Gender Equality Plan

We are proud of our diverse community and are committed to creating a positive environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Our gender equality plan is a set of connected actions and initiatives that collectively meet the requirements of funders such as Horizon Europe including:

• The University’s Equality and Diversity policyand accompanying equality objectives.
• The activities and focus of our Staff Forums for Gender and Working Parents and Carers which reports into the University Diversity and Equal Opportunities Committee (DEOC).  
• Our work towards the Athena SWAN charter. We hold an institutional bronze award and are currently working towards silver accreditation.
• Our latest reportdemonstrates that we have a gender pay gap that is significantly lower than the HE sector as a whole.
• Annual monitoring and reporting activity that includes comprehensive information on staff equality characteristics including gender.

Alignment with Horizon Europe processes

Our activity around gender equality is in accordance with Horizon Europe requirements as follows:

• Our existing Athena SWAN gender charter action plan is publicly available and includes a letter of endorsement signed by the Vice-Chancellor. Our Equality and Diversity policy is also publicly available.
• The University has appointed senior staff to provide leadership support for gender equality including the Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Arts and Humanities and the Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange. They work closely with the co-chairs of the Gender Equality Forum and the Equality and Diversity team from Human Resources. The Athena SWAN gender equality self-assessment team includes representation from staff at all levels including academics and professional services. 
• We monitor data on gender equality continuously and report this through our Athena SWAN activities and formally through our Equality and Diversity annual reportandgender pay gap reporting.
• We provide comprehensive training and development activities including mandatory equality training and extensive unconscious bias delivery.

Alignment with Horizon Europe priorities

• Actions to further work life balance and organisational culture in relation to gender equality are covered in section 5 of our Athena SWAN action plan which is concerned with flexibility and career management. Actions we have taken forward here make positive improvements to processes for family-related leave, the promotion and management of flexible working, inclusive timing of meetings and the impact of caring responsibilities on careers.
• We are addressing gender balance in leadership and decision-making throughactions in sections 2, 3 and 4 of ourAthena SWAN planincluding a focus on career development and organisational culture. This includes identifying and promoting leadership opportunities and improving gender balance on decision-making committees.
• A focus on key transition points, appointment processes and recruitment activities in section 2 of our Athena SWAN plan aligns with the requirements for gender equality in recruitment and career-progression. This includes increased use of unconscious bias training, the composition of recruitment panels and specific training around the promotion process. We are continuously monitoring our gender pay gap.
• We are working towards the integration of gender into research and teaching content through the Inclusive Curriculum Toolkit managed by the University Teaching Academy which includes resources on the equality and diversity dimensions of the design and delivery of teaching for programme leaders.   
• The University maintains a comprehensive set of measures to protect against gender-based violence including sexual harassment. There are clear routes for disclosing incidents and guidance on where to turn to for support both internally and externally. Student services offer online training on consent and our Gender Staff Forum has delivered training for staff in security, halls, the library and student support officers.