Athena SWAN Bronze department award application

Transcription

1 Athena SWAN Bronze department award application Name of university: Birkbeck, University of London Department: Biological Sciences Date of application: April 2015 Date of university Bronze and/or Silver SWAN award: 01/08/12 (renewal submitted concurrently) Contact for application: PROFESSOR CAROLYN MOORES Telephone: Departmental website address: Table of acronyms used BME: Black and minority ethnic BSAT: Biological Sciences self- assessment team FTC: Fixed- term contracts HoD: Head of Department [formally known as Subject Assistant Dean] HR: Human resources ISMB: Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology LOD: Learning and organisational development P&SS: Professional and Support Staff PACS: Parents and carers support group PDR: Progress and development review PDRA: Postdoctoral research associate TRIGGER: Transforming Institutions by Gendering Contents and Gaining Equality in Research UoA: Unit of assessment VPN: Virtual Private Network 1

2 1. Letter of endorsement from the head of department: maximum 500 words Dear Athena SWAN panel As Head of Department of Biological Sciences, Birkbeck, I am writing to express my unconditional commitment to the Athena SWAN Charter and full endorsement of the actions in our Bronze Award application produced by the Biological Sciences Selfassessment Team (BSAT). My female colleagues, from students to Professors, are absolutely vital to the Department s success. Engagement with the Athena SWAN process will ensure that their career aspirations and achievements are fully recognised and supported. Within the unique teaching and research environment of Birkbeck College, the Department has actively sought to integrate and promote women. Nevertheless, the failure of our previous Athena SWAN submission served as a wake-up call, emphasising that we cannot be complacent about the way we conduct ourselves with respect to the women in our community. BSAT has been reconstituted with a more diverse range of members representing all groups of staff, and I am now the Chair, thereby ensuring complete integration of the BSAT plans within overall departmental strategy. We have already undertaken intensive consultation and developed various initiatives as part of process of responding to feedback from the previous submission, and I briefly highlight those that are key areas: 1) In recent years, new recruits to academic posts have been primarily men, despite all recruitment panels being gender balanced. Clearly, there has been a collective lack of awareness about this overall regrettable trend. The Athena SWAN process has forced us to take a hard look at ourselves in this context. We are now committed to redressing this situation and have started doing so in ) Career development of our postdoctoral research staff (54% women) has not received sufficient focus till now. We have defined new ways of integrating our postdoctoral community in departmental activities so they can enjoy the recognition and support they deserve. 3) The recent staff survey highlighted the importance of improving communication within the Department. We are committed to this improvement, and have already made substantial changes to broaden our reach to all members of the department including postdocs, students and professional/support staff. All of these initiatives are steps in the right direction, but the focus of this submission is to show that we realise where we are and how much still needs to be done. We have prepared a robust, evidence-based action plan that provides a clear strategy for addressing the fundamental issue of under-representation of women academics in STEMM subjects. Our commitment to the Athena SWAN Charter now provides a 2

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4 Dr Jane Nicklin, Senior Lecturer o Married with two sons and has shared caring responsibility for 92 year- old father- in- law; o Provided Union perspective; Dr Katja Ota, Post- Doctoral Research Assistant (PDRA) o New member of the Department; o PDRA liaison; Julie Radcliffe, School Manager for Science; o Responsible for the integration of family- friendly policies into School procedures; o Member of College SAT; o Contributed to section 4 and development of action plan; Sava Savitch- Lee*, Assistant School Manager, Biological Sciences o Married with two children; o Student data collation and analysis; Bryony Stewart- Seume, Department Senior Administrator (Finance) o Married with one daughter; o School representative on College Equalities Committee; o Co- founder Departmental PACS group; o BSAT administrative support and data analysis; Ben Spittles, Human Resources Advisor o Married with a young son; o Human resources policy advice, especially career development and work/life balance; o Staff data liaison; Dr Salvador Tomas*, Lecturer in Chemical Biology o Married to an academic at QMUL, with two children; o BSAT student data handling and analysis. BSAT was originally convened late in Following our unsuccessful application for a Departmental Bronze Award in November 2013, the membership was expanded substantially. All of the original team continued their involvement (except one who left at the end of contract), and additional volunteers were recruited. The new BSAT incorporates expertise and insight in important areas of department life and ensures representation from all groups of staff. In addition, the HoD is now BSAT chair. NK chairs the College Athena SWAN Self- Assessment Team, of which CM and JR are also members. This overlap facilitates coordination between different levels of Athena SWAN activity and planning across the College. b) an account of the self assessment process: details of the self assessment team meetings, including any consultation with staff or individuals outside of the university, and how these have fed into the submission As part of the process of addressing panel feedback from our previous, unsuccessful Athena SWAN application, a staff and research students online survey was designed and distributed in the autumn of The goal of the survey was to find out about staff and student awareness, experiences and opinions of Department policies and culture to make an important contribution to our future Athena SWAN action plans. Survey questions were devised by BSAT and the survey was distributed by with reminder s sent over 4

5 four weeks. A total of 91 responses (anonymous) were received from a circulation of 174 (52% response rate). Of the respondents who declared their gender (77%), 50% were women. Responses were considered by BSAT at their meeting in December 2014 and were used to inform the Department s application and action plan. BSAT has met approximately every two months for >1 year to discuss: our own experiences/personal perspectives; required actions arising from the survey and from panel feedback on previous unsuccessful Athena SWAN application; new data collection and collation; data analysis, highlighting of important trends and development of the revised action plan. Preparation for our submission involved additional meetings and consultation amongst BSAT members. Athena SWAN is now a standing item on the agenda of the Department Management Committee (described below), which is also chaired by the HoD so ensuring buy- in and realistic planning and implementation. BSAT has consulted widely: with all departmental staff and students via the staff survey and staff meetings; Departmental PDRAs specifically; Birkbeck HR and the Birkbeck Athena SWAN self- assessment team; colleagues in other local departments; web- available successful departmental submissions; members of the Birkbeck TRIGGER team; Athena SWAN. At an all- staff meeting in January 2015, the aims of Athena SWAN and details of the department s self- assessment process were reiterated, and the results of the staff survey discussed. The feedback received fed into the final submission. c) Plans for the future of the self assessment team, such as how often the team will continue to meet, any reporting mechanisms and in particular how the self assessment team intends to monitor implementation of the action plan. BSAT will continue to meet once a term to enable monitoring of action plan implementation, forward planning and ensure full integration of Athena SWAN ideals into departmental culture. New working groups, with members drawn from both BSAT and across the Department, will meet more frequently and focus on particular actions: 1) Student Sub- Group; 2) Postdoc Sub- Group; 3) Staff Development Sub- Group; 4) Culture and Communication Sub- group. The Department now feels that having a Gender Champion(s) will also be an important aspect of developing its Athena SWAN process. Thus, BSAT will soon begin work to define what the Department considers this/these role(s) to be. Once defined, an appointment process will be set up this summer and Gender Champion(s) sought and appointed by early October. There will be active, two- way feedback between BSAT and both the College Athena SWAN Committee and the Departmental Management Committee to look ahead to future Departmental Athena SWAN applications. The staff survey will be repeated every year to review changes in staff opinions and to monitor progress against the action plan. Actions 1.1 BSAT to continue to meet. 1.2 BSAT to set up and devolve designated actions to sub- groups. 1.3 BSAT to define role(s) of and appoint Departmental Gender Champions. 1.4 BSAT to run staff survey annually. Section 2: 950 words 5

