Athena SWAN Silver department award application

Name of university: University of Birmingham

Department: College of Medical and Dental Sciences

Date of application: 29 November 2013

Date of university Bronze and/or Silver Athena SWAN award: March 2012

Contact for application: Dr Una Martin

Email: u.martin@bham.ac.uk

Telephone: 07790511304

Departmental website address: www.birmingham.ac.uk/university/colleges/mds/wam/index.aspx

Athena SWAN Silver Department awards recognise that in addition to university-wide policies the department is working to promote gender equality and to address challenges particular to the discipline.

Not all institutions use the term ‘department’ and there are many equivalent academic groupings with different names, sizes and compositions. The definition of a ‘department’ for SWAN purposes can be found on the Athena SWAN website. If in doubt, contact the Athena SWAN Officer well in advance to check eligibility.

It is essential that the contact person for the application is based in the department.

Sections to be included

At the end of each section state the number of words used. Click here for additional guidance on completing the template.

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1. Letter of endorsement from the head of department: maximum 500 words

An accompanying letter of endorsement from the head of department should explain how the SWAN action plan and activities in the department contribute to the overall department strategy and academic mission.

The letter is an opportunity for the head of department to confirm their support for the application and to endorse and commend any women and STEMM activities that have made a significant contribution to the achievement of the departmental mission.

As Head of the College of Medical and Dental Sciences (MDS), at the University of Birmingham, I

am delighted to endorse this application for an Athena SWAN Silver award. The work and

dedication of the Women in Academic Medicine and Science (WAMS group) over the last five

years has resulted in a sustained, measurable and progressive change in the culture of the College.

This is visible in a range of outcomes including promotion to Professorial level, the number of

women in key strategic positions in the College and changes to the application process to senior

roles to encourage more applications from women. Reflecting this, three of our five Heads of

School are women and Professor Kate Thomas has recently been appointed to the critical and

prominent role of Vice Dean with responsibility for MBChB leadership.

We were pleased to be awarded a Bronze in April and have addressed the feedback from the

panels. Specifically, we have replicated the good practice in the School of Health and Population

Science (HAPS) and appointed a Lead for Career Progression and Equality in each of the five

schools that make up the College. These individuals now have the task of identifying and

supporting colleagues as they prepare for promotion across all grades. They also have a wider role

in facilitating requests for flexible working or supporting staff in difficulty in close consultation

with the Heads of School. Professor Christine MacArthur, who has had this role in HAPS for many

years, has shared her experience with the newly appointed leads.

The Athena SWAN Action Plan forms an important part of the strategic and operational policy of

the College and supports a deliberate policy of ensuring gender balance on key committees such

as promotions panels is in operation. Similarly, note has been taken of the requirement to hold

meetings at core hours. We have made it easier for women to return to work by ensuring their

Head of School welcomes them back personally and other measures such as allocating specified

breast feeding rooms. Much of the policy around maternity leave and return to work, including

“keep in touch days” was already in place- the difference now is that it is more easily available and

HR run “drop in” sessions to help with individual queries.

Underpinning this activity has been an ongoing programme of professional training by our Deputy

Head of People and Organisational Development, Kate Crane, to assist in such issues as

assertiveness and having constructively challenging conversations. This links in with robust

University-wide leadership programmes for staff at all stages of their careers. I have been

impressed by the programme of educational and social events put on by the WAMS committee

which has added a sense of real enjoyment and warmth into College life.

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As a College, we are proud of what our WAMS group have achieved and have appreciated the hard

work and commitment shown by the Self Assessment Team, under the leadership of Dr Una

Martin. We believe that the change in culture brought about by the Athena SWAN initiatives has

improved life in the College for everyone and we look forward to continuing to deliver and

develop the objectives set out in our Action Plan, in line with the University’s new Advancing

Equality and Employment Initiative, launched this month.

Word Count 547

Additional word count used 47

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2. The self-assessment process: maximum 1000 words

Describe the self-assessment process. This should include:

a) A description of the self assessment team: members’ roles (both within the department and as part of the team) and their experiences of work-life balance

The Women in Academic Medicine (WAM) steering group was established in 2009 when focus groups within the College of MDS highlighted a number of issues related to gender imbalance among Clinical Academics. These reflected those described in the 2008 “Women in Academic Medicine” report published by the BMA. Members of staff from each school were invited to join the group by the Dean of Medicine to address these concerns. In 2011, the Athena SWAN initiative became a major part of the remit of the WAM steering group and following the inclusion of non-clinical academics, the group became known as the Women in Academic Medicine & Science (WAMS). Representatives from each school were asked to join the group, which formed the Self Assessment Team for the Athena SWAN project, and the Head of College took on the role of Chair, currently Prof Eric Jenkinson. The group includes a senior clinical and non-clinical representative from each school as well as junior academic members of staff, the College Head of HR, representatives of People and Organisational Development, a diversity advisor, and other administrative staff. Full details about the members are given in Table 2.1 and on the WAMS website (www.birmingham.ac.uk/wams). In response to feedback from the Bronze award, we have increased the number of male members on the SAT.

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Table 2.1 College of Medical and Dental Sciences SAT

Name Position Role in SAT Experience of Work-life balance

Eric Jenkinson Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of College of Medical and Dental Sciences

Chair I have worked full-time for the past 43 years. At the different stages of my career, including the period when my children were growing up, I feel that I have been able to achieve an appropriate work life balance most of the time

Una Martin Reader In Clinical Pharmacology Vice-chair I have worked part time for 18 years. Most of the time I

feel I achieve the balance and it certainly has become

easier as the children have grown up.

Christine MacArthur Professor of Maternal and Child

Epidemiology

Lead for career development and

equality School of HAPS. Non-clinical

representative, School of HAPS

When my three children were growing up my life

comprised either work or being with the children. I chose

to work full-time and felt guilty for 20 years. I now have a

good work-life balance, I think that was not a healthy way

to live and would like to do all I can to make the current

situation better for women with young children.

Deborah White Professor Director of Education

Lead for career development and

equality School of Dentistry. Clinical

representative, School of Dentistry

I work full time and have done so ever since I joined the

University in a permanent post, 14 years ago. Although I

work long hours, I am able to achieve a happy balance

between this and many other outside activities.

Derek Ward Clinical Senior Lecturer in Public Health,

Co-Director NIHR Horizon Scanning

Centre

Clinical representative, School of HAPS I try to work flexibly across the week in order to meet my

caring commitments at home (my wife had to retire

recently on medical grounds, and I have four young

children). In the past, I was fortunately to be able to train

part-time as a Specialist Registrar for several years, and

the ability to move away from a '9 to 5 plus on call'

working pattern was an important element in my decision

to move into my current role after five years as a

consultant.

Heather Armitage HR project officer HR support, responsible for data Originally employed full time within my current role, I

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collection applied for a reduction in hours upon return from maternity leave 6 years ago to enable me to condense my hours into a four day week, allowing me to spend one day per week caring for my baby. I was again supported in reducing my hours when my daughter started school, and although most of the time I have a good work/life balance, at periods of critical workload this errs more towards work!

Iain Chapple Professor of Periodontology and

Consultant in Restorative Dentistry

Clinical representative for School of

Dentistry

I work an average 75 hour week so theoretically have a

poor work/life balance. However, in reality, being a Dad

for 2 girls aged 12 and 9 years of age, I manage this by

being a taxi driver on Saturdays enjoying singing practice

in the car on the way to several clubs, then I can work

effectively whilst the girls are in club.

John Marriott Professor of Clinical Pharmacy Clinical representative, School of CEM I have three children who at vital points in their education

and I support an elderly relative. The flexibility within the

system has enabled active participation with these

processes

Kate Crane Deputy head of People &

Organisational Development

HR support, responsible for staff

training

I have worked at the university for 5 years, I have found

the university very flexible with my working hours with

child care and feel for the majority of the time I have a

good work life balance.

Lorraine Harper Professor of Nephrology Clinical representative, School of I&I I have worked full time for all my working career. Most of the time I feel I achieve the balance and I have been well supported by my University employer

Melissa Grant Lecturer in Biological Sciences Non-Clinical Junior representative,

School of Dentistry Having recently returned from maternity leave I now work at 90% and use flexible hours, arriving and leaving early, to enable a balance between work and home life.

Neil Morgan Lecturer in Cardiovascular Genetics Junior representative, School of CEM I would say on the whole that my work/life balance is good. I have 2 young children and balancing nursery and school drop-offs and pick-ups is challenging at times but will get easier once they are both at the same school.

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Niamh Kelly College Head of HR HR lead Although I have a senior role with in HR I understand the

need to have activities outside of work to maintain a good

work life balance

Oliver Goodyear Postgraduate researcher Postdoctoral representative. Junior

representative, School of I&I My wife and I both work full time within academia. The way we cope with work life balance is through shifts i.e. one of us will either get into work for 7:30am and leave by 5pm to pick up the kids from afterschool club while the other will drop the kids off to school in the morning arriving at work by 9:45am and will then leave at 7:30pm. The positives with working within academia is that we can work flexible hours which allows us to achieve a balance.

Pamela Kearns Professor of Clinical Paediatric

Oncology,

Honorary Consultant in Paediatric

Oncology

Clinical representative for School of CS My daily life as a clinical academic is unbalanced, tipping

heavily towards work but this is my choice and is

achievable with the support of a great husband who

knows I love what I do. We restore sanity and balance

through regular energetic holidays in remote and

beautiful places

Patricia Lalor Senior Lecturer Non Clinical Junior representative for

I&I

Following my return to work after my first maternity leave

I chose to switch to 80% FTH with the support of my

school. After a second period of maternity leave 2 years

later I continued on this work pattern until 2013 when I

returned to full time hours, again with the support of my

School

Rachel Bruton Postgraduate, Training and

Development Officer

Maternity/paternity/adoption lead I have worked fulltime at UoB, in research for the first

fifteen years and the last four years in administration. I

started when my first child was 1 and then moved to

administration when my second son was 6 months old so

have experienced childcare through both career paths. I

have never continuously felt overwhelmed by my

workload although there are some times which have been

very busy, but equally I take for granted the fact that

either one or two evenings or a couple of hours at a

weekend I will do additional work to keep on top of my

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workload.

Susan Squire University Equality and Diversity officer E&D lead for the College, and the

University Athena SWAN steering

group

I currently work full time with occasional home-working and feel that I have a good work-life balance. I am due to go on maternity leave at Christmas.

Sapna Patel PA to head of People & Organisational

Development

HR support, responsible for data

analysis

I have a shared carer responsibility for my grandmother

who lives at home with us. Whilst working at the

University, I have been fortunate to be given flexible

working hours when needed, and the option to work from

home. I have a healthy work/life balance.

Shiao Chan Senior Clinical Research Fellow and

Honorary Consultant Obstetrician

Clinical representative, School of CEM I am a busy mother of two young children who has always worked full time as a clinical academic. This is possible due to a supportive husband who helps with child care. A recently negotiated change in my job plan to stop on-calls has improved work-life immensely.

Tanja Stankovic Professor in Cancer Genetics Non-clinical representative, School of

CS

‘I have been working full time at the University of

Birmingham for the last 23 years. Although the career has

always been an essential part of my life, I have achieved

the balance between family life and work thanks to the

enormous support from my husband.

Victoria Heath Lecturer in Molecular Biology Career progression advisor. Non-

clinical representative, School of I&I

I work part time (currently 90%) and have four children. I

am able to work very flexibly such that I can minimize the

time spent by my children in school aftercare and

concentrate my leave for school holidays, this has enabled

me to pursue my scientific career while caring for my

family.

