The School of Nursing and Midwifery was endorsed once again with an Athena Swan Bronze award following the submission of a renewal application to Advance HE in 2024. The renewal of this award illustrates the commitment of the School to striving for greater gender equality, diversity and inclusion.

The panel who judged our 102-page application viewed the renewal submission as presenting “an honest appraisal of progress made on the previous action plan and a good evaluation of the issues and opportunities encountered by the School”.

The panel particularly commended the establishment of the EDIB Student Forum and the introduction of an annual Equality and Diversity Award for students. They also praised our development of a guide by the SAT, issued to all committee chairs for School committees (p.17), and the continuation by the School to embed the nine equality grounds within data collection (Action 17) and the curriculum (Action 9) including the diversification of students’ clinical experiences (p.60). They also saw the benefits of keeping a record of male staff and student involvement in open days and our intention to ensure at least one male staff/student at each event (Action 4.1 BAP, p.32).

They also admired our beautiful mural showing the Cork skyline in the Pride colours.

What is Athena SWAN?

The Athena SWAN Charter recognises and celebrates good practice in recruiting, retaining and promoting women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) in higher education. The Charter aims to address gender imbalances in STEMM disciplines, based on the belief that endeavours in these fields will be enriched when they can benefit from the talent of the whole population, and when barriers to progress in academic careers are removed.

Since its launch in 2005, the Athena SWAN programme has been widely implemented in the UK higher education sector, where it is run by the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU). The Charter was expanded to Ireland in 2014 on a pilot basis, managed by ECU and supported by the HEA. By signing the Charter, the Irish universities and Institutes of Technology have made a progressive commitment to embed its six principles in their policies, practices and culture.

The (original) Charter Principles

1. To address gender inequalities requires commitment and action from everyone, at all levels of the organisation

2. To tackle the unequal representation of women in science requires changing cultures and attitudes across the organisation

3. The absence of diversity at management and policy-making levels has broad implications which the organisation will examine

4. The high loss rate of women in science is an urgent concern which the organisation will address

5. The system of short-term contracts has particularly negative consequences for the retention and progression of women in science, which the organisation recognises

6. There are both personal and structural obstacles to women making the transition from PhD into a sustainable academic career in science, which require the active consideration of the organisation “For more information on Athena SWAN in Ireland