6 3. A picture of the department: maximum 2000 words a) Provide a pen- picture of the department to set the context for the application, outlining in particular any significant and relevant features. Birkbeck College School of Science School of Law School of Social Science, History & Philosophy School of Arts School of Business, Economics & Informatics Department of Biological Sciences Department of Psychological Sciences Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences Figure 1 Department of Biological Sciences within academic organisation of Birkbeck The Department was formed in 2009 as part of extensive restructuring, by merging of the School of Crystallography and the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences. An early pioneer of the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences was Dame Helen Gwynne- Vaughan, who was head of the then Department of Botany from She was an active researcher in the field of mycology and worked with Elizabeth Garrett Andersen to form the London University Women s Suffrage Society. The School of Crystallography was founded as the Biomolecular Research Laboratory in 1948, led by J.D. Bernal, who recruited one of Britain s first female structural biologists, Rosalind Franklin. The major research areas of the Department are Structural Biology, Biophysics and Microbiology, along with Computational and Chemical Biology. The Department is a member of the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology (ISMB), a joint research Institute with several departments at UCL, which has enabled strengthening of the interdisciplinary research portfolio of both universities. Our HoD, Professor Gabriel Waksman FRS, is the Director of the ISMB and also HoD in the sister Department of Structural and Molecular Biology at UCL. The ISMB has established joint Masters Research and PhD programmes as well as recruitment of academic staff to ISMB joint appointments (50/50 Birkbeck/UCL). Academic staff with joint appointments have research groups situated in one or other institution, while their contributions to departmental life are divided pro- rata across the two. The ISMB formed part of the joint Birkbeck/UCL UoA 5 REF2014 submission, which rated eleventh of forty- four in the country by grade point average, and third by research power. Undergraduate and postgraduate teaching is organised locally. Birkbeck is a unique institution specialising in face- to- face evening teaching of degree courses. Thus the student population is very different older, often with jobs and families than in most UK universities. All undergraduate courses are currently based around this evening model, with 6

7 degrees lasting three to six years. For the last few years Birkbeck has taken full- time three year students, who also study in the evening. Postgraduate teaching is offered both full- time (including daytime) and part- time (mainly evening). Subject coverage within the Department is wide, ranging from Biomedicine to Computational Biology. Because of the broadly different goals of the undergraduate (retraining, coming to tertiary education later in life) and postgraduate (research driven) populations, there is relatively little flow between undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The ethnic profile of our departmental student population (52% Black and Minority Ethnic (BME)) is very different from the Birkbeck- wide (34%), London- wide (40% BME (2011 Census)) and national picture (17% BME for Biological Sciences (2012 ECU statistical report)). This is particularly true in the Certificate and Foundation Degree student population (>70%), where these courses provide a route into Higher Education for socially/economically disadvantaged students, part of Birkbeck s Widening Access agenda. The Department has very few international students (< 2%) because student visas are not available for part- time courses. Birkbeck s role as a provider of evening teaching has led to a culture of flexible working within the College. Classes usually finish at 9pm, which can mean getting home late once the London commute is taken into account; however this can be balanced by late morning starts. The absence of fixed working hours can be beneficial to staff with caring responsibilities but has implications for defining departmental core hours and staff participation in daytime departmental activities (section 4). Student data b) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning. (i) Numbers of males and females on access or foundation courses comment on the data and describe any initiatives taken to attract women to the courses. N/A 7

8 (ii) Undergraduate male and female numbers full and part- time comment on the female:male ratio compared with the national picture for the discipline. Describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and the impact to date. Comment upon any plans for the future. Figure 3 Undergraduate (UG) students enrolled: total numbers (column labels) and male and female ratios (column height) Figure 4 UG students enrolled split into part time (PT) and full- time (FT) courses: total numbers (column labels) and male and female ratios (column height). Note that FT recruitment only began in 2013/14. 8

9 The large majority (>90%) of our undergraduate population study part- time, and has a stable majority of women (~63% overall). This is comparable to that of Biological Sciences nationwide and suggests that the model of part- time, primarily evening study supports women undergraduates in Biological Sciences. This ratio has stayed stable even with the increase of tuition fees, which caused a drop in overall student numbers. The only full- time courses offered are UCAS- admitted BSc degrees, available since 2013/14 with an intake of 45 students. In this cohort, the gender ratio is ~50/50, but it is too early to say if this is a genuine trend amongst our full- time compared to part- time undergraduates; it will be essential to monitor this with more years of entry. It will also be interesting to monitor age along with gender distribution in these full- time cohorts (currently 64% aged between 21 and 50) compared with our more typical Birkbeck part- time students, where 80% aged between 21 and 50. In summary, there are more enrolled female undergraduates than male. We will engage directly with undergraduates to explain the importance of the Athena SWAN process and establish their needs in this context. Actions 2.1 Monitor student data and continue to benchmark across sector; specific focus on age of student population, particularly full- time vs part- time. 3.1 Run student survey to establish contexts and needs of female students. (iii) Postgraduate male and female numbers completing taught courses full and part- time comment on the female:male ratio compared with the national picture for the discipline. Describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and the impact to date. Comment upon any plans for the future. Figure 5 Postgraduate (PG) students completing taught courses: total numbers (column labels) and male and female ratios (column height) 9

10 Figure 6 PG awards for taught courses, split into PT and FT courses: total numbers (column labels) and male and female ratios (column height). Our overall PG student population has a female:male ratio of ~50%. This is lower than for our UG population, and for the sector, suggesting a break in our pipeline at this transition. The ~50% female:male ratio holds amongst part- time taught postgraduates but is more variable and overall somewhat lower for full- time postgraduates (43%). A snapshot of the numbers by subject area is informative: e.g. the MSc Health and Disease and MSc Microbiology have a majority of women (60 and 64%, respectively), with both only available for PT study. Conversely, MSc Bioinformatics 1/3 students study FT - has a ~ equal gender distribution (47% female over the last 4 years). This ratio may represent the intersection of the Biological and Computer Science (~23% women sector data) cohorts from which these students are typically drawn. Thus our PG taught student population may be skewed because of the subjects studied, but: 1) this needs to be examined more systematically and, 2) we need to focus recruitment to our post- graduate taught courses towards women. Actions 2.1 Monitor gender distribution course by course and investigate UG- PG pipeline. 3.3 During recruitment, emphasise female- friendly aspects of flexible learning, highlight evening nursery and emphasise role models in young dynamic female lecturers teaching Bioinformatics. (iv) Postgraduate male and female numbers on research degrees full and part- time comment on the female:male ratio compared with the national picture for the discipline. Describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and the impact to date. Comment upon any plans for the future. 10