Zania Stamataki Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow Maternity/paternity/adoption lead.

Junior representative, School I&I I have applied for my fellowship whilst pregnant, and now, two years into it I have had two maternity leave periods. I am working full-time while the kids are young as I have decided to make the most of our local nursery, and I am keeping an open mind about working part time when my eldest starts school. Life is hectic at the minute but I

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am really enjoying it!

Zumla Cader Academic clinical lecturer in paediatric

oncology

Junior representative for CS I work as a clinical lecturer and my time is split 50:50 between research at the University of Birmingham and clinical work at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, divided into two week blocks. I am supernumerary so there is flexibility in my work pattern and I have been able to adjust days to suit both research and clinical needs. I achieve balance by organising my clinical work load during my clinical time and focus on academic work when at the university. Supportive departments have helped me maintain this pattern and encourage work-life balance without feeling overwhelmed.

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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

The Self Assessment Team (SAT) convenes bimonthly as the WAM steering group did since 2009, and meeting minutes are still available through the WAMS webpage. The SAT meetings are the main channel for the development and dissemination of the Athena SWAN actions and principles. Members of the SAT are assigned specific roles on which to take a lead (Table 2.1). In addition, Athena SWAN is a standing item at monthly School Executive Board meetings in all five schools and representatives from the SAT feedback on progress and actions needed; this is also a mechanism for bringing back items from across the College for discussion with the SAT. A formal presentation is given to the College Board twice a year (Una Martin and Kate Crane) and the College Operations Group is updated every two weeks (Kate Crane) to ensure wide visibility of the Athena SWAN initiatives across the College. An important part of the process has been consultation with staff. The initial focus groups in 2009 were followed up by repeat focus groups in 2011, now including non clinical academics across grades and gender from all five schools. The full report is available on-line (http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/university/colleges/mds/wam/minutes/index.aspx) but there was evidence from the focus group discussions that the SWAN initiatives were making an impressive difference to life in the College.

“Felt a change in the culture of early morning meetings”

“Informal mentoring scheme was good practice”

“The WAMS initiative alone was enough to feel a change in culture”

Alongside the University Staff surveys, within the College, the SAT has carried out two further surveys in order to inform this submission. The first (completed by over 200 staff) aimed to identify difficulties and good practice with career progression and equality and the second to identify perceptions and practices around maternity leave. The findings have been discussed at SAT meetings, for example, in relation to career progression and promotions (discussed under career development). WAMS representatives have also visited a number of institutions that are involved in the Athena SWAN initiative as a means of benchmarking and sharing good practice. For example, we visited Imperial College, who obtained a silver award in 2009. This department has implemented a number of initiatives to support their postgraduate students. Their practice of providing a “carer allowance” for post doctoral research fellows helps to cover child care during the conference to facilitate attendance and we have adopted this practice since our Bronze award. The University of Cambridge hosted a working party with representatives of several other HE institutions including Newcastle, Southampton and UCL who were in the process of applying for Athena SWAN awards. The meeting provided an opportunity to share good practice with other institutes. Birmingham shared our WAMS initiatives that have been undertaken over the last 5 years, from early focus groups to ascertain needs, setting up the self assessment group, developing a web site, hosting a mentoring scheme, running training in personal development and master classes for career development as well as inviting several outside speakers to speak to the group. This was an area

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where we felt others had taken on board our practices. We also took away examples of innovation. For example, one group “buys out” teaching for those returning from maternity/paternity or extended leave for a period of 6 months to allow time for the individual to focus on their research. A similar policy has been adopted in Birmingham since our Bronze award. We hosted a second joint meeting at the University of Birmingham to include colleagues from the University of Oxford. Progress with individual applications was discussed and practical advice shared including correct interpretation of HESA data. Most recently, we have visited Warwick where we met the Athena SWAN lead and Professor Lawrence Young, our Head of College at the time of the previous submission and now a Pro Vice Chancellor at Warwick. This enabled us to compare our practices in Birmingham with those of Warwick and his comments about the feedback from our submission were particularly useful. Una Martin regularly gives feedback from the Medical and Dental Advisory Board meeting of Athena SWAN on which she sits; members of the group supported the Athena workshops in Manchester and London to gain information about the application process and share good practice.

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.

The SAT will continue to meet bimonthly and these meetings are now an established part of College life and both School Executives and College Board expect regular feedback. This is particularly important as we continue to implement our Action Plan. Since our Bronze Award application we have delivered in full, in part, or as an on-going initiative on all 36 Actions with full support of the Head of College, Head of HR and Head of Research Knowledge and Transfer. The importance of the Action Plans for our College is formally recognised by the University in its “Advancing Equality in Employment” initiative. Several members of the SAT sit on the University Athena SWAN working party where they are in a position to make sure that the outlined Actions are backed by the University Executive Board Senior Management. Una Martin was recently invited to present the College of MDS SWAN initiatives as the model of excellence to the University Council, the governing body of our University. The Council recognised the critical nature of this initiative in taking forward the University Equality and Diversity programme. Word Count 1196 Additional word count used 196

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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.

The University of Birmingham is a Russell group university with a college structure. There are 5 colleges, of which the College of Medical and Dental Sciences is the largest with 830 members of academic staff. The College comprises 5 schools: School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (CEM): The School brings together extensive expertise in a wide-ranging field of medical sciences with an integrated clinical and basic science portfolio. Research in basic and clinical sciences is fully integrated in the School, which offers state-of-the-art facilities, including the Institute of Biomedical Research and the NIHR/Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility. It also has links with major NHS Trusts in the region including the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham Children's Hospital, Birmingham Women's Hospital, the Heart of England and the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Trusts. School of Cancer sciences (CS): One of the world’s premier translational cancer research institutes working with many clinical partners to improve the outlook for cancer patients. The School’s portfolio is broad and ranges from leading research in NMR spectroscopy through to large clinical trials that change the standard of care in diseases such as breast cancer. It was the first Cancer Research UK Centre and has been designated as a ‘Centre of Excellence’ by Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. School of Dentistry(DEN):

The School of Dentistry is a thriving institution having over 100 Dental, Hygiene and Therapy, and Biomedical Materials Science students per year. There are a large number of postgraduate research students conducting research in Biomaterials, Tissue injury and repair and Dental public health, together with support staff. The school continues to grow and is well placed to meet the demands and challenges of the coming years, including moving to a new building in 2015. School of Health and Population Sciences (HAPS): The School brings together the major clinical disciplines of primary and secondary health care settings e.g. Primary Care and Public Health. The School’s increasing focus on methodological work – for example on trials, on diagnostics, on health outcome developments has seen the establishment of two other major units: Health Economics and Biostatistics within the School. The School supports postgraduate training through Public Health and Occupational Health and General Practice Specialist Registrar training schemes, taught masters and postgraduate research opportunities. School of Immunity and infection (I&I):

The School is an internationally recognized research centre for Immunology and Infection which hosts the MRC Centre for Immune Regulation, the Centre for Liver Research, NIHR Birmingham Liver BRU, Centre for Translational Inflammation Research, the Institute of Microbiology and Infection, MRC-ARUK Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research, the Medawar Centre for

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Healthy Ageing Research and the Birmingham University Stem Cell Centre. Teaching expertise in the School encompasses a wide range of disciplines including, Stem and Molecular Cell Biology, Immunology, Virology, Hepatology, Nephrology, Rheumatology and Ophthalmology. The School offers numerous opportunities for clinical and non clinical scientists to study for postgraduate research degrees in its research specialties, and currently hosts 78 PhD students. Women in Key Strategic Positions in the College of MDS. A particular strength of the College is the representation of senior female academic staff in positions of strategic importance. For example, there are now 3 female and 2 male heads of school. These and other examples are listed below and illustrate the crucial role of these roles within the College, particularly in the interface between the University and the NHS. Professor Jayne Parry Head of School of Health and Population Science Professor Jayne Franklyn Head of School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine Professor Janet Lord Head of School of Immunity and Infection Dr Emma Robinson Head of Operations, College of MDS Dr Kate Bishop Head of Research and Knowledge Transfer Professor Wiebke Arlt Director of the Centre for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism

European Funding and Networking Champion for the College Chair of the Research Committee of the School of CEM

Professor Kate Thomas Vice Dean with responsibility for MBChB leadership Professor Lorraine Harper Head of Clinical Academic Training Professor Pam Kearns Director of Birmingham Cancer Clinical Trials Unit Dr Una Martin Programme Director NIHR/Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility Professor Jane McKeating Lead for Centre of Human Virology Professor Laura Piddock Deputy Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Research Excellence Framework

In relation to the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework (REF) submission, the College of MDS adheres to the Code of Practice approved internally by the University of Birmingham and externally by the Funding Councils’ Equality and Diversity (E&D) Panel. All key staff associated with staff selection have attended REF-focused E&D training. Individual staff circumstances which may have affected a person’s ability to prepare the normal 4 outputs (including part-time working and maternity leave) are declared via a confidential process, and a reduction in the required number of outputs may be agreed. Periodic Equality Assessments are conducted on the staff selection data to check for evidence of discrimination.

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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.

Student data

(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.

We do not provide access or foundation courses.

(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.

In all our undergraduate courses, all of which are full time and include Medicine (MBChB), Graduate Entry Medicine (GEC/MBChB), Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BMedSc) and Dentistry (BDS) we have a substantial excess of females. In all cases except Medical Sciences this is significantly higher than the national HESA data average. We are pleased with this balance (Figure 3.1). Whilst the number of female students on BMedSci courses is lower than the national average, we note that more than 50% of our students on these courses are female and therefore feel that females are well represented still and no action is required. We will monitor student numbers in future years and assess if action is needed.

In 2013 we took our first intake of Pharmacy students and the data from this cohort will be included in subsequent applications and renewals (Action Plan).

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0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

MBChB GEC BMedSci BDS

Nu

mb

er

of

stu

de

nts

Number of female and male undergraduate students

Female

Male

Figure 3.1 Undergraduate student numbers by gender

Number of Females 1113 1143 1151 25 34 30 145 147 140 156 150 257

% Females 63% 63% 61% 60% 64% 71% 63% 62% 61% 70% 69% 68%

Number of Males 665 685 726 17 19 12 85 92 90 66 68 120

% Males 37% 37% 39% 40% 36% 29% 37% 38% 39% 30% 31% 32%

Total number of students

1778 1831 1877 42 53 42 230 239 230 222 218 377

% of Females on each couse nationally

(HESA data) 55% 55% 76% 60%

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0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

PGT Full Time PGT Part Time

Nu

mn

er o

f St

ud

ents

Number of female and male students on PG taught courses

Female

Male

(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 effect to date. Comment upon any plans for the future.

Females predominate on all of our full and part time postgraduate taught courses. Again, this is well in excess of the national average (Figure 3.2). We therefore feel that no further action is required although we will continue to monitor student numbers through the Athena SWAN awards process.

Figure 3.2 Postgraduate taught course student numbers by gender

Number of Females

296 289 268 178 148 128

% Females 61% 58% 53% 58% 57% 52%

Number of Males

191 207 235 130 110 118

% Males 39% 42% 47% 42% 43% 48%

Total PGT students 487 496 503 308 258 246

% of Females nationally (HESA

data) 47% 41%

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0

50

100

150

200

250

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

PGR Full Time PGR Part Time

Nu

mb

er o

f st

ud

ents

Number of female and male students on PG Research degrees

Female

Male

(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 effect to date. Comment upon any plans for the future.

