

Athena SWAN
The School of Health Sciences is proud to hold an Athena SWAN Bronze award. The Athena SWAN awards are given to higher education institutions to recognise their commitment to advancing women’s careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine.
Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) and Athena SWAN charter

ECU’s Athena SWAN Charter covers women (and men where appropriate) in:
- Academic roles in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) and (Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Business and Law) AHSSBL
- Professional and support staff
- Trans and non-binary staff and students.
In relation to their:
- Representation
- Progression of students into academia
- Journey through career milestones
- Working environment for all staff.
Key principles
The Athena Swan Charter is based on ten key principles. By being part of Athena Swan, institutions are committing to a progressive Charter; adopting these principles within their policies, practice, action plans and culture.
- To acknowledge that academia cannot reach its full potential unless it can benefit from the talents of all.
- To commit to advancing gender equality in academia, in particular, addressing the loss of women across the career pipeline and the absence of women from senior academic, professional and support roles.
- To commit to addressing unequal gender representation across academic disciplines and professional and support functions. In this we recognise disciplinary differences including:
- the relative underrepresentation of women in senior roles in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law (AHSSBL)
- the particularly high loss rate of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM)
- To commit to tackling the gender pay gap.
- To commit to removing the obstacles faced by women, in particular, at major points of career development and progression including the transition from PhD into a sustainable academic career.
- To commit to addressing the negative consequences of using short-term contracts for the retention and progression of staff in academia, particularly women.
- To commit to tackling the discriminatory treatment often experienced by trans people.
- To acknowledge that advancing gender equality demands commitment and action from all levels of the organisation and in particular active leadership from those in senior roles.
- To commit to making and mainstreaming sustainable structural and cultural changes to advance gender equality, recognising that initiatives and actions that support individuals alone will not sufficiently advance equality.
- All individuals have identities shaped by several different factors. We commit to considering the intersection of gender and other factors wherever possible.
Athena SWAN self-assessment team
Our School has an Athena SWAN self-assessment team which is chaired by Professor Jill Maben and project managed by Fernanda Haswell, Business Operations Manager (f.haswell@surrey.ac.uk).
Chair

Professor Jill Maben
Professor of Health Services Research and Nursing
Deputy Chair

Dr Jenny Harris
Senior Lecturer in Cancer Care and Health Statistics
Team

Dr Anna Cox
Senior Lecturer in Health and Social Care

Simon Downs
Paramedic Field Lead & Lecturer (Paramedic Practice)

Duncan Hamilton
Postgraduate researcher

Michael Hassell
Equality and Diversity Advisor

Guldane Damla Kaya
Postgraduate Research Student

Dr Carin Magnusson
Lecturer in Health Services Research

Carolina McGown
Faculty Personal Assistant

Colin Shore
Research Fellow

James Smith
Senior HR Advisor

Dr Karen Stenner
Lecturer in Health Services Research

Professor Katriina Whitaker
Professor of Psychology and Lead for Cancer Care