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Athena SWAN Silver department award application

Name of university: University College London

Department: Institute of Child Health

Date of application: November 2013

Date of university Bronze and/or Silver Athena SWAN award: Bronze award: 2006, renewed2009, 2012

Contact for application: Dr Shamima Rahman

Email: shamima.rahman@ucl.ac.uk

Telephone: 020 7905 2608

Departmental website address: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ich/homepage/athena-swan

Athena SWAN Silver Department awards recognise that in addition to university-wide policies thedepartment is working to promote gender equality and to address challenges particular to thediscipline.

Not all institutions use the term ‘department’ and there are many equivalent academic groupingswith different names, sizes and compositions. The definition of a ‘department’ for SWAN purposescan be found on the Athena SWAN website. If in doubt, contact the Athena SWAN Officer well inadvance to check eligibility.

It is essential that the contact person for the application is based in the department.

Sections to be included

At the end of each section state the number of words used. Click here for additional guidance oncompleting the template.

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INDEX

Page Section Heading

3 List of abbreviations

4 1 Letter of endorsement from the head of department

5 2 The self-assessment process

8 3 A picture of the department

18 4 Supporting and advancing women’s careers

42 5 Any other comments

43 6 Action plan

44 7 Case study: impacting on individuals

Appendix Action plan

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List of Abbreviations

BRC Biomedical Research Centre

CHRAT Child Health Research Appeal Trust

EHER Equality in Higher Education Report

FPHS Faculty of Population Health Sciences

GOSH Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

HEFCE Higher Education Funding Council for England

HoD Head of Department

HR Human Resources

ICH Institute of Child Health

KIT Keeping in Touch

MADS Mums and Dads’ Support Group

NIHR National Institute of Health Research

P&E Planning and Executive Committee

PI Principal Investigator

PG Postgraduate

PGR Postgraduate Research

PGT Postgraduate Taught

RA Research Assistant

RAE Research Assessment Exercise

REF Research Excellence Framework

SAT Self-assessment team

SLMS School of Life and Medical Sciences

SMT Senior Management Team

STEMM Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine

UCL University College London

UG Undergraduate

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1. Letter of endorsement from the head of department: maximum 500 words

An accompanying letter of endorsement from the head of department should explain how theSWAN action plan and activities in the department contribute to the overall departmentstrategy and academic mission.

The letter is an opportunity for the head of department to confirm their support for theapplication and to endorse and commend any women and STEMM activities that have made asignificant contribution to the achievement of the departmental mission.

It gives me great pleasure to provide this letter of endorsement of the application from the UCLInstitute of Child Health (ICH) for an Athena SWAN Silver Award. I was appointed as the firstfemale Director of the ICH in October 2012 and have the privilege of leading an internationallyexcellent institute, where the workforce is 63% female. I have a strong commitment to supportgender equality in the biomedical academic work force. In 2012, I chaired a taskforce for theAcademy of Medical Sciences which addressed “Representation of women within the Academy’sfellowship”, the report of which is published on the Academy’s website. The task force alsoconsidered broader issues around representation of women in the biomedical academic workforce and made a number of important recommendations. I am continuing to lead for theAcademy of Medical Sciences on these issues, and the insights I gained from this process havebeen fed into the ICH SAT process.

Despite the gender balance towards women within the Institute, we must not be complacent.Within the professoriate, there are a higher number of men (22 female and 31 male professors).We need to improve our strategies and processes and to provide on-going support for womenthroughout their careers to enable them to progress to senior positions. In doing so, we face anumber of challenges. Firstly, because ICH, with its partner Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH),is one of the top five children’s academic medical centres in the world, there are considerablepressures on all staff to maintain this high standard. Our action plan ensures that work-life balanceis valued and this is supported by good HR practices. Secondly, many staff have clinicalcommitments, making it logistically difficult to get staff together between 10.00am and 4.00pm.We have, however, now set the core hours as 10.00am to 4.00pm and ensured that nearly all largemeetings and seminars take place at lunch time to facilitate staff attending.

Since my arrival at ICH, we have been developing a new academic strategy and one of the keyprinciples of this is “developing academic leaders”. We intend that this will be implemented byensuring that staff at clear “crunch-points” in their careers are well supported to progress, forexample from PhD student to postdoctoral scientist and from postdoctoral scientist into lecturerpositions. Given the high proportion of women who hold posts at these levels, this will beachieved by careful attention to the needs of women and their family commitments.

I will ensure that ICH capitalises on its position of a predominantly female workforce to be anexemplar in ensuring that the careers of women develop, with equal success, alongside those ofmen. We will do this by leading and managing current best practice and innovations. I am veryproud of the support for women’s careers that is already evident at ICH and look forward tofurther embedding, within our organisation, the vision and values of Athena SWAN.

Professor Rosalind L Smyth FMedSciDirector, UCL Institute of Child Health, University College London

[492 words]

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2. The self-assessment process: maximum 1000 words

Describe the self-assessment process. This should include:

a) A description of the self assessment team: members’ roles (both within the department and aspart of the team) and their experiences of work-life balance

A self-assessment team (SAT) was formed in January 2013, to collate and review data regardingcurrent employment and promotion practices, identify challenges to women’s career progressionat ICH, and implement further actions to overcome these challenges. The ICH-SAT was created byProfessor Ros Smyth, HoD, and Dr Shamima Rahman, a Reader in Paediatric Metabolic Medicine,selected to be the ICH Athena SWAN Champion. Because of the large size of ICH, the SAT includessenior representation from all parts of ICH. This allows rapid dissemination about Athena SWANinitiatives to all areas of ICH. The SAT is gender balanced, with clinical and non-clinical members,representation from junior and senior members of research staff and Human Resources (HR) andadministrative staff. All SAT members stated that they were able to work flexibly when needed,and several members had taken time off to care for dependent relatives during serious illnesses.Further details about SAT membership are provided below.

Table 2.1 The ICH Athena SWAN SAT membership

Name Position Background Role in SAT

Heather Bailey Third year PhDstudent

Full time PhD studentrepresentative, collatedand analysed data

Maria Bitner-Glindzicz

Professor ofClinicalGenetics

Works full time; twochildren, youngerborn while workingat ICH

Formed Mums and Dads’(MADS) support group,public dissemination ofAthena SWAN throughoutICH, wrote ‘Case studies’,contributed to analysingdata for and writing‘Supporting and advancingwomen’s careers’

Andrew Copp Glaxo-WellcomeProfessor ofDevelopmentalNeurobiology,previouslyDirector of ICH(2002-2012)

Works full time; twochildren born whilstworking at ICH

Analysed seniorpromotions and REF data

Elisa Fassone PostdoctoralResearchAssociate

PhD from Universityof Milan, works atICH full time

Analysed all data,produced all graphs andhelped with editing draft

Steve Howe SeniorResearchAssociate and

Works full time; 4children born whilstworking at ICH,

Contributed to analysingdata for and writing‘Supporting and advancing

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Course Directorfor MSc Cell &Gene Therapy

currently aged 8months to 8 years (1week paternity leavefor each)

women’s careers’

Sara Mole Reader inMolecular CellBiology

Works full time; 2school age childrenwho both used UCLNursery; experienceof caring for elderlyparents

Post administered throughICH. Advisory role becauseof experience leading MRCLMCB SAT (2 silverawards); UCL AthenaSWAN champion, has saton Athena SWAN panels

Jenny Morgan Professor ofCell Biology

Works full time; oneadult child; previouscaring commitmentsfor elderly parents

Analysed data and wrote‘Supporting and advancingwomen’s careers’

Shamima Rahman Reader inPaediatricMetabolicMedicine

Works full time; 3children, olderchildren used GOSHnursery, (Case study2)

Chair of SAT and SWANchampion, organised ICHAcademic Careers Day,edited application

Pete Scambler Professor ofMolecularMedicine

Works full time; twoadult children;caring commitmentsfor elderly relatives

Analysed data for andwrote ‘Picture of theDepartment’

Rosalind Smyth Director of ICH(HoD)

Works full time; twochildren atuniversity.

Wrote HoD letter andcritically revised entireapplication

Jane Sowden Professor ofDevelopmentalBiology andGenetics

Works full time; twochildren born whilstworking at ICH

Developed and wrote‘Action Plan’

Andy Stoker Reader inDevelopmentalNeurobiology,ICH GraduateTutor(Research)

Works full time; twochildren born whilstworking at ICH (1week paternity leavefor each)

Provided data concerningPhD student numbers andgender, career destinationsand student supportarrangements in ICH

Chris Thalasselis UnitAdministrator

Works full-time; twoadult children; carerfor parents who livewith her

Athena SWANadministrator,developed/disseminatedstaff questionnaire,organised ICH AcademicCareers Day

Mark Tiwarri HumanResourcesManager

Works full time; twoschool age children;carer for 80 year oldmother

Provided staff data,developed staffquestionnaire

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b) an account of the self assessment process: details of the self assessment team meetings,including any consultation with staff or individuals outside of the university, and how these havefed into the submission

The ICH-SAT has convened full meetings monthly throughout 2013. In addition, subgroups of theSAT meet fortnightly, and sometimes more frequently, to discuss specific activities, includingdevising and rolling out the online survey to all staff, planning the Academic Careers Day,developing the ICH Athena SWAN website and collecting information about role models, formingthe MADS (Mums and Dads’) support group, and collating and analysing the data discussed in thisdocument. SAT members have defined duties and agenda items for reporting, and SAT member(s)have been assigned to each point in the Action Plan.

Wider consultation with ICH staff occurred via an online survey (72% female, 28% malerespondents, 44% of department), an Academic Careers Day with focus groups about women’scareers and mentoring, through ICH’s Athena SWAN website which has role models for successfulwomen’s careers in science and medicine, and via a dedicated email address for the ICH-SAT.Athena SWAN is a standing agenda item of the Planning and Executive (P&E) committee, the mostsenior committee at ICH, so the SWAN champion can provide regular updates on SAT activities andprogress. P&E members disseminate Athena SWAN updates to staff throughout ICH.

Prior to commencing our Athena SWAN activities, we read previous successful applicationsavailable on the Athena SWAN website and consulted extensively with other Athena SWAN SATs,both within UCL and externally. Members of the ICH-SAT have participated in a series ofworkshops organised by Harriet Jones and Sarah Guise of the UCL Equality and Diversity team,which explored good practice around women’s careers in STEMM. Sara Mole, Athena SWANchampion at UCL’s Laboratory for Molecular and Cell Biology (and Silver award holder), has beenan advisory member of the ICH-SAT and Professor Fiona Karet, Athena SWAN champion at theSchool of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, attended our SAT meeting in July 2013 in anadvisory capacity.

c) Plans for the future of the self assessment team, such as how often the team will continue tomeet, any reporting mechanisms and in particular how the self assessment team intends tomonitor implementation of the action plan.

The ICH-SAT will hold bimonthly meetings in 2014, but will escalate to monthly meetings in the 12months prior to the next Athena SWAN application. Members will rotate after serving 1-2 years onthe SAT, in order to disseminate culture change to wider parts of ICH. Annual surveys will becarried out of all ICH staff to assess the success of the SWAN action plans (Action 1.1A). The SWANchampion will continue to report to P&E on a quarterly basis (Action 1.1D).

[999 words]

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3. A picture of the department: maximum 2000 words

a) Provide a pen-picture of the department to set the context for the application, outlining inparticular any significant and relevant features.

