Athena Swan
The Athena Swan Charter is a framework used across the world to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE). The Charter was originally established in 2005 - Imperial was a founder member - 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. The Charter is run by Advance HE.
College awards
We have held an institutional Athena Swan Charter since 2006. Our most recent award was in July 2022, when we renewed our Silver, becoming the first university to do so under the Transformed Athena Swan Charter. You can download our 2022 submission from the box above. The submission provides a summary account of our progress in the last five years and our priorities for the next five, including our new action plan.
If you have any questions or require more information about Imperial's submissions, please email Rob Bell, the College Athena SWAN Coordinator.
College Athena Swan SAT membership
Membership of the Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team (SAT)
The SAT membership is currently being reviewed and we expect to welcome new members for the start of the 2023-24 academic year.
Current members
- Lesley Cohen, Assistant Provost (EDI), Chair
- Rob Bell, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Centre (EDIC), Athena SWAN Coordinator
- Liz Elvidge, Head of Postdoc and Fellows Development
- Gareth Hyde, NHLI, Safety and Technical Services Manager
- Susan Littleson, HR, Deputy Director - Organisational Development and Inclusion
- Ann Muggeridge, Earth Science & Engineering, Consul for the FoE and Business School
- Jane Neary, Director of Campus Services
- Gbemi Oluleye, CEP, Research Fellow
- Chris Peters, Surgery & Cancer, Clinical Senior Lecturer
- Nathalie Podder, Imperial College Union, Deputy President (Welfare)
- Priya Saravanapavan, Materials, Senior Teaching Fellow
- Vahid Shahrezaei, Mathematics, FoNS Diversity Champion
- Sharron Stubbs, Infectious Disease, Senior Laboratory Manager
- Jess Wade, Materials, Research Fellow
Previous members
- Malinda Davies, Imperial College Union, Gender Equality Officer
- Richard Green, Business School, Professor
- Sian Harding, NHLI, Professor
- Richard Jardine, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Consul for the FoE and Business School
- Edgar Meyer, Business School, Associate Dean of UG Programmes and Education Quality
- Pedro Rosa Dias, Business School, Associate Professor
- Shervin Sabeghi, Imperial College Union, Deputy President (Welfare)
- Nilay Shah, Chemical Engineering, Professor
- Helen Stoneham, Mechanical Engineering, Department Resources Manager
Department awards
Business School
The Business School (Imperial's only AHSSBL department) successfully applied for Bronze in the April 2016 submission round.
Faculty of Engineering
Department of Aeronautics, Bronze, November 2019
Department of Bioengineering, Silver, November 2018
Department of Chemical Engineering, Silver, renewed November 2017
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Bronze, April 2018
Department of Computing, Silver, January 2023
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Bronze, April 2021
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Bronze, November 2017
Department of Materials, Silver, renewed November 2022
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bronze, April 2019
Faculty of Natural Sciences
Centre for Environmental Policy, Bronze, April 2019
Department of Chemistry, Gold, April 2019
Department of Life Sciences, Bronze, renewed November 2018
Department of Mathematics, Bronze, renewed April 2020
Department of Physics, Silver, renewed November 2018
Faculty of Medicine
Department for Brain Sciences, Silver, November 2020
Department of Immunology and Inflammation, Silver, November 2020
Department of Infectious Disease, Silver, November 2020
Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Silver, November 2020
Department of Surgery & Cancer, Silver, November 2018
Institute for Clinical Sciences, Silver, April 2017
National Heart and Lung Institute, Silver, November 2020
School of Public Health, Bronze, November 2018
Athena town hall: gender equality at Imperial
5 November 2021
As part of our preparations to renewal our institutional Silver Athena Swan award, we held a town hall style meeting open to all staff. Led by Stephen Curry (Assistant Provost EDI) and Susan Littleson (Director of Organisational Change & Inclusion), we reviewed the state of play on gender equality at Imperial and recent initiatives, and invited people to share their observations and insights into our most urgent priorities for action.