The Equality Charters - Good Practice Initiatives

The new, evidence-based Good Practice Database is for those working to advance gender and race equality in higher education through Athena Swan and the Race Equality Charter.

The database aims to celebrate the breadth of gender and race equality initiatives taking place across the higher education sector and to provide Advance HE members with practical ideas and encourage them to trial new initiatives adapted to their contexts. The initiatives are drawn from recent analysis of selected successful applications. 
Race Equality Charter

Onboarding the Race Equality Charter Journey

06 Oct 2020 | Dr Sammy Li and Sheena Griffiths
Read the blog

Use the search filters below to find Athena Swan and Race Equality Charter initiative application types.
Athena Swan Good Practice Initiative Image
Institute of Ageing and Chronic Diseases
University of Liverpool
Initiative Theme: Career breaks
Target Group: Postgraduate students
Postgraduate research students were encouraged to attend an Athena Swan workshop, which offered further information on the institute’s policies relating to Athena Swan.
Athena Swan Good Practice Initiative Image
College of Medical and Dental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Initiative Theme: Gender balance
Target Group: Academic staff, Professional and support staff
The College aimed to increase male visibility on its Athena SWAN steering group, by appointing membership to male senior staff through invitation from existing members.
Athena Swan Good Practice Initiative Image
College of Life and Enviromental Sciences
University of Exeter
Initiative Theme: Student recruitment
Target Group: Postgraduate students, Undergraduate students
The College aimed to investigate a drop in the proportion of female postgraduate students on Bioscience through holding focus groups. It concluded that a lack of confidence represented a significant barrier to female undergraduates to apply for this course.
Athena Swan Good Practice Initiative Image
Barts and The London School of Medicine: Gender equality
Queen Mary University of London
Initiative Theme: Recruitment
Target Group: Academic staff, Professional and support staff
The Diversity Manager published examples of policies, used by other institutions, which offered guidance on gender equality with regards to recruitment.
Athena Swan Good Practice Initiative Image
Barts and The London School of Medicine: Childcare vouchers
Queen Mary University of London
Initiative Theme: Career breaks
Target Group: Academic staff, Professional and support staff
The department noted that it advertised its childcare vouchers scheme during the maternity/paternal returners and leavers lunch, led by a female senior member of staff.
Athena Swan Good Practice Initiative Image
Barts and The London School of Medicine: Career breaks
Queen Mary University of London
Initiative Theme: Career development
Target Group: Academic staff, Professional and support staff
Actions were put in place to ensure staff returning from maternity or paternity leave felt supported during the period of their leave and in their eventual return to work.
Athena Swan Good Practice Initiative Image
Barts and The London School of Medicine: Pilot mentoring
Queen Mary University of London
Initiative Theme: Culture, Promotion
Target Group: Academic staff
A pilot mentoring scheme was initiated in 2012 for female academics, which aimed to 'match-up' women to facilitate 'free and frank' interactions among colleagues.
Athena Swan Good Practice Initiative Image
Barts and The London School of Medicine: Mentoring scheme
Queen Mary University of London
Initiative Theme: Promotion
Target Group: Academic staff
With the aim of increasing the number of female staff at senior level, a mentoring scheme was established within the School. The scheme targeted a specific cohort of women who had the greatest potential for promotion and were in need of support.
Athena Swan Good Practice Initiative Image
Barts and The London School of Medicine: Committee structure
Queen Mary University of London
Initiative Theme: Gender balance
Target Group: Academic staff
The School carried out a review of its committee structure, particularly noticing a gender imbalance.
Athena Swan Good Practice Initiative Image
Primary Care Health Sciences: PDR
University of Oxford
Initiative Theme: Career development
Target Group: Academic staff
The department made a number of changes to their Personal Development Review (PDR) process in order to increase the number of staff who felt the PDR benefited them in their careers.