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The ��������’s Faculty of Business and Law (BAL) has received an Athena Swan Silver Award in recognition of its dedication in enhancing gender equality.

Run by Advance HE, the Athena Swan Charter is a framework used across the world to support and transform gender equality within higher education and research. It was established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine employment.

Several achievements were highlighted in the faculty’s submission, including:

• Strong staff agreement that flexible working is enabled within Schools, with this being the highest scoring theme in the 2025 Faculty Culture Survey
• Increased confidence among women in the fairness of promotion and appointment decisions
• Improved transparency in academic leadership roles following the 2022 Faculty reorganisation
• The establishment of a strengthened Faculty Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee with formal reporting to the Faculty Executive Committee
• Targeted initiatives to address areas where issues had been identified, such as a mentoring programme to address gender imbalance in specific disciplines
• Improved visibility of reporting routes for bullying and harassment

The submission also evidenced equality in academic promotion success rates at several grades and an increasing proportion of women in Grade 9 academic leadership roles.

Claire Sparrow, Deputy Dean for the Faculty of Business and Law, said: “We are incredibly proud to have achieved the Athena Swan Silver Award, which reflects the meaningful progress we’ve made toward gender equality in the faculty. From strengthened Equality, Diversity and Inclusion governance to greater transparency around promotion, leadership, and flexible working, our initiatives are already making a real difference.

“I am especially grateful to our Self-Assessment Team for their dedication and insight throughout this process - they have been central to this success.

“This award recognises how far we’ve come and motivates us to continue building an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.”

Chris Chang, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement and Student Life), and the University’s strategic lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion said: “We are delighted that the Faculty of Business and Law has been recognised for our collective commitment to promoting gender equality at the University. This award reflects the ongoing work in all faculties and across our university in addressing inequality more broadly as well as within this faculty. We are proud of receiving the silver award, and I would like to congratulate my colleagues in the faculty for this significant achievement and their dedication to building an inclusive environment of many voices into one community.”

Since 2024, �������� has held a university-level Athena Swan Silver Award, recognising its commitment to gender equality.

Faculties, departments and schools that also hold their own Athena Swan Awards are:

Silver:

Faculty of Business and Law

School of Civil Engineering and Surveying 

Bronze:

Faculty of Business and Law

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation

School of Computing

School of Biology (Now part of the School of the Environment and Life Sciences)

School of Dental, Health and Care Professions

School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences

School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences

School of Mathematics and Physics