Faculty of Arts and Humanities holds an Athena Swan Bronze Award
The Athena Swan charter is a framework that is used across the globe to support and transform gender equality in higher education and research. The charter launched in Ireland in 2015 with a specific remit 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. The charter has since been expanded to recognise work undertaken in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law (AHSSBL), and in professional and support roles, and for transgender staff and students. The charter now recognises work undertaken to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women. The Athena Swan Ireland Intersectionality Working Group was established in 2019 by the National Committee for Athena Swan in Ireland to develop a cross-sectoral approach to collecting data and providing actions to support intersectionality in the Irish higher education sector.
The Athena Swan Bronze, Silver and Gold awards testify to institutions’ and departments’ success in advancing these goals. All of Ireland’s universities and institutes of technology and several colleges participate in Athena Swan Ireland.
In 2022 Maynooth University’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities (formerly known as the Faculty of Arts, Celtic Studies and Philosophy) received an Athena Swan Bronze Award. The Faculty’s Bronze Award recognises the work the Faculty has begun to do, but importantly commits us to a range of actions which we hope will make us a more diverse and equal community.
Since submitting its Bronze Award application, the Faculty has been proactive in its efforts to progress in adopting the Athena Swan principles.