Athena Swan Silver Award 2024

The University of St Andrews received a prestigious institutional Silver Athena Swan Award in March 2024 in recognition of its continued efforts to advance gender equality across the University (building on our Bronze awards of 2012 and 2018). 

Vice-Principal (People and Diversity) Dr Rebekah Widdowfield, who led the award application, said: "I am absolutely delighted by the outcome, which is testament to the sustained commitment of the Athena Swan self-assessment team, the hard work of the core project team and, most importantly, to the work that the University has been taking forward over the last five years to advance gender equality. The progress that has been made reflects the work of a great many people right across the University and the award is an acknowledgement of their efforts."

All 18 Schools at St Andrews hold Athena Swan departmental Awards, with six at Silver. The School of Biology holds a Gold award. 

What is the Athena Swan Charter? 

The Athena Swan Charter, run by Advance HE, is a framework which is used to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research. Established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment, the Charter is now used to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women. 

Progress since the previous award

In achieving the Silver Athena Swan Award, the University demonstrated significant progress against its previous five-year action plan (2018 to 2023) and success in addressing gender inequalities. 

St Andrews’ successes include: 

  • Significantly extended support for carers, recognising that care continues to fall disproportionately on women. This includes extended leave provision for a wider range of situations including non-emergencies, enhanced maternity leave, and improved policies to support flexible working leading to an uptick in staff taking up flexible working arrangements. 
  • Enhanced support for women's careers, including changes to the promotion processes and introduction of the Elizabeth Garrett Mentoring Programme, contributing to a marked increase in the proportion of women professors since 2016 (21% to 28%).
  • A series of measures to address gender-based violence (GBV) resulting in St Andrews becoming the first university in the UK to be awarded the EmilyTest Charter. 

Priority areas for 2024 to 2028

Our Silver Action Plan is focused on five priority areas identified in our application: 

  • increasing representation of women in the Professoriate and senior roles 
  • supporting professional services staff career pathways 
  • addressing intersectional inequalities 
  • ensuring sustainable workloads 
  • closing the gender pay gap. 

To give feedback on the application or proposed actions please contact athenaswanchair@st-andrews.ac.uk.