting greater visibility of role models on the website and promotional materials; essential criteria would be reviewed to identify equivalents where appropriate. Other examples of good practice (N=10): These fell into the following themes: Equality & Diversity (E&D) specific actions; family friendly actions; attracting undergraduate students; supporting postgraduate students; female role models; exit interviews; mentoring; surveys and evaluation; promotions. 2 Report on the Athena SWAN survey

5 Issues and barriers (N=14): Support provided by Universities, Schools and Departments ranged from nothing at all, to funding, workload allocation and dedicated administrative support. Five main themes emerged from the responses: data/survey issues; workload issues/staff shortfall; lack of female staff/promotion of female staff; how Athena SWAN is perceived in relation to psychology; the Athena SWAN process itself. How can the BPS help? (N=8): Two key issues for psychology: the first is the lack of senior female academics; the second is the lack of male undergraduates. 1) Increasing male undergraduate intake: Increasing male UG uptake needs national approach; lobby for changes to pre-tertiary syllabus; long term implications of low male UG intake; survey of how psychology is viewed by school students. 2) Increasing senior female academic numbers: Provide guidance over gender-blind recruitment; concern that tackling issue of male UGs may impact negatively on female academic numbers. 3) Other suggestions: Assistance with providing standardised data for the discipline; further training and workshops would be welcomed as long as duplication was avoided. Concluding comments Despite the disappointing response rate to the survey, examples of good practice have been identified which can be shared, particularly among those Schools/departments who have yet to apply for an Athena SWAN award. Issues and barriers identified are likely to be experienced by many Schools/departments. The BPS could work with existing psychology networks around Athena SWAN and diversity to promote the sharing of good practice, furthermore there is an important role for the BPS to play in promoting psychology at pre-tertiary level through its Standing Committee for Pre-tertiary Education. March April

6 2. Introduction The Research Board, in collaboration with the Social Justice and Inclusion Task Force, is interested in exploring ways in which good practice related to gender can be disseminated across the Psychology discipline and how the Athena SWAN agenda can be promoted and supported by the BPS. To facilitate this, we conducted a survey which we launched on International Women s Day, 8 March 2017, asking a representative from each School/Department of Psychology across the UK with awareness of these issues in their School/Department to complete the survey. The survey ran for five weeks, closing on 10 April There were 16 responses, representing a response rate of approximately 14 per cent based on 116 Psychology schools and departments across the UK. 87 per cent of respondents were from Universities with an existing Athena SWAN award (73.3 per cent Bronze, 13.3 per cent Silver). 60 per cent of respondents were from Schools/ departments with an existing Athena SWAN award (53.3 per cent Bronze, 6.7 per cent Silver). 87 per cent of respondents are from Schools/departments with an Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team (SAT) and five respondents are from Schools/departments without an award are either working towards an award or awaiting the outcome of a recent application. 4 Report on the Athena SWAN survey

7 3. Insights from survey Respondents were asked to provide examples of good practice relating to various aspects of working life. They were then asked about any issues or barriers they faced related to Athena SWAN and then any ways in which they felt the BPS might be able to support Athena SWAN. Responses are summarised below, with specific examples given, or themes where appropriate illustrated by indicative quotes. Good practice relating to teaching practice (N=12) Five main themes and some additional individual actions were identified. Balanced gender visibility and representation. Most of the actions involved making female academics more visible or equally represented on teaching teams and teaching committees: For modules/classes that showcase research conducted in the department, we do our best to include a balanced number of male and female lecturers. Increase female professor visibility teaching on our largest 1st year UG course. Some also had actions to target students: Mix up men and women in tutorial groups ; Take steps to ensure representation of staff and students of both genders on the website. Timetabling Actions were identified relating to timetabling that were intended to facilitate flexible working, such as taking caring responsibilities into account when accommodating timetable requests and holding teaching related meetings during core hours. Workload allocation Comments referred to reduced teaching and administrative workload allocation for probationary staff and equitable allocation of teaching load across staff. Teaching load is distributed among staff proportionately with FTE work time. A work allocation model is used, that incorporates estimated hours attributable to teaching contact time, preparation time, administrative roles and research to ensure all staff have equitable teaching expectations. Male undergraduate recruitment and achievement Respondents were exploring issues around the lack of male recruitment at UG level and the achievement gap for male students relative to female students in their Schools/ Departments with a view to taking steps to address the situation. We have noticed that our male UG students have not performed as well in their degree results as our female students and we are currently running focus groups to determine how we might address this. We are considering whether assessment type is an important factor in this by comparing results by gender in different types of course assessments. One respondent also identified that their male undergraduates may feel disadvantaged being in the minority and they are currently running student consultations and surveys to understand any issues experienced by our male undergraduate students. March April