UCL ICH and its clinical partner GOSH host the largest concentration of child health professionalsand researchers in Europe. Close links with GOSH enable ICH to pursue medical research in thecontext of child health and disease, based upon an integrated approach of careful clinicalobservation and scientific investigation. This allows an understanding of disease mechanisms and,in turn, leads to precise diagnosis and development of new therapies.

ICH was founded in 1946 in a single room of GOSH, moving to adjacent purpose-builtaccommodation in 1955. In 1996 ICH became part of UCL, currently sitting within the Faculty ofPopulation Health Sciences (FPHS) of the School of Life and Medical Sciences (SLMS).

GOSH/ICH hosts one of five NIHR specialist Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs), the only suchcentre devoted to children’s health, and also the Life Study (http://www.lifestudy.ac.uk/) and theBaby Bio Bank. The UCL/ICH/GOSH link is a major component of UCL Partners, one of the UK’sAcademic Health Science Partnerships. The high standard of ICH research is evidenced by a 5*AResearch Assessment Exercise (RAE) rating in 2001, while in 2008 70% of the department’sresearch outputs were considered of international quality, and maximum (100%) scores wereawarded for ‘environment’ and ‘esteem’. The Institute won the Queen's Anniversary Prize forHigher Education in 2000 and received an “excellent” rating (score 23/24) for its taughtprogrammes in the Quality Assurance Agency assessment. During 2005 all 22 programmessubmitted to the Department of Health under the Priorities and Needs funding scheme were giventhe highest score.

In 2003, Professor Andrew Copp was appointed director of ICH. Under his leadership Institutemanagement became aware of the issues affecting women in scientific careers and measureswere taken to improve the situation at ICH. In 2007 we had the first of two presentations anddiscussion sessions from Prof Jan Atkinson, UCL’s lead on Athena SWAN, at the Institute’s P&Ecommittee. Based upon advice received from Prof Atkinson, attention was paid to the particularissue of women at the highest level of management. Thus, gender balance was considered whenrecruiting for the senior chair in Cancer Biology and Professor Kathy Pritchard-Jones wasappointed. In 2010 Professor Myra Bluebond-Langner was appointed to the first UK Chair ofChildren’s Palliative Care. In education, Professor Sheila Wirz was appointed as Director of TaughtCourses. This role passed in due course to Professor Christine Kinnon, who is now Vice-Dean forEducation and Faculty Tutor in the Faculty of Population Health Science. In terms of careerprogression, we provide an environment where junior PIs are nurtured and encouraged to applyfor promotion whenever appropriate. Professors Maria Bitner-Glindzicz and Jane Sowden, whoboth serve on our SAT, are examples of this. We began to adopt a “core hours” culture with ourflagship lecture series (the Otto Wolff lecture series) and most “theme based” seminars takingplace at lunchtime.

Since 1st October 2012 ICH has been led by a female Director, Professor Rosalind Smyth. Shechairs the Senior Management team (SMT) of four women and one man (Figure 3.1). The new ICHManager will be working flexibly (one day per week from home and finishing at 4pm on otherdays) to fit in with child care.

[533 words]

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Figure 3.1: New ICH Senior management structure

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ICH is currently embarked upon an academic reorganisation and therefore current and future

structures are described briefly below. The Institute currently employs 406 researchers, of whom

255 (63%) are women. The current research structure is flat with research organized into 26 Units,

which are loosely grouped into eight themes, the theme leads and SMT forming the P&E

committee. Following reorganisation there will be five research programmes each with its own

head and deputy, with units reassembled into 3-5 sections within the programmes. The new

programmes are:

Genetics and Genomic Medicine

Population, Policy and Practice

Developmental Biology and Cancer

Developmental Neurosciences

Infection, Immunity and Inflammation

Throughout this reorganisation, the Athena SWAN SAT was consulted and the Institute made surethat Athena SWAN principles were considered throughout the process. For example, women wereactively encouraged to apply for the directorships and deputy directorships of the newprogrammes, and four women and six men have recently been appointed to these new leadershiproles (Figure 3.1).

ICH takes responsibility for the paediatric component of the UCL undergraduate (UG) medicalcurriculum. In addition, ICH runs various postgraduate (PG) programmes and short courses, andmany staff have teaching responsibilities elsewhere within UCL. Transferable skills and varioustraining courses are offered at sites across UCL, with ICH staff being major participants. ICHcurrently has 278 PG taught course students (233 female: 84%), and 176 PG research students(120 female: 68%). Altogether, 63% of ICH staff and 78% of PG students are female. Forcomparison, the Equality in Higher Education Statistical Report (EHER) 2010 states that 39% ofstaff in SET departments are female whilst 61% are male. In clinical medicine departmentsapproximately 62% of full-time PG (taught and research) students in UK HEIs were female.

[288 words]

b) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphicalillustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they haveaffected action planning.

Student data

(i) Numbers of males and females on access or foundation courses – comment on the data anddescribe any initiatives taken to attract women to the courses.

Although ICH does not offer access courses, we do provide work experience opportunities for sixthformers (1-2 weeks) and placements for undergraduates as summer students. Over the last fiveyears 23/30 (77%) of those attending were female.

(ii) Undergraduate male and female numbers – full and part-time – comment on the female:maleratio compared with the national picture for the discipline. Describe any initiatives taken toaddress any imbalance and the impact to date. Comment upon any plans for the future.

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Figure 3.2 Undergraduate students at ICH 2009-2013

Over the past five years we have averaged just over 50 students with two thirds being female(Figure 3.2). This imbalance is typical of the biological and medical sciences (63.5%:36.5% F:M,EHER 2010) and is also reflected in our PG gender statistics. All UG students at ICH are UCL Medicalstudents (studying the MBBS, hosted by UCL Medical School) on our Integrated BScs. We have ahigher proportion of female students in comparison to the UCL MBBS students (49%:51% F:M in2012/13). No students have studied part-time.

(iii) Postgraduate male and female numbers completing taught courses – full and part-time –comment on the female:male ratio compared with the national picture for the discipline.Describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and the effect to date. Comment uponany plans for the future.

Figure 3.3 Students on postgraduate taught courses at ICH 2009-2013

Figure 3.3 displays data for our PG taught (PGT) course entry, demonstrating the attractiveness ofthese courses to female students. Students usually take a modular and flexible (i.e. part time)route since they fit their course around other commitments. Students on these routes have a

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longer time to complete, which is beneficial to those balancing medical careers, family and othercommitments. Over the period 2006-2011 the proportion of females and males completing thesePGT courses was not significantly different (1.1:1 F:M).

(iv) Postgraduate male and female numbers on research degrees – full and part-time –comment on the female:male ratio compared with the national picture for the discipline.Describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and the effect to date. Comment uponany plans for the future.

Figure 3.4 Postgraduate research degree students at ICH 2009-2013

We had 176 PG research (PGR) degree students in 2012/2013, reflecting a gradual increase inregistered students over previous years. Individuals on research assistant (RA) contracts mayundertake a PhD part time, affording extra flexibility. The proportion of female students isconstant at ~70%, continuing the theme of the previous sections (Figure 3.4). This is slightly higherthan the national average of students undertaking UG Biological Sciences degrees within the UK(63.5%:36.5% F:M, EHER 2010), and higher than our UG intake. We ensure that female and malestudents are present at the annual ICH Open Days and when prospective students visit, in order todemonstrate that we are a research institute where both sexes work happily and productivelytogether (Action 3.1A). The PGR tutor team is now deliberately made up of two men and twowomen, having in previous years been more male biased.

(v) Ratio of course applications to offers and acceptances by gender for undergraduate,postgraduate taught and postgraduate research degrees – comment on the differencesbetween male and female application and success rates and describe any initiatives taken toaddress any imbalance and their effect to date. Comment upon any plans for the future.

Selection for the UCL MBBS course is performed centrally, but all undergraduates from the MBBScourse who apply for iBScs at ICH are accommodated.

Our PGT programmes have very high (~70-85%) female applicants (Figure 3.5) with approximatelysimilar proportions being offered places and a very slight % increase in females entering thecourses.

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Figure 3.5 Applications to postgraduate taught programmes at ICH 2009-2013

Figure 3.6 Applications for postgraduate research degrees at ICH 2009-2013

For PGR degrees, the ratio of female applicants, offers and acceptances is over 60% female (Figure3.6). Fewer % women apply for PGR degrees (~65%) than PGT courses (~75-80%).

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(vi) Degree classification by gender – comment on any differences in degree attainmentbetween males and females and describe what actions are being taken to address anyimbalance.

Undergraduate: Degree classifications within our iBSc programmes show evidence of equivalentfemale and male attainment, with 80% of first class degrees going to female students, reflective ofour intake ratio. Over the last 3 years, 83 women and 53 men were awarded degrees.

Postgraduate Taught Programmes: Degree classifications within our PGT programmesdemonstrate a similar trend for female attainment. Over the last 3 years, 225 women and 67 menwere awarded degrees. In 2012 20% of female and 7% of male students received a distinction, and33% of female and 27% of male students a merit.

Postgraduate PhD: Degree classification is not applicable to PhD degrees. We examined drop-outrates over the period 2003/04 to 2012/13 and identified 16/139 (11.5%) males and 26/284 (9.2%)females who did not complete their degrees, which does not suggest a significant skew inattainment by gender.

Another outcome we are starting to examine is the destination of our recent graduates,comparing the number of females and males who remain in academia. Data for 48 PhD studentsgraduating during the last three years showed that 12/27 females (44%) and 11/21 males (52%)were in academic positions. This does not indicate any significant difference but we will monitorthese figures closely and strive to improve data collection as part of our Athena initiative (Action3.1B).

[650 words]

Staff data

(vii) Female:male ratio of academic staff and research staff – researcher, lecturer, seniorlecturer, reader, professor (or equivalent). comment on any differences in numbers betweenmales and females and say what action is being taken to address any underrepresentation atparticular grades/levels

Gender ratios of academic and research staff are captured in the pipeline illustration below (Figure3.7). As discussed above, the higher proportion of females to males in our student cohorts ismirrored by the ratio in PGR staff. For the purposes of our application the term Lecturer reflectsthe UCL staff grades 7 and 8. Thus, “Lecturer” includes: lecturers paid via HEFCE, senior post-doctoral research associates, clinical fellowship holders, teaching fellows, and a subset of non-clinical fellowship holders (depending upon seniority). At Lecturer and Senior Lecturer level thegender ratio becomes 50:50 with further decrease in the ratio of females at Reader and Professor(40% female). 7 of the 26 Unit Heads are female (27%).

The clear attrition of females at specific points inspired our current action plan (Section 6). There isstill under-representation of women at higher levels, but equal opportunity efforts have alreadyimproved matters over the last decade. These included approaching female members of staff priorto promotion rounds, and mentoring by “theme leads” to support any unsuccessful applicants.Issues which mentors have addressed include discussion of what needs to be done to achievesuccess in a subsequent round, and proofreading grant applications and papers to enhancesuccess.

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Figure 3.7 Female:male ratio of academic and research staff at ICH 2011-2012

While there is an attrition of female scientists through our pipeline, Figure 3.7 illustrates theprogress our department has made in relation to gender balance. For example in 2009 there were16 female professors (33%), but there are now 22 (42%). Specifically, there has been a neardoubling of female Clinical Professors, from 6 in 2005 to 11 in 2011 (over this time male ClinicalProfessors reduced in number from 29 to 25).