Females predominate on research degrees, both full and part time, particularly the former. Both are in excess of the national average (Figure 3.3), and we will again monitor numbers but feel no further action is required at present.

Figure 3.3 Postgraduate research degree student numbers by gender

Number of Females

173 222 235 63 69 52

% Females 55% 59% 58% 52% 57% 52%

Number of Males

141 155 170 58 53 48

% Males 45% 41% 42% 48% 43% 48%

Total PGT students 314 377 405 121 122 100

% of Females nationally (HESA

data) 55% 50%

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(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.

For all our undergraduate courses the number and proportion of applications, offers and acceptances are greater for females than males (Table 3.1)

Table 3.1 Student numbers for applications, offers and acceptances for undergraduate courses

Undergraduate data

Number of Applications

(% female and male applications)

Number of Offers

(% female and male offers)

Number of Acceptances

(% female and male acceptances)

Female Male Female Male Female Male

MBChB

2010/11 1348 890 489 288 235 135

(60%) (40%) (63%) (37%) (64%) (36%)

2011/12 1509 1012 466 326 217 147

(60%) (40%) (59%) (41%) (60%) (40%)

2012/13 1603 1092 462 330 211 138

(59%) (41%) (58%) (42%) (60%) (40%)

GEC

2010/11 281 259 40 34 40 34

(52%) (48%) (54%) (46%) (54%) (46%)

2011/12 330 239 40 23 40 23

(58%) (42%) (63%) (37%) (63%) (37%)

2012/13 342 253 40 15 39 15

(57%) (43%) (72%) (28%) (72%) (28%)

BMedSci

2010/11 402 224 397 221 102 59

(64%) (36%) (64%) (36%) (63%) (37%)

2011/12 413 268 400 262 110 73

(61%) (39%) (60%) (40%) (60%) (40%)

2012/13 599 367 408 192 224 133

(62%) (38%) (68%) (32%) (63%) (37%)

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BDS

2010/11 443 330 97 40 72 28

(57%) (43%) (71%) (29%) (72%) (28%)

2011/12 455 324 103 41 72 31

(58%) (42%) (72%) (28%) (70%) (30%)

2012/13 418 268 92 53 71 31

(61%) (39%) (63%) (37%) (70%) (30%)

In line with the University equality & diversity policies, applicants for any Postgraduate courses are not asked to identify their gender. Therefore, we do not have recorded data for male and female applicants, offers, and acceptances. We are, however, able to provide the gender split for intake onto these degrees.

The University is currently in the process of validating a new system that will allow us to monitor the number of female and male applicants that wish to declare their gender. This information will be recorded by central administration (Table 3.2).

Table 3.2 Student numbers for applications, offers and acceptances for postgraduate taught and research courses

Number of Application, offers and acceptances

for PG degrees

2009-10 2010-11 2011-12

PG Taught:

Applicants 1685 1572 1100

Offers 451 504 444

Acceptances 383 381 398

PG Research:

Applicants 640 594 583

Offers 461 209 233

Acceptances 130 184 199

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(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.

For MBChB the proportion of females who obtain an Honours degree in Medicine remains at around 15% over the three year period. The proportion of males has increased, but with only three years data it is not possible to say whether this is a chance occurrence or the start of a trend which we will obviously monitor. The method of selection for distinction has changed over the three years but numbers awarded distinctions are small with no clear pattern evident. The numbers in the GEC/MBChB cohort are small but there is no clear imbalance in favour of male students in relation to honours or distinction (Table 3.3). Overall, females and males are represented equally in each group and we therefore feel that no action is required.

Table 3.3 Degree classifications by gender for MBChB and GEC

MBChB Honours Distinctions Cohort size % students with

Honours % students with

Distinctions

Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female

2010/11 14 34 4 10 118 207 12% 16% 3% 5%

2011/12 17 32 11 20 110 198 16% 16% 10% 10%

2012/13 27 33 12 11 138 230 20% 14% 9% 5%

GEC Honours Distinctions Cohort size % students with

Honours % students with

Distinctions

Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female

2010/11 8 11 3 3 17 25 47% 44% 18% 12%

2011/12 6 6 3 5 14 25 43% 24% 21% 20%

2012/13 5 12 1 6 16 31 31% 39% 6% 19%

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For the BMedSci, we note that whilst the percentage of females obtaining a 1st class honours has previously been lower than men, there has been a gradual increase over the last 2 years, and now more females attained 1st class honours than males in the current year. The percentage of females attaining 2:2 class honours degrees has decreased a result of more achieving higher class degrees. Overall, there is currently no apparent imbalance amongst females and males in degree classification for the BMedSci. (table 3.4)

Table3.4 Degree classification by gender for BMedSci

For Birmingham Dental School we note that the data is showing consistency over the last 3 years Very few students attain an honours degree or a distinction in Clinical Chemistry so it is not possible to draw any conclusions about differences in male and female attainment.

(table 3.5)

Table3.5 Degree classification by gender for BDS

BMedSci 1st 2.1 2:2 Cohort size % students

with 1st % students with

2:1 % students with

2:2

Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female

2010/11 15 16 31 60 11 16 58 92 26% 17% 53% 65% 19% 17%

2011/12 12 25 33 64 8 11 54 101 22% 25% 61% 63% 15% 11%

2012/13 7 29 36 74 7 4 51 107 14% 27% 71% 69% 14% 4%

BDS

Distinction in

Clinical

Chemistry Honours Pass Cohort size

% students with

Distinction in

Clinical Chemistry

% students with

Honours

% students with

Pass

Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male

2010/11 1 2 3 1 59 24 63 29 1.6% 6.9% 4.8% 3.4% 93.7% 82.8%

2011/12 1 1 0 0 39 27 42 30 2.4% 3.3% 0% 0% 92.9% 90%

2012/13 0 0 2 2 45 26 50 29 0% 0% 4% 6.9% 90.0% 89.7%

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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

Over the three years presented, the total proportion of women in Clinical Academic posts is now 35%. 21% of Professorial posts are female compared with 11% in 2009/2010 which was the first year shown in our Bronze application. This increase coincided with the start of our WAMS initiative and has continued and the proportions are greater than both the national HESA data which shows that of all clinical academic professors, 17% are female and The Medical Schools Council survey of staffing levels, of 15.9%. Our proportion of Clinical Lecturers and Senior Lectures are in line with the national Medical Schools Council data (Figure 3.5).

For Non Clinical academic staff, the total proportion women has remained stable over the 3 years studied at over 55%. At the professorial level 30% are female which has also remained stable, but again in excess of the 21% from national HESA data. At lecturer and Senior Lecturer grade, proportion of men and women are similar (Figure 3.6).

We plan to continue our initiatives in order that this pleasing excess over national data continues.

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Male

Figure 3.5 Number of Clinical members of staff split by gender

Number of Females

12 22 19 4 5 5 29 31 30 19 23 22 1 1 1 9 11 12 74 93 89

% Females 36% 44% 40% 57% 56% 63% 36% 40% 41% 37% 37% 37% 13% 11% 14% 19% 22% 21% 32% 36% 35%

Number of Males

21 28 28 3 4 3 52 46 44 33 40 38 7 8 6 39 40 44 155 166 163

% Males 64% 56% 60% 43% 44% 38% 64% 60% 59% 63% 63% 63% 88% 89% 86% 81% 78% 79% 68% 64% 65%

Total 33 50 47 7 9 8 81 77 74 52 63 60 8 9 7 48 51 56 229 259 252

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Figure 3.6 Number of Non-Clinical members of staff split by gender

Number of Females

183 202 192 7 8 5 35 36 38 35 34 29 2 2 2 18 16 16 280 298 282

% Females 62% 65% 65% 37% 44% 33% 49% 49% 49% 54% 52% 45% 14% 13% 13% 33% 27% 30% 55% 57% 56%

Number of Males

111 111 103 12 10 10 36 38 40 30 32 35 12 13 14 37 43 38 238 247 240

% Males 38% 35% 35% 63% 56% 67% 51% 51% 51% 46% 48% 55% 86% 87% 88% 67% 73% 70% 45% 43% 44%

Total 294 313 295 19 18 15 71 74 78 65 66 64 14 15 16 55 59 54 518 545 522

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(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.

In the following tables, voluntary leavers are members of staff who have either retired or resigned from their positions. Other leavers are those who have left due to fixed term contract expiry, redundancy, voluntary severance or dismissal. Turnover (both voluntary and other) overall is low and numbers in each category are small with no clear differences between men and women. Most voluntary turnover is at clinical lecturer level which can be accounted for by some staff opting to return to the NHS career pathway. For non-clinical staff most voluntary turnover is at research fellow level as would be expected. Most non voluntary turnover is at non clinical research Fellow level, mainly accounted for by short term contracts (Table 3.4). There were 2 non-clinical professors that left voluntarily in 2011/12, one to early retirement and the other to ill health. We believe that better monitoring through exit interviews now allow us to identify any concerning reasons for loss of staff members.

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Table 3.4 Staff turnover by grade and gender

Staff Number (Turnover - voluntary)

2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013

Female Male Female Male Female Male

Clinical staff

Research Fellow 3 (19%) 3 (14%) 1 (8%) 0 (0%) 2 (9%) 8 (29%)

Senior Research Fellow 0 (0%) 2 (40%) 0 (0%) 1 (33%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Lecturer 3 (11%) 8 (14%) 5 (17%) 15 (29%) 6 (19%) 4 (9%)

Senior Lecturer 1 (7%) 3 (9%) 0 (0%) 2 (6%) 0 (0%) 4 (10%)

Reader 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Professor 0 (0%) 3 (8%) 0 (0%) 5 (13%) 1 (9%) 2 (5%)

Non-Clinical staff

Research Fellow 12 (7%) 9 (8%) 17 (8%) 8 (7%) 14 (7%) 9 (9%)

Senior Research Fellow 1 (14%) 1 (7%) 1 (14%) 0 (0%) 1 (13%) 0 (0%)

Lecturer 1 (3%) 1 (3%) 1 (3%) 0 (0%) 2 (6%) 3 (8%)

Senior Lecturer 1 (3%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (3%) 1 (3%) 2 (6%)

Reader 0 (0%) 1 (8%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (50%) 1 (8%)

Professor 0 (0%) 4 (13%) 2 (11%) 1 (3%) 0 (0%) 4 (9%)

Staff Number (Turnover - other)

2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013

Female Male Female Male Female Male

Clinical staff

Research Fellow 4 (25%) 4 (19%) 3 (25%) 3 (14%) 2 (9%) 5 (18%)

Senior Research Fellow 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (25%)

Lecturer 0 (0%) 1 (2%) 0 (0%) 1 (2%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Senior Lecturer 0 (0%) 1 (3%) 0 (0%) 1 (3%) 1 (4%) 0 (0%)

Reader 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Professor 0 (0%) 1 (3%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Non-Clinical staff

Research Fellow 12 (7%) 21 (19%) 14 (7%) 15 (14%) 15 (8%) 12 (12%)

Senior Research Fellow 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Lecturer 0 (0%) 1 (3%) 1 (3%) 2 (6%) 0 (0%) 1 (3%)

Senior Lecturer 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (3%) 0 (0%) 1 (3%)

Reader 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (50%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Professor 1 (6%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (2%)

Word Count 1732 Additional word count used 0

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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.

In general there are more male applications at every Clinical level. This is particularly common at senior level but some of the differences will reflect areas where traditionally women are less likely to choose to train e.g. surgery. Despite this, at Senior Lecturer level and above, female success rate is consistently higher, although this is based on small numbers (Table 4.1). Although more men than women apply for Non Clinical advertised posts, in general the success rate for women is higher, with some exceptions where again there are small numbers in several of the categories (Table 4.2). In order to address the lower female application rates, all advertisements now include the Athena SWAN Bronze logo in an attempt to encourage more women to apply.

