Athena Swan within the School of Health Professions

Championing and supporting a culture of participation and inclusivity
Sarah Piercy receives strength and conditioning advice from Lecturer in Physiotherapy Dr Erin Byrd
Athena SWAN Silver Award logo

We have had an exceptional team working on this project for the last three years who have worked so hard to work with everyone in the School, working towards creating a place to work that reflects our values. For me ‘Athena Swan’ has been the catalyst for change, but we have now embedded this work within the School action planning, so this work is central to developing our working community.

Sally AbeyDr Sally Abey
Head of School of Health Professions

Key priorities

Since achieving our Bronze award in 2017, our school has demonstrated evidence of success in:
  • Enhanced transparency of appointment to leadership roles and succession planning, including the creation of both a School Executive Group and School Leadership Team that span all disciplines within the school and the development of role descriptors for school management roles to ensure commonality between programmes and individuals.
  • Increased opportunities for part-time and flexible working, including leadership positions and other areas of career development.
The Athena Swan assessment panel commended the School’s senior leadership engagement in progressing gender equality; the comprehensive consultation undertaken with staff and students; and the use of the YourVoice app for anonymous student feedback.
Now under our 5-year action plan (2023-2028) we will focus on our key priorities:
  1. Formalise student voice within gender equality and broader EDI matters
  2. Improve the workload allocation model and support workload management
  3. Create transparent school leadership and academic promotion pathways
  4. Improve engagement in staff consultation exercises
  5. Working across the Faculty, we want to grow the collective voice of our Professional Services and Technicians through enhanced engagement and increased knowledge of development and promotion opportunities.
Watch Dr Krithika Anil introduce Athena Swan in the School of Health Professions.

Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team

More EDI resources from the University of Plymouth