Gender Equality Initiatives
The School of Life Sciences (SLS) is committed to promoting gender equality in research and teaching.
Below we show some of the gender initiatives supported within the School and the University.
International Women's Day
Celebrated annually on 8 March, IWD is when we promote gender equality, recognise the achievements of women, and work to understand the challenges that lie ahead of us as we work to become a more equal society.
Each year has a theme, in 2024 it is
#InspireInclusion
Job applications
- SLS offer job applicants the opportunity to provide contextual information about their career to date so they can mention (e.g.) childcare etc and why that might have impacted on their career progress to date.
- SLS review all job advert and job description wording using a gender bias checker before advertising.
- SLS provide flexibility wording within the text of job adverts to encourage those who may lack confidence in believing that they meet the essential criteria.
Springboard Programme
The Springboard Women’s Development Programme is targeted at women in administrative roles in grades 3-5.
“designed for women from all backgrounds, ages and stages of their lives. It allows women to enhance their own skills and abilities, challenge power and equality while building confidence, assertiveness and a positive outlook”.
Contact: Anne Wilson, Head of Careers.
INspire
INspire is a programme for disabled, women, LGBTQUIA+, and ethnic minority staff at grade 9, both in Academic and Professional Services, who have an ambition to be a top/executive senior leader.
The programme aims to address documented challenges faced by leaders who are in the minority and who are different to the ‘traditional’ concept of a leader.
Inspiring Women for staff
The Inspiring Women Events are a series of occasional one-hour lunchtime talks by female speakers sponsored by Warwick's Provost, Chris Ennew. These talks are then followed by interactive workshops to support your career development.
Flexible working
The School of Life Sciences is committed to promoting work/life balance and is supportive of flexible working patterns, from job share to compressed hours and homeworking.
Warwick Academic Returners Fellowship
The aim of this policy is to provide a centrally funded scheme that has a purpose and effect of providing additional study leave for those on all academic contracts who are returning to work from long term leave.
Research Support
Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship
This scheme offers a recognised first step into an independent research career for outstanding postdoctoral scientists who require a flexible working pattern due to personal circumstances, such as caring responsibilities or health issues. This scheme is highly flexible to accommodate for part-time working, sabbaticals and secondments.
Daphne Jackson Fellowships
These fellowships offer researchers the opportunity to retrain and return to research after a break of two or more years taken for family, caring or health reasons. The support provided gives returners the confidence and skills they need to return to research successfully.
Female representation on Interview panels and Committees
We monitor membership of all SLS interview panels and committees to ensure all contain female representation.
To increase the diversity of staff available for panels, the University has agreed that the Chair can apply some discretion to vary the grades of the panel members where this is needed to ensure diversity, for instance female representation. This means that female staff can sit on panels recruiting staff at the same level, as long as they have completed the relevant recruitment and selection and associated equality related training modules. This is a developmental opportunity and will give female staff experience of recruitment and selection of staff.
Gender Task Force
The Taskforce champions and oversees the advancement, implementation and further development of gender equality at all levels in the University.
If you would like more information about the Gender Task Force contact the Chair,
Jo Collingwood at
J.F.Collingwood@warwick.ac.uk
Student programmes and societies
Warwick hosts a number of student programmes and societies such as:
- Black Women's Project (an organisation that develops Black female leaders at university with a focus on wellbeing and up-skilling throughout their time at university and as they launch into the start of their careers)
Training and learning
Video Resources:
Short e-learning courses:
Aurora Female Leadership Development Programme
Aurora is a female-only leadership development programme offered by Advance HE for women and those identifying as female in both academic and professional services roles.
It is aimed at those who are ambitious for a career in the HE sector and who would like to develop and explore issues relating to leadership roles and responsibilities.
Academic colleagues will typically be in Research Fellow, Teaching Fellow, Senior Research Fellow, Senior Teaching Fellow or Assistant Professor roles.
British Council scholarships for women in STEM (2023)
In partnership with the British Council the University of Warwick is proud to announce five fully funded scholarships for female students from Turkey interested in pursuing master’s studies in a range of subject areas.
Each of these scholarships covers full tuition fees, monthly stipends, a return economy class ticket and other study-related costs such as IELTS exam fee, visa application and NHS surcharge.
Car parking permits
During the later stages of pregnancy travelling long distances across campus from car parks, or parking in tight spaces can cause difficulties.
Temporary disabled car parking permits can be issued.
Wellbeing
Family room
Gibbet Hill has a dedicated room where nursing employees, visitors and students can relax enough to express milk. The milk can be stored in the fridge provided and then taken home for use when a mother is away from her baby. The room is private and can also be used to feed children when nursing Mothers visit the department.
Maternity & Paternity Leave
Staff wishing to take maternity, paternity or adoptive leave should consult the relevant policies as early as possible.
University Maternity Policies
University Paternity Policies
Conference support awards
Small awards (of up to £200) are available to help support the extra child-care or other caring costs associated with attendance at an essential conference/workshop/training event.
Awards are available for academic staff, research active staff, and those in appropriate support or administrative posts.
Individuals may apply for funding for two separate events in any given academic year.
The Herschel Programme for Women in Technical Leadership
This is a national programme, open to technical staff from any discipline who identify as women. It provides a space for colleagues to learn new skills to develop themselves in a current technical leadership role or equip them if they aspire to be in the future.
Technical Career Mentoring Programme
This annual programme is open to technical staff from all levels, role types and disciplines who work at one of the eight Midlands Innovation universities.
Menopause Support Resources
Warwick's menopause guidelines set out the University’s commitment to creating an inclusive and supportive working environment for those employees experiencing menopausal and andropause symptoms.
The guidelines apply to all employees including staff who identify as non-binary, trans, and intersex.
Athena Swan
Advance HE's charter to support and transform gender equality within higher education and research.SLS and the University of Warwick both hold a Silver Athena Swan Award.
Find out more
Closing the Pay Gaps
The gender pay gap is the difference in hourly pay between the total population of men in the workforce and the total population of women in the workforce.In the latest annual report, we reflect and report on progress over the last year to close the gender pay gaps at the University of Warwick for the snapshot date of 31 March 2021, in line with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017. Although there are no formal requirements to do so, the last two year’s we have published our ethnicity and disability pay gaps, and in 2021 have also now added our LGBTQUIA+ pay gap.
Find out more
Centre for the Study of Women and Gender
CSWG is a centre of research and teaching in women's, gender and feminist studies, based at the University of Warwick. Although it is housed within the Department of Sociology, this centre is interdisciplinary and draws its membership from across the university.