Table 4.1 Number of applications and success rates for Clinical posts

Table 4.2 Number of applications and success rates for Non-Clinical posts

Clinical staff data

Female Applications

Male Applications

Female Success Rate

Male Success rate

2010/11

Research Fellow 7 27 3 (43%) 10 (37%)

Senior Research Fellow 1 0 1(100%) 0

Lecturer 25 46 8 (32%) 8 (17%)

Senior Lecturer 1 6 1 (100%) 6 (100%)

Professor 0 11 0 2 (18%)

Total 34 90 13 (38%) 26 (29%)

2011/12

Research Fellow 11 8 4 (36%) 3 (38%)

Senior Research Fellow 1 3 1 (100%) 3 (100%)

Lecturer 43 63 15 (35%) 14 (22%)

Senior Lecturer 12 29 3 (25%) 5 (17%)

Professor 1 4 1 (100%) 1 (25%)

Total 68 107 24 (35%) 26 (27%)

2012/13

Research Fellow 8 7 6 (75%) 7 (100%)

Senior Research Fellow 0 0 0 0

Lecturer 42 60 3 (7%) 14 (23%)

Senior Lecturer 3 8 3 (100%) 4 (50%)

Professor 0 0 0 0

Total 53 75 12 (23%) 25 (33%)

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Non-clinical staff data

Female Applications

Male Applications

Female Success Rate

Male Success rate

2010/11

Research Fellow 513 581 57 (11%) 36 (6%)

Senior Research Fellow 0 0 0 0

Lecturer 105 177 2 (2%) 10 (6%)

Senior Lecturer 6 34 1 (17%) 2 (6%)

Professor 5 20 2 (40%) 5 (25%)

Total 629 812 62 (10%) 51 (6%)

2011/12

Research Fellow 601 674 51 (8%) 29 (4%)

Senior Research Fellow 0 5 0 1 (20%)

Lecturer 27 51 5 (19%) 0 (0%)

Senior Lecturer 7 25 0 (0%) 3 (12%)

Professor 6 13 2 (33%) 4 (31%)

Total 641 768 58 (9%) 37 (5%)

2012/13

Research Fellow 400 351 68 (17%) 41 (12%)

Senior Research Fellow 0 3 0 3 (100%)

Lecturer 68 90 15 (22%) 11 (12%)

Senior Lecturer 49 79 2 (4%) 7 (9%)

Professor 0 2 0 0 (0%)

Total 517 525 85 (16%) 62 (12%)

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(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.

In general, fewer women apply for promotion but if they do, their success rate is at least as high as for male applicants. The ratio of male to female applications has narrowed over the last three years (Table 4.3). It is of note that in two cases females who applied for Readership were awarded Chairs. Potential candidates for promotion are now given more support through a series of workshops on promotion and CV writing, organised by SAT. In addition, as noted in the Head of College letter, the model operating in HAPS has now been adopted by all five schools with the appointment of a “Lead for Career Development and Equality” in each school, again organised by SAT. This role includes identifying potential candidates and supporting applications.

Table 4.3 Number of applications and success rates for promotions

Applications Promotions (% success rate)

Female Male Female Male

2010/11

Senior Research Fellow 1 1 1 (100%) 1 (100%)

Senior Lecturer 1 3 1 (100%) 3 (100%)

Reader 3 9 0 (0%) 5 (56%)

Professor 1 9 1 (100%) 6 (67%)

Total 6 22 3 (50%) 15 (68%)

2011/12

Senior Research Fellow 1 - 1 (100%)

Senior Lecturer 1 3 1 (100%) 3 (100%)

Reader 2 10 2 (100%) 3 (30%)

Professor 3 7 1 (33%) 3 (43%)

Total 6 21 4 (67%) 12 (57%)

2012/13

Senior Research Fellow 2 - 2 (100%)

Senior Lecturer 2 3 2 (100%) 3 (100%)

Reader 4 3 2 (50%) 2 (50%)

Professor 3 8 2 (67%) 4 (50%)

Total 9 16 6 (67%) 10 (63%)

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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.

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

The College has an extensive guide to the recruitment and selection process that specifically notes examples of direct and indirect discrimination that may affect female candidates including:

• Not employing a woman because of concerns about child-care arrangements

• A requirement that a post is only open to full-time applicants, which would indirectly discriminate against female applicants, who are more likely to work part-time than males

• Requiring applicants attending for interview to stay overnight because times for interviews, tests, presentations etc. have been arranged for two consecutive days or early in the morning. This can discriminate against applicants with responsibility for children or other dependants.

A member of the College HR staff checks all proposed short-listing sheets prior to candidates being invited to interview to ensure equal opportunity concerns have been addressed. Over the last 3 years every member of staff has had to complete mandatory equality and diversity training. As part of the University’s Advancing Equality in Employment initiative, all those interviewing will also have to undertake training on recruitment and selection including unconscious bias. For all internal applications for Senior posts, it is emphasised that applications from women are particularly welcome. As previously mentioned, the Athena SWAN logo routinely appears on external adverts.

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(i) 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.

There have been many initiatives, programmes and activities over the last 5 years and ongoing which support our staff at key transition points through the WAMS initiative, e.g. workshops on Assertiveness training, Time Management, and Having Constructively Challenging Conversations. A mentoring scheme is well established, and events targeting careers and promotions are held each year. Additionally, events with guest speakers from both within and outside the University are organised as described in the Action Plan and provide regular networking and support opportunities (www.birmingham.ac.uk/wams). There is also now a coaching academy at the University which offers tailored support and development to individuals at crucial points in their careers.. In 2009, a key area of attrition was identified as during postdoctoral training, and the post doctoral/early researcher career development and training programme (PERCAT) was introduced. Focus groups were run and key barriers identified. A steering group was set up with academic leads from each school and postdoctoral representatives. On similar lines to the WAMS SAT, an action plan was produced. A series of lectures on careers for postdocs, training events, mentoring schemes, a postdoc conference, dedicated web pages, and support from Vitae have all been implemented. In March 2012, focus groups were undertaken to measure improvement. The key findings show that a significant number of postdocs now have a mentor, they are engaged in workshops in careers, and have had opportunities to develop, particularly in teaching activities. Reports and action plan can be found on the PERCAT website (http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/university/colleges/mds/percat/index.aspx).

At Lecturer level the University has signed up to the Aurora Leadership Programme run the Leadership Foundation in Higher Education. This is a new programme aimed specifically at women to help develop leadership skills. Aurora is aimed at women up to senior lecturer level and will provide core and adaptive leadership skills and knowledge, preparing women for future leadership roles. One of the key parts of the Aurora experience will be for participants to have contact with successful women in higher education with the values and characteristics that provide a positive role model. The University is funding 22 females (8 from MDS) in the first year to attend the programme with a pledge to develop 160 over the next 4 years. We are also supporting the programme with mentors and senior female role models. To target the development needs of our Senior Lecturers and Readers, the University has introduced the Emerging Leaders Programme in 2013. This programme aims to develop current leadership skills, builds confidence as a leader and assesses individual skills as a leader. The programme will continue to run 2 cohorts a year and participants are nominated by their Heads of College. As part of the University's strategy to develop its senior leaders it introduced a senior leadership programme (SLP) in 2009. It is a 6 months programme and consists of a series of modules, action learning, strategic project work and a leadership exchange. To get a place on the programme, individuals have to be nominated by a senior member and agreed by the University executive. The

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programme is aimed at professorial level and directors of professional services. When the programme started, 2 female delegates attended out of 10. To date there have been 5 cohorts complete the programme and the 6th is in progress. Of a total of 87 delegates 27 were female (12 from MDS) There is an SLP alumni which continue to network and develop through initiatives such as master class sessions, skills refresher days, mentoring, coaching and supporting our middle manager Emerging Leaders Programme.

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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?

The Colleges new Personal Development Review (PDR) process includes the opportunity for staff to complete a personal record of achievement allowing them to map out work load and contribution so that it is an integral part of the discussion. In addition for Clinical staff, the College subscribes to the newly revised Joint Clinical Appraisal form (endorsed by UCEA and the BMA) which has specific areas of input for Academic staff. We have liaised closely with colleagues in each of our stakeholder NHS trusts to ensure that the same form is used so that we can have consistency of approach. As part of this appraisal process staff have the opportunity to discuss individual responsibilities to help ensure fair distribution and rotation of responsibilities. Individuals are allowed specific time for personal development. The College recognises outstanding research, teaching, contributions to industrial, commercial, professional partnership, and academic citizenship (including pastoral and outreach work) in its promotions process. Not all colleagues will contribute equally across all areas, but many will excel in many areas and contribute importantly to all. Our promotions processes seek to identify, evidence, evaluate, and, wherever appropriate, reward outstanding contributions. The College guidance for staff on the promotions process explicitly mentions that staff will not be treated less favourably because of individual circumstances e.g. absence on maternity, parental or adoption leave; part-time or other flexible working arrangements and caring commitments. The College takes into account that these circumstances will result in reduced output in terms of quantity but not quality (e.g. publications). The College was instrumental in influencing a new career pathway for Teaching Excellence as a route for promotion. The result is that staff can progress to a full Professor through the Teaching Excellence pathway. To augment existing career development in the schools the Career Development and Equality lead works alongside other senior members of staff to identify and support individuals through the promotions process which tends to advantage females. For our individual Schools, these are:

Professor Christine MacArther (School of HAPS)

Professor Deborah White (School of Dentistry)

Professor Tanja Stankovic (School of CS)

Professor Jane McKeating (School of I&I)

Professor Janice Marshal (School of CEM)

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(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?

Before a member of staff commences employment they have an induction pack sent to them with relevant information, including flexible working policy and a letter introducing them to Athena SWAN and the WAMS initiative. Upon commencement, the person has a tailored School–specific induction which is the responsibility of the line manager and the School administration manager. The individual also meets the Head of School, and attends a centrally run induction about the University as well as completing equality and diversity training. The SAT encourages both men and women to take on a mentoring role within the school and to attend networking and training events which are run on a regular basis.

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(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.

At undergraduate level, Professor Kate Thomas is Vice Dean for Student Development and Support. Each student is assigned a personal mentor. Groups of 14-17 students across all 5 years are linked and encouraged to engage both with each other and with their 2 assigned mentors as they progress through the medical course. Social events and individual tutorials take place and the mentors also have a role in encouraging the acquisition of generic academic skills through the Student Selected Component. Students are encouraged to consider studentships, internships and to apply for the Academic Foundation programme. Academics within the College are actively recruited to take part in the mentor scheme and NHS clinicians volunteer to do so. A large number of female graduates from Birmingham volunteer in their early specialist training, but generally withdraw when they have young children. Since our last application the number of groups with a female mentor has increased from 67 to 80 and the number with 2 female mentors has increased from 15 to 17 groups. Serious issues are always relayed to the Year Tutors, and students can always request to meet with a female.

