CLES