April University of Galway accredited with two new Athena SWAN Bronze Awards

Progression of gender equality sees a total of ten Schools in the University now accredited with Bronze Award status and one School with a Silver Award 

University of Galway has secured two additional Athena SWAN Bronze Awards in recognition of the University’s commitment to advancing gender equality for staff and students. 

The University’s School of Law and a joint award between the School of Computer Science and the Data Science Institute have received the accolade which acknowledges efforts to create cultural change within higher education institutions.

This latest accreditations sees a total of ten Bronze Awards and one Silver Award in the University, along with an Institutional Bronze Award which was renewed in 2021. Eleven out of the University’s 18 schools now hold Athena SWAN Awards. 

The School of Biological and Chemical Sciences and the School of Natural Sciences were also successful in their application to transfer their Bronze Athena Swan Awards following the restructuring of their Schools.

University of Galway Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Helen Maher, said: “I am delighted with the positive news of the successful Athena Swan Bronze applications for our School of Law, School of Computer Science and Data Science Institute. I very much appreciate the significant work undertaken by staff members to advance gender equality as evidenced by these new awards. In addition, I am mindful of the necessity of supporting and enabling leadership for equality at every level within our University, as a critical factor in transforming the gendered nature of inequality in higher education.”

Professor Martin Hogg, Head of the School of Law, said: “The School of Law is delighted to be the recipient of an Athena Swan Bronze Award. The Award recognises the commitment we have made as a School to advance gender equality in a range of ways, and we intend to make an early start on the work needed to achieve this. The award represents the next step of an important journey for us, one which we embark upon with renewed confidence. The School owes a huge debt of gratitude to our Self-Assessment Team for the time and effort they put into securing this award, and I should like to thank them for all their hard work.”

Professor Michael Madden, Head of School of Computer Science, said: “We are delighted that the School of Computer Science and the Data Science Institute have been awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze Award, the first joint award between a School and a Research Centre in the University of Galway. It is a great credit to our Self-Assessment Team that the panel commended what they called a “detailed and impressive application”, and that they found that we have a genuine commitment to address the underrepresentation of women, particularly at undergraduate student and academic staff levels. We are grateful to them and to all who supported our application, including the people who reviewed and gave us feedback, the Vice-Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in our College, and the Office of the Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.”

Professor Edward Curry, Director of the Data Science Institute, said: "Everyone at the Data Science Institute is proud to be the first Research Institute at the University of Galway to have been awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze Award. We want to thank everyone involved for their support, particularly the Joint Self-Assessment Team with the School of Computer Science, for their efforts, dedication, teamwork, and leadership. This was recognised by the review panel noting the comprehensive approach to consultation and the strong commitment to the action plan."

The Athena Swan Charter is a framework which is used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education and research. 

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