8 Consultation/monitoring Several respondents identified that monitoring of student data was underway or would be taking place to inform future actions. We intend to collect information and data to examine the leaky pipeline from female undergraduates and taught postgraduates into research postgraduates and research/academic careers. We will develop a needs-based action plan to target this and encourage more interest in and pursuit of academic/research careers. Another proposed a full review of their assessment and marking practices to ensure fairness and transparency. Other examples of good teaching practice These were: anonymous marking to reduce implicit bias; Continuing Professional Development & Learning (CPDL) for all staff around the use of language and how to support students with understanding acceptable terms of reference ; including gender issues in research presented as part of teaching; and additional careers talks regarding PhDs and academic careers. One respondent indicated that they had made no specific changes regarding teaching practice relating to Athena SWAN. Good practice relating to research (N=12) Five main themes and two individual actions were identified. Maternity/Parental leave The main focus here was on how to support individuals going on or returning from parental leave to maintain their research, typically through a reduction in teaching and administrative loads: For female staff returning from maternity leave, we offer a six month teaching free period to enable staff to integrate back into the School and focus on non-teaching activity. Or through financial support: Prior to maternity leave, the Head of School meets with each individual to discuss specific arrangements. In addition to teaching cover, there is a Returners Research Fund that provides the opportunity for female staff to gain up to 10k to help sustain research activity during and/ or after maternity leave. Applications can be received at any time and there is no cap on the number of awards that can be made. Mentoring Mentoring was mentioned by three respondents. It is generally provided for all new/early career staff. Financial support Financial support for all staff was mentioned by three respondents: Financial research support (including small research funds, and priority PhD studentships) for faculty of both genders (but might particularly help female academics who tend to be at an earlier career stage) In addition one respondent mentioned three PhD studentships 6 Report on the Athena SWAN survey

9 which are advertised for female applicants. Work-life balance Actions around work-life balance were raised by three respondents, with one identifying that work-life balance was discussed in annual appraisal meetings, another stating that working at home and joining meetings remotely to be encouraged and facilitated through access to VPN and the third indicating that part-time and full-time staff are equally supported. Identifying barriers and opportunities Various ways of identifying barriers and opportunities by gender were presented, for example: We will utilise our new internal networking and support group to discuss actions around barriers and opportunities for female researchers. Other examples of good research practice We have an Early Career Researcher Representative who sits on the School Research Committee and acts as a first point of contact for ECRs ; We have recently revised our guidelines for conducting research to ensure that they are inclusive for all. Good practice relating to administration (N=12) Five main themes and two individual actions were identified. Reviewing committee membership Respondents identified that committee membership is reviewed annually through the workload allocation model. One respondent detailed the considerations around committee membership: We also have reviewed committee membership to ensure that there is good female representation on key (decision making) committees in numbers commensurate with our female staff numbers. Within this, we have ensured that women are not proportionally more represented on pastoral care committees or administrative roles, rather than research committees for example (which has been highlighted as a discipline wide issue in the past). Supporting professional support staff Two respondents raised issues around professional support staff which were being explored with a view to being resolved. The first was that the administrative staff are all female. The second was the difference in how technical versus administrative staff are managed and the impact on working practices: It has come to our attention that not all of our support staff have the same access to flexible working times, or the option to work from home. While our Technical Support staff are employed directly by the School, and therefore enjoy the benefits of flexible working, Administrative staff are managed centrally and are subjected to much more restrictive working conditions. We intend to raise this issue [-] with the full support of the Head of School. Use of workload model to ensure teaching and administrative task equity Several respondents identified that they used workload models to monitor teaching and administrative task equity. Our workload model allows us to keep a check on the gender balance of all administrative work and we check this for discrepancies which we then address. March April

