About Athena Swan

History

Established in the UK in 2005, Athena Swan has a proven reputation for creating a gender inclusive workplace. In Australia, it is administered by Science in Australian Gender Equity (SAGE), in partnership between the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. Athena Swan is a proven catalyst for change at scale across the higher education and research sector.

The initial focus of Athena Swan was promoting gender equality in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) fields. This has been widened beyond STEMM subjects to include arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law. Similarly, there was an expansion beyond gender by emphasising the role of intersectionality in the broader gender equity, diversity and inclusion agenda.

Commitment

Participating institutions commit to ensuring resources and recognition for gender equity and inclusion, addressing institutional barriers, designing evidence-based initiatives, monitoring progress and embedding sustainable change in governance and workplace culture.

This commitment involves rigorous self-assessment processes, analysing institutional structures and cultures, designing evidence-based initiatives and taking an intersectional approach to advancing gender equity, diversity and inclusion goals.

1. Ensure that gender equity, diversity and inclusion work is appropriately resourced, distributed, recognised, and rewarded.
2. Undertake transparent and rigorous self-assessment processes, analysing institutional structures, systems, and cultures to identify the barriers to attraction, retention and progression for staff and students, and thus to gender equity, diversity and inclusion.
3. Design initiatives based on institutional data, and national and global evidence of best practice.
4. Monitor, evaluate, and publicly report on progress made, challenges experienced, and impact achieved, to inform continuous improvement.
5. Actively incorporate Indigenous knowledges and perspectives to address the specific inequities and injustices experienced by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander staff and students.
6. Consciously consider all genders, recognising that gender is not binary, and that trans and gender diverse people face specific inequities because of their gender identities.
7. Take an intersectional approach to advancing gender equity, diversity and inclusion, recognising that people of any particular identity are not a homogeneous group.
8. Engage with those most impacted by inequitable practice to proactively redesign and reshape structures, systems and culture.
9. Increase the safety and wellbeing of staff and students by proactively and transparently preventing and responding to bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, gender-based violence and discrimination.
10. Embed change in institutional governance and accountability structures; actively and visibly champion and promote gender equity, diversity and inclusion in our Institutions, the Athena Swan community, and across the sector; and hold ourselves and other senior leaders accountable for driving sustainable transformational change.