Computer Science achieves Athena SWAN award

The Department of Computer Science is the first academic department at Aberystwyth University to be awarded an Athena SWAN Award.

The Athena Swan Charter was created by The Equality Challenge Unit and recognises commitment to advancing women's careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) in higher education and research.

Aberystwyth University is a member of the charter and currently holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award.

Professor Neil Glasser, Pro Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences said: “The University’s commitment to addressing inequalities including gender equality was acknowledged with the presentation of an institution-wide Athena SWAN Bronze Award in 2014.  This achievement of a Bronze Award by the Department of Computer Science further highlights the University’s commitment to developing and promoting equality and diversity in all its practices and activities.”

Christine Zarges, Chair of the Department of Computer Sciences’ Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team, commented: "We are very proud to be the first department at Aberystwyth University to be awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze award in recognition of our commitment and activities to the advancement of gender equality in academia. People in the department have been active in promoting gender equality on a national level by running the undergraduate conference BCS Women Lovelace Colloquium since 2010.

“The Athena SWAN process has encouraged us to consider all aspects of diversity locally and has made the department as a whole more aware of the kind of issues women in STEM face. We are strongly committed to a four year action plan to embed Athena SWAN principles into our departmental culture."

The award will be presented at a ceremony at the University of Southampton on 10 December 2018.

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