10 Role of Equality and Diversity Committees Two respondents mentioned that their E&D Committees played an important role: We have a department lead for EDI issues and they are responsible for all activities of work, which include encouraging career development, identifying role models for progression and helping female staff who may be more reticent about promotions to develop their profile. Clarifying role requirements for teaching and administrative tasks Two respondents mentioned developing and clarifying role expectations for administrative tasks. Clarify responsibilities of faculty administrative and management roles by creating job descriptions. Make explicit how workload allocation accommodates such roles. Put in Staff Handbook. Other examples of good administration practice Several other examples were presented: Discussion of opportunities in annual appraisal meetings, as well as implications for workload and promotion prospects ; We have also revised our administrative framework with clearer communication channels and opened up our School assemblies to include research-only staff. As female staff are underrepresented in academic (i.e., teaching and research) roles, this increases inclusivity more generally but also gives female staff a greater voice. The School s key meetings (e.g., School assembly, seminars) are held within core hours ; Staff brown bag lunches to discuss items of work-life balance and administrative issues ; Conduct senior roles survey. Good practice relating to transgender issues (N=10) Three respondents identified actions that had been taken, including the provision of a gender-neutral toilet, a Psychology rainbow flag for raising above the building during LGBTQ week and revising guidelines for conducting research to ensure they are inclusive. Two further respondents indicated that future actions were planned: With actions planned regarding recruitment procedures; a staff and student survey to identify issues and plan appropriate actions, as well as their Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Committee developing their webpages to include positive statements for all demographics including transgender individuals. Four respondents indicated that no School/Department initiatives had been implemented, and an additional respondent indicated that while no issues had yet been identified, transgender issues were being looked at as part of the self-assessment process. Good practice relating to intersectionality (N=10) Five respondents identified actions they were taking, including the appointment of LGBTQI+ and Parents/Carer Champions and hosting a School Diversity lunch with a further diversity poster session and lunch planned. Two of the respondents indicated they would be looking at their recruitment processes, with one specifically identifying a lack of non white-british origin female staff. This respondent also indicated that they were promoting greater visibility of role models on their website and promotional materials and that their essential criteria would be reviewed to identify equivalents where appropriate e.g. 8 Report on the Athena SWAN survey

11 for qualifications where individuals may not have come through the British educational system. One respondent indicated that they were supporting a University Students Association group led by BME, Disabled, LGBT+ and Women students, aimed at challenging the academic establishment to become more diverse, more inclusive, and more critical of historically dominant narratives. This group have applied for funding to start a psychology series focussed on speakers from non-western cultures. Five respondents indicated that no initiatives relating to intersectionality had been implemented. Other examples of good practice (N=10) E&D specific actions Several respondents mentioned specific equality and diversity actions such as setting up a new committee, having policy documents or updating staff handbooks, e.g. The department has recently set up and Equality and Diversity group to explore all the issues related to Athena SWAN, and other related issues. The committee has put together a policy document that is still yet to be approved by the department, but that includes future actions. It is too early in this process to identify specific good practice examples. Another respondent reported Diversity and Inclusion web pages for the School where we provide information on flexible working, maternity, paternity and adoption leave policies, etc. This includes examples of how this has been appreciated by members of staff at all levels. Family friendly actions Two respondents indicated there was a breast feeding room or private space for mothers to express milk. Another respondent referenced the timing of social events: The majority of social events within the School take place between 10am 3pm, to enable those with children or other commitments to attend; typically these events will involve a late lunch/ early afternoon repast. A fourth respondent indicated that staff are encouraged (and many do) to bring their children to team-building sessions on Staff Away Days while another mentioned having core hours between 10am 4pm. Attracting UG students Students are actively encouraged to visit us before applying. We will ensure a good gender balance of staff and student representatives at these events, and Athena SWAN is explicitly advertised. Supporting PG students One respondent identified that UG and PG members were included on their Diversity and Inclusion committee. Another listed various actions related to PG students including that those students in continuation would have regular face-to-face meetings to identify support needs and draw up an action plan. Female role models One respondent indicated that there was a move to include more female role models in undergraduate marketing materials, including active science roles. Another wrote: we run a faculty-wide gender equality and inspiring women as role models programme. Nominations are made and the role models are celebrated on International Women s Day. March April

