Equality

At the Surrey Business School our Athena Swan Bronze award demonstrates our commitment to improving the quality of working life for all staff and creating a fully inclusive culture.

Equality at Surrey Business School

We were delighted to be awarded our first Athena Swan Bronze Award in 2020 and have since launched our Athena Swan Implementation Team: Values in Action (ViA). The team will be ensuring delivery of the values and action plan outlined in our Athena SWAN submission.

About the Athena Swan Charter

The Athena Swan Charter is a framework which is used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research. Established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment, the Charter is now being used across the globe to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women.

The Athena Swan Charter:

Helps institutions achieve their gender equality objectives
Assists institutions to meet equality legislation requirements, as well as the requirements and expectations of some funders and research councils
Uses a targeted self-assessment framework to support applicants identify areas for positive action, as well as recognise and share good practices
Supports the promotion of inclusive working practices that can increase retention of valued academics and professional and support staff, demonstrating an institution’s commitment to an equitable working environment.

Treating staff equally and providing an equality of opportunity are essential elements of the way we work in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and I look forward to Athena Swan recognising this across the rest of the faculty.

Professor Graham Miller, Executive Dean

Meet the team

ViA has 15 pioneering staff members who all joined voluntarily and four student members representing the students voice, particularly from a diverse background.