At the postgraduate level, Dr June Jones is Head of Graduate Student Support and in addition to their supervisor(s) each student has a personal Mentor responsible for pastoral support, including the provision of general advice and guidance. Each student has the right to request a female tutor and the mentor system is kept as a confidential appointment between the mentor and student. 52% (PGT) and 52% (PGR) of our part time students are female and in response to the recent Postgraduate Researcher Experience Survey/Postgraduate Taught Experience Surveys we will be increasing our programme of workshops for part time researchers and piloting a new ‘finishing’ workshop for part time researchers near the end of their PhD. We will also be posting resources online for access off campus. The College & University Graduate Schools ensure that students have access to a broad range of training opportunities to best equip them to undertake their research successfully and to enhance their personal development. Training is specifically tailored to enhance generic skills appropriate for employment in the wider scientific community as well as in Academia. The Graduate School of the College works closely with the University Graduate School to co-ordinate delivery of other aspects of training. These aspects include transferable skills in topics such as team-building, communication, writing, career development, publishing and thesis preparation. These opportunities are delivered through the University’s Academic Practice and Organisational Development, the Student Guild and the Information Services Department.

The School of Dentistry provides an excellent support network for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The umbrella of support is led by a female senior welfare tutor and a deputy who is also female. Each student is allocated a personal tutor, of who approximately one third are women. The School operates an ‘open door’ policy in order to ensure students’ needs are met and adaptations and flexibility can be provided where necessary. Examples of situations where the School has supported students are pregnancy, serious illness and hospitalisation. The team has been able to rearrange teaching, provide additional teaching and liaise with families, other healthcare professionals and university support services where necessary.

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Some of the PERCAT initiatives described previously are available to post graduate researchers to help them make the transition to post-doctoral career pathways. Professor Lorraine Harper, Head of Clinical Academic Training, has recently submitted a bid to the NIHR for the development and provision of an academic Mentorship and Career Development Programme for medical and dental trainees progressing through the Integrated Academic Training (IAT) Pathway in order to provide high quality mentorship in order to support the development of clinical academic careers for medical and dental trainees in England. Finally, as part of the WAMS initiative we have established a cohort of mentors recognising that not all individuals were catered for and that often more senior women need mentorship too. Medical Science is an undergraduate programme; all students are given the same support irrespective of gender. However students can approach female members of staff if they choose to. Medical science students can request female tutors or can see a female tutor to discuss personal or academic issues or advice on specific career paths.

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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.

For many key committees the selection is based on post not person and there is a difference between members and attendees. For example, on College Board, both Head of HR and Planning Partners are female but are not recorded in this breakdown. As a result of the SWAN activity it is now recognised that female membership of key committees such as College Promotions must be increased. The balance has been addressed for the 2013/2014 round and there is now 6 males and 4 females on the committee. In addition many other key committees are chaired by females such as the Scientific Advisory Committee for the NIHR/Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Committee (Dr Una Martin) and the Academic Training Committee (Professor Lorraine Harper).

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Table 4.4 Female representation on panels and committees

Year Male Female Total

College Board 2010/11 8 4 12

2011/12 8 3 11

2012/13 7 4 11

College Management Group 2010/11 3 4 7

2011/12 5 3 8

2012/13 5 3 8

College Operations Group 2010/11 7 9 16

2011/12 5 8 13

2012/13 4 11 15

College Learning and Teaching Committee 2010/11 9 8 17

2011/12 12 10 22

2012/13 15 12 27

Strategic Research Committee (SRC) 2009/10 15 5 20

2010/11 17 10 27

2012/13 21 12 33

Safety Executive Committee 2010/11 14 6 20

2011/12 13 9 22

2012/13 17 8 25

College Promotions Committee 2010/11 4 3 7

2011/12 7 2 9

2012/13 10 3 13

39

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2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

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er o

f st

aff

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Female

Male

(ii) 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.

The analysis of this data is difficult due to the variety and complexity of funding streams for both clinical and non-clinical academic posts and the return to NHS employment by many clinical academic trainees. This data will include a large number of externally funded posts from grant income of individual Principal Investigators, which are fixed term by definition. Many of these individuals will go forward for intermediate and then senior fellowships with a view to progression to a permanent position at an appropriate time in their career. We do note that more men than women are on open “permanent” contracts and there is on-going work looking into the reasons for this and possible solutions to address the imbalance (Figures 4.1 and 4.2). Figure 4.1 Clinical staff on fixed and open “permanent” contracts split by gender

Females 40 34 47 46 43 46

% 43% 25% 45% 30% 43% 30%

Males 52 103 58 108 58 105

% 57% 75% 55% 70% 57% 70%

40

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100

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Fixed Term Open "Permanent"

Fixed Open "Permanent"

Fixed Open "Permanent"

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Nu

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Number of Non-Clinical staff on fixed and open "permanent" contracts

Female

Male

Figure 4.2 Non-Clinical staff on fixed and open “permanent” contracts split by gender

Females 228 87 248 90 240 90

% 62% 44% 65% 42% 63% 43%

Males 142 112 134 124 140 121

% 38% 56% 35% 58% 37% 57%

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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?

As already noted the College has taken steps to increase female representation on influential committees. Outside the department, including the University Centre and nationally, such activities are recognised as indicators of esteem and women are encouraged to take them on. As the numbers of senior female academics increases the issue of “committee overload” will become less of a problem.

(ii) 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.

The College recognises pastoral and administrative responsibilities in its promotions process. The criteria for promotion include excellence in academic citizenship and recent changes to the application process have specific categories to detail such activity. Within PDR and Clinical Academic Appraisals all staff has performance and development objectives and this includes discussion of pastoral and administrative roles such as responsibility for SWAN activities. Development objectives discussed at PDR and Appraisal include opportunities such as attending WAMS events, committee roles internally and externally, and conference attendance. Some of the heavy work load posts are fixed term and others, such as Year Tutor are shared out between members of the College. Time allowances are made for these to be undertaken as part of workload allocation; for example one of the leads for Career Development and Equality does not take on the usual module co-ordinator role in their School.

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(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.

The Head of College regularly emails staff members to remind them of the guidelines for the timing of departmental meetings from 10am-3pm during core working hours. Some staff for example may only work certain days and senior staff are asked within their teams to take into consideration particular patterns of working so that any meetings can be accommodated. The SAT members monitor this within their various parts of the College. Guidance has been produced for managers: for example the document asks managers -

“Do you provide training/meetings/important events at times and venues convenient for staff members who have family commitments?”

For the WAMS events, we have deliberately rotated times so that most people can attend at least some events and we give several weeks’ notice of events so that caring arrangements can be put in place.

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(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.

The College of MDS had developed over the years and through the work of the University as a whole and the WAMS group, has become more aware of the need to be supportive of female academics. The publication of guidelines on flexible working, of times for meetings within the core working day, the ability to work part-time etc. all support the change. Every member of the College completed a diversity training package during 2011/12 which has revived awareness at all levels. We now include a letter about the WAMS activities with the Induction Packs for all new staff. Encouragingly, the WAMS focus groups (www.birmingham.ac.uk/wams) conducted during 2012 demonstrated that female academics feel there is a positive change in attitude. Language is more inclusive and actions demonstrate that females are treated as equals. However, work needs to continue to keep this culture change moving in the right direction, in all areas, hence the Action Plan for 12 months. Several areas of good practice have been identified across the Schools and we aim to disseminate these more widely. For example, there are a high proportion of female academics in HAPS and there are numerous role models of women (with and without children) currently, or previously, working full and part-time at all levels. There is acceptance of flexibility in ways of working by females (and sometimes males) in their hours and places of work. There is a culture of mutual support within HAPS such that colleagues will help out in areas of teaching or supervision and will swap or take on a colleague’s teaching session if they become unable to do it, for example through family illness, or commitment such as a tight grant deadline. It is considered important to treat colleagues with respect and as whole individuals; so that pleasure is expressed when staff have babies or their children or family members have ‘done well’, as well as when papers are accepted in high quality journals, research grants are awarded or there is good evaluation in student feedback. The weekly HAPS School Bulletin publishes news of personal and family achievements outside of work as well as stories relating to academic success and places great emphasis on the role of all members of staff – senior and junior, academic and administrative – in making the School ‘work well’. This has now been adopted in other schools. College Assemblies are held at lunch time and the days rotated. Since our Bronze award we have taken several of these initiatives forward in the wider College. Specifically we have appointed a Lead for Career Development and Equality in each of the other four Schools to take on board the examples of good practice developed in HAPS. These individuals have had sessions with Christine MacArthur (Lead for Career Development and Equality in HAPS) so that she can explain the role and mentor the group.

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(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.

As part of the WAMS activity we have actively engaged with local schools. Ms Sarah Evans, Head of King Edwards School Edgbaston addressed the group and facilitated a number of outreach sessions with the girls. For example year 9 attended a science work shop on the University Health Research Bus in July, a focus group was held with a group of 6th formers to ascertain how they had been influenced by female role models and a group of our senior scientists ran a seminar in the school to engage the girls with careers in science. We have also engaged with our NHS partner hospital, University Hospital Birmingham Foundation Trust; the Chief Executive, Dame Julie Moore gave an inspirational talk to the group about her career pathway and day to day challenges. An example of an exemplary outreach programme is the Centre for Liver Research public engagement programme which is committed to raising awareness of their research and sharing knowledge with the public. This group has been actively involved in public engagement with patient group, local schools & the community for several years, primarily driven by a team of 4 females (research nurse, projects office, lecturer and post doc). Examples of the activity include a liver research education day, a stand at the Big Bang Science Fair, a “Love your Liver” road show part of a national campaign by the British Liver Trust and a “Meet the Liver Scientist Day” at Think Tank Birmingham with a range of “squidgy, gooey, interactive and fun experiments” aimed at children. They have a long history of engagement with young people which includes visiting schools to give talks and work experience placements where researchers can engage directly with sixth form students.

The Cancer Research UK Centre focuses on outreach to promote research and clinical excellence in cancer. Examples of outreach include laboratory tours, the ”Race for Life” supporting breast cancer research, BBC briefing events, Think Tank education events and many more. These events have been organised and attended by many women, including senior researchers. Melissa Grant is a member of a steering committee for the JENNER society fro encouraging and helping young girls (GCSE and A level) to attain places on medical and science courses at University. She gives bi annual lectures and talks informally with girls every 4 months plus hosts them in the laboratory as required. Outreach activity is recognised in the promotions process as examples of academic citizenship and individuals going for promotion are actively encouraged to take part. As stated earlier, there are now specific categories in the CV and promotions forms for these activities to be described so that adequate recognition is given. In addition, these activities are discussed as part of the PDR and Joint Clinical Appraisal process so that they can be recognised as a legitimate part of the workload model for both male and females.

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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.

Over the last 2 years, everyone who has gone on maternity leave has returned in either a full time or part time capacity. No one has left employment. This has been an improvement since 2010/2011 when 2 non clinical staff left. (Table 4.5).

Table 4.5 Number of female members of staff taking maternity leave

Number of staff taking maternity

leave

Number of staff returning

full time

Number of staff returning

part time

Number of staff leaving

Clinical staff

2010/11 3 3 0 0

2011/12 5 2 3 0

2012/13 11 9 2 0

Non-clinical staff

2010/11 17 5 10 2

2011/12 12 9 3 0

2012/13 16 11 5 0

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(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.

Data for paternity, adoption and parental leave has not previously been recorded. For the year of 2012/13, we now have centrally recorded data for paternity leave. Of the 12 applications, all have been approved. We will continue to record and monitor the level of paternity, adoption and parental leave taken and action any concerning trends.

(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.

We have many female members of staff across the College who work both full and part time, some in senior roles. To date, every person who has requested flexible working has been provided with this option, both male and female. Most of the applicants are female but this data is not recorded centrally as flexible accounts for full time and well as part time staff. All flexibility is negotiated locally. Our School Leads for Career Development and Equality have the remit to check this within their Schools and be involved in any discussions of requests as necessary, although most requests are accommodated without this as many senior staff and line managers are becoming used to this “culture”. We find that in Schools such as HAPS, where there are many women, this system and culture of flexibility works well resulting in greater job satisfaction as well as productivity.