12 A third indicated that they ran Women into Academia seminars for female undergraduate and Masters students. Attendees would be asked about barriers that might prevent them for applying for PGR opportunities. Exit interviews Exit interviews were mentioned by three respondents to identify any discrimination related issues. Mentoring Mentoring schemes and evaluating mentoring were mentioned here. For example: We also have a voluntary Mentoring Scheme whereby mentors provide informal support/ guidance in order to help mentees manage their professional development. Surveys and evaluation Conducting surveys to understand the existing position in the school/department was mentioned as an important step. Another mentioned a review of staff salaries with a view to identifying any gender pay gap and to take action to address it. Promotions We have formed a Promotions Screening Committee responsible for identifying individuals with the potential for promotion at least six months prior to each promotion round, to encourage and assist them with their applications. We also plan to develop an online Blog to advise PGRs and RAs about training and job opportunities that would aid their transition to Postdoc/Lecturer. We are surveying the School to determine why few females apply for promotion, and to engage with the reflective experiences of those that have already been through the process. Issues and barriers (N=14) 86.7 per cent of respondents reported that their school/department felt that Athena SWAN was a valuable project to participate in (the remainder indicated they did not know). Support provided by universities, schools and departments ranged from nothing at all, to funding, workload allocation and dedicated administrative support. There were five main themes that the identified issues and barriers came under as follows: Data/Survey issues This was the most common theme. Respondents had concerns about accessing appropriate data at a national level We find it difficult to access sector wide data for some characteristics. This is something that the BPS might help collect. Data collection at a local level was also perceived to have problems, such as maintaining anonymity of respondents. there are significant and non-trivial issues around having the department analyse their own survey responses. Firstly there is the failure to ensure anonymity of responses for a department with about 30 academics, 3 technical staff, a couple of administrative staff and 12 or so PhD students/ research assistants, particularly once questions about gender, age and sexuality are included. Secondly there is the conflict of interest in having department senior staff or staff line managed by the HoD, analysing and reporting the findings of such a survey and deciding on actions to take. 10 Report on the Athena SWAN survey

13 Workload issues/staff shortfall Athena SWAN requires a considerable amount of work and this can hamper the ability of Schools/Departments to fully engage with the process. Everyone has a lot of work at the moment and so it s difficult to find the time to reflect on equality and diversity issues, particularly around workload! In addition some of the actions needed for good practice might have workload implications. We do not have the funds to hire short-term staff to cover the teaching of staff away on leave (e.g., parental leave). This means that existing staff have to take on more work. Lack of female staff/promotion of female staff It takes time to increase the number of women in senior roles. In some institutions, the processes may be problematic, the university has severely limited the route to senior lecturer, which is hindering many female lectures from progressing. For others the time for staff turnover to make positions available is a factor. One of our greatest challenges is a relatively lack of female staff in academic (teaching and research roles). This is very difficult to address as staff turnover in the School is low. We see this as a positive in terms of staff satisfaction, but it does mean that the opportunity to recruit new staff is infrequent. We also are clear that we will avoid positive discrimination whereby women are preferentially appointed (thus replacing implicit biases favouring men with explicit biases favouring women). Our recruitment targets therefore are 50:50 male to female (assuming approximately equal numbers of applicants), which means it will take a long time for us to rectify this imbalance. How Athena SWAN is perceived in relation to psychology While other STEM subjects such as mathematics or chemistry might lack females at all levels from undergraduate through to professor, psychology faces different issues such as a leaky pipeline whereby 75 per cent of female undergraduates translates to 33 per cent female professors. The perceived dominance of females across the piece may affect perceptions of the need for Athena SWAN. Older members of male staff not agreeing with Athena SWAN! Broadly, we faced the belief that because psychology as a discipline and the department are female-dominated, that we didn t have a problem with gender inequality. The Athena SWAN process itself The Athena SWAN application process is seen as being time-consuming, arduous and nontransparent. Furthermore the bar for achieving awards is perceived as rising. The Athena SWAN processes of application and assessment are far too opaque and open to subjective interpretation. It would be far better if applications required submitting specific data into ECU templates, thereby allowing for a much higher level of standardisation across applications. It would be far better if those involved in the application process were spending their time trying to generate actions that can address issues that arise from standardised data rather than trying to decide how to present and collect data. How can the BPS help? (N=8) One respondent clearly articulated that there are two key issues for psychology: The first is the lack of senior female academics; the second is the lack of male undergraduates. Suggestions for the BPS to tackle both of these issues were made. March April