11 Figure 7 PG students enrolled on research courses: total numbers (column labels) and male and female ratios (column height) Figure 8 PG students enrolled on research courses, split into PT and FT courses: total numbers (column labels) and male and female ratios (column height) There is a consistent majority (55% overall) of women enrolled in PG research programmes, very similar to the sector average. This majority of women is even more pronounced (60% overall) amongst full- time PG research students, with a marked increase in 2012/13; this is not due to any conscious actions on our part and warrants further investigation, for example by subject area as described above for the PGT courses - PT research students are concentrated in Bioinformatics because computational projects can be more readily 11

12 undertaken on a part- time basis. As mentioned above, students in this discipline are drawn from both Biological and Computer Sciences, perhaps explaining the difference in gender distribution. This highlights the need to focus on recruiting women to these courses. Actions 2.1 Systematically monitor gender distribution course by course 3.3 During recruitment, advertise famous female alumni to show women the achievability of a career in the sciences (v) Ratio of course applications to offers and acceptances by gender for undergraduate, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research degrees comment on the differences between male and female application and success rates and describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and their effect to date. Comment upon any plans for the future. Figure 9 Ratio of successful applications to offers, and offers to acceptances, to UG courses for females and males. Total numbers of offers and acceptances (column labels) and % success of men/women (column height). Overall, a slightly higher proportion of female applicants are successful. Out of the successful applicants, approximately the same proportion of women and men accept their places, which results in the female majority in enrolled students (Fig. 3). The peak in accepted places in 2011 is due to the announced subsequent increase in tuition fees, which had the same effect on both genders. We have just one year of data on the FT UG courses (not depicted). As with PT UG courses, 60% of applicants were women. However, of this cohort, only 53% of enrolments were women, compared to 64% of PT UG enrolments for the same year. This data will be tracked over time to check if this is an emerging trend (Action 2.1). 12

13 Figure 10 Ratio of successful applications to offers, and offers to acceptances, to PG taught courses for females and males. Total numbers of offers and acceptances (column labels) and % success of men/women (column height). In PG taught course applications, consistently more women than men are successful. Data for the step from offers to acceptances suggest that fewer women have tended to accept their places in the last couple of years, although it may be too early to characterise it as a trend. Actions 2.1 Systematically monitor gender distribution course by course. 3.2 Conduct survey of women with offers who do not accept to examine evidence for gender- specific factors. 13

14 Figure 11 Ratio of applications to offers, and offers to acceptances, to PG research courses for females and males. Total numbers (column labels) and male and female ratios (column height). Applications to the MRes and PhD programmes are coordinated through the ISMB; these places are largely research- council funded and are highly competitive. The percentage of PG research applications (MPhil and PhD) that are successful is thus very small (~10%). However, these numbers are roughly equal for women and men, and this is also true for acceptances. There are some fluctuations due to small numbers, but these appear random. Overall, there is no evidence for gender bias during recruitment for all programmes. We will monitor this situation and aim to increase female application levels by highlighting the female- friendly culture of our department in our recruitment material (action 3.3). Actions 3.3 During tours of the department on recruitment days, ensure prospective students meet female academics, researchers and support staff. 14

15 (vi) Degree classification by gender - comment on any differences in degree attainment between males and females and describe what actions are being taken to address any imbalance. Figure 12 UG degree classification by gender Female and male UG students appear to do equally well by degree class, although there is some random fluctuation due to small numbers. Note that attrition rates amongst our UG students are quite high compared to the full- time sector (not shown here), meaning that better students are captured in this data, perhaps explaining their overall strong showing compared to the sector. Figure 13 PG taught degree classification by gender 15

16 Women and men achieve similar awards on average in our PG taught programmes. There are large, but random fluctuations between years due to small total numbers. Table 1 PG research degrees passed by gender F M F M F M Our PG research awards are only recorded as passes. In the years monitored, no student failed, so we cannot determine differences in the achievements of women and men by this criterion. It will also be important to track students who drop out to evaluate any trends by gender. Actions 2.1 Capture data about student dropouts; capture other measures of success 1 year post- completion: papers published; next destination. Staff data (vii) Female:male ratio of academic staff and research staff - researcher, lecturer, senior lecturer, reader, professor (or equivalent). comment on any differences in numbers between males and females and say what action is being taken to address any underrepresentation at particular grades/levels Table 2 Research and academic staff by gender and year by annualised FTE (previous submission was by static headcount in December) F M Tot %F F M Tot %F F M Tot %F Researcher Lecturer Senior Lecturer Reader NA Professor Acad. total TOTAL

17 100% 90% 80% Male Female % % 50% 40% 30% 20% % 0% 11/12 12/3 13/4 11/12 12/3 13/4 11/12 12/3 13/4 11/ /3 13/4 11/12 12/3 13/4 Researcher Lecturer Senior Lecturer Reader Professor Sector 12/ Figure 14 Research and academic staff by gender and year presented as annualised FTE (column labels) and male and female ratios (column height). Absolute numbers are indicated for Biosciences academic staff sector data for 2012/13 (from ECU website). The proportion of female staff increased from 40% to 50% over the reporting period. This is because the number of female researchers (mainly PDRAs) - which constitute the majority of the department - also increased (Table 4). Since our PG student data also shows approximate gender parity, this suggests that our pipeline is not too leaky between our PG student and researcher populations. Women constitute a slightly smaller fraction (~40%) of our academic population which, although only slightly below par for the sector, suggests there are pipeline leaks in the researcher- academic transition. Indeed, women constitute only ~25% of Lecturers (Fig. 15). This is also partly explained by some long- serving male staff, who have stayed at Lecturer level. Although not the focus of Athena SWAN, we hope that embedding career development best practice will benefit all members of staff. The stable ~40% of female Senior Lecturers are also primarily relatively long- serving members of the Department and could also benefit from departmental support to develop their careers. That women are the majority of Readers (fluctuating %) and Professors (~60%) is far from standard for the sector and should provide great encouragement for other women to build their careers. There are very few Readers and in recent years, they have been promoted directly from Research Fellowships. 17

