Athena Swan
Founded in 2005, the Athena Swan Charter was instituted to 'encourage and recognise commitment to advancing gender equality'. The mechanism for recognising commitment to gender equality is provided by Athena Swan Awards, which can be awarded to both universities as a whole and to individual departments (such as the School of Mathematics and Statistics).
The School’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee advances equality and diversity in the School, and includes representatives of different roles and of different career and work-life balance experiences. One of the responsibilities of this committee is to uphold the ten principles of the Athena Swan Charter, embedding good practice in gender equality in all activities in the School. To promote these good practices to a wider audience, the School of Mathematics and Statistics periodically applies for an Athena Swan award, usually every four to five years.
The School was awarded a Silver Athena Swan award in March 2024. This follows Bronze awards in 2013 and 2018.