DIT Athena SWAN Process Dr. Ashley O’Donoghue Head of Staff Development, Athena SWAN Steering Committee 21September 2017 THEA-Athena SWAN

Athena SWAN in DIT Why Athena SWAN?

Scissors Diagram IoTs 2015 Source: HEA National Review of Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions (2016)

Scissors Diagram Irish Universities 2015 Source: HEA National Review of Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions (2016)

Values, Ethics & Social Justice Talent Management Legislation & Compliance DIT Values : Inclusive - Striving to create a friendly, collaborative and trusting community, where diversity is valued, individuals are treated with respect, encouraged to develop their potential and make their contribution, and pride is shared in our collective identity. Utilising all competencies for diverse perspectives Wider talent pool to enrich the organisation’s human capital ‘Mixed Gender Teams Improved Financial Performance’ (Gompers & Wang, 2017) Employment Equality Act 1998 Equal Status Act 2000

Athena SWAN ‘The HEA welcomed the move by three of Ireland’s research funding agencies to make gender equality accreditation in higher education institutions a condition of funding by the end of 2019’ (January 2017)

Timeline - Structures - Support January 2015 AS Working Group and Chair established April 2015 – AS National Committee WG member appointed to Athena Swan Nat. Committee May 2015 – ECU Athena Swan briefing workshop Directors, HOS, College Heads of Research and L&D June 2015 – Athena SWAN Steering Group DASSG formally established and membership expanded to 19 November 2016 – DIT submits Athena SWAN Application (DIT Gender audit - 70 page report)

Athena SWAN in DIT In preparation for applying for the Bronze Award, a cross-institute Committee in DIT undertook a significant programme of work to conduct a gender audit of the Institute.  What is a Gender Audit? A gender audit involves an assessment of the Institute’s policies, practices and culture in relation to gender equality and outlines how the institute will address specific areas where inequality is found to exist.

WHAT DOES A GENDER AUDIT MEASURE? DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTITUTE STAFF DATA CAREER DEVELOPMENT FLEXIBLE WORKING UPTAKE ORGANISATION CULTURE No. of students & staff by Gender (all) List & size of STEM departments (academic and support staff separately) All staff by gender Leavers by grade and gender Contract Type Gender Pay by Gender T&D participation rates by gender PMDS participation Support for postdoctoral researchers for academic career progression Uptake by Gender Cover & support for maternity & adoption leave Maternity return rate Decision making roles & committees by gender Timings of key meetings Workload Models Visibility of Women as Roe Models

DIT Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Process & Reporting Structure DIT STEERING COMMITTEEE Advising Guiding Championing Approving Action Plan Project Manager SUB GROUPS ASSESSMENT - Quantitative - Qualitative assessment of where the Institute is. REFLECTION ON DATA - Challenges - Opportunities e.g. capture what is good DATA INFORMED ACTION PLAN - Proactive self-assessment DELIVER CHANGE - Addressing specific challenges / growing opportunities MEASURE PROGRESS - Against a data driven action plan

Athena SWAN Evaluation Panel Feedback Panel commended our comprehensive quantitative and qualitative data collection. Feedback; The narrative should be analytical rather than descriptive; what gender trends is the data identifying how is this informing the Action Plan The data should be used throughout the application to inform the Action Plan Use benchmarking data for both staff and students (sectoral and international) to drive the Institute’s aspirations Actions identified arising from the data should state the expected outputs and outcomes and how success will be measured Continue to monitor progress of the 2016 Application

DIT Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Process & Reporting Structure DIT STEERING COMMITTEEE Advising Guiding Championing Approving Action Plan Project Manager SUB GROUPS ASSESSMENT - Quantitative - Qualitative assessment of where the Institute is. REFLECTION ON DATA - Challenges - Opportunities e.g. capture what is good DATA INFORMED ACTION PLAN - Proactive self-assessment DELIVER CHANGE - Addressing specific challenges / growing opportunities MEASURE PROGRESS - Against a data driven action plan

Thank You QUESTIONS