18 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Female Male UG PGT PGR RES LEC SL READ PROF Figure 15 Scissor diagram for the Biological Sciences pipeline in 2013/14. (viii) Turnover by grade and gender - comment on any differences between men and women in turnover and say what is being done to address this. Where the number of staff leaving is small, comment on the reasons why particular individuals left. Table 3 - Percentage of leavers of a gender within a category. Data is taken from the headcount of leavers over the three academic years 2011/12, 12/13 and 13/14 (August to July). Percentages are calculated from a static headcount taken from July payroll in 2012, 13 and Female Male Female Male Female Male no % of grade no % of grade no % of grade no % of grade no % of grade Researcher Lecturer Professor TOTAL no % of grade Staff turnover in the Department is low, especially amongst academics and, overall, there does not appear to be a gender bias amongst leavers. Researchers experience the greatest turnover, consistent with many (>95%) being supported by research grants linked to fixed- term contracts (Table 7). At least 60% of researchers left for this reason - this number is probably higher but uncertainties exist in our current tracking processes. A further 30% resigned, and there is no gender differential in either group. We do not currently have a robust framework for tracking next- destinations of our PDRAs and we plan to develop one, in parallel with College- wide systems. Actions: 2.2 Monitor results from College- led exit interviews to monitor for evidence of gender differences in reasons for leaving and next destinations, especially amongst PDRAs. Amongst academics, of the four departures, two (one female/one male) retired, one man resigned, while one woman (Lecturer, 2013) left at the end of a fixed- term contract while she was covering for another woman on a Research Fellowship. Section 3: 1837 words 18

19 4. Supporting and advancing women s careers: maximum 5000 words Key career transition points a) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning (i) Job application and success rates by gender and grade comment on any differences in recruitment between men and women at any level and say what action is being taken to address this. Table 4 Job applications and appointments by gender and grade 2011/ / /14 Applications Appointments (Total includes candidates not declaring gender on EO form; %female based on female:male applicants) Female Male Total %Female Female Male Total %Female Research Academic TOTAL Research Academic TOTAL Research Academic na na TOTAL % 90% Male 6 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Female /2 12/3 13/4 11/2 12/3 13/4 11/2 12/3 13/4 0 11/2 0 12/3 0 13/4 0 Apply Appoint Apply Appoint Researcher Academic Figure 16 Research and academic job applications and appointments as %female/male (bars) and absolute numbers (labels). 19

20 Current situation: There is generally a rough gender balance of applications for researcher posts. In contrast a higher proportion of women are consistently appointed to research posts. The same cannot be said for academic recruitment where the pool of female applicants is small compared to men. This contributes, at least in part, to our failure to recruit any women during the review period. However, in 2011/12, the first- choice candidate was a women who took a job at a research institute elsewhere. Given the previously noted low turnover of our academic staff, it is critical to take multiple approaches to attract more women during recruitment and uncover if there are barriers to women applying. Moving forward: Actions to address the gender balance for applications and appointments to academic posts have already been implemented and others will be adopted. Actions already taken: potential female candidates identified and contacted directly with the job details; shortlists reviewed to ensure appropriate gender balance. Future actions: BSAT will monitor data on interview outcomes for Birkbeck- only and joint Birkbeck- UCL posts for gender equality, and family- friendly policies will be highlighted during recruitment. Implementation of some of these actions has resulted in recruitment of a new female lecturer in Actions 2.3 Monitor data for all academic post recruitment for gender equality. 4.1 Proactively encourage applications from women for academic posts. 4.2 Review gender distribution on shortlists. 4.3 Family- friendly policies emphasised in recruitment material; involvement of Gender Champions. (ii) Applications for promotion and success rates by gender and grade comment on whether these differ for men and women and if they do explain what action may be taken. Where the number of women is small applicants may comment on specific examples of where women have been through the promotion process. Explain how potential candidates are identified. Table 5 Applications and successful academic promotions by gender and grade apply promote apply promote apply promote F M F M F M F M F M F M To Senior Lecturer To Reader To Professor Current situation: Applications for academic promotion are requested as part of the annual College process via an all- staff from HR. In addition, a Departmental Promotions Panel - composed of both male/female professors - meets to positively review all departmental members and encourages relevant people to apply. Contributions to research, teaching and administrative duties (including pastoral and outreach work) are all considered along with any personal circumstances, with special attention paid to maternity breaks. Applicants who are unsuccessful are invited to discuss their application with the Chair of the College Panel, 20

21 the Master of Birkbeck. Advice on resubmission is also typically provided by the departmental senior management team. Only a small number of academic staff apply for promotion each year, but of these, there are slightly fewer women than men (four vs six in the period considered) despite the positive review process. Of the applicants for promotion, only one woman and one man were unsuccessful suggesting that the positive review process does reasonably well in identifying candidates of both genders who are likely to be successful. Steps have already been taken to actively support women in their career advancement: the Athena SWAN mentoring scheme is open to all female academic and research staff in the department. Details of the application deadlines for all promotion exercises are on the new departmental Women in Biological Sciences website along with guidance on how to apply. Moving forward: The College is replacing the existing Progress and development review (PDR) process for academics with a compulsory Academic Review (below). Information from Academic Reviews will be built into the positive review process to identify suitable female candidates for promotion; it will also identify those who are not progressing so positive guidance can be provided. This has happened previously - for example the woman who was promoted to Professor in 2013/14 had previously (2010/11) unsuccessfully applied for promotion to Reader but a more transparent and systematic approach is needed. In addition, mid- career female academics will be encouraged to attend career development and leadership courses (such as those organised by EMBO) to help them fulfil their potential beyond the College promotion process. Actions 4.4 Use Academic Review to help identify candidates for promotion; define support process for unsuccessful candidates. 4.5 Encourage mid- career women to attend leadership courses. b) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed (i) Recruitment of staff comment on how the department s recruitment processes ensure that female candidates are attracted to apply, and how the department ensures its short listing, selection processes and criteria comply with the university s equal opportunities policies. Current situation: It is mandatory that all staff involved in recruitment attend training courses on legal considerations and good practice, including gender equality. In addition, the gender composition of shortlisting/interview panels is always as balanced as possible within the constraints of required expertise and - at a minimum - involves at least one man and one woman. The new Women in Biological Sciences webpage includes links to family friendly policies; a statement has been added to adverts for academic posts encouraging women to apply; job descriptions for all posts now include a clause highlighting that we are working towards a Bronze SWAN award. 21

