‌Video Series

We asked members from across the Faculty to discuss why gender equality and Athena SWAN is important, shed some light on areas of gender research and share their experiences.

The Faculty and the University's Athena SWAN progression - Sally Middleton and Prof. Susan Wray

Sally Middleton, the University's Gender Equality Officer, and Prof. Susan Wray, Physiology professor and the University's Athena SWAN director, discuss the developments and achievements that the University has made in promoting gender equality. They also discuss the Athena SWAN charter mark and how the Faculty can approach its submissions.

The Importance of Gender Equality for Large Institutions and The City - Prof. Mark Boyle, Director of the Heseltine Institute

Prof. Mark Boyle, Director of the Heseltine Institute and Chair of Urban Studies, highlights how Athena SWAN work within the Faculty is important for the University and the city/region, as well as for the Faculty itself. By addressing unconscious bias and improving the gender balance in recruitment and promotion, gender equality will permeate through all levels within the University. 

Family-Friendly Policies and Gender Equality - Dr. Laura Radcliffe, University of Liverpool Management School

Dr. Laura Radcliffe, a lecturer in Organisational Behaviour at the Management School, highlights recent research into the impact of family-friendly policies, such as Shared Parental Leave and flexible working, on gender equality both at home and in the workplace.

‌To improve workplace equality, we can ensure that these policies are aimed at both genders and also support line managers to avoid unconscious bias.

You can download the transcript here: Athena SWAN video Transcript - Family Friendly Policies 

The History of Science - Dr Claire Jones, Higher Education

Dr Claire Jones, a Senior Lecturer and Director of Go Higher in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, discusses the role of women in science throughout history and how these lessons from the past can influence Athena SWAN work within our Faculty and across the University. 

From looking at the history of science we see how women were often excluded from scientific narratives and from scientific settings. There are many lessons we can learn from this; in particular, recognising our own unconscious bias – both of ourselves and others, giving women the confidence to express their achievements and ensuring that they have an equal institutional presence.

You can download the transcript here: Athena SWAN video Transcript - History of Science

Focus Groups - Dr Suzanne May, Continuing Education

Dr Suzanne May, Academic Organiser for Continuing Education, has a wealth of experience in facilitating many different focus groups - including those to support Athena SWAN initiatives - across the University.

In this video, she discusses the benefits and limitations of using focus groups, how this data-gathering method can be used for Athena SWAN work and also how to analyse the data from these groups.    

You can download the transcript here: Athena SWAN video Transcript - Focus Groups

Gender Politics - Dr Claire Pierson, Lecturer

Dr Claire Pierson, Lecturer in Politics, talks about women's rights and Athena SWAN.

Claire recently joined the Faculty as a Lecturer in Politics. Here she talks about her research into women’s rights, her experience of joining the University and how her research and insight can be applied to our Athena SWAN work; namely:

• Ensuring that the burden of gender equality work doesn’t fall solely onto women’s shoulders
• Examing the culture and working practices of the University to ensure they are inclusive to all
• Evaluating our own values and how our unconscious bias can affect how we respond to others.

You can download the transcript here: Athena SWAN video Transcript - Politics.

Gender Mainstreaming - Prof. Fiona Beveridge, Executive Pro Vice-Chancellor

Gender Mainstreaming - which was first conceptualised in the 1980's and was adopted and defined by the United Nations in the 1990's - is the idea that working towards gender equality is not a separate activity, but one that needs to be integrated into all activities and policy in order to be effective at tackling inequalities: if we focus tackling gender inequality in one specific area it will manifest itself in other areas. 
This perspective is useful when thinking about how to tackle gender inequality within the University and the Faculty; our work to identify and overcome inequality must reflect the unique challenges faced by the Faculty and each of its Schools.

Fiona Beveridge, the Executive Pro Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty, discusses gender mainstreaming and its pertinence to Athena SWAN in the video below.