DPIR awarded Athena Swan Bronze Award
The Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) has been awarded an Athena Swan Bronze Award, recognising its work to advance gender equality and its commitment to further progress.
The award follows DPIR’s first departmental Athena Swan submission and an extensive self-assessment process involving academic and professional services staff and postgraduate students.
Scott Williamson, Academic EDI Lead, and Matt Gooch, EDI Officer, said:
“We are delighted that the panel recognised the strength of our approach and the ambition of our Action Plan. Developing the submission was a genuinely collaborative process, drawing on the experiences, evidence and contributions of colleagues and students from across DPIR.
The award gives us a strong platform for the next phase of our work. Our focus now is on turning the commitments in our five-year Action Plan into meaningful and measurable progress, while responding to the panel’s feedback and continuing to build a more inclusive environment for everyone at DPIR.”
The Athena Swan panel highlighted the Department’s strong leadership and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), as well as its clear governance and evidence-led approach. It also praised DPIR’s ambitious five-year Action Plan and highlighted the Returners and Carers Fund and Sponsored Nursery Priority Scheme as examples of good practice.
Professor David Rueda, Head of Department, said:
“This is an important milestone and reflects an enormous amount of work across the Department to advance equality, diversity and inclusion. My thanks go to everyone who contributed to the submission and to our wider EDI work. This was a real collective achievement and one we should all be proud of.”
The Department will now focus on delivering its five-year Action Plan, which covers recruitment, communication and culture, career progression and development, data, governance and workload, and diversity within the student population.
The Bronze Award recognises the progress made so far while providing a framework for continued action over the next five years.