22 Moving forward: The College is developing 'Unconscious Bias' training sessions; these will be introduced in summer 2015 and all staff involved in recruitment and selection will be required to attend. Recruitment materials will be reviewed to ensure they include information on family friendly policies; and Departmental Gender Champions (Action 1.3) will be appointed to raise awareness of gender related issues and initiatives as part of our recruitment process. Actions 1.5 Members of recruitment panels to attend Unconscious Bias training. 4.3 Review recruitment materials to ensure family friendly policies are emphasised. (ii) Support for staff at key career transition points having identified key areas of attrition of female staff in the department, comment on any interventions, programmes and activities that support women at the crucial stages, such as personal development training, opportunities for networking, mentoring programmes and leadership training. Identify which have been found to work best at the different career stages Researchers - Current situation: Women make up 57% of our research student population and 54% of our researcher population suggesting that our pipeline at this key transition point is not too leaky. However, there is a significant fall in the proportion of women at academic level: in 2013/14 only 22% of lecturers were female, indicating that this part of our pipeline needs particular attention. Currently, researchers have a number of networking opportunities, including the ISMB programme of seminars known as the Friday Wrap. This weekly event brings people together for informal socialising with drinks and snacks, before two research seminars from students or PDRAs. They are very well attended often standing- room only and in 2013/14, 52% of the speakers were women. There are also techniques- related group meetings and termly London Structural Biology Club meetings. The College has a Wellcome Trust ISSF award that includes funding for early career academics who have come back from career breaks and mid- career academics who need pump- prime funding. This has been publicised widely across the College with research students specifically targeted. Moving forward: We intend to increase the support and guidance available to research staff concerning career development wherever it takes them (see below) and, as noted above, we need to do more to attract external female candidates. Actions 1.6 Promote awareness of senior female role models by including profiles on the Women in Biological Sciences website. 5.8 Expand Athena SWAN mentoring scheme to include more research staff. All female recruits will be able to opt for a female mentor. Academics - Current situation: There do not appear to be points of attrition for our female academics in fact the proportion of women increases with seniority from 22% at Lecturer level to 59% at Professor level (Figure 12). However, we want to continue to ensure support for women at every career stage to help maintain their productivity and impact. Currently 22

23 academics benefit from an established probation procedure, along with the Athena SWAN mentoring scheme. Opportunities for leadership experience include committee membership and programme leadership. Monthly academic staff lunches provide a forum to present current and future research projects, and to obtain feedback from peers in an informal setting. All grants submitted for external funding are reviewed internally by at least two colleagues. Participation in College- wide events e.g. the Inaugural School of Science Equalities and Wellbeing Lecture by Professor Tom Welton, Imperial College, and the recent Athena SWAN lunch event visited by Jo Swinson, MP - is also encouraged. Moving forward: Available funding for female academics to attend leadership courses will be highlighted, and master- classes will be organised for female staff on topics such as grant writing and time- management. Actions 5.5/5.6 Advertise departmental training fund and highlight external courses. 5.7 Organise career master- classes for female academics. Career development a) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed (i) Promotion and career development comment on the appraisal and career development process, and promotion criteria and whether these take into consideration responsibilities for teaching, research, administration, pastoral work and outreach work; is quality of work emphasised over quantity of work Current situation: Although graduate students do not have an appraisal scheme per se, they receive research feedback and career development guidance from their thesis committees (which includes their primary supervisor, secondary supervisor and thesis committee chair) ~every 6 months. The Department has worked with the College to implement a new mandatory Progress & Development Review (PDR) process for all staff on research grades. Training for both reviewers and reviewees is provided by the College Learning & Organisational Development (LOD) team, with an emphasis on quality over quantity. The PDR is conducted by the line manager and the discussion covers career objectives, research progress, areas of success and training needs. Issues raised and training requirements identified in these PDR meetings will be monitored by BSAT. Information from these PDRs will also be used to identify excellent female PDRAs to support for promotion, fellowship or academic job applications. Moving forward: In the departmental staff survey, 65% of respondents agreed that they are encouraged to develop their careers but - to date - there have been relatively few activities specifically aimed at this. To address this lack, as part of our Athena SWAN work, a discussion forum was convened in November 2014, led by the Departmental Graduate Tutor, to which all departmental PDRAs were invited. The forum provided an opportunity for brainstorming, and resulted in the generation of an initial wish- list (for example, 23

24 opportunities for guidance in preparing fellowship applications; ISMB job listing). This has fed into BSAT activities and plans. The discussion forum will be repeated biannually to enable free exchange of ideas and to establish the most useful career- development activities, across the ISMB. Interestingly, initial feedback from this mostly female group included their very low enthusiasm for women- specific activities. It could be because this group has yet to experience significant gender bias, but the gender split in uptake of various initiatives will be monitored by BSAT. In addition, PDRAs will be encouraged and supported to set up their own networks and events. Actions 4.6 BSAT to monitor PDR take- up by researchers and review issues raised and training requirements identified. 4.7 Use PDR process to identify women who can be supported for promotion/fellowship application. 5.1 Continue PDRA discussion forum every six months. 5.2 Monitor interest amongst PDRAs in women- specific activities. 5.3 Hold research supervision workshops for PDRAs to embed good supervisory practice. 5.4 Enable PDRAs to set up networking forum. In the staff survey, 48% of respondents said they were unfamiliar with promotion procedures, so this information has been added to the departmental website. The Academic Review process (see below) being introduced by the College will provide metrics to be fed into the workload model, ensuring staff receive recognition for a broad portfolio of contributions, including pastoral and outreach activities. The Athena SWAN process does not currently stipulate that career development of Professional and Support Staff (P&SS) be considered. Nevertheless, we are keen to extend the spirit of the Athena SWAN process to all departmental members. Actions 5.14 Implement College- led Academic Review process. 5.9 Investigate career development for P&SS. (ii) Induction and training describe the support provided to new staff at all levels, as well as details of any gender equality training. To what extent are good employment practices in the institution, such as opportunities for networking, the flexible working policy, and professional and personal development opportunities promoted to staff from the outset? Current situation: New staff induction is provided by: administrative staff technical staff (safety inductions and risk assessments) informal mentoring by research group members. 24

25 The staff survey showed that over 40% of staff were not familiar with College policies on flexible- working/maternity/paternity/adoption leave. The induction checklist has been amended to include this information and also highlights the College LOD website. Regular e- mails are sent detailing training opportunities, including courses run as part of the EU funded TRIGGER initiative based in the Birkbeck School of Business, Economics and Informatics, which aims to develop leadership and other transferable skills in STEM women. New academics can attend a formal, College- organised induction in which personal and professional development procedures are introduced. New academics are paired with a mentor during their three- year probation period. The mentor is nominated by the HoD, and supports familiarisation with the department, including highlighting networking opportunities and key career priorities and goals. Moving forward: New induction packs for research staff, under development by the College, will include information on relevant training courses. Supervisors of research staff and PhD students will be responsible for ensuring their staff are able to take time out for career development. Line- managers will also be reminded to discuss training opportunities as part of the mandatory review processes for both research and academic staff. Locally, we are working to ensure that new members of academic staff on joint appointments with UCL receive the Birkbeck departmental induction. Opportunities for the personal and professional development of female staff, for example, the EMBO course in lab management for women, will be publicised on the Women in Biological Sciences website and in the ISMB newsletter, and the existence of the departmental training fund will be advertised more widely. Actions 5.5/5.6 Advertise external training courses on the Women in Biological Sciences website and highlight existence of departmental training fund Ensure new staff on joint appointments with UCL receive Birkbeck induction material. (iii) Support for female students describe the support (formal and informal) provided for female students to enable them to make the transition to a sustainable academic career, particularly from postgraduate to researcher, such as mentoring, seminars and pastoral support and the right to request a female personal tutor. Comment on whether these activities are run by female staff and how this work is formally recognised by the department. Current situation: All students can provide feedback through regular student- staff exchange groups. Undergraduate and taught Masters students also consult with either their Programme Director (acting as personal tutor) or Module Organiser. Female postgraduate research students receive several levels of support including regular meetings with the Departmental Graduate Tutor (currently a woman Professor). All students take a tailored Graduate Studies course in their first six months, which includes giving talks, writing reports and preparing CVs. Careers afternoons and careers speed- dating 25