14 Increasing male undergraduate intake Increasing male UG uptake cannot be effectively done at local level needs a national approach How can we tackle the former at School level (particularly if our UG numbers match the national figures - is this / should this be a discipline level focus?) [-]. What should our targets be - particularly for UG male student numbers? Lobby for changes to A level syllabus We need to lobby to ensure that the A level syllabus accurately reflects the content of degree programmes -- i.e., perception, experimental approaches to cognition and the brain, alongside mental health. It is only by ensuring the curriculum reflects what we actually teach later that we can encourage people who will enjoy the subject to apply, irrespective of gender. Concern regarding long term implications of low male UG intake Promote psychology courses to schools as a profession that would suit diverse people to help encourage especially more men to apply. If the government decide that all courses should include at least 30 per cent of each gender, than psychology courses will be at risk. It would be great to act on this at a national level now. Survey of how psychology is viewed by school students Does the BPS have any sway over the curriculum set by high school boards to ensure that it is line with science subjects, perhaps a survey of school students to assess whether psychology is viewed as a helping discipline by most (health rather than science) would be useful. Increasing senior female academic numbers Provide guidance over gender-blind recruitment In a number of SWAN events, the issue of anonymised CVs (academic recruitment) has been raised. The response is that this is difficult to do and the discussion has then usually led on to tips on how we can anonymise. However, I struggle with this, as we are also told that female CVs are often weaker (due to issues unrelated to ability). Therefore, CV anonymisation seems counterintuitive and will exacerbate the problem, rather than improve it. However, this is rarely addressed. What we need is some systematic way to evaluate CVs taking into account career breaks etc. Concern that tackling the issue of male UGs may impact negatively on female academic numbers If we increase our male UG numbers are we potentially worsening the problem at the academic level, where we clearly should have greater balance. Other suggestions included Assistance with providing standardised data for the discipline. Further training and workshops would be welcomed as long as they avoid duplication of existing events. The respondent specifically made reference to the recent very valuable workshop run by the Athena Swan Psychology National Forum (ASPoN) led Narinder Ramnani, Andrea Santi, Teresa McCormack, Kathryn Waddington. The BPS could make sure senior managers are properly involved in the process and appreciate the work involved and underscore the importance of clear and transparent policies and procedures. 12 Report on the Athena SWAN survey

15 4. Concluding comments Despite the disappointing response rate to the survey, examples of good practice have been identified which can be shared, particularly among those schools/departments who have yet to apply for an Athena SWAN award. Issues and barriers identified are likely to be experienced by many schools/departments. The BPS could work with existing psychology networks around Athena SWAN and diversity to promote the sharing of good practice. Furthermore there is an important role for the BPS to play in promoting psychology at A-level through its Standing Committee for Pretertiary Education. March April

16 The British Psychological Society St Andrews House, 48 Princess Road East, Leicester LE1 7DR, UK Tel: Fax Website: Incorporated by Royal Charter Registered Charity No REP119/January 2018