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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) 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.

Under the amended Employment Rights Act 1996, staff have a statutory right to request a flexible working pattern where they meet certain criteria. The University has a comprehensive Flexible Working Guidelines document (https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/hr/documents/public/flexible-working.pdf) which outlines the process by which employees can request flexible working and this applies to all staff. It has been widely promoted within the College by the HR team at drop in sessions, staff forums, meetings etc. It has been promoted through the development session run by the University People Organisation and Development Centre for the post-doctoral community and also at Athena SWAN events. At present we have 6 female professors on part time contracts. Guidance has also been produced for managers for example asking:

Do you offer flexible working hours, for instance, late starts or early finishes on at least some days in the week?

Do you negotiate with staff which days they work?

Do you consider the personal circumstances of staff when working out rotas for work and holidays?

Do you negotiate with staff so that they can have holidays during school holidays, or at other times they particularly need off?

Do you negotiate with staff to take unpaid leave, or work time in lieu (where appropriate), to cover occasional time off?

.

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(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.

Within the College, individual Schools have different practices as appropriate to their specific activities, so comments from the Heads of Schools are presented individually:

School of Cancer Science “For staff employed on external grants we always talk to the granting body to ensure that research awards are frozen, as appropriate, to allow the returning worker to come back without any loss of training. For senior academic, administrative or multi- grants we have almost always appointed temporary cover. We always discuss with the returning staff how they would wish to plan their work on return and every request for flexible working has been accommodated.” School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine: “Before maternity leave the Head of School or another senior colleague, will discuss plans and cover for roles informally. Generally, for academics, their roles are absorbed by others for the duration of leave. There will be a return to work discussion by the Head of School. Several academics have successfully moved to part time contracts on return from maternity leave, including clinical lecturers.” School of Dentistry “To support female staff before they go on maternity leave we allow working from home and flexible working hours; the acquisition of more comfortable seating (harder and more upright) for dental work allows for greater comfort. During absence, cover for teaching is provided also using innovative solutions for fulfilling specialist courses (e.g. we support recording of lecture material so they can be placed on-line) and make alternative arrangements for any student questions regarding the material. The research duties during absence are supported by an excellent research team network and planning throughout the School. Finally, administrative and citizenship duties are put on hold or covered by other members of staff. On return to work we help academic staff achieve a suitable work-life balance by allowing flexibility on working hours and working from home as appropriate/necessary.“ School of HAPS “In some cases a temporary appointment is arranged to cover maternity leave and in others cover is organised and provided by other staff in the School. On return from maternity leave, if the staff member wishes to adopt flexible working arrangements, the administration team also assist in this process. In addition to the admin team, a senior member of the academic staff (Prof Christine MacArthur) has a responsibility for staffing issues within the School and is available for discussion and consultation as necessary in relation to our policy on flexible working by both staff members and the line managers and admin team.” School of I&I: “Generally, for career track academics, their roles are absorbed by others for the duration of their maternity leave. As a School we have been accommodating in accepting new patterns of work, part time working arrangements and extension of probationary periods. For more Senior Academic staff we have put in place other arrangements, for example we provided a member of

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our senior female academics staff with dedicated secretarial support to allow her to work part time immediately after returning from maternity leave.”

Word count 4705

Additional word count used 0

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5. Any other comments: maximum 500 words

Please comment here on any other elements which are relevant to the application, e.g. other STEMM-specific initiatives of special interest that have not been covered in the previous sections. Include any other relevant data (e.g. results from staff surveys), provide a commentary on it and indicate how it is planned to address any gender disparities identified.

The activities and initiatives that underpin this application have been running since 2009 with the launch of the WAMS Steering group. The work of this group informed the University Bronze award application in April 2012 and we were pleased to be awarded a College of MDS Bronze award in April 2013, the first of an individual unit in the University. Una Martin and Kate Crane are members of the University Self-Assessment Group and have advised other Schools preparing for submission of applications. Una Martin has joined the Athena SWAN Medical and Dental Advisory Board at the ECU as a committee member and recently presented the work in the College of MDS as an example of good practice to the University Council. As part of their remit the SAT has invited key speakers to deliver inspirational talks to our members. For example the initiative was launched by Baroness Susan Greenfield, Professor of Pharmacology, University of Oxford and most recently Dame Athene Donald, Professor of Physics, University of Cambridge spend the day with us and gave an inspirational talk about her role in the Equality agenda in Cambridge. We have also invited key members of the College of MDS, the Chief Executive of our local NHS Trust (UHBFT), Dame Julie Moore and the Principal of King Edwards High School for Girls Edgbaston, Ms Sarah Evans, to address the group. All events are preceded by tea and cakes or cheese and wine (depending on the time of day!) and an opportunity to “Meet a mentor” and to network. Our People and Organisation Development Department has delivered a stimulating programme of training seminars on Bullying and Harassment, Time management and Having Constructively Challenging Conversations. Each year we have delivered seminars on promotion and clinical excellent awards and worked with our members on theirs CVs. We have visited several other institutions to share best practice. To assess the impact of these changes we have run focus groups at the beginning and end of this process and have seen a real improvement in the culture in which we operate (www.birmingham.ac.uk/wams). On the issue of “changes” felt over the last few years, some women had felt a change in the culture of early morning meetings, and felt that the informal mentoring scheme was good practice. A number of mentors and mentees attended and all gave positive feedback regarding the support given through the scheme. Many voiced how enjoyable WAMS events were, especially the networking opportunities.

The staff attitude survey (SAS) of 2011 showed that 19% of staff surveyed did not feel that the University offered equality of opportunity. As a result, the College delivered equality and diversity training to all staff in the college. There were also issues regarding work life balance and working excessive hours. Actions have been put in place through the SAS working group and through the Athena SWAN SAT to address these issues as outlined in this application. We believe that the initiatives outlined have successfully impacted on the lives of our female academics throughout the College and this will be assessed in the latest Staff Attitude Survey which is being conducted at present.

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The University has launched its “Advancing Equality in Employment initiative” this month. Its core objectives are to signal that Birmingham is serious about employment equality particularly in relation to the representation of women in the senior academic community, to boost the degree to which equality is embedded in all management practice, to review and refresh the policy framework and address any outdated areas of discretion in terms of good practice, so maximising the talent within the University. Key to the delivery of these objectives will be the newly appointed College Champion, Professor Prem Kumar.

There is a busy calendar of University events planned for the year, including a major conference on Women's Voices in Higher Education and the launch of a new entitlement to workload remission for academic staff returning from maternity, parental and adoption leave to enable them to re-focus their research or teaching following their absence.

This provides us with a unique opportunity to drive forward the Athena SWAN agenda,

implementing the principles and practices which underpin this application.

Word count 692

Additional word count used 92

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6. Action plan

Provide an action plan as an appendix. An action plan template is available on the Athena SWAN website.

The Action Plan should be a table or a spreadsheet comprising actions to address the priorities identified by the analysis of relevant data presented in this application, success/outcome measures, the post holder responsible for each action and a timeline for completion. The plan should cover current initiatives and your aspirations for the next three years.

See appendix 1. Please note, blue comments are updates from bronze action plan

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7. Case study: impacting on individuals: maximum 1000 words

Describe how the department’s SWAN activities have benefitted two individuals working in the department. One of these case studies should be a member of the self assessment team, the other someone else in the department. More information on case studies is available in the guidance.

Deborah White

Professor Deborah White had an atypical early clinical academic career path, but managed to reach the top of her field through tenacity and commitment, coupled with a flexible and supportive approach from the School of Dentistry senior management team.

Prof White spent 18 years working in the NHS as a general dental practitioner and a community dentist. She undertook a taught Master’s degree in Community Dental Health – 1991 and as a consequence was invited to work on national research projects as a Research Associate during a part time secondment from community dental service for 5 years: 1994-1999. Her potential was identified as a future clinical academic leader in Dentistry and when she personally decided to register as a PhD student during this time, she became involved in aspects of teaching and assessment to broaden her academic portfolio. She was appointed to a Clinical Research Fellowship position for 6 months, at the time an innovative and forward looking stance by the school and was subsequently appointed to a permanent Clinical Lecturer’s post in November 1999.

Prof White was given support and space to complete her PhD which was awarded in 2000 and she then undertook PGCLTHE which was awarded in 2002. She was also supported by the School to undertake clinical work in a Community Dental Service setting, rather than the Hospital, since this was where her interests and expertise lay. She undertook an increasing range of learning and teaching responsibilities and became more involved in administrative aspects of the BDS programme. In 2001 she was “grandfathered” onto the Dental Public Health Specialist and in 2003 was supported by the School in her successful bid to be promoted to Senior Lecturer. Given her increasing interest and expertise in teaching and learning she was appointed as Director of Learning and Teaching and Head of Dental Public Health.

Using her links and knowledge of the Community Dental Services, Prof White pioneered the development and expansion of “outreach” teaching placements for the School, something fundamentally important to the innovative development of clinical dental student training and strongly promoted by the Department of Health and General Dental Council. Prof White was again supported by the School to gain an Honorary Consultant post with the NHS Trust in October 2007 and has also been supported by the School in gaining a range of learning and teaching and QA experience outside the School, both nationally and internationally.

In 2008 the School strongly supported her and promotion to Associate Professor, which was re-assigned by the University of Birmingham to a full Professorship in 2012.

Professor White’s career is an excellent example of how the Dental School has always supported staff with non-traditional career pathways and challenging work-life commitments and aspirations, and in return has benefited significantly from their development and achievements and contribution to the development of the School.

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Kate Jolly

Professor Kate Jolly was promoted to professor in 2013 despite a long-period of part-time working, during which she combined her role as a clinical academic with family commitments.

Prof Jolly joined the University of Birmingham in the Department of Public Health & Epidemiology in 1999 as a part-time (0.6) clinical lecturer. She had previously also qualified in Primary Care and was undertaking specialist training in public health. She was particularly attracted to the post in Birmingham as the post enabled the post-holder to undertake 3 years full-time equivalent of academic training which was able to continue after the completion of specialist training (CCST) at the end of 1999. The post was funded by the West Midlands Deanery for 5 years.

Prof Jolly had two young children when she first joined Birmingham and the School/department supported her in flexible working so that she could fit in with school hours and holidays. Following deanery training funding the School supported Kate’s continued employment as Lecturer then Senior Lecturer (from 2004) using various ‘soft monies’ (including salary earned from her grants) until in 2008 there was a HECF post vacancy which was allocated to her.

Prof Jolly undertook her PhD as part of her deanery funded post, using the research from an award from the National Coordinating Centre for Health Technology Assessment for which she was principal investigator (PI). Kate was well supported during this period by senior colleagues who mentored her through leading two large national funded randomised controlled trials as PI.

In 2008 Kate obtained her PhD and in the following year she increased her working hours to 0.8. She then took over the role of head of the Unit of Public Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics in 2011, whist maintaining an active research portfolio and leading the public health undergraduate teaching in the department. In 2012 she was supported to go forward for promotion and was promoted to Professorship. To support her increasing leadership role, the University put Kate forward for the senior leadership programme. In July this year Prof Jolly moved to full-time.

Prof Jolly has been active in supporting colleagues who are seeking to achieve an academic career whilst working less than full-time and has contributed to the last two promotions seminars for academics seeking senior promotions within the College.

