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EDI | Athena Swan Institutional Award

Here you will find information on DCU's progress with Athena Swan since 2016, with details on our Athena Swan Silver Award and the 2024 - 2029 action plan.

Our Athena Swan Journey

2017: DCU attains its first Athena Swan Bronze Award. 2020: DCU retains its Athena Swan Bronze Award. 2024: DCU attains an Athena Swan Silver Award and showcases great progress and impact in the area of gender equality.

Athena Swan Award Journey

In March 2017, DCU was awarded it's first Athena Swan Bronze Award for our commitment to advancing gender equality and creating cultural change in the university. This Bronze Award was renewed in 2020.

DCU was successful in attaining an Athena Swan Silver Award in 2024. The award submission will be available to view soon.

Below you will find our priorities for the next five years (2024 - 2029) and details of our Athena Swan Silver Action Plan. 

Our Priorities 2024 - 2029. Gender Equality Priorities: 1. Enhance communication and engagement with Athena Swan to embed it further across practices in the University. 2. Enhance inclusive leadership practices within the University from a gender and intersectional perspective to ensure diverse representation that reflects the staff community. 3. Enhance robust succession planning and achieve appropriate gender representation across grades within all staff categories. 4. Strengthen awareness and transparency of career progression pathways for all staff, with a particular emphasis on addressing gendered disparities. 5. Support work-life balance among all staff, with a particular focus on gender and intersectionality, through enhanced flexible working and family/caring responsibilities. Additional Equality Grounds: 1. Strengthen the governance of EDI across the university to further embed EDI into practices and ensure effective progression of all EDI frameworks including Athena Swan, Anti-Racism, Consent and Disability. 2. Increase data collection across all equality grounds to allow for a clearer understanding of our community, and where gaps in policy and practice and evident. 3. Ensure a continued safe and respectful environment for all staff and students, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, civil/family status, disability status. 4. Embed inclusivity into policies and practices to ensure they take into consideration those facing inequalities across the nine protected grounds.

RPL - Documentation

Athena Swan Silver Action Plan

Read our Silver Action Plan 2024 - 2029

Self Assessment Process

1. Development of University Self-Assessment Team (SAT). 2. Gathering of staff and student quantitative data. 3. Consulting with the staff community - athena swan survey. 4. Consulting with the staff community - focus groups. 5. Data analysis. 6. Action planning and stakeholder engagement. 7. Development of silver application and associated action plan. 8. Submission

 

The self-assessment process to develop the University's Athena Swan Silver application and action plan commenced in January 2023 and completed in April 2024. A critical element of our engagement with Athena Swan is consulting with our employee community on their experiences linked to equality, diversity and inclusion. 

Below you will find information on the University Self-Assessment Team who conducted the process in 2023/24 to develop our Silver application and action plan, and details on consultation survey reports. 

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Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team 2023/24
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Athena Swan Employee Consultation Reports

Action Plan Implementation

The Athena Swan Silver Action Plan 2024 - 2029 will be implemented by the Institutional Athena Swan Working Group (ASWG). 

The ASWG will be responsible for ensuring continued progress with the Silver action plan and will provide the EDI Steering Committee and EDI sub-Committee of the Governing Authority with quarterly progress reports. You can view progress reports below. 

Learn more about the Athena Swan Working Group. 

Progress Updates