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Award recognises NTU’s commitment to gender equality

Nottingham Trent University has been recognised for its commitment to gender equality by achieving the Bronze Award under the Athena SWAN Charter.

    International Women's Day Panel

    Advance HE’s Athena SWAN Charter was established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education and research.

    In May 2015 the charter was expanded to recognise work undertaken in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law, and in professional and support roles, and for trans staff and students. The charter now recognises work undertaken to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women.

    Mark Biggs, chair of NTU’s Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team, said: “This result demonstrates the strong commitment that NTU has made to improve gender equality across the institution at all levels.

    “The award is a significant achievement and comes on the back of the hard work and dedication of a dynamic and influential team comprised of colleagues from across NTU, with its membership reflecting the diversity of experiences and identities of our NTU community.”

    To obtain the award, the University had to produce a four-year action plan to improve gender balance.

    Much of the work towards these goals has already begun, including targets to increase female representation among Professoriate to 35% by 2022, a substantial level above the national average which is circa 25%, and increase paternity leave provision from two weeks to three.

    Mark added: “We want to thank the many colleagues from across the institution that took the opportunity to support the Athena SWAN journey by participating in the focus groups and workshops across the institution. Their engagement was critical to identifying many aspects of the action plan that underpinned the successful application for recognition under the Athena SWAN Charter.”

    • Notes for editors

      Nottingham Trent University (NTU) was named University of the Year 2019 in the Guardian University Awards. The award was based on performance and improvement in the Guardian University Guide, retention of students from low-participation areas and attainment of BME students. NTU was also the Times Higher Education University of the Year 2017, and The Times and Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2018. These awards recognise NTU for its high levels of student satisfaction, its quality of teaching, its engagement with employers, and its overall student experience.

      The University has been rated Gold in the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework – the highest ranking available.

      It is one of the largest UK universities. With nearly 32,000 students and more than 4,000 staff located across four campuses, the University contributes £900m to the UK economy every year. With an international student population of more than 3,000 from around 100 countries, the University prides itself on its global outlook

      The University is passionate about creating opportunities and its extensive outreach programme is designed to enable NTU to be a vehicle for social mobility. NTU is among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. A total of 82% of its graduates go on to graduate entry employment or graduate entry education or training within six months of leaving. Student satisfaction is high: NTU achieved an 88% satisfaction score in the 2018 National Student Survey.

      NTU is also one of the UK’s most environmentally friendly universities, being home to some of the sector’s most inspiring and efficient award-winning buildings.

      NTU is also home to world-class research and won The Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2015 – the highest national honour for a UK university. It recognised the University’s pioneering projects to improve weapons and explosives detection in luggage; enable safer production of powdered infant formula; and combat food fraud.

    Published on 15 May 2019
    • Category: Press office