The School’s flexible approach to working times enabled a satisfactory work/home life balance and enabled Prof Jolly to pursue her ambition to become a senior academic. The career development and promotion advice provided in the School including a positive focus towards female part-time academics has been very important in supporting her development. On her part Kate has been flexible and worked increased hours when tasks have needed this.

Word count 923

Additional word count used 0

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Key

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Acti

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MD

S S

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or Actions Progress Notes

Me

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1

Provide a series of development opportunities such as confidence building, assertiveness, chairing meetings, senior women’s leadership programme, attending conferences etc

KC

Mentoring training session 25th July 2012 Time management 13th Sept 2012 CV writing Jayne Parry 14

th march 2013

Assertiveness 11th April 2013 Mentoring 7th May 2013 Bullying and Harassment open programme Time Management 14

th November 2013

Senior Leadership programme, 5 cohorts completed, next cohort starts Sept 2013 UoB launched “Advancing Equality in Employment” Nov 13 UoB signed up to Aurora LHFE project Compulsory training across the University for all involved in recruitment and selection.

Completed 7 attended mentoring Completed 14 attended TM Completed 6 attended Completed 10 attended Postponed until Jan 14 All those who requested have attended Completed 5 attended 27 women attended across University of which 12 are from College MDS All interviewers to attend compulsory training before carrying out an interview. University wide events to be arranged promoting equality. Nominations are being sought for female academics to attend the Aurora course. Potential 40 attendees per year. To date 8 lecturers from MDS have commenced the programme Planned roll out of training from Nov13

Courses continue to be run with level 1 evaluation above 4.5 out of 5 satisfaction level by end Dec 13. Level 3 evaluation data report due end Dec 13.

2

Allow specific time in job plans to undertake development so there isn’t a feeling of guilt about the day job when undertaking development.

Ho

C

Agree at College Board the amount of time that is reasonable for individual development. Communicate to all line managers that this development time must be allowed for in job plans

This issue is being addressed within the new PDR appraisal process. Communications to all line mangers has taken place through the role out of training for the new PDR. This is complete and all new managers will have this training as part of their induction. All clinicians currently have a joint clinical appraisal and a PDR but work is being undertaken to align the process into a single appraisal to take account of revalidation. Meeting taken place in Feb 13 with Hoc and Pro VC. They are working on mapping PPDR and PDR onto the joint clinical appraisal. Section 12 of joint clinical appraisal includes UoB record of achievement and development and this is now complete

Completion data for Academic PDRs. Looking for 80% completion by Dec 13 and 90% completion Dec 2014.

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3

Provide life coaches for those it would benefit, someone external to the school/college was viewed as potentially beneficial. Cost to be met by Individuals K

C

KC to source Life coach and cost Communicate to steering group KC to book initial life coach sessions Individuals to take ownership after initial meeting

Life coach identified with costs Communication to steering group on Wed 6

th Nov 12

Any requests for coach to be communicated to KRC for initial introduction, on-going. As of July 2013 a coaching academy has been set up in People and Organisational Development.. 2 females in college have requested and subsequently commenced coaching.

100% of those making a request for a life coach have been assigned a coach within 3 months. Coaching has been provided to everyone who has requested through the coaching academy

4

Review the Staff Development Review process to ensure it is structured with outcomes, where the reviewer has an understanding of reviewed role, has a genuine desire to help people progress and is senior enough to make things happen.

HoC

SDR now replaced with new PDR process, geared around performance as well as development.

Workshops have been running with academics since Feb 10 on managing performance. Attendees have included clinical academics. New PDR scheme has been approved and training carried out to all academic managers in June /July 2012. This is ongoing for all new reviewers as part of induction.

95% of academic reviewers trained by Dec 12. 95% researcher reviewers trained by Dec 2013. Development data from PDRs being collated into L&D plan for the college.

Care

er

Deve

lop

men

t

5

Provide career guidance so that informed choices can be made

HoC

A series of informed talks arranged on an ongoing basis. Informed talk by Professor Jayne Franklyn (Head of School) on her career pathway 22nd September 2011. Talk by Angela Maxwell (Acuwomen) 2nd July 2012 Dame Athene Donald “ Facilitating women’s progression to the top” Career development workshops to be run across the university as part of our “Advancing Equality in Employment.” Initiative

Complete with 30 attendees Complete 25 attendees 9

th Oct 13

2 lunch time sessions to be run during late Nov and Dec 13.The sessions are being continued across the University as part of the “Advancing equality in Employment” initiative

2 career guidance events carried out per year until Dec 2015 This has happened to date

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6

Define structure and communicate clear career pathways.

HoC

Produce clear career pathway documentation and communicate to all academics new professorial banding information

Work progressing on professional banding and career pathways from post doc to professor. Professorial banding complete and rolled out to all during 2012. Ensure all new starters are informed of career pathways and professorial banding. Academic leads, which are career development opportunity positions for head of grad school and head of BMedSc, were advertised with specific note made of the under representation of senior females. Women were actively encouraged to apply. 1 female and 1 male were appointed. As part of University induction information on year of equality and diversity will be distributed from 2

nd October

Induction for all relevant staff includes this information Dec 13

7

Ensure the promotional process is clearly defined, equal, transparent and structured to give equality of opportunity.

HoC

Produce Management information to date then on an annual basis Run promotion seminars on an annual basis to line in the college promotions process Ensure appointment panels are aware of “unconscious bias” as referenced in The Times Higher “Research in intelligence – Gender Bias Hides, even in open minded” by Elizabeth Gibney 8

th Nov 12.

Paul Stewart (Dean of Medicine)delivered a clinical excellence seminar on 17

th October 2012, 20 attendees

Michael Whitby (Head of College Arts and Law) delivered a seminar and senior careers promotion on 23

rd October

2012. 2 recent chairs gave hands on advice about promotion process. Senior Promotions workshop was held on 17th October 2013 in line with the promotions process timeline. To be delivered by Prof Kate Jolly and Professor Claire Davies. Claire is the external member from College EPS. HR to do briefing paper for all new panel members, to be implemented from April 1

st 2013. NK to speak with Susan

Squire Feb 13. This has now been superseded by University initiative “Advancing equality in employment”

Increased the number of women in senior appointments by 10% by end 2014

Cu

ltu

re C

han

ge

8

Adopt and promote a culture which accepts and values part time working

HoC

HR drop in sessions to promote policies and guidelines run on a monthly basis for relevant topics Ensure those returning from maternity leave are offered part time working as an option on return to work.

Part time and flexible working policy promoted and is included in induction package and in return to work communication after extended leave from work. HR to brief SAM and HoS to ensure all managers include this as part of return to work interview by Jan 2013. As part of University “advancing equality in employment” initiative, it is proposed and agreed in principle that a central pot of money is made available to allow those returning from Maternity/Paternity can have their teaching commitments taken away allowing time for them to build up their research portfolio.

Evidence collected through focus group states there are no issues/fear of requesting part time working and it has been discussed as part of return to work.

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9

Ensure promotion opportunities value a breadth of experience as much as depth.

HoC

Remove title of associate professor and replace with professor to demonstrate equality for both teaching and research

Staff e newsletter (July 2nd 2010) announced that Council has decided that the normal form of address for Associate Professors will be ‘Professor’. All current Associate Professors should be formally addressed as ‘Professor’, and they are entitled to use the title of ‘Professor’ both within and outside the University. The title of Associate Professor no longer exists, this has been replace by Professor. This came about with the new professorial banding in 2012.

No one referred to as Associate professor internally or externally Complete

10

Promote flexibility in the workplace, in terms of shift patterns, working hours and ability to respond to needs of children e.g. school plays, sickness etc, to allow time to be a parent and to ensure the UoB retains valuable staff

Ho

C

Promote Flexible working policy, Promote Time off for training and study guidelines Provide HR drop in sessions on a monthly basis for advice and guidance

If a member of staff reduces their hours then this is recorded through CPAG . All other requests for flexible working that do not impact on existing FTE are managed and agreed locally. This is evidenced locally and no request has been refused. HR drop in sessions taking place on monthly basis, ongoing

.

100% of all cases for flexible working approved. Have minimum 2 people attend conference using child care funding who would have otherwise been unable to attend. The take up of flexible working has increased and the availability of the information has helped – also as the numbers of staff taking the option has grown so that has played it’s part in advertising it.

11

Ensure paternity and adoption leave are supported as well as maternity leave and flexible working promoted.

Ho

C

Extend the maternity guidelines to include paternity and adoption leave and capture same data as maternity Formalise the recording of applications for flexible working by gender and grade Provide rooms for breast feeding and fridges for storing milk

Head of HR action to amend by Dec 12 HR to devise system to record paternity/maternity/ adoption and flexible working and communicate to school admin managers by March 2013 to implement from 1

st

April 2013. CPAG tracker being used Breast feeding rooms with fridges with locks have been made available throughout the college and locations communicated. From Nov 13 a corporate fund for maternity/paternity/adoption leave cover has been made available to reinforce family friendly values

Data available in report Dec 2013

59

Su

pp

ort

12

Establish two types of support networks. One for women only to share and understand others pressures and to support one another in both clinical and academic areas. The second for mixed gender networks to support integration into a male dominated environment.

Ho

C

College Board to provide resources for setting up a steering group in 2009. Set up a WAM steering group All steering group members to have key responsibilities from action plan allocated

WAM steering group commenced with quarterly meetings. Chair Dr Una Martin. Meetings running bi monthly. With merger of WAMS and Athena ,Chair moved to Head of College in Feb 2012. Meetings minuted and sub group meets every month to follow up on actions Ongoing.

Key tasks such as maternity, part time working, development, bullying and harassment have been allocated. The remaining responsibilities to be allocated by Nov 13.

Minutes of all meeting published on web site bi monthly.

13

Provide networking events (possibly quarterly) with a speaker who is an inspirational successful woman, not necessarily from academia.

Ho

C

Talk by Dame Julie Moore (CEO University Hospital Birmingham) followed by cheese and wine and "meet a mentor" 19th Sept 2012 Sept 25

th 13 networking session and talk on

Women in Leadership by Professor Sharon Turnbull Leading with the Maasi Māori by professor Chris Howe on 11

th Dec 13

Attended by 18 females, very good speaker followed by cheese and wine networking. 2013 events organised. UM to meet KC Nov 13 to plan for 2014 Completed 16 attended Booked

3 networking events per

year. Increased attendance from average 30 to 40 by Dec 2013

60

14

Actively promote a community of WAM across schools and college

Ho

C

Train all staff in equality and diversity through on line package. WAMS chair to attend all school board meeting in Sept and Oct to promote Athena Swan WAMS members to present to college Board on 5

th Nov 13 to update on action plan

Web site updated regularly by AS nominee Athena Swan presentation given to COG Article in MDS community magazine University launches “Advancing equality in Employment on 2

nd October 13

This was completed by July 2012 with completion rate at 90%. All new starters complete this as part of induction. On going

Complete

Complete

Sapna Patel

Completed 18th Sept 13

issued 19th Sept 13

Many events organised including participating in LHFE Aurora project. We are sending up to 40 women at lecturer grade every year for next 4 years as part of the programme.

University to hold an international women’s day in march 2014. Will be a series of events and a way to showcase college research.

Attended College Board

annually to report on AS progress 1000 hits per month on web site by Dec 2014

15

Introduce a flexible, informal mentoring process from an early stage in career for as long as required.