Figure 3.8a F:M ratio of Professors Figure 3.8b F:M ratio of Readers

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Figure 3.8c F:M ratio of Senior Lecturers Figure 3.8d F:M ratio of Lecturers

Figure 3.8e F:M ratio of Researchers Figure 3.8f F:M ratio of Research Assistants

Figure 3.8a-f Female:male ratio of academic and research staff

Our strategy is to maintain academic standards while supporting this momentum towards genderbalance at higher levels. We recognise that transition to permanent Lectureship posts is our majorpoint of attrition (see Figure 4.4). In the past, progression to Lectureship has at times been on anad personam basis for individuals who have achieved prestigious external fellowships. In line withcurrent UCL policy, the Director has already undertaken to make a strategic investment in theseacademic posts across the programmes and advertise all in open national competition (Action3.4D). We anticipate that this will contribute to redressing gender balance.

(viii) Turnover by grade and gender – comment on any differences between men and women inturnover and say what is being done to address this. Where the number of staff leaving is small,comment on the reasons why particular individuals left.

At post-doctoral and RA level contracts are often funding-limited, usually 2-3 years for a projectgrant and 5 years for a programme grant. End of Contract meetings are held approximately 4months before the provisional termination date and possibilities for extension explored, althoughit is common for post-docs to seek a wide range of experience and they often wish to moveelsewhere. Within these groups, turnover was slightly higher for males in 2009-2011 (Figure 3.9).At Lecturer level, turnover is approximately equal, and at higher grades numbers are too small to

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draw any sensible conclusion. Thus we have a relatively stable workforce within senior positions,and we feel this reflects our supportive working environment, for women and for men. Turnoverof senior staff was due to career progression, or retirement, with several becoming Professor atother institutions (Table 3.1).

[512 words]

Figure 3.9 Turnover by grade and gender at ICH 2009-2011

Table 3.1: ICH senior leavers who became professors at other institutions, since 2011

Grade at ICH Females Males

Professor Franck, Linda (left 2011) – toUCSF – as Professor and Chairof School of Nursing

Newton, Charles (left 2011) – to OxfordUniversity – as Cheryl & Reece ScottProfessor of PsychiatryRiley, Paul (left 2012) – to Oxford University- as BHF Chair of Regenerative MedicinePierro, Agostino (left 2013) – to TorontoSick Kids – as Professor of General andThoracic Surgery

Reader Hypponen, Elina (left 2013) –to University of South Australia– as Professor of Nutritionaland Genetic Epidemiology

Sala, Arturo (left 2012) – to BrunelUniversity – as Professor and DeputyDirector of Institute for Cancer Genetics andPharmacogenomics

SeniorLecturer

Gibson, Faith (left 2012) – toLondon South Bank University– as Professor of Children’sNursing

None

[1983 words]

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4. Supporting and advancing women’s careers: maximum 5000 words

Key career transition points

a) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphicalillustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they haveaffected action planning.

(i) Job application and success rates by gender and grade – comment on any differences inrecruitment between men and women at any level and say what action is being taken toaddress this.

We detect no obvious gender bias in recruitment at RA and Researcher (post-doc) levels. Data foreach grade separately is shown in Figure 4.1a-d and for all grades in Figure 4.2. From 2009-2012,for RAs and junior post-docs (Researchers), the majority of applicants, interviewees andappointees were consistently female; 66-73% of applicants for RA and 57-63% for Researchers(Figures 4.1a and 4.1b). The high percentage of female applicants reflects the gender balance ofPhD students and postdocs in Biological sciences. For RAs, females are consistently increasinglysuccessful in being selected for interview and reaching appointment.

However, more significant is the balance at Lecturer level (research contract and tenured) (Figure4.1c) and above. In 2010 and 2012 (when there have been Lecturer posts), the ratios show moremale than female applicants, although numbers are small. In 2011, there were 4 male and 2female applicants for Professor, with an equal gender balance at interview and appointment; by2012, male applicants for senior posts still outnumbered the female applicants (Figure 4.1d andFig 4.2). However in 2012 we recruited the first female Director of ICH, Professor Rosalind Smyth.The advertisement for this post discussed Athena SWAN, stated that UCL was an EqualOpportunities employer and encouraged applications from women. The appointments committeeconsisted of 6 men and 4 women.

Our commitment to recruitment of women to Lecturer, Reader and Professorial posts is reflectedin our action planning:

[235 words]

Action points:

Action 1.2C Record and monitor the gender balance of all academic recruitmentcommittees and shortlisting and interview panels

Action 1.2A Organise and promote unconscious bias training for recruitment starting2014, and monitor uptake.

Actions 1.1A,1.1B, 1.1C

Promote ICH as a welcoming workplace for women in science, byprominence of the Athena SWAN charter logo on the ICH Homepage, witha link to the ICH Athena SWAN page, and showcasing successful womenrole models

Action 3.4D Establish new lectureship posts and take positive action to encouragewomen to apply

Action 3.5E Strategic investment in academic posts to improve gender balance

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Figure 4.1a Female Research Assistants Figure 4.1b Female Researchers (post docs)

Figure 4.1c Female Lecturers or Equivalents Figure 4.1d Female Professors

Figure 4.1a-d: Job application and success rates at ICH by gender and grade

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Figure 4.2 Job application and success rates at ICH by gender and grade

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(ii) Applications for promotion and success rates by gender and grade – comment on whetherthese differ for men and women and if they do explain what action may be taken. Where thenumber of women is small applicants may comment on specific examples of where women havebeen through the promotion process. Explain how potential candidates are identified.

UCL aims for transparency of promotion processes, publishing promotion criteria, details of thepromotion process and timelines for application online. All staff receive emails reminding them ofdeadlines and details of ICH internal procedures. Applications are first considered againstpromotion criteria by P&E, with the Theme leader presenting the cases for promotion. Thisprovides a helpful staging post to assess those who may not quite have reached the requiredcriteria, since reapplication is not allowed by UCL for 2 years. Those considered suitable aresubmitted to the UCL Senior Promotions Committee. Feedback and support is given wherenecessary to improve any future application to UCL. Staff may apply directly to UCL without P&Esupport, although are rarely successful by this route.

Figure 4.3a Applications and success rates for promotion to Professor at ICH

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Figure 4.3b Applications and success rates for promotion to Reader or Senior Lecturer

Figure 4.3c Total applications for promotion and success rates at ICH by gender

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Numbers are small for Professorial promotions (Figure 4.3a). From 2009-2012/13 there were moremale than female applicants (24M:18F); those that are supported by P&E have a good successrate, comparable between the sexes 12M:8F).

However for those applying for promotion to Reader/Senior Lecturer (Figure 4.3b), malesoutnumber females (26M:10F) and comparatively more are supported by P&E (18M:4F). Only onefemale was promoted between 2009-2012 but there has been recent improvement. This highlightsa second major attrition point in the academic careers of female scientists (see Figure 4.4a),addressed in our Action plan.

As a result of this finding, the SAT scrutinised the March 2013 staff survey to determine reasonsfor this. Question 4 showed female staff felt they were not actively encouraged to apply forpromotion. In Question 16 more females than males stated that they did not understand thepromotion criteria. To address the imbalance at this level we will implement the following actionpoints:

[277 words]

Action points:

Action 2.6A Change from biennial to annual appraisal

Actions 2.6B,3.5A

Develop appraisal checklist and at appraisal identify every early/mid-careerresearcher (Senior post-doc, Senior Lecturer and Reader) who is eligible forpromotion

Action 3.5A Discuss promotion and what needs to be achieved for each individual andpro-actively invite promotion applications from eligible women

Action 3.5B Run a Promotion workshop at the annual ICH Academic Careers Day toprovide information and support preparation of applications.

b) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps havebeen taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and whatadditional steps may be needed.

(i) Recruitment of staff – comment on how the department’s recruitment processes ensure thatfemale candidates are attracted to apply, and how the department ensures its short listing,selection processes and criteria comply with the university’s equal opportunities policies

Job descriptions and adverts for all posts are reviewed by HR to ensure ‘gender neutral’vocabulary and that person specifications do not discourage applications from either sex. UCL’sEqual Opportunities policy is cited in all job descriptions. ICH’s commitment to the Athena SWANCharter is evidenced by prominent display of the Athena SWAN logo on the ICH homepage, linkingto the ICH Athena SWAN page, including ‘Women at ICH’ case studies and Athena SWAN Events.The ‘Women at ICH’ describe their career paths at different career stages, and the flexibility theyhave had whilst employed at ICH. The ICH Athena SWAN website also links to the SLMS publication‘Academic Role Models’, commissioned to demonstrate strength and diversity of SLMS staff andcommitment to mentoring younger staff and students. It features two ICH senior academics, onemale and one female. The female academic is Catherine Law, Professor of Public Health andEpidemiology. Catherine worked part-time for 17 years and her advocacy of personal development

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and work-life balance is evident in her nomination and biography. Thus, ICH is successful inportraying itself positively as an attractive employer, encouraging job applications from women atall levels.

UCL policy states that all interview panels must at least have 25% female representation. UCL alsorequires all employees to complete the online Diversity training within 6 weeks of starting andemployees must attend the 'Fair Recruitment’ briefing session before sitting on recruitmentpanels. Although we only have gender data for a small percentage of our interview panels, allthose recorded had more than 25% females. We recognise that we need to systematically collectdata on gender composition of interview panels.

[274 words]

Action points:

Action 1.2C HR now monitors gender balance on interview panels (immediate effect)

Actions 1.2A and1.2 B

Ensure that ‘Fair Recruitment’ training has been undertaken by all thosesitting on interview panels since the new Equality Act in 2010.

(ii) key areas of attrition of female staff in the department, comment on any interventions,programmes and activities that support women at the crucial stages, such as personaldevelopment training, opportunities for networking, mentoring programmes and leadershiptraining. Identify which have been found to work best at the different career stages.

Proportions of ICH female:male students at UG and PG (taught and research) levels are high. Fornon-clinical staff, it is clear that the first time point for attrition of women is at the post-doc toLecturer stage (Key transition point 1) and at each subsequent stage up to Reader (Key transitionpoint 2), resulting in a reducing supply of women along the academic pipeline (Figure 4.4a). Thishighlights the reducing number of women making the transition to academic posts. However,although numbers are small, we are encouraged that females who reach Reader are as successfulas males in achieving promotion to Professor (See Action points for Promotion). As an impact ofongoing planning at ICH, the female:male ratio for non-clinical Professors is almost 50:50 (Figure4.4a).

For clinical staff the greatest attrition is from Lecturer (most clinical staff at this level are ClinicalTraining Fellows) to Senior Lecturer (Figure 4.4b), a point of attrition recognised by major fundersof these posts, such as the Wellcome Trust And the Medical Research Council. This point wasdiscussed during our first annual ICH Academic Careers Day held in June 2013. We recognise thatwe need to use the appraisal process to review the workload of senior female clinical academicsand enable them to identify personal development goals to achieve promotion (Actions 2.6B,3.5A, 4.3A).

[221 words]

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Figure 4.4a Non-Clinical Academic Pipeline at ICH 2011-2012

Figure 4.4b Clinical Academic Pipeline at ICH 2011-2012

Key transitionpoint 1

Key transitionpoint 2

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We have established a number of interventions aimed at reducing loss of women and supportingtheir careers, which are discussed as follows:

Networking and Career EventsThe first ICH Academic Careers Day in June 2013 targeted female students and postdocs. Thisenabled us to signpost the UCL careers service which offers courses on the next steps in academiccareers and careers outside academia. Workshops were also held by senior female academics onCareer Paths and CV presentation. Invited speakers included representatives from the BritishHeart Foundation and the Daphne Jackson Trust, discussing Fellowship schemes for women.Feedback showed that 100% of respondents found the career paths workshop extremelyuseful/useful and 70% found the mentoring workshop extremely useful/useful. This will now be anannual event (Action 3.4A). Next year we will include sessions on ‘CV building’, authorship, anAlumni workshop, and HR presentations on maternity/paternity leave, flexible working, childcareprovision and vouchers, and signposting to the newly established Mums and Dads’ (MADS) group(Action 2.1B). Following the success of the Careers Day, the SAT was approached by other UCLdepartments for advice about how to organise similar events.

