We will shortly be in a position to confirm who is on the Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team (AS SAT) for the School of Education. There is still time for you to become involved at this level if you wish – please come and talk to me.

THE SELF-ASSESSMENT PROCESS

Having an effective self-assessment team is important to the success of our application to the Athena SWAN Charter. These are the details that we are required to include in the submission:

• members’ roles (both within the institution or department and as part of the team) including identifying the chair;
• how people were nominated or volunteered to the role and how any time involved in being a member of the team is included in any workload allocation or equivalent;
• how the team represents the staff working in the institution or department (eg. a range of grades and job roles, professional and support staff as well as academics and any consideration of gender balance, work-life balance arrangements or caring responsibilities);
• when the team was established, including how the team communicated, for example, face to face, email, etc.;
• how often the team has met;
• the focus of the meetings;
• how the team has consulted with members of the institution or department (and students);
• consultation with individuals outside the institution: external consultation refers to consultation outside the institution or department, for example, a critical friend reviewing the application, consultation with other successful Athena SWAN departments/institutions;
• how the self-assessment team fits in with other committees and structures of the institution. It is important to include information on the reporting structure. For example, is there a direct route for the team to report to, is Athena SWAN a standing item on the department/institution’s key decision-making board?

As you will have noted, we need a strategic approach to the membership of this group. We need both men and women, as well as range of work roles represented. We are currently reviewing the need for a more strategic approach to equality in the School of Education, and the AS SAT will play a key role in relation to this in the future. This will also form part of our AS submission and action plan.

Plans for the future of the self-assessment team

• how often the team will continue to meet;
• how the team intends to monitor implementation of the action plan, including how it will interact with other relevant committees and structures within the institution;
• how the team intends to keep staff (and students) updated on ongoing work;
• succession planning for where membership of the team will change, including any transfer of responsibility for the work, role rotation and how the workload of members of the team will be accounted for in workload allocation;
• at institution level, how the team will engage with departments to encourage them to apply for award;