Head o

f C

olle

ge

Networking event for mentees to meet mentors Training is provided by POD for those who are not trained Set up a database and web pages of all mentors

Cheese and wine “meet a mentor” session added to each networking event on going Training on going This went live in October 12 and is kept updated by WAM administrator. Mentoring is encouraged at every event and take up of mentors is increasing

30 mentoring pairs by

Dec 2014

16

Ensure leaders and managers visibly support WAM

HoC

Co-opt males onto steering group Steering group members to disseminate information from steering group through school exec meetings on a monthly basis from Jan 12 Increase number of males on steering group

Promoted and discussed at College Board level. MDS supporting the Athena Swan initiative and work commenced on the silver award application with a submission date of Nov 2012 Male members co-opted onto steering group Jan 2012 College Board and School exec agenda item from Jan 2012 ongoing. All school exec visited by AS chair during Sept 13. When advertising events ensure that men and women are encouraged. As a result of Bronze award feedback 3 new male members have joined the AS steering group since May 13. This now makes a total of 6 males.

20% of Athena Swan steering group members are male by Dec 2013

61

University Executive Board has publicly announced our “advancing equality in employment” initiative on 12

th Novt

13 UM presented MDS work at University Council in Oct 13

17

Provide flexible child care provision

HoC

Ensure there is a process for anyone going on an extended break to speak with HoC or designated senior academic to discuss any issues and to also have the same facility upon returning to work after the break Write guidelines and circulate on core times to hold meetings

Flexible working policy applies to all University Staff Return to work after maternity/paternity drafted for implementation from Sept 12 Complete Guidelines on time for meetings produced and disseminated across the college. Complete

No meetings without prior consent of all parties are held outside core hours Complete now business as usual

Info

rmati

on

18

Centralise and publicise all relevant policies and guidelines to WAM

HoC

Ensure all relevant policies to support the Athena SWAN initiative are promoted and are easily accessible.

WAMS road shows , UM/KC to organise. Road show planned Feb 14 HR drop in session promoted on a monthly basis Head of HR sits on steering group and ensure dissemination of all relevant policies Include all policies and procedures as part of a standardised local induction Drop in sessions take place on a quarterly basis on a Friday afternoon. They are advertised across the college and have specific themes.

All new starters to have a local induction at school level. Road shows and drop in sessions have positive

feedback

Data

An

aly

sis

19

Analyse the data from the last 3 years to identify trends and irregularities school by school

SA

T t

ea

m

Analyse the data from the last 3 years to identify trends and irregularities school by school

All data has been communicated to the Head of College and the Heads of Schools for them to comment and action any irregularities in the data. HR support has been given to facilitate the data extraction and analysis. This will be completed on an annual basis as yearly data is supplied. Data has been gathered for 12/13 to support re application for silver Launch of college equality reports so college and school can see their academic profile. Each to develop 1 equality object per school and feed back to University Exec board. To commence Nov 13.

Data analysed on an

annual basis and actions identified and communicated to College Board for action Retaining Athena Swan silver award. Complete

20

HoC

Provide additional child care funding to support those with children to be able to afford to go to conferences etc.

Paper to college Board Feb 13. NK to speak ER and Kate bishop Feb 13 There is some local funding from the college and by funding providers for individuals to request money to support child care costs whilst attending conferences

Funds allocated on an

annual basis

21

KC

/Ho

S Identify if any support is needed in Cancer for

clinical academics due to under representation at senior levels

Organise a focus group in Cancer by April 13 to identify underlying issues and put action plan into place. VC review taken place which has provided relevant data and action being put in place.

10% increase in clinical academics in senior posts by end 2015. 2 posts in 2013 round achieved

62

4 women now on school exec, (1 senior research fellow and 3 professors). The school promotions panel has a female professor from I&I as external member. Money has been made available to students in their intercalating year for consumables from CRUK to encourage students to come back to do PhD

22

HoC

Identify if there are any reasons why there is a significant drop of females between lecturer and senior lecturer post and research fellow to senior research fellow. Analysis identified that there needed to be more support from senior leaders, A better management of teaching load and access to up to date careers advice.

Send out Questionnaires to all female academic staff across all schools to gather data in Oct 2012. Analysis to be complete by March 2013. Data analysed and actions identified Two events per year to be organised across the school to allow junior staff to meet with heads of school to discuss career development and opportunities to develop academic citizenship. To be organised for Jan 14. Examine teaching loads across the schools though the PDR process and identify those with high teaching commitments to establish if this is impacting on career progression. Senior academics have been appointed across the schools to be a point of contact and provide up to date careers and promotions advice. The role of career progression and equality manager is now in every school.

40% return of questionnaires. Recommendations published May 2013. Complete

23

HoC

Disseminate the best practices applied in HAPS to other schools for the development of women going or promotion

Discuss with HR and Heads of Schools to identify a workable process to be implemented by June 13 Christine MacArthur to speak at WAMs event NK and HA to analyse data and report Sept 13. Identified a need to have a promotions expert in all schools to support and develop staff. Good news Friday digest has been adopted in other schools to promote best practice. Introduction of a senior academic in each school who’s role is Career progression and equality manager

2 key actions identified and implemented in min 2 other schools by Dec 13 Roles established in each school, Oct 13

24

HoC

Look into the recruitment process particularly in I&I of research fellows as only 1 in 9 are female Collate and examine recruitment data to investigate whether there is “unconscious bias whether in race, gender or other areas and ensure the decision making process is as transparent as possible.” (THE Elizabeth Gibney Nov 2012)

Arrange a meeting with Head of HR, Head of School and school admin manager to discuss any issues and identify actions by End Jan 13, Complete, Tracker implemented Unconscious bias has been added to the recruitment and selection training from Sept 13. All interviewers to receive compulsory training from Sept 13 onwards University leadership forum to be trained in unconscious bias by Pearn Kandola on 20

th Nov 13

Recruitment tracker in place and all data can now be

63

extracted and there are no issues at present.

25

HoC

Ascertain why females are not applying for advertised posts in particular in CEM and CS Introduce wherever possible an anonymous short listing

Discuss with HR advertising to include Athena Swan Logo and information about WAMS in advert information. Jan 13. Complete Brief HR advisors on WAMS and Athena Swan so advice and guidance can be given on initial contact with College by Jan 13. Complete Discuss with HR and College Board whether this practice could be implemented by Dec 12. This has been investigated but the on line system is unable to do this, however the University’s application does not ask for gender.

10% increase in female applicants for senior roles by Sept 2014 in CEM and CS

26

HoC

Implement a process that records the number of potential applicants for chair promotions who are screened out at college level

Discuss with HR and Heads of School to identify a workable process to be implemented by June 13. Complete

Data available by Dec 2013

27

Heads o

f

school

Provide support for those women who have not been successful at chair application

Career workshops, Promotions workshops, CV writing and coaching have all been made available and ongoing. See action 1,5 and 7 above) Specific feedback is now given to all unsuccessful candidates via the Head of School and everyone is encouraged to speak with Head of College. The process is implemented via recruitment tracker.

All run on an annual basis

28

HoC

Devise and implement a process to collect data of composition of appointment panels across all schools to ensure a fair representation

Discuss with HR and Heads of School and School admin manager to identify a workable process to be implemented by June 13. Include briefing on “Unconscious Bias” Unconscious bias training has been declared compulsory for all staff and training will be rolled out across the university from Nov 13.

Process implemented

29

HoC

Adopt a centrally run mechanism for capturing data from exit interviews

Discuss with HR and Heads of School to identify a workable process to be implemented by June 13. All leavers are encouraged to have an exit interview and are offered them by line manager or if preferred HR

Process implemented Complete

30

HoC

Provide funding for those returning from extended leave to cover teaching costs for 6 months to allow individual to focus on 100% on research

paper to college Board Feb 13 UM to provide NK with contacts in other Universities who have adopted this. NK to write proposal As part of University’s “advancing equality in employment” initiative it has been agreed that a central pot of money is made available to allow those returning from Maternity/Paternity/adoption leave can have their teaching commitments taken away allowing time for them to build up their research portfolio.

Funding made available and records maintained

64

31

NK

Ensure that all external examination panels for face to face assessments include a balance of male and female.

Education to produce guidance paper and recording system for all examination panels by March 13 for implementation from 1

st April 2013.

UM to speak with Prem and Mark King Complete

Data available Complete

32

NK

College to examine the length of fixed term contracts for females to ensure they are not disadvantaged.

School administration managers to carry out an audit of contracts by end June 2013 and report findings to COG with information to college board in July 2013. Database has been implemented and is managed with in schools and an audit has been completed. Analysis of reasons behind the disparity between fixed term and open ended contracts has been carried out and we are now looking to identify possible solutions to redress the balance

Report to college Board in July 2013 Complete An increase of 5% females on open ended contracts by Dec 14

33

UE

B/E

J

Provide support for all staff going on extended leave when dealing with funding councils and extending grant deadlines

Director of Operations to allocate resource through school admin mangers or designated persons to support the staff in schools in dealing with funding bodies by February 12 Designated persons are HR team with in the college As part of the University’s “Advancing Equality in Employment” initiative it has been agreed to hold the maternity pay pot centrally so as to ease the financial burden from the individual schools and departments and administer transparently.

Spot check on those going on maternity leave

34

EJ

College to examine the composition of committees to ensure female representation

HR to record the committee make up and identify areas where there is low female members and identify if there are issues. The college senior promotions panel had 4 out of 9 posts become vacant, The Head of College applied the Athena swan principle as all panel were male. As a result 2 external and 2 internal female appointments were made. The panel now consists of 4 females and 5 males.

All committees have female members by Dec13

Acti

on

s f

rom

Bro

nze a

wa

rd

feed

back

35

UM

/EJ

The panel were pleased to see a Self Assessment Team with a diversity of job roles represented, but felt that the team was dominated by women.

The SAT team has now been populated with 3 more male members from both clinical and non clinical backgrounds. There is now a total of 6.

Complete

36

They found it interesting to learn that managers are asked to ask staff about flexible working, but would have liked to know what the answers are.

The effect of some of the flexible working can be seen in the case studies.

Complete

65

37

SP

The panel were disappointed to not see discussion of the findings of the focus groups and staff survey used throughout the application.

The discussions of the focus groups and the staff survey need to be included in the application form

Complete

38

UM

The SAT has active involvement with other institutions but were disappointed to note a lack of apparent staff consultation.

Staff were consulted in many institutions including Oxford, Cambridge, Newcastle and Warwick. Internal staff were also consulted through focus groups, questionnaires and feedback sessions. SAT leads from schools disseminate information through the school exec and collate data/feedback to bring back to the steering group on a bi monthly basis.

Complete

39

SP

To put SAT members biographies in the application form

Biographies are now in the application Complete

40

HA

To put data from whole college first before breaking down to school level although too many tables used. Some tables needed combining

This has now been done and number of tables reduced. Fixed term and open ended contracts presented together and as a proportion of all women to identify any issues.

Complete

41

SP

Applications, offers and acceptances data difficult to read

Now presented on the same table Complete

42

HA

Data presented for women but would like to see it for makes as well

Data now presented showing female and male percentages

Complete

43

Head o

f

HR

There was no comment on the number of women on committees and panels

There is a table of committees in the application form. It has been recognised that female membership of key committees such as college promotions must be increased. Individuals have been nominated for the 2013/14 round of promotions

Increase of women on panel Dec 2014

44

UM

The workload model lacked information and a focus on the impact on women

This information has now been detailed in the application form.

Complete

45

SA

MS

Data on Maternity and Paternity needed improving

This data is now being captured at a local school level for both maternity and paternity. Maternity issues are featuring heavily in the University’s “Advancing equality in Employment” initiative and actions are being put in place to support those returning from extended leave in terms of restarting/reinvigorating their research.

Complete