26 events are also organised. Providing support for research students is highly valued by the department as evidenced by the seniority of the staff involved. Moving forward: Induction material for new students will be reviewed to ensure inclusion of information on maternity leave and breaks in studies, as well as on career planning. The buddy system of peer support for new research students will be formalised. All students will be encouraged to make use of the recently established Birkbeck Careers & Employability Service which offers one- to- one meetings to all students, and events aimed specifically at women, including a Women in Science event are being arranged for later this year. Actions 5.11 Formalise Buddy system for new research students to encourage integration; ensure all female students can opt for a female buddy Ensure career planning information included in induction material Promote/monitor the use of the Careers & Employability Service. Organisation and culture a) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning (i) Male and female representation on committees provide a breakdown by committee and explain any differences between male and female representation. Explain how potential members are identified. Management Committee Chair - Male Membership - 50% F Athena SWAN SAT Chair - Male Membership - 58% F Staff Meeting Chair - Male All staff attend ScientiIic Support Staff Forum Chair - varies Membership - 39% F Safety Committee Chair - Male Membership - 44% F Undergraduate Teaching Committee Chair - Male Membership - 33% F Postgraduate Teaching Committee Chair - Female Membership - 50% F Graduate Committee Chair - Female Membership - 50% F Figure 17 Biological Sciences Committee Structure. In addition to these core committees, there are regular steering group meetings for the PhD programmes and termly Student- Staff Exchange meetings for all cohorts. 26

27 Current situation: The main decision making group is the Management Committee which is chaired by the HoD. It meets weekly to discuss issues relating to teaching, research, staffing, administration and facilities. It is composed of all Professors and Readers along with some administrators. The Staff Meeting is held termly to provide updates on departmental and College developments. Until the end of 2014, this meeting was restricted to academics but in response to the staff survey (<50% of respondents agreed with the statement I understand how decisions are made in the Department ) the membership was expanded to all staff from the start of The Scientific Support Staff Forum, introduced in the last year, meets monthly to discuss management/support of teaching and research. All lab- based managers and support staff are members. The Safety Committee meets twice a year, and consists mainly of laboratory managers with some academic staff. The Undergraduate Teaching Committee is composed of all staff who run more than one module, or who are year or programme tutors and meets monthly. The Postgraduate Teaching Committee is composed of all PGT module organisers and meets twice a year. The Graduate Committee meets termly to consider issues relating to the non- ISMB PhD programmes, including admission and progression. It is composed of the Postgraduate Tutor and three representatives from the PhD supervisors. Table 6 - Membership by gender and year of Departmental/College committees (headcount) Committee total %F total %F total %F members members members Management Scientific Support Staff Forum Undergraduate Teaching Postgraduate Taught Masters Graduate Safety College Committee membership There are pluses (influence in decision- making) and minuses (more work) to committee membership. The gender composition of individual departmental committees varies but more men overall are involved. One interpretation of this is that men are more involved in decision- making than women, which would be a worrying finding. This situation arises in part because several members of the Department - e.g. the Head of Department (a man) sits ex officio on several committees. However, it should also be noted that the Management Committee has until recently had a female majority, because the majority of Professors/Readers in the Department have been women. Moving forward: In truth, the gender composition of our committees has not been considered before now and will need attention. Our general aim is to fairly spread committee membership (and thus the resulting work) between all members of staff with relevant responsibilities to ensure the committees efficient functioning. Opportunities for women to demonstrate/develop leadership in administration will also be considered in this 27

28 context. In addition, as indicated by the staff survey response, work is needed on making the committee structure and work of the committees more transparent. Actions 6.1 Add information on committee composition and terms of reference to intranet 6.3 Review committee membership annually and rotate where possible to ensure gender balance Female:male ratio of academic and research staff on fixed- term contracts and open- ended (permanent) contracts comment on any differences between male and female staff representation on fixed- term contracts and say what is being done to address them. Table 7 - Ratio by gender of academic and research staff on fixed- term and permanent contracts. Biosciences academic staff sector data for 2012/13 is included for benchmarking (from ECU website). Fixed Term Contracts Permanent Contracts Female Male Total %F Female Male Total %F Sector 12/ Current situation: Nearly all staff on fixed- term contracts (FTCs) are researchers and these numbers reflect our PDRA community (Table 4). There is an approximate gender balance here apart from last year, but we will obviously need to monitor how this evolves. On the other hand, there are fewer women on permanent contracts, reflecting the larger percentage of male academics in the department. Particularly given the stability of the academic population in the department, the key mechanism for addressing this disparity is to ensure that we attract quality women candidates to new academic posts (Action 4.1). Moving forward: Members of staff on FTCs are currently given priority in finding new jobs through the College redeployment process. Many of the actions described in this document should increase the number of women on permanent/open- ended contracts, such as the career development activities and the mentoring schemes. In addition, it has been agreed that the Management Committee will review the end- dates of staff on FTCs every six months to consider redeployment opportunities. Actions 6.2 Management Committee to review staff on FTCs for redeployment options. 28

