News 2022
BEES successfully renew its Athena SWAN accreditation
The School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences (BEES), along with the School of Chemistry, has become one of the first two UCC Schools to successfully renew their Athena SWAN accreditation.
The Athena SWAN Charter framework supports work to transform gender equality in higher education (HE) and research, and is increasingly used internationally as a quality mark for equality initiatives in HE. Charter members apply for institutional and departmental Athena Swan awards recognising their gender equality efforts.
BEES and Chemistry were among the first Schools in UCC, and nationally, to earn Athena SWAN accreditation when the Charter was introduced to Ireland in 2015.
Commenting on the news, Prof. Astrid Wingler, Head of the School of BEES, said:
“We are thrilled to be one of the first two schools in UCC to successfully renew our Athena SWAN accreditation! This success is a result of the excellent work by our self-assessment team and wider EDIW committee under the leadership of Dr Pat Meere. We will now focus on implementing our action plan to make further improvements to gender and wider equality in the School.”
Over the past eighteen months, each School conducted self-assessment exercises and surveyed staff to evaluate the impact of a range of equality-focussed measures the Schools implemented following their initial accreditation. The successful renewal of the Schools’ accreditation effectively endorses their revised and updated equality action plans, which the Schools are now beginning to implement.
Dr. Pat Meere, who led the BEES Athena SWAN team, said:
"I am delighted that the School of BEES has renewed its Athena SWAN Bronze award status which is a clear endorsement of the School’s commitment, at all levels, to gender equality and inclusivity. I want to particularly acknowledge the fantastic work, support, and collegiality of the BEES Athena SWAN self-assessment team throughout the application process as well as the leadership shown by the School management. "
The Athena Swan Ireland review panel agreed that there much to commend in the BEES application which demonstrated that the School has a clear commitment to gender equality and a positive record of completed actions and progress. The panel also agreed that it demonstrated a significant record of activity and achievement with evidence of the impact of previous actions to address identified challenges.
The panel particularly commend the School for working through the Covid-19 restrictions. Particular highlights of the submission include the launch and support for the new Irish Association for Women Geoscientists, that Girls in Geosciences has been adopted as a national initiative, the School Staff Development Fund, and the “considerable female success” demonstrated over the review period.
The School EDIW Committee will now push ahead to implement the new action plan in the years ahead with a strong commitment to achieving a Silver Award in the next review cycle.
The awards will be formally announced by AdvanceHE Ireland in the forthcoming public announcement of the outcomes of the November 2021 Athena SWAN submission round.