Leadership TrainingThis year the Director and the SAT have identified female candidates for Leadership training.Chiara Bacchelli (Principal Research Associate and NIHR BRC Fellow) was chosen as one of the fourUCL participants in the Aurora Leadership Programme, a new women-only leadershipdevelopment initiative designed to address the issues of the reducing numbers of women in senioracademic posts. The SAT has also identified potential Leadership candidates for next year, and theDirector is keen to seek female participants for the Academy of Medical Sciences Mentoring andCareer Development Programme and the NIHR Leadership Support and Development programme(Action 3.5D).

Visible ‘Great Female Successes’A number of female pioneers in the field of Child Health have worked at ICH and are excellent rolemodels for aspiring researchers. The Director will inaugurate a refurbished seminar room inhonour of Professor Dame June Lloyd, Baroness of Highbury, and hang her portrait alongsidethose of other past prominent ICH figures (Action 1.1B). Dame June was the first woman NuffieldProfessor of Child Health at ICH in 1985 and became the first female president of the BritishPaediatric Association (now the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health) in 1988 and crossbench member of the House of Lords. Professor Catherine Peckham CBE is also prominentlycelebrated with the annual Peckham Lecture and Symposium. Professor Peckham was the first UKProfessor of Paediatric Epidemiology, and established the ICH Centre for Paediatric Epidemiologyand Biostatistics.

We see promotion of Athena SWAN values across ICH as key to the career successes of talentedyoung post-doctoral researchers. The Director has introduced an Athena SWAN ResearchExcellence Award for post-docs, to highlight research success at this level, and also an AthenaSWAN champion award for senior staff (Action 1.1E) to encourage and reward their participation.Line managers will identify female post-docs suitable for Fellowship applications at the Annualappraisal (as a Checklist item) and provide mentorship for them in their applications (see nextsection).

[514 words]

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Actions and interventions identified to support women at key transition point 1:

Action 3.4A Establish the ICH Careers Day as an annual event

Action 1.1E Establish an Athena SWAN Research Excellence Award for post-docs andAthena SWAN champion award for senior staff

Action 3.4C Identify female post-docs suitable for Fellowship applications at the Annualappraisal (as a Checklist item) and provide mentorship for them

Action 3.4B Name promising post-docs as Co-Investigators on Grant applications(where permitted by the funder)

Action 1.1B Provide highly visible female ‘successes’ as role models to early careerfemale researchers

Action 3.4A Provide female ‘successes/examples’ as role models for alternative careersin science for those who do not choose to continue in academic science vianew Alumni workshop at the Careers Day

Actions and interventions identified to support women at key transition point 2:

Action 2.6B Develop new appraisal checklist which will include discussion of promotionprospects and criteria, and review of workload

Action 3.5A At appraisal identify early/mid career researchers eligible for promotion

Action 4.3A At annual appraisal record work load of scientific staff according to taskcategories (teaching, research, administrative, outreach/enabling), andmanage any overburdening of individual staff in relation to careerdevelopment.

Career development

a) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps havebeen taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and whatadditional steps may be needed.

(i) Promotion and career development – comment on the appraisal and career developmentprocess, and promotion criteria and whether these take into consideration responsibilities forteaching, research, administration, pastoral work and outreach work; is quality of workemphasised over quantity of work?

The promotions process is outlined in 4a)ii).

ICH, and UCL as a whole, strives to make the Promotions process transparent. Figure 4.3cdemonstrates recent improvements in female senior promotions at ICH.

Criteria for promotion to Professor are outstanding research coupled with a strong record ofteaching, knowledge transfer/exchange and enabling. Quality is emphasised over quantity.Pastoral and administrative duties are considered as ‘Enabling’ and outreach work is seen as‘Knowledge Transfer’. Staff are encouraged to discuss promotion applications with their linemanager. Those applications that go forward for consideration by UCL are supported by an HoDstatement; information about personal circumstances that should be considered (i.e. maternityleave, compassionate leave, periods of illness and carer responsibilities) can be included in this

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statement which is not sent to external referees (maintaining the applicant’s confidentiality ifrequested).

Last year a female member of the SAT was on the Promotions panel and found the process to berigorous, equitable and that panel members were well-aware of the additional domestic andprofessional responsibilities of female members of staff. The male:female ratio of academic panelmembers was 5:3 (Deans of Faculties and an invited Professorial colleague).

Through the appraisal process, we will identify early/mid career researchers eligible for promotionand encourage and support female staff to apply for promotion (Action 3.5A, 3.4C). We will alsoimprove the feedback given to unsuccessful candidates in order to strengthen subsequentapplications.

The first step in career progression from post-doctoral researcher to Lecturer (tenured) orindependent PI is often facilitated through Fellowship funding. No data have been collected todetermine the proportion of our female applicants who apply for fellowships. Assistance inpreparing the application is often ad hoc. Given the importance of this career stage and the highlevels of competition, data will be collected as part of the appraisal process to gaugeeligibility/suitability for fellowship application, and to ensure that necessary support is provided(Action 3.4C). In the last year, the Director has given individual mentoring and support to fivefemale and one male fellowship candidates at ICH.

Securing grant funding is vital in career development, and represents our key transition point.Over the last 5 years, female PIs submitted 41% of ICH/GOSH applications, and received 40% ofawards. However, these applications accounted for 36% of the monetary value of funds appliedfor, and 28% of funding pounds received. This suggests that women are applying for, or beingawarded, fewer high-value grants. This will be investigated further, and appraisal/mentorshipschemes will be used to ensure female PIs apply for high-value grants where appropriate (Action3.5C).

[428 words]

Action points:

Action 2.6A Introduce annual appraisals (rather than biennial as in UCL policy) andensure that staff are aware of the criteria and process for promotion

Action 2.6B Develop an appraisal checklist outlining key issues, including promotion, tobe discussed at appraisal

Action 3.1B Survey career aspirations and next destinations of junior research staff

Action 3.5A Through appraisal, process identify early/mid career researchers eligiblefor promotion; encourage and support female staff to apply for promotion

Action 3.5B Via appraisal system, improve feedback to failed promotion applicants tostrengthen re-applications

Action 3.5 A Continue to monitor promotion applications and success to determine ifthere are improving gender differences

Action 3.5C Increase guidance for preparation and submission of major grants

Action 3.4C Identify female post-docs suitable for Fellowship applications at the Annualappraisal (Checklist item) and provide mentorship for them

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(ii) Induction and training – describe the support provided to new staff at all levels, as well asdetails of any gender equality training. To what extent are good employment practices in theinstitution, such as opportunities for networking, the flexible working policy, and professionaland personal development opportunities promoted to staff from the outset?

Induction of new staff includes practical issues (job description, key aspects of the job,performance standards and objectives during the probationary period), and how performance willbe reviewed. An induction checklist ensures that, as well as payroll and IT matters, informationabout the division and UCL’s flexible working policy, and personal development training courses isincluded. New staff are invited to attend a UCL induction event which includes the Provost’swelcome and the chance to learn about staff benefits and courses available at CALT (The Centrefor the Advancement of Learning and Teaching). Equality and Diversity advice is taken from UCL,and all new staff complete an online training module within 6 weeks of starting.

Our new measures will include the announcement and welcoming of new staff in the Director’sBulletin (Action 2.3A), and the provision of the new ICH SWAN Gender Equalities Handbook(Action 1.1A) which will cover information on flexible working, maternity/paternity leave andprofessional and personal development opportunities.

Training is specifically reviewed at appraisals, with actions earmarked (Action 2.6A, 2.6B).

[173 words]

Action 2.3A Announcement and welcoming of new staff in the Director’s Bulletin

Action 1.1A Provision of the new ICH SWAN Gender Equalities Handbook

Actions 2.6A,2.6B

Annual appraisal of training needs

(iii) Support for female students – describe the support (formal and informal) provided forfemale students to enable them to make the transition to a sustainable academic career,particularly from postgraduate to researcher, such as mentoring, seminars and pastoral supportand the right to request a female personal tutor. Comment on whether these activities are runby female staff and how this work is formally recognised by the department.

ICH has a large majority of female students (Figures 3.2-3.6). Many of our PG taught coursestudents go on to PhDs. The majority of PhD students, female and male, go on to either academic(49% female, 45% male) or NHS (27% female, 22% male) appointments. Most of our postdoctoralresearch associates are also female.

All UG and PG students have a personal tutor, and since a high percentage of staff are female,many of the tutors are female. All students may request a tutor of a particular gender. As a resultof SWAN initiatives we now have a 50:50 ratio of female:male advisors on the PG research team.

Students are free to contact tutors at any time to discuss problems. The Research DegreesAdministrative team (both female) provides support that often extends to serious studentproblems including financial and personal issues. The PG Research Tutors team provides an annualmonitoring system for PhD students. Annually, the team sends out report forms for students and

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supervisors, ahead of informal discussions between an advisor/tutor and the students. Thisprovides an excellent monitoring system. New students are allocated an advisor for their entiretime at ICH, matched to ensure impartiality and continuity. Students can ask to see any of theadvisors if they have a preference or a gender-sensitive issue to discuss.

A further step taken to increase support for PG research students at ICH is the student-on-studentmentoring scheme, started in October 2012 as a less formal approach to mentorship. We recruited2nd and 3rd year students to mentor our first year cohort, providing a forum for group meetingsand one-on-one meetings to discuss a range of issues as the students settle in. Current mentorsare 4:1 female:male and next year the ratio will be 6:1 female:male, reflecting the larger femalecohort of students at ICH. Mentors receive specific training and the Graduate Tutor meets withthem at intervals to discuss any issues. Students may request meetings at any point if they run intoproblems. We are seeking to further extend this, by now considering how to support 3rd yearstudents, potentially through mentoring by postdocs/fellows (Action 3.2A). This is the first schemeof its kind in the UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences and it is now being rolled out across theFaculty.

In June 2013 the first ICH Academic Careers Day, predominantly aimed at female students andpostdocs (Action 3.4A), enabled us to signpost the UCL careers service. This offers courses severaltimes a year on the next steps in academic careers, and also advises on careers outside ofacademia. A (female) representative of the UCL Careers Service spoke at the Taught coursestudent induction day and similarly a (female) representative is invited once a year to present toPG research students and offer one-to-one sessions for career advice. We are also introducingspecific questions in our annual monitoring forms to check what careers support each student hasaccessed (Action 3.1B), to ensure that every student will have had careers support or mentorsupport before they leave (Action 3.2A).

Last year, the ICH interview panel for PhD studentships was 4:2 female:male reflecting a change ofgender ratio from previous years (all male). This was a conscious effort of re-balancing, in part as aresponse to feedback we had received in 2012 from female interviewees.

[555 words]

Action Points:

Action 3.2A Extend PG research student mentoring scheme to 3rd year students

Action 3.1B Extend questions on annual student monitoring forms to review whatcareers support has been accessed

Organisation and culture

a) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphicalillustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they haveaffected action planning.

(i) Male and female representation on committees – provide a breakdown by committee andexplain any differences between male and female representation. Explain how potentialmembers are identified.

