Equality award for aquaculture institute
The Institute of Aquaculture (IoA) at Stirling University has been awarded an Athena SWAN (Scientific Women’s Academic Network) bronze award for its good practice in gender equality.
Athena SWAN is a national charter based on 10 key principles which help foster positive, cultural change across the working environment and tackle inequalities.
“I am delighted that the Institute of Aquaculture has received an Athena SWAN Bronze award,” said Professor Maggie Cusack, dean of the faculty of natural sciences, in a news article on the IoA website.
“This award is testament to the hard work of staff and students in the Institute striving to achieve equity, diversion and inclusion.”
Accessible to all
The press release said the IoA remained ambitious in its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) actions to ensure that it maintained a welcoming working environment accessible to all, and that this was reflected in the award of an Athena SWAN Bronze Award, which is valid until 2025.
Efforts to address “EDI challenges” included increasing the number of women on the 13-member executive board from one to three and nominating a board member to champion the implementation of the EDI strategy.
Female members of staff, as role models, have been involved in open days to help attract female students applying at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Advancing women’s careers
A video of staff and students talking about the importance of Athena SWAN can be found here.
The Athena SWAN charter was established in 2005. The initial charter set out to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) institutions of higher education and research. The charter has since been expanded to include other areas such as arts, humanities, social sciences, business, and law.
