Our Athena SWAN Commitment
"It gives me great pleasure and pride to reaffirm the commitment of the School of Cancer Sciences to fully enact our Athena Swan Gold Award action plan.
Our staff and students co-created the SCS mission “To perform patient-centred research to transform cancer outcomes. Fostering world-class cancer research with impact, in an environment which values team science, work-life balance, well-being and maximising the potential of all staff regardless of background or job family”. To support this ambition, EDI is interwoven into all strategic decision making and we have allocated dedicated budget and administrative resources to support Athena Swan activities facilitated by our innovative award-winning V.O.I.C.E committee.
Embedding EDI at the point of design and completing our previous AS silver action plan has reaped enormous rewards. Over the last 10 years we have seen our female professors increase from 1 to 9, senior female clinical academics from 25% to 55% and women in leadership roles now 55% - including the last two Heads of School. This virtuous circle of positive role models, inclusive working practices and an unwavering focus on equality of opportunity has transformed our research culture.
I am particularly proud of the steady flow of trail-blazing initiatives emerging from diverse staff and student groups tackling challenging issues of intersectionality as well as gender equality. These have led to real impact both within and beyond the school. For example we have led initiatives to better support neurodiversity, highlighted the importance of allyship and LGBT+ role models in science, and celebrated cultural diversity. These activities have taught us a lot about how such activities build communities, set a culture, enhance communication and establish safe spaces where diversity flourishes.
Of course we are not complacent. Our staff and student surveys highlighted areas where improvement is needed. Having witnessed firsthand the enthusiastic and creative drive of our VOICE committee and SAT when designing our next action plan I am eagerly anticipating further progress towards our overarching goals of true gender parity and equality for all our staff and students."
Professor Chris Halsey
Head of School of Cancer Sciences