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The majority of ICH committees either have an equal gender balance, or a majority of femalemembership (Figure 4.5). Selection procedure varies between the different committees. Some aredetermined by role within the organization. For other committees, e.g. the Clinical ResearchAdoptions committee (CRAC, currently 58% female), there is a formal application processfollowing an ICH/GOSH-wide call for applications and gender balance is a key consideration inmaking new appointments when committee members rotate. The Education Committee has 50%females, the Space and PGT Staff Student Consultative Committees have 67% female participantseach and the Staff/Student Consultative Committee (Research Students) has 80% femalemembership.

However until recently two influential committees (P&E and Senior Promotions) were genderimbalanced being composed of the theme leads but, following restructuring, by 2014 these will bereplaced by the senior management team (SMT) and Heads of the new Programmes, giving animproved gender balance of 5 women and 5 men. The Biomedical Research Centre (BRC)committee is also gender imbalanced but, following SAT recommendations to P&E, 2 furtherfemale members are now on the BRC Scientific Board.

Figure 4.5 Female and male representation on ICH committees

Since ICH has a high proportion of female staff (63%), committee overload is not perceived to be aproblem. However as part of our action planning, we have reviewed all staff committeemembership, to ensure proportional representation (Action 2.5A). Members of those committeesnot determined by formal organizational appointments are rotated with variable frequency, whichcan be ad hoc. Actions 1.2C and 2.5A allow the SAT to advise on gender balanced membership ofcommittees, and that all should have a formal rotation process.

A new informal post doc/ early careers researcher forum is to be set up, by the Deputy Director forResearch, across all research programmes. This has been piloted by our Centre for PaediatricEpidemiology and Biostatistics, whose Early Careers Researcher Group is open to all interested

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PhD students and post-doctoral staff. The group meets once a fortnight with the purpose ofproviding an informal and supportive space to practice presentation and chairing skills. Theseinformal sessions can be used for discussion of ongoing work (e.g. methodological issues), and areoften followed by an opportunity to network (Action 3.3A).

[363 words]

Action points:

Action 2.5A Monitor gender balance of membership of all staff committees

Action 1.2C SAT to advise on membership of recruitment committees, aiming forgender balance

Action 3.3A Establish early careers researcher forum, to provide an informalenvironment to network and enhance presentation skills

(ii) Female:male ratio of academic and research staff on fixed-term contracts and open-ended(permanent) contracts – comment on any differences between male and female staffrepresentation on fixed-term contracts and say what is being done to address them.

Figure 4.7 Female:male ratio of academic and research staff on ‘fixed-term’ contracts and open-ended (permanent) contracts

UCL only uses fixed-term contracts in particular circumstances, such as for maternity cover. Allother contracts are open-ended, limited only by funding end dates(http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/services/oec/guidance_ucl_coe.php#). All researchers are on open-ended (grant-funded) contracts (Figure 4.7).

However we recognise that in effect this is equivalent to ‘fixed-term’ for the post-holders, who aremainly women. Staff can be transferred to permanent contracts but this is very much dependent

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on each case and funding availability, and UCL and the department ensure compliance with itsdiversity and equality obligation. To promote job security insofar as it is possible in a researchcontract setting, UCL operates a bridging scheme, providing 50% funding usually for 3 months butup to 6 months, and SLMS holds a Wellcome Trust ViP award providing bridging, retention orrecruitment bridge monies on a funding-matched basis. These initiatives are promoted by our “allusers” email system, and by HR as part of any end-of-contract discussions. This opportunity wastaken by 12 females and 9 males over the last three years. Staff are also added to the UCLredeployment register.

Readers and Professors hold permanent contracts. In 2011 83% of staff in the Lecturer scale(which includes research contract and tenured staff) were senior postdocs, mostly funded bythree-year grants. 87% of female and 79% of male lecturers are on open-ended contracts, whichreflects the fact that more of this group (58%) (Figure 4.7) are female and on time-limited grantfunding. This is imposed by funding bodies. However as part of our action planning we will beintroducing initiatives to develop the careers of women and ensure that female postdocs aremade aware of funding and career opportunities open to them, including those streamsspecifically for women (Action 3.3A, 3.3B, 3.4A, 1.1C,). Our other initiatives, for example thementoring scheme (Action 2.4A), and creation of new career Lectureship posts with positiveaction in encouraging women to apply (Action 3.5E), will help to reduce attrition of women as theyprogress through the career pipeline, increasing the number of women in permanent positions(Actions 3.4, 3.5).

[341 words]

Action points:

Action 3.3A

Action 3.3B Provide new Postdoctoral Career Development Advisors, for postdocs todiscuss career development plans

Action 3.4A Hold annual academic careers day

Action 1.1C Develop links on the ICH Athena SWAN website to information on genderequalities initiatives and gender specific funding opportunities

Action 2.4A Develop an academic mentoring scheme

Action 3.5E Strategic investment in academic posts at Lecturer level, with positiveaction encouraging women to apply

b) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps havebeen taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and whatadditional steps may be needed.

(i) Representation on decision-making committees – comment on evidence of gender equality inthe mechanism for selecting representatives. What evidence is there that women areencouraged to sit on a range of influential committees inside and outside the department? Howis the issue of ‘committee overload’ addressed where there are small numbers of female staff?

The impact of our current Athena SWAN-inspired initiatives will soon be gender balancedrepresentation of women on most ICH decision-making committees, as discussed on page 27.

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Many senior female ICH PIs also sit on decision-making committees at UCL and nationally (seeTable 4.1). However, we realise that in our action planning we now need to formally review thecommitments of all staff, through HR monitoring and data collection, and at appraisal (Actions2.6B, 4.3A, 4.3B).

[75 words]

Table 4.1: Examples of External Scientific Roles of Female Academic Staff at ICH

Chairs Academy of Medical Sciences Task Force on Representation ofWomen; President of British Paediatric Neurology Association;National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Publichealth advisory committee; Secretary General of the InternationalLeague Against Epilepsy (ILAE); NICE Epilepsy Evidence Update;Medicines for Children Research Network Neurosciences ClinicalStudy Group; ILAE Commission for Paediatrics; Royal College ofPaediatrics and Child Health Childhood Stroke Guidelines Group;Executive Board of EuroCoord (EU funded Network of Excellence onEnhancing epidemiological and clinical HIV research in Europethrough cohort collaboration); British Association for Behaviouraland Cognitive Psychotherapy Scientific Committee; EuropeanRespiratory Society Task Force; London Cystic Fibrosis Collaboration

Committee Member Child and Maternal Health Intelligence Network Steering Group,Public Health England; NIHR Senior Investigator Panel; NIHR Dean forTraining's Advisory Panel, representing Academy of MedicalSciences; Research Excellence Framework, Clinical Medicine Sub-panel; Academy of Medical Sciences and Wellcome Trust StarterGrants Selection Panel

Scientific AdvisoryBoards

NIHR School for Public Health Research Advisory Board; Faculty ofPublic Health Policy Committee; Chief Scientific Advisor SPARKSChildren’s Charity; UK Children's Neurological Research Council(UKCNRC)

Editorial Boards Board of Directors of the Public Library of Science (PLoS); BritishMedical Journal; Faculty of 1000 Medicine (and many others)

Review Panels Medical Research Council UK; BBSRC; The Wellcome Trust; NIH(NIAMS, USA); Arthritis Research Campaign; SPARKS Children’sCharity; Action Medical Research

Action points:

Actions 2.6B,4.3A, 4.3B

Committee roles in relation to career development to be managed as partof appraisal process. Ensure that women are equally represented in theseroles but are not overloaded

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(ii) Workload model – describe the systems in place to ensure that workload allocations, includingpastoral and administrative responsibilities (including the responsibility for work on women andscience) are taken into account at appraisal and in promotion criteria. Comment on the rotationof responsibilities e.g. responsibilities with a heavy workload and those that are seen as goodfor an individual’s career.

There is no formal workload model at ICH, however all academic staff are expected to undertakeresearch and some teaching responsibilities. Since the majority of our students are PG, most staffdo not have onerous teaching commitments, so the tension between teaching and research rolesseen at some HEIs is less apparent here. However, there is considerable tension between clinicalwork and research roles for clinically active academic staff, and this is reflected in the higherattrition of clinical staff at senior academic grades (Figure 4.4). As stated in the HoD’s letter(section 1, page 4), the culture of academic excellence at ICH, and the clinical roles of manymedically-trained scientists, does inevitably lead to staff working long hours, and so it is extremelyimportant that we continue to support and promote flexible working. Data on workload allocationfor clinically active academic staff is available through the annual clinical Job Planning process, andis discussed during appraisal and more recently, the revalidation process.

The appraisal process for non-clinical staff provides an opportunity to review workload and ensurea balance, which will now be formalised as ongoing actions (Actions 2.5A and 4.3).

In addition, pastoral and administrative responsibilities (which are considered under ‘Enabling’)are taken into account in assessment for promotion at UCL.

[212 words]

Action points:

Action 2.5A Ensure continued balanced gender in all committees and increaseinclusivity across all staff levels

Action 4.3 Collate data on gender balance according to task categories (teaching,research, administrative, outreach/enabling) as part of annual appraisalprocess

(iii) Timing of departmental meetings and social gatherings – provide evidence ofconsideration for those with family responsibilities, for example what the department considersto be core hours and whether there is a more flexible system in place.

As a result of SWAN initiatives core hours at ICH are now 10am-4pm, and although clinicalcommitments prevent some meetings being held during these times, most meetings are heldwithin these core hours. As part of the SAT’s activities during 2013, all units have reviewed thetiming of meetings. Consequently several meetings occurring outside core hours have beenrescheduled, e.g. P&E committee meetings (moved from 9am to 10am) and DubowitzNeuromuscular Centre research updates (now at 3-4 pm rather than 4-5 pm).

Dates and times of other meetings are made in consideration of part-time workers, annual leaveand other general availability of members. New programme leads will be reminded to holdmeetings within core hours (Action 2.2A).

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Social events take place at many different times. Individual units have diverse social gatherings: alab day out in summer, Christmas lunches, and ad hoc pub or cafe gatherings out of hours, all ofwhich are encouraged (Action 2.2A). Groups attempt to provide plenty of notice of out of hoursevents to enable caring arrangements to be put in place.

Research departments and organisers of seminar series and social events now record and returndata on timing (Action 2.2). Heads of Research Departments will be expected to ensure that atleast one third of such events fall within core hours (i.e. between 10am and 4pm). When it is notpossible to schedule a meeting or event in core hours, staff are made aware of timings well inadvance to facilitate attendance. General business items will be scheduled at the end of meetingsthat start before core hours and minutes will always be sent out to those unable to attend (Action2.2).

[278 words]

Action points:

Action 2.2A Keep majority of meetings and seminars within core hours

Action 2.2B If meetings cannot be held in core hours, memos to be sent beforehandand minutes circulated afterwards

(iv) Culture –demonstrate how the department is female-friendly and inclusive. ‘Culture’ refersto the language, behaviours and other informal interactions that characterise the atmosphereof the department, and includes all staff and students.

It is obvious on entering ICH that females make up a high proportion at all levels. In the entrancefoyers there are photos of the mostly female SMT.

Much of the culture of ICH is experienced via the individual units. For example, MIU holds anannual awayday where children are welcome, as well as many informal gatherings includingfamilies outside working hours. The Portex Unit organises regular lunchtime meetings for staffmembers and social events after work tend to commence by 5.30-6pm so staff are not too lategetting home to families. CMGU holds an annual afternoon summer picnic where families areinvited. We will try to ensure that more after work social activities throughout ICH follow thisexample of an early evening start (Action 2.2A).

