Staff from the Department of Media Production celebrate their Athena SWAN Bronze Award in 2018BU's Media Production department is the first such department in the UK to be presented with an Athena SWAN Bronze Award, recognising their commitment in working towards better gender equality in higher education.
Dr Christa van Raalte, who was involved in the submission said: “I’m thrilled we’ve been successful in achieving this award. The team worked incredibly hard to achieve it and it was also a fantastic development opportunity for the department.
“Equality and diversity are critical issues for the media industries right now - as they are for universities - and we are passionate about making a difference for our students, our alumni and our staff.”
BU’s Equality and Diversity Adviser James Palfreman-Kay said: “BU’s support for this submission clearly helps to reinforce how we’re putting our inclusivity values into practice as an institution. The award recognises the university’s achievements to date in this area and strengthens our commitment to working towards equality."
The Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team continues to work towards our new institutional submission for a Bronze award in November, as well as departmental submissions by Life and Environmental Sciences, and Psychology, with the award being valid for three years. During this time the department will continue to raise awareness of gender equality within their teams.
The Department of Media Production has shown a real commitment to gender equality, which is a passion shared by Professor Sara Ashencaen Crabtree in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences. In the latest Athena SWAN update you can read the news and events relating to gender equality, as well as why Athena SWAN is important to everyone at BU, and BU’s support for gender equality and inclusivity in Professor Crabtree's case study.
The Equality Challenges Unit’s Athena SWAN Charter was established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education and research. In 2015, the charter was expanded and now recognises work undertaken to address gender equality more broadly and not just barriers to progression that affect women. It now covers professional and support staff, as well as academic colleagues, plus trans staff and students.