29 b) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed. (i) Representation on decision- making committees comment on evidence of gender equality in the mechanism for selecting representatives. What evidence is there that women are encouraged to sit on a range of influential committees inside and outside the department? How is the issue of committee overload addressed where there are small numbers of female staff? Current situation: Most important decisions are made by the Management Committee, and the activities of all other committees feed into it. By virtue of eligibility for the Management Committee (described above), its gender composition is evenly split. Most other committees have one or two senior members, often ex officio, along with other members of staff with relevant roles (described above). Moving forward: Membership of all committees will be reviewed annually and rotated where possible (Action 6.3); committee membership will be explicitly discussed in Academic Review meetings, in part to feed into membership review. Data relating to participation in committees and activities outside the Department will also form part of the Workload model, as described below. The concept of committee overload about which we unfortunately don t have information at the moment, will be explicitly investigated. Actions 6.4 Discuss committee membership in Annual Review meetings. 6.5 Assess gender balance and committee overload annually (i) Workload model describe the systems in place to ensure that workload allocations, including pastoral and administrative responsibilities (including the responsibility for work on women and science) are taken into account at appraisal and in promotion criteria. Comment on the rotation of responsibilities e.g. responsibilities with a heavy workload and those that are seen as good for an individual s career Current situation: Staff workload is currently monitored informally by the HoD and discussed in annual review meetings. Moving forward: Galvanised by the failure of our previous Athena SWAN submission (with this point flagged in our panel feedback), and following two additional Athena SWAN Departmental submission failures, the College will now implement a compulsory Academic Review for academic staff that includes systematic data gathering on research, teaching and administration. A group of departmental heads has designed this process and a member of the business systems staff has been appointed to extract any data already held by the College. This work is ongoing. The College culture is opposed to a centralised Workload model, but further development of a more detailed departmental Workload model will build on these data, along with preliminary analysis of academic workload already performed. 29

30 Development of the departmental Workload model will begin once the College- level system information has been finalised in 2015/16. Actions 5.14/6.6 Implement Academic Review and build departmental Workload model. (iii) Timing of departmental meetings and social gatherings provide evidence of consideration for those with family responsibilities, for example what the department considers to be core hours and whether there is a more flexible system in place. Current situation: Because of evening teaching, we do not have core hours per se when people are expected to be onsite. Many departmental meetings - including the seminar series and the monthly staff academic presentations - are held at lunchtime. Social gatherings, for example the Christmas party, are generally held in the afternoons so that all staff and students have the opportunity to attend. Invitations are extended to all at least four weeks in advance. Moving forward: To help committee members with family responsibilities plan their schedules, the dates and times of all meetings will be set at the beginning of each academic year and made available on the intranet. At the suggestion of the newly formed Parents and Carers Support group, school term dates will also be available on the intranet to facilitate inclusive meeting planning. Following BSAT discussions, standard hours for departmental meetings will be changed from 10 am - 5 pm to 12pm pm 1) to allow staff with parental responsibilities time to travel to and from work in central London during day- care/nursery times and 2) to accommodate staff with evening teaching responsibilities. Actions 6.7 Dates/times of meetings on intranet at start of academic year. 6.8 School term/half- term dates on intranet. 6.9 Standard hours for meetings changed to 12pm- 4:30pm; advance notice given. (iv) Culture demonstrate how the department is female- friendly and inclusive. Culture refers to the language, behaviours and other informal interactions that characterise the atmosphere of the department, and includes all staff and students Current situation: In the staff survey, 90% of respondents agreed with the statement that the department is female- friendly. There is a high percentage of senior female academics and the Department s historical relationship with important female scientists is highlighted: e.g. the Rosalind Franklin Laboratory is one of our main research laboratories. In the survey 75% of respondents agreed that they would recommend working in the department to a colleague. Athena SWAN has been added as an agenda item on the departmental committees to ensure that issues affecting female members of staff are addressed. 30

31 Figure 18 Snapshot from the Women in Biological Sciences website. The Department is small, which should make it easy to get to know people, but it is spatially quite spread out. As a result, PDRAs in particular can become segregated. The Friday Wrap programme of internal seminars provides one opportunity for socialising at the end of the week. The ISMB newsletter produced twice a year includes information on networking opportunities, new members and news from research groups. 31

32 Figure 19 Snapshot from ISMB News. Moving forward: A key issue here is how to foster greater, informal integration amongst departmental members, both within the researcher population and with senior staff. In the future the ISMB newsletter will include an Athena SWAN section giving information on the initiatives resulting from the BSAT meetings. The initiatives being explored as part of the PDRA forum will help with this (Action 5.4) as will other actions proposed by BSAT. Actions 6.10 Expand ISMB News to include information about Athena SWAN, social events and other relevant topics Organise summer social event. 32

33 (v) Outreach activities comment on the level of participation by female and male staff in outreach activities with schools and colleges and other centres. Describe who the programmes are aimed at, and how this activity is formally recognised as part of the workload model and in appraisal and promotion processes. Current situation: The department participates in a number of outreach activities including attending a science week event at a London girls school; one (male) Reader is STEMM ambassador responsible for an after- school science project at a Buckinghamshire secondary school. In the annual Birkbeck Science Week research within the School of Science is highlighted and made accessible to students, staff and members of the public. Birkbeck s Athena SWAN activities were highlighted in Science Week 2015 with a Women in Science evening including talks by two senior female Professors. Moving forward: A record will be kept of participation in outreach activity with the aim of gaining a better understanding of what activities are taking place, levels of participation and the target audience. Analysis of the data will assess the balance of activities being undertaken by gender. Figure 20 Snapshot from the School of Science website highlighting Science Week 2015, including the Women in Science Evening and the tour of the Department s Electron Microscopy lab. Actions 6.12 Maintain a record of outreach activities by staff Formally recognise outreach activities in Workload model. 33

34 Flexibility and managing career breaks a) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning. (i) Maternity return rate comment on whether maternity return rate in the department has improved or deteriorated and any plans for further improvement. If the department is unable to provide a maternity return rate, please explain why. Table 8 Maternity leave and return rate for researchers and academics; total number in bold, researcher/academic numbers in brackets Academic year Maternity leave (RES/ACAD) Maternity return (RES/ACAD) (1/1) 1 (0/1) (0/1) 1 (0/1) (1/0) 1 (1/0) Current situation: The majority of women returned to work full- time after maternity leave. Where this was not the case (one researcher in 2011/12), it was when maternity leave coincided with the end of a fixed- term contract, a non- ideal occurrence. Moving forward: Redeployment options for those on fixed- term contracts will now be considered annually, especially women returning from maternity leave (Action 6.2). (ii) Paternity, adoption and parental leave uptake comment on the uptake of paternity leave by grade and parental and adoption leave by gender and grade. Has this improved or deteriorated and what plans are there to improve further. Current situation: During the reporting period, four members of staff took paternity leave - one in each of 2011/12 and 2012/13, and two in 2013/14. There were no formal applications for parental or adoption leave - this may be due to low demand or because staff are unaware of their entitlements. It is also possible that additional requests for paternity or parental leave have been dealt with informally and are therefore not officially recorded by HR. Moving forward: Information on all types of family leave entitlement is now available on the department website and is included in the staff and student induction processes. This includes the newly introduced (April 2015) Shared Parental Leave, in which Birkbeck has undertaken to increase statutory shared parental pay for all staff to the level of our enhanced occupational maternity pay, making this one of the most generous schemes in the 34