As part of our action planning, in an effort to develop inclusive opportunities for networking andsocialising, the new academic programmes will be expected to host at least two inclusivenetworking events per year (Action 2.1A). A Mums and Dads’ support group (MADS) is being setup (Action 2.1B) following positive responses to our on-line survey. 36 members of staff welcomedthe idea and have suggested topics for discussion, including talks from HR on flexible working,salary sacrifice, nursery options and voucher schemes. ICH has a Christmas and summer party forall staff. There is a canteen and winter gardens/balcony where these events are held.

We intend to have a gender balance of external speakers in Institute seminars. Speakers at ourannual open days, one of our prestigious annual lectures, were female in 2012 and 2013. Toensure that this occurs, we will now survey the gender of speakers of all seminars, taking actionfirst for our main high profile lecture series - the Otto Wolff seminars (Action 2.1C). Female/male

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ratios of Otto Wolff lecturers in previous years were: 2009, 6/11; 2010, 0/10; 2011, 4/7; 2012, 1/8;2013, 4/9. In future we will aim to invite more than 50% female speakers to try to achieve a moreeven gender balance.

[336 words]

Action points:

Action 2.2 Family friendly meeting times

Action 2.1A New academic programmes expected to host at least two inclusivenetworking events per year

Action 2.1B Establish Mums and Dads’ (MADS) group

Action 2.1C Ensure 50:50 gender balance across all seminar series

(v) Outreach activities – comment on the level of participation by female and male staff inoutreach activities with schools and colleges and other centres. Describe who the programmesare aimed at, and how this activity is formally recognised as part of the workload model and inappraisal and promotion processes.

ICH encourages outreach activities which aim to inspire the next generation of scientists andshowcase role models. For example, since 2009 ICH has offered twice yearly week-long workexperience programmes to GCSE and A-level students, accommodating 49 students to date (51%female). This is organised by a female Senior Lecturer and a female Principal Clinical Scientist.Students are exposed to research, can attend scientific meetings, are given an opportunity tomake a presentation in front of an audience, and meet many male and female role models atdifferent career stages.

Since 2011 ICH has contributed to the "in2science UK" scheme aimed at gifted A-level sciencestudents from low-income backgrounds. We provide a 2-week work experience programme. In2011, 3 female and 4 male PIs hosted 9 female and 3 male students; in 2012, 5 female and 5 malePIs hosted 11 female and 2 male students; and in 2013, 3 female and 1 male PIs hosted 2 femaleand 2 male students.

In addition staff give regular talks, provide careers advice and mock university/medical schoolinterviews for Sixth Formers at a range of London Schools. Two staff members (one male and onefemale) are School Governors, speaking at Prize Giving and Open Day Meetings. One female staffmember organizes ‘Science for You’ annually at the Royal College of Pathologists and ‘Skills forLondon’ at Excel. Another female researcher is a STEMNET ambassador, doing Outreach projectsin both primary and secondary schools. A third female researcher attended the big bang UK YoungScientists and Engineers fair in July 2013 to talk to schoolchildren about STEMM careers.

These many and varied outreach activities will continue to be encouraged and considered duringthe appraisal process (Action 2.6B) and in promotion applications. We are revising appraisalguidance to ensure that outreach activities are reviewed alongside other non-researchcommitments (e.g. teaching, chairing committees) and in promotion discussions (Action 3.5A). Wewill also record all outreach contributions, to ensure there is a continued gender balance of thoseparticipating (Action 2.6B).

[334 words]

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Action points:

Action 2.6B Develop Appraisal checklist outlining key issues to be discussed, includingencouraging outreach activities and monitoring these by grade and gender

Flexibility and managing career breaks

a) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphicalillustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they haveaffected action planning.

(i) Maternity return rate – comment on whether maternity return rate in the department hasimproved or deteriorated and any plans for further improvement. If the department is unableto provide a maternity return rate, please explain why.

Figure 4.8 Maternity leave return rate at ICH 2009-2012

ICH actively supports academic women whilst they are developing their careers and families asevidenced by the increasing number of women taking maternity leave over the 3 years 2009-2012,with 87% returning to work in 2012 (Figure 4.8). We will continue to support this in our actionplanning by better dissemination of information about maternity and paternity support that UCLoffers, through the Mums and Dads group (MADS) which will welcome those planning to havechildren, as well as those who already do. Part of the remit of this group will be to provideinformal support and advice for those leaving on maternity leave and returning to work. Formalinformation will be available in the ICH SWAN Gender Equalities handbook (Action 4.1A)

Questionnaires will explore the experiences during maternity leave, what encouraged women toreturn to work and what might have made it easier, and why numbers having children areincreasing. A standard exit survey (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/docs/exit_policy.php) will be used todetermine the reasons why some chose not to return (Action 4.2C).

[171 words]

Action points:

Action 4.1A, 3.4A Increase awareness of family friendly/ flexible working/ work life balance

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policies at ICH

Action 4.2C Line managers to ensure maternity and paternity leave is recorded solevels of uptake can be analysed

Action 4.2C Develop new questionnaires to identify factors influencing women'sdecision to return to work after maternity leave

(ii) Paternity, adoption and parental leave uptake – comment on the uptake of paternity leave bygrade and parental and adoption leave by gender and grade. Has this improved or deterioratedand what plans are there to improve further.

Data relating to uptake of paternity and adoption leave have not been collected, reflecting an ICHculture that trusted employees to monitor their own leave. One postdoc relates: “In the firstweeks and months, the support I received from my colleagues, line manager and Unit Head wasfantastic. In turn I was able to support my partner. I feel extremely lucky to work in such anenvironment.” In future we will monitor these figures by asking line managers to ensure paternityleave is recorded through the UCL online MyView system so levels of uptake can be analysed(Action 4.2C).

We will encourage new fathers to take the full UCL allocation of 4 weeks’ full pay paternity leave(double the legal requirement) through better promotion of the new provision by MADS, alongwith the new provision of additional paternity leave which UCL fully supports and encourages.

[145 words]

Action point:

Action 4.2C Line managers to ensure maternity and paternity leave is recorded solevels of uptake can be analysed

(iii) Numbers of applications and success rates for flexible working by gender and grade –comment on any disparities. Where the number of women in the department is small applicantsmay wish to comment on specific examples.

Data for formal flexible working currently do not exist, though many do so informally to maximiseproductivity alongside a good work-life balance. Programme leads and administrators willtherefore poll their staff to determine who works flexibly, and how. Staff will be pointed towardsthe website Case Studies in the “Guidance for supporting working parents and carers” document:(http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/staff/staff-news/0613/06062013-uclguidanceworkingparentsandcrers) and the ICH Gender Equalities Handbook (Action 4.1A).The next career development day will be used to promote the opportunities available (Action3.4A).

[81 words]

Action point:

Actions 4.1A, 3.4A Increase awareness of family friendly/ work life balance policies at ICH

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b) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what stepshave been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far andwhat additional steps may be needed.

(i) Flexible working – comment on the numbers of staff working flexibly and their grades andgender, whether there is a formal or informal system, the support and training provided formanagers in promoting and managing flexible working arrangements, and how the departmentraises awareness of the options available.

ICH has long had an informal system of supporting flexible working around core hours. Many staffwork full time, but with flexible start and finishing hours to simplify travel or childcarearrangements and both genders make good use of this. This is not recorded.

Because of the high numbers of people working flexibly and outside of standard work hours, wehave introduced Lone Worker alarms, used to ensure staff safety. The alarm units enable frontdesk staff to know if people working alone before 8 am or after 6 pm, or at weekends, have aproblem and to come to their aid if necessary.

Remote working is encouraged where applicable and UCL has introduced computer systems whichallow users to log on from home or elsewhere and have full access to their files and software. Thissystem is currently being updated to ‘Sync and Share’ to improve functionality further. Telephoneand videoconferencing are frequently used to ensure working from home does not interfere withproductivity. There is evidence that staff are actually more productive if they can work flexibly andcreate a work-life balance that works for them and informal feedback from different units suggestsflexible working does not result in a noticeable reduction in performance.

Flexible working has become an accepted way of working at ICH. However, all managers are awareof the policies and advice is readily available through Human Resources with information on theirwebsite (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/docs/work_life_balance.php). Information about the formalroute for requesting flexible working, already included at induction, will also be discussed duringappraisals.

[258 words]

Action points:

Actions 4.1A, 3.4A Increase awareness of family friendly / work life balance policies at ICH

Action 2.6B Flexible working policies to be included in the appraisal checklist

(ii) Cover for maternity and adoption leave and support on return – explain what the departmentdoes, beyond the university maternity policy package, to support female staff before they go onmaternity leave, arrangements for covering work during absence, and to help them achieve asuitable work-life balance on their return.

Before maternity leave: Specific advice is available from HR and more general support will beoffered by the MADS group. Flexible working is encouraged during pregnancy and due to thenature of much of the work in the lab or clinic, all administrators and lab managers are acutelyaware of Health and Safety issues, so a risk assessment is undertaken and they can advise at anypoint. Discussions with the manager or PI are held with each individual if they would like help in

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deciding when maternity leave best suits their specific needs. In most cases, staff prefer to workuntil close to the delivery date, taking most of the maternity leave after the baby is born.

During leave: Members of staff on maternity leave are kept on mailing lists so that they are awareof activities and developments (both social and work-related) within the Unit and ICH. They arealso invited to any Unit social gathering and encouraged to visit with their baby. Baby cards andpresents are sent or given on visits to ICH or a home visit by workplace friends. Recent health andsafety regulations prohibiting children from entering offices at ICH have meant that visits arenormally held within the refectory, the Lagoon (children friendly café in Great Ormond StreetHospital) or in the playground opposite ICH.

Keeping in touch (KIT) days are used where mothers can, if they wish, come into work to discussdevelopments and changes so that when they return it is easier to pick up from where they leftoff. This is encouraged by ICH but uptake has not been recorded, nor has the effectiveness of thisapproach. Action 4.2B will be to monitor the numbers of KIT days and to introduce return to workquestionnaires to gauge their usefulness. Staff are also given the opportunity to attend key‘update’ scientific events if they wish.

Efforts are always made to ensure funding is sought or provided for maternity cover wherenecessary. For example, within clinical trials or support services teams, work requires cover andthis has been successfully provided in 4 out of 4 maternity leaves with pre- and post-leave hand-over within these teams. In general, the project work of research staff is covered in the immediateterm by colleagues but when the member of staff is on a research grant, a request is usually madeto the grant giving body for a no-cost extension. The grant is then frozen when the member ofstaff is on maternity leave. However, if grants have fixed end dates, or if it is not possible for thework to cease during the maternity leave period, a maternity cover is appointed.

As part of our action planning, the institute will introduce a new system to provide extra financialsupport to those having to take extended leave for personal reasons, including academic womenon maternity leave. Existing members of academic staff taking more than 6 months’ maternityleave and who have 6 months or more remaining on their contract following their return frommaternity leave, will be able to request up to £10,000 funding to support an additional post, or upto £5,000 to support other research-related activity, to minimise the impact of extended leave onresearch activities (Action 4.2A).

After maternity leave: The MADS group will provide informal peer support and networking (Action2.1B).

Managers discuss the most suitable flexible working schedule (as required) before mums return towork, and their ability to cope is monitored through regular informal meetings. Good practice thathas been already implemented in different ICH groups will be embedded as Institute policy,including a structured return to work, regular meetings between supervisor and staff member,reduced hours when requested, a reduction of teaching commitments and support to get researchstarted again.

