The Athena Swan Wellbeing of Older Workers and Students Group (or WOWS) was established in 2018 with the aim of supporting a working environment that is suitable for, and sensitive to, the needs of older staff and students. 

Since inception we have developed the WOW Toolkit to support staff with some identified challenges and opportunities of being an older worker in the school. The toolkit offers a one-stop place for information and signposting for a variety of situations that older workers and students may face.

There is information on career journeys that reflect both promotions and other options that support changing personal landscapes as staff and students reach the “sandwich caring” era, health issues or planning towards retirement. The Toolkit also has a section to provide assistance to line managers who have staff and students experiencing these issues.

The Toolkit also has helpful resources for both Physical and Mental Health and wellbeing challenges faced by older staff and students. We advocated and supported a menopause consultation, and that work quickly formed the UofG policy.

We are looking forward to another interesting year developing a policy around retirement planning as staff have found it difficult to locate all the information required to assist them to plan and manage their (semi) retirement plans. Our work will include reducing hours, financial planning, including pensions and how contract types affect plans. We aim to also create case studies and will add this to the toolkit.

We would very much welcome input into WOWS 2024/25 plan from mature students in SHW so we can better support that cohort. When comparing staff survey statistics for the Athena Swan annual report we have noted a marked increase in staff in SHW who are over 50 years of age in last year. We therefore take this opportunity encourage older staff and students to join WOWS group and help our friendly team build an exemplary resource for SHW staff and students.

If you would like to join this group, please contact the chairs Elaine Hindle and Laura Wood.

First published: 30 October 2024

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