35 sector. It is hoped that as awareness of these policies is increased, the number of formal requests will rise. This will be monitored by BSAT. One area that needs to be addressed are the specific needs facing new parents and others with caring responsibilities. Four members of the BSAT have set up fortnightly drop- in sessions, for people with caring responsibilities to meet informally over a cup of tea. This group Parents & Carers group (PACS) - will feedback to BSAT on the pressures faced by people in the group and how these could be relieved by the department, for example by identifying a mechanism for sharing school term dates and investigating whether departmental meetings can be scheduled around them. Actions 7.1 BSAT to monitor formal requests for family leave and flexible working. 7.2 Staff survey to determine if awareness of flexible working increased. 7.3 BSAT to gather feedback from PACS on the needs of people with family/caring responsibilities. (iii) Numbers of applications and success rates for flexible working by gender and grade comment on any disparities. Where the number of women in the department is small applicants may wish to comment on specific examples. Current situation: Working at home, when necessary, is seen as normal and staff organise their work to suit both their science and their caring responsibilities. In the survey, 85% of respondents agreed with the statement The Department supports flexible working. During the reporting period, there were no formal applications for flexible working, although informal arrangements are common. Teaching at Birkbeck is done in the evenings and therefore all staff with teaching responsibilities tend to organise their personal responsibilities around their teaching commitments which is usually known at least a term in advance. Flexible working and the effect of evening teaching will be explored further in future surveys. Requests for changes in working hours are organised between individuals and their line- managers. There is no system for collecting data on this from the last three years but currently, five members of academic and research staff have a formal part- time working pattern, four of whom are female. During the last three years, the department has had two requests from academics wanting to vary their working hours: one from a woman returning from maternity leave and one from a woman wanting to take part- retirement. Both requests were approved. Moving forward: Introduction of a formal Workload model will allow applications for flexible working to be considered rationally in terms of redeployment of roles (Action 6.6). This process has highlighted the importance of tracking applications/successes for flexible working more rigorously. Actions 7.4 Record and monitor applications/success rate for flexible working 35

36 For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed. (i) Flexible working comment on the numbers of staff working flexibly and their grades and gender, whether there is a formal or informal system, the support and training provided for managers in promoting and managing flexible working arrangements, and how the department raises awareness of the options available. Current situation: Most teaching at Birkbeck is done between 6pm and 9pm, which has advantages and disadvantages: late finishes can be disruptive to family life but they can be balanced by late morning starts, before/after an evening session, which benefits some members of staff. Limited teaching responsibilities during the day allow flexibility in terms of caring responsibilities that can, in principle, be shared with other family members in an economical way. Moving forward: This culture of flexibility was reflected in the staff survey, but the majority of respondents (55%) were also unaware of the formal College policies and guidance. This is being resolved by the revised induction programme which includes reference to the College s flexible working policies and by the inclusion of links to all family friendly policies on the departmental website. (ii) Cover for maternity and adoption leave and support on return explain what the department does, beyond the university maternity policy package, to support female staff before they go on maternity leave, arrangements for covering work during absence, and to help them achieve a suitable work- life balance on their return. Current situation: Information on maternity and adoption leave is included in the departmental induction. Once the department is informed that a member of staff will be taking leave, a meeting is arranged with the line- manager and a representative from the admin team to discuss cover and to provide information on funding and other forms of assistance. For PDRAs, specific research activity will typically be put on hold during the leave, in consultation with the funding body supporting their work. Where members of staff are employed on fixed- term contracts a no cost extension is sought, wherever possible, so that individuals have the reassurance of a contract extension on their return. For academics, the pre- leave discussion will also include cover for teaching and administrative duties as well as research. Where possible, the line- manager/hod will identify colleagues to temporarily cover these responsibilities and they contact those individuals to discuss the work requirements. In the future, this will be facilitated by implementation of the Workload model. All staff have access to the VPN and any plans to work from home during the first six months back are treated sympathetically. Moving forward: Before maternity leave and on return to work, staffs attention will be drawn to the College s Wellcome Trust ISSF award. This includes funding for academics who 36

37 have returned from a career break. If awarded, this funding will allow them to employ a PDRA or a technician to assist with their research. It has been agreed that individuals returning to work will have reduced administration and teaching duties during this period. New parents will be encouraged to link with others in the Department to provide support, for example through the new fortnightly Tea Breaks organised by PACS. For those on fixed- term contracts where no- cost- extensions cannot be achieved and the contract expires during or at the end of leave, the pre- leave meeting will include information on redeployment options (Action 6.2). Actions 7.5 Continue to meet with staff going on maternity/adoption leave to discuss cover requirements and funding assistance. 7.6 Ensure women returning from maternity leave have reduced teaching/admin responsibilities. 7.7 Encourage women returning from maternity leave to apply for ISSF funding. Total Word Count Section 4:

38 5. Any other comments: maximum 500 words Inspiring leaders, past and present: In our department, female Professors currently outnumber male Professors, as they have done for over a decade. In addition, the majority of women academics appointed in the last decade have children. Two former members of the department - both of whom had children while at Birkbeck - left to assume leading positions in national organisations: Prof Dame Julia Goodfellow (former Head of Department) as BBSRC CEO, now vice- Chancellor of the University of Kent, and Prof Dame Janet Thornton FRS as Director of the EBI, Hinxton. Two current members - Prof Helen Saibil FRS and Prof Bonnie Wallace FRSC are Directors of national research facilities. Thus, women in the department at all career levels have multiple, successful and influential role models and receive the clear message that gender should not impede a scientific career. Our challenge is to broadcast and build on this legacy to allow the future female leaders to flourish here. Departmental engagement: Our departmental staff survey was an important starting point for developing many of our actions (snapshot below). These data highlighted the importance of engaging with the entire department and in turn asking them to engage with the Athena SWAN process. An important piece of feedback from the survey was the emphasis on information flow (or its lack) within the department. We are already beginning to address this in various ways (set out in the application) and will repeat the survey annually to monitor the effectiveness of our actions. With the availability of better software, we hope future surveys will provide even greater insight into whether different groups (e.g. PDRAs, Professional and Support Staff, academics) experience the culture and communication of the department differently. Meanwhile, our survey has been distributed as a beacon of excellence across the College and will be used as a template in all STEMM departments. 38

39 Figure 22 Snapshot from the departmental staff survey, available on the intranet. Integration of Athena SWAN into ISMB: The ISMB promotes interdisciplinary collaborative research and activities (e.g. biennial retreats, pictured below) and supports joint academic posts in Biological Sciences between Birkbeck College and UCL. As we and our sister department at UCL (Division of Biosciences, UCL) work towards submission of our Bronze applications, we will continue to liaise concerning the integration of our plans to enhance activities for all women across the ISMB. Benefits for the Department from the AURORA and TRIGGER projects: In 2014/15, Birkbeck committed to Aurora, the Women into Leadership initiative, enabling participation of a member of the Department. In parallel, Transforming Institutions by Gendering Contents 39