UCL also offers a 6 month sabbatical leave for those returning from maternity leave. This relievesindividuals of teaching and administrative roles so that they can get their research back on trackwhen they return. We currently promote this through HR and it will also be promoted through theMADS group. For those wanting to return to work after an absence of a few years or more, specific

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‘return to work’ grants are available from some funding bodies. To highlight these, specific grantcalls will be published on the ICH Athena SWAN webpage (Action 4.1).

[725 words]

Action points:

Action 4.1A Increase awareness of family friendly / work life balance policies at ICH

Action 4.2A NEW ICH fund to support academic women on maternity leave

Action 4.2 Support staff during pregnancy, maternity leave and return to work

Action 2.1B MADS group to provide informal peer support and networking

Action 4.2B Support from supervisor/line manager for official "keep in touch" days tovisit ICH during maternity leave

[5996 words]

5. Any other comments: maximum 500 words

Please comment here on any other elements which are relevant to the application, e.g. otherSTEMM-specific initiatives of special interest that have not been covered in the previoussections. Include any other relevant data (e.g. results from staff surveys), provide acommentary on it and indicate how it is planned to address any gender disparities identified.

Our Action Plan:ICH is an inclusive and enjoyable place to work, but we strive to improve. Our Action Plan isambitious, but justifiable considering the departmental size and the results we aim to achieve. TheHoD’s letter demonstrates the commitment of ICH senior management in supporting AthenaSWAN activities. Aspiration and involvement at all levels, coupled with excellent in-house HR, willensure the objectives in the Action Plan are attained. To summarise the Action Plan, our threemain areas for maximum impact for women’s careers in STEMM are: supporting transition ofwomen from Postdoctoral researcher to Lecturer/Fellowship holder (Key transition point 1, Action3.4); promotion of women from Fellowship/Lecturer to Senior Lecturer/Reader/Professor (Keytransition point 2, Action 3.5); and supporting women during career breaks, including extrafinancial support for research activities during maternity leave (Action 4.2). We believe that thesekey actions are critical for reducing the attrition of women in academic careers.

Staff Survey:In the April 2013 ICH staff survey, 89% of staff stated their work gave them a sense of personalaccomplishment and 80% reported a high level of cooperative working. 94% of males and 93% offemales were interested in their work and 95% were “happy to go the extra mile” when required.82% were proud to work for UCL. These data provide evidence that the environment in ICH is fullysupportive and appreciated by all staff.

Careers Day:Feedback from our recent Academic Careers Day has been valuable in targeting the Institute’sfuture activities for women. 88% of respondents found the event “useful” or “extremely useful”.Attendees reported that the event enable them to think about “clearer defined research goalsearlier and what I need to be doing/preparing to reach them” and that “it was an eye-openingevent that will allow me to choose which path I want to pursue in my career and life” which had

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“definitely made me more aware of key moments in the Academic Career path”. This feedbackwill help shape next year’s event.

Athena SWAN Poll:Our Athena SWAN poll showed that the SAT’s efforts to improve the understanding and impact ofICH Athena SWAN activities have been effective. 82% of 177 respondents across the whole rangeof staff and students at ICH were aware of Athena SWAN and its key principles, mainly throughword of mouth, emails and posters. We aim for this figure to exceed 90% through improvementsto the webpage and staff inductions.

Data from Research Excellence Framework (REF) Submission:The overall impact of SWAN values and initiatives by the outgoing SMT is demonstrated by theInstitute’s REF submission which was recently finalised and contains 62 females out of 140 totalsubmitted Category A staff (44.3% female). This compares with the RAE2008 submission (46females submitted out of 119 total staff, 38.7%). Hence, the proportion of females in theInstitute’s REF submission has risen compared with the RAE2008 submission and, perhaps mostimportantly, women make up just less than half of all staff submitted.

[498 words]

6. Action plan

Provide an action plan as an appendix. An action plan template is available on the Athena SWANwebsite.

The Action Plan should be a table or a spreadsheet comprising actions to address the prioritiesidentified by the analysis of relevant data presented in this application, success/outcomemeasures, the post holder responsible for each action and a timeline for completion. The planshould cover current initiatives and your aspirations for the next three years.

Please see Appendix

Action Plan/ 1

Issue andarea foraction

identified

Actions in place Proposed Actions Timescales

Account-ability(SAT

member)

Responsibility Success Measures

Promote Athena SWAN principles, monitor gender balance, and increase equality training

1.1Embed andpromote theAthena SWANcharter

Developed ICH AthenaSWAN web page.

Athena SWAN postersdisplayed at ICH(updated annually)

Developed ‘Women atICH’ web pagehighlighting female staffrole models at all levelsand their achievements

Placed SWAN logo on allrecruitment andpromotionaldocumentation

Athena SWAN charterexplicit within role ofnew academic HoPs,with commitment toreport on SWANactivities to SAT andP&E

Monthly SAT Committeemeetings in 2013; SWANUpdate as a standingagenda item at P&E/SMT meetings

A. Appoint new CommunicationsManager with responsibilities includingpromoting Athena SWAN values,conducting annual Athena SWAN staffsurvey and producing an ICH SWANGender Equalities Handbook (given tonew ICH staff and students and availablefrom the ICH Athena SWAN web page).

By July 2014 andhandbookupdated yearly

Survey to beconductedannually in April

RosalindSmyth

Mark Tiwarri(HR)/CommunicationsManager/Chris Thalasselis(SWANadministrator)

A. New handbook available onwebsite.

Continued awareness andevidence of Athena SWANpractice indicated in annual staffsurvey. >90% staff report supportfor SWAN charter with balancedresponse across gender/ grades

B. Showcase successful women as rolemodels. Inaugurate seminar room inhonour of first female Nuffield Professorof Child Health. Update profile /achievements of female staff onwebsite.

By January 2014,review annually

RosalindSmyth

Chris Thalasselis /CommunicationsManager

B. >70% female staff report theyhave positive female role modelsin staff survey.

C. Develop links on the ICH AthenaSWAN website to external informationon gender equalities initiatives andgender specific funding opportunities

By October 2014and updated asrequired

ShamimaRahman

Chris Thalasselis C. >70% women are aware offunding opportunities or othercareer initiatives for women instaff survey

D. SAT meetings held 2 monthly willreview and monitor implementation ofAction plan and report to P&E. Coredataset submitted for Silver applicationto be updated annually.

Every 2 months in2014; increasingto monthly 12months prior tonext application

ShamimaRahman

SAT/ P&E/Wendy Knowles(InstituteManage)

D. SAT minutes available on ICHAthena SWAN web page,providing evidence of sustainedactivity and implementation ofactions.

Action Plan/ 2

Athena Swan Staffsurvey in 2013 reportedhigh staff satisfactionwithout gender bias;used to develop Actionplan

E. Launch annual Athena SWANResearch Excellence Award to recognisePostdoctoral researcher achievements,to raise profile and support junior staffcareer development; Senior Staff Awardfor promotion of Athena Swan values.Highlight winners on ICH webpage.

By October 2014 RosalindSmyth

Jane Sowden/Gudrun Moore(Deputy Directorfor Research)

E. > 10% of postdoctoral staffnominated and applying forAward. Gender of applicantsmatching early researcher genderratio- currently 72% female.

1.2Ensure all staffare trained tocounter genderbias

New starters completethe online trainingpackage called Diversityin the Workplace.

Identified need to keeprecords on equalopportunity trainingactivities for all staff.

All shortlisting andinterview panels have atleast one male and onefemale (HR ensure thisaction and recordgender balance).

A. Increase participation in equalopportunities and unconscious biastraining activities.

From January2014

Mark Tiwarri Heads ofProgrammes

A. 1) >80% staff participation intraining activities; 2) 100% staffemployed for ≥6 months at ICH aware of Athena SWANprinciples.

B. Set up a database to collateinformation on staff training activitiesundertaken each year for appraisals,diversity/equality, interviewing.

By end of 2014,maintainedannually

Mark Tiwarri HR B. Populated database showing100% of staff involved inappraisal, recruitment, andpromotion panels have beentrained within the last 3 years.

C. SAT to advise on gender balance ofmembership of academic recruitmentcommittees and HR to continue torecord and monitor.

2014 onwards,reviewedannually

RosalindSmyth

Mark Tiwarri E. >40 % female staff on allacademic staffrecruitment/promotion panels.

Ensure inclusive culture, family friendly departmental organisation, and equal opportunities for career development

2.1Develop inclusiveopportunities fornetworking

New Annual Open Staffmeeting for all ICH staffheld by new Directorfollowed by afternoontea

Otto Wolff Lectureseries with reception:surveyed gender ofinvited/ acceptedspeakers.

Annual ICH Summer andChristmas parties for all.

A. New academic programmes to host atleast two inclusive networking eventsper year.

By July 2014;6 monthlythereafter

MariaBitner-Glindzicz

Heads ofProgrammes

A. >80% aware of inclusivenetworking events withinprogrammes on staff survey.

B. New Mum and Dads’ (MADS) groupbeing established

By January 2014 MariaBitner-Glindzicz

Philippa Mills(Lecturer)

B. Impact of MADs measured by10% new members each year.

C. Aim for 50:50 male:female speakergender balance across all seminar series;ensure female staff invited to networkwith speakers

Immediateaction; evaluatein January eachyear

Steve Howe Seminarprogrammecommittees

C. >40% female invited speakersby 2015

Action Plan/ 3

2.2Family friendlymeeting times

Reviewed timing ofmeetings (committee /research meetings) andseminars to enableattendance by thosewith caringresponsibilities. Movedseminar/ meeting timesso that more are withincore hours, 10am-4pm.

A. Record timings of lab meetings/seminar series and networking eventsand encourage flexible systemswherever possible to ensure inclusivityfor flexible/ part time workers.

Implementedalready; to bereviewedannually inSeptember

Steve Howe Heads ofProgrammes

A. >70% meetings/seminars areheld during core hoursEarly/flexible commencement ofout of hours events.

B. For out of core hour meetings,advance notice will be given, memossent beforehand for comments andminutes circulated.

Annual survey inApril 2014onwards

Steve Howe Heads ofProgrammes

B. >80% staff report thatsufficient notice is given of out ofhours meetings in staff survey.

2.3Improveexperience ofnew members ofstaff

Reviewed inductionexperience of newstarters.Identified need tocommunicate newappointments toimprove welcome fornew starters

A. Announce new staff appointmentsincluding internal appointments at alllevels in monthly Director's bulletin

2014 onwards.Web pageupdated monthly,

Mark Tiwarri InstituteDirector’s office/CommunicationsManager

A. > 70% new starters reportsatisfaction with inductionprocess.

2.4Increaseindividual staffsupport

Workshop, informalinterviews anddiscussions around newacademic programmesidentified need formentoring for academiccareer development.

A. Develop an academic mentoringscheme – pilot scheme to be offered toall academic staff

At induction, newstaff will beoffered a trainedmentor; existingstaff to be offereda mentor at nextappraisal, fromJanuary 2015.

RosalindSmyth

Gudrun Moore >50% staff requesting a mentorto be paired by March 2015;>80% by end of 2016.50:50 gender balance of trainedand active mentors.

2.5Increasinglyinclusive culture

Committee genderbalance reviewed; 2women invited to joinBRC committee.

A. Monitor and ensure continuedgender balance in all committees.

June 2014onwards

ShamimaRahman

Heads ofProgrammes/SMT

A. Equal gender balance inCommittees by 2016.

2.6Ensure allresearch andacademic staff

Staff Survey showedthat only 60% of womenhad an appraisal in the

A. Introduce annual appraisals March 2014 RosalindSmyth

Wendy Knowles A. >90% staff appraised in the last12 months.

