School of Health & Wellbeing

Co-chairs of the IHW Athena Swan professional services staff working group, Iain Taylor and Claire Brunton, reflect on past achievements, current priorities and future plans.

 

The IHW Athena Swan professional services staff working group was set up to help identify and address inequities or imbalances in the treatment and conditions experienced by professional services staff.

In the past, the group has launched a mentorship scheme and hosted career progression workshops for professional services staff. The group has also contributed to broader inclusiveness and wellbeing activities such as organising the "Out of sight, out of mind?" event aimed at raising awareness of invisible disabilities and their impact in work and study environments.

This year, the group is focusing on career development and flexible working. Career progression pathways for professional services staff are different to those of academic staff and we know that opportunities to progress in the university can be limited. This year, we’ll be creating a new resource on Moodle for professional services staff to better understand regrading, reward and mentorship while monitoring the number of staff undertaking training (which has dropped significantly since the start of the pandemic).

Results from last year’s IHW environment survey suggest that flexibility around how we work is increasingly important to professional services staff. As the university looks to embed new hybrid working practices, the group will consider the changes from the perspective of professional services staff working to ensure that the increased flexibility regarding where we work is available to all staff.

If you work in professional services and are interested in joining the group to contribute to these goals over the coming year, please email ihwadmin@glasgow.ac.uk.

Group chairs 

Iain Taylor
Research Manager (MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit)
Iain.Taylor@glasgow.ac.uk 

Claire Brunton
Project Manager (Robertson Centre for Biostatistics) 
Claire.Brunton@glasgow.ac.uk 

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First published: 14 October 2021