Action Plan/ 4

understandpromotionprospects andhave opportunityfor academicprogressionand/or skilldevelopment

preceding 24 months.Lack of clarity regardingrequirements forpromotion process wasidentified.

B. Develop new appraisal checklist toinclude: discussion of promotionprospects and criteria; flexible workingpolicies; new mentoring scheme;equalities training undertaken; timespent on administrative/ outreach/enabling activities; awareness ofleadership schemes for women;eligibility for fellowship applications.Formal monitoring data to be collectedon outreach, training and workload (seeActions 1.2B and 4.2B)

March 2014 Mark Tiwarri Wendy Knowles B. Improve understanding ofpromotion criteria indicated onstaff survey to >70% satisfaction.

Participation in outreachactivities across all grades inproportion to staff gender ratiosat each level.

Actions to increase promotion and retention and appointment of women at ICH at key career transition points

3.1Promote anacademic careerpath to juniorfemaleresearchers andfrom the outsetencouragewomen to aimhigh in anacademic career

Non-gender biasedrecruitment of studentsand junior research staffis in place.

SAT analysis showedapplicants, studentcohorts, researchassistants, Postdoctoralresearchers arepredominantly womenat junior levels.

SAT analysis identifiedlack of knowledge ofcareer aspirations andnext employmentposition of junior femaleresearch staff

Careers Supportprovided annually for allstudents

A. Use Careers Session at annual ICHOpen Day for prospective and currentMSc/PhD students to encourage femalestudents to aim high in an academiccareer and to promote Athena SWANprinciples. Showcase current PhDstudent research at ICH/GOSH.

Immediate;November eachyear

Andy Stoker Postgraduatetutors/ Coursedirectors

A. Gender balance of invited ICHOpen Day Guest Lecturer; 2013invited speaker Professor DameLinda Partridge, FRS.

PhD poster prizes awarded reflectgender composition of studentbody.

B. Annual monitoring forms and exitsurveys to record career aspirations,careers support services accessed, andnext destination of research assistants,Postdoctoral staff and final yearPhD/MSc students, by gender.

From June 2015 Andy Stoker Wendy Knowles/Postgraduatetutors/ MSccourse directors

B. Baseline data on proportion offemale researchers and studentsa) using careers support services;b) continuing a scientific career innext position; c) being promotede.g. transitioning to newLecturer/ Fellowship holder.By 2016: >50% of femalestudents transitioning intoPostdoctoral positions/ scientificcareers; >80% accessing careerssupport before leaving

Action Plan/ 5

3.2Support careerdevelopment ofPostgraduatestudents

Staff/StudentConsultation Meetingsidentified support forPhD peer-basedmentorship scheme.Scheme started for 1styear PhD students inacademic year 2012-2013

A. Provide a peer-based mentoringscheme for all PhD students. Continuethis mentoring for 1st year students andextend to all students with Postdocs tomentor 2nd/3rd year students tosupport transition to Postdoctoral post

Review success ofscheme duringPhD Year 2 andexpand/modifyscheme based onfeedback fromparticipants.

Andy Stoker Postgraduatetutors/ PhDstudents/Postdoctoralresearchers

A. Peer-based support availablefor all PhD students

3.3Support careerdevelopment ofPostdoctoralresearchers

Need for Postdoc forumand career developmentadvice was identified instaff survey

A New informal Postdoc/ early careersresearcher forum to be established toincrease communication/networkingand provide informal skill buildingopportunities.

June 2014 ElisaFassone/HeatherBailey

Gudrun Moore A. New early careers researchergroup established. Impactmeasured by 10% new memberseach year.

B. Provide new Postdoctoral CareerDevelopment Advisors to support andencourage career-enhancing activitiese.g. writing up papers, conferencepresentations, entry for travel awardsand prizes, outreach/ engagementactivities, use of UCL Careers adviceservices.

April 2015 PeteScambler

Gudrun Moore/Heads ofProgrammes/Jane Sowden/Tessa Crompton

>90% of Postdoctoral researchersreport that they have accessed,or know how to access careersadvice in the staff survey

Action Plan/ 6

3.4Improve supportfor transitionfromPostdoctoralresearcher toLecturer/Fellowshipholder:Key transitionpoint 1

SAT analysis showedthat the predominanceof women at juniorlevels is not maintainedat higher levels of theacademic career path.

First ICH AcademicCareers Day targeted toPostdoctoral researchstaff held in 2013 andfeedback used todevelop new actions.

A. ICH Academic Careers Day to be heldannually following positive feedback onfirst event; to include(i) Comprehensive list of all availableUniversity, Research Council and CharityPG fellowship awards (irrespective ofgender) and specifically for femalecareer development.(ii) New fellowship workshop linkingPostdoctoral researchers with successful(female) research fellowship holders.(iii) New Alumni workshop withpresentations from former members ofICH to profile different careers inscience.(iv) Workshop with existing seniorclinical and non clinical staff sharingexperience of “climbing the ladder”

Annual event ShamimaRahman

Sayeda Abu-Amero/ JennyMorgan

>90% of attendees judge thatinformation provided at CareersDay will affect career planning(post-event survey)

B. PIs to encourage Postdocs toparticipate in grant applications e.g.Researcher Investigator or co-applicanton Research Council applications thatpermit this.

June 2014 AndrewCopp

Emma Pendleton(Deputy Directorof ClinicalResearch andDevelopment,Division ofResearch andInnovation)

D. Baseline measurement in2014. Increase in female Postdocsas applicants on grants year onyear from baseline.

C. Identify high performing Postdoctoralstaff eligible for fellowship applications.Invite applications from externalcandidates wishing to come to ICH.Positively encourage women to apply.Line manager and HoP/Deputy ResearchDirector to offer support and guidancefor application process (review ofapplication and mock interview).

AnnualBaseline data tobe collected bySeptember 2014

Jane Sowden Gudrun Moore/Heads ofProgrammes/ PIs

Emma Pendleton

Baseline Data on Fellowshipapplications by gender; includeICH-sponsored applications andthose applying to holdfellowships at other universities.

Increase female fellowshipapplications year on year frombaseline.

Action Plan/ 7

D. New Lectureship posts to be createdwithin new ICH academic structure.Recruitment will take account ofrepresentation of women at this level atICH. Positive action to attract womenapplicants. Ensure same gender balanceof applicants and shortlist.

2013-2016 RosalindSmyth

Heads ofProgrammes

C. Increase in total number ofwomen in lectureship posts (paidby HEFCE) by 2016 (currently 11;5F:6M).

3.5SupportPromotion ofwomen fromFellowship/Lecturer toSenior Lecturer/Reader/Professor:Key transitionpoint 2

SAT analysis showedfewer women than menwere promoted in bothclinical and non clinicalcareer pathways.Actions were developedto better support mid-career women

A. At appraisal identify early/mid careerresearchers eligible for promotion.Deputy Directors of Research andEducation/ Heads of Programmes topro-actively invite application forpromotion from eligible women.Monitor applications and success bygender.

Annual from 2014 RosalindSmyth

Heads ofProgrammes/Line Managers

A. Increase relative proportion ofwomen applying for promotion toSenior Lecturer/ Reader/Professor to >50% of totalapplications by 2015

B. Annual Promotion workshop led byDeputy Director for Research during ICHAcademic Careers Day, to provideinformation and support preparation ofpromotion applications. P&E/ HoP toimprove feedback given to unsuccessfulpromotion applicants and supportactivities to strengthen their cases infuture rounds (Action 3.4A).

June 2014 RosalindSmyth

Heads ofProgrammes/P&E

B. >70% of attendees judged thatworkshop provided usefulsupport (post-event survey)

C. Increase guidance for preparationand submission of major grants. SATanalysis indicates women staff apply forfewer high value grants compared tomen.

January 2015 AndrewCopp

Heads ofProgrammes/Emma Pendleton

C. Funding pounds applied for bywomen to be equivalent to thoseof men (for same number ofapplications) by 2016

D. Identify Leadership training coursesfor mid career/senior women. Monitorparticipation.

Promote trainingwhen available.Monitor annually.

RosalindSmyth

Heads ofProgrammes

D. Participation in Leadershiptraining by female staff; 50% ofstaff nominated to be women

E. Strategic investment in academicposts at Lecturer, Senior Lecturer andProfessor level; to be appointedfollowing open, national competition.

2014-2016 RosalindSmyth

Heads ofProgrammes

E. Improvement in genderbalance of senior academic poststo be >40% women at Professorand Reader level by 2016.

Action Plan/ 8

Recruitment to take positive action toencourage wormen to apply and to takeinto account the currently inadequaterepresentation of women at mid/seniorcareer level

Actions to support women with care commitments and during career breaks, and to monitor gender bias in work load

4.1Increaseawareness offamily friendly/flexible working/work life balancepolicies at ICH

Introduced HR updateson maternity, paternity,adoption and parentalleave, and work lifebalance, on the ICHAthena SWAN webpage

A. New ICH SWAN Gender EqualitiesHandbook (Action 1.1A) will provideinformation on local support e.g. flexibleworking opportunities, MADS group,career breaks and career re-entryfunding streams, breastfeeding/expressing arrangements, UCLnursery provision

To be in place byMarch 2014 andupdated annually.

Steve Howe Mark Tiwarri/CommunicationsManager

>75% of staff report in StaffSurvey that flexible working issupported by their Line Manager.

4.2Provideadditionalsupport forwomen duringpregnancy,maternity leaveand whenreturning to workafter maternityleave

Positive response tosetting up of new Mumand Dad’s Supportgroup (MADS) toprovide informal peersupport and networking

Facilitate flexibleworking for staffreturning frommaternity leave whereneeded.

A. New ICH fund to support women inacademic posts to maintain momentumof their scientific work whilst onmaternity leave

January 2014 RosalindSmyth

Line Managersand WendyKnowles

>75% of female staff andstudents report in Staff surveythat ICH effectively supportswomen during Career breaks

B. Support from supervisor/line managerfor official "keep in touch” (KIT) days tovisit ICH during maternity leave

To be in place byJanuary 2015

Mark Tiwarri Line Managers/ProgrammeAdministrators

B. Monitoring data on numbersof KIT days taken. Data fromreturn to work questionnairesused to gauge their usefulness

C. Maternity/ paternity leave to berecorded through MyView online systemso uptake levels can be analysed.Paternity leave entitlement to bepromoted via MADS and ICH AthenaSWAN webpage. Survey/MADS toidentify factors to better support returnto work from maternity leave

September 2014 Mark Tiwarri ProgrammeAdministrators/MADS (MariaBitner-Glindzicz/Philippa Mills)

Uptake of paternity leaverecorded

Factors identified that bestsupport return to work aftermaternity leave.

Action Plan/ 9

4.3Monitor anygenderdifferences inwork load

Identified lack of workload data

A. At annual appraisal (Action 2.6B)record work load of scientific staff(Postdocs and above) according to taskcategories (teaching, research,administrative, outreach/enabling).Manage any overburdening of individualstaff in relation to career developmentduring appraisal process.

Introduce formalrecording byJanuary 2015

Mark Tiwarri Wendy Knowles A. Monitoring data available onstaff work load by gender byJanuary 2016.

B. Annual collation of data by grade andgender; monitoring of data for gendertrends by SAT.

Annual evaluationfrom April 2015

ShamimaRahman/SATmonitoring

Wendy Knowles/ProgrammeAdministrators

B. Equality between genders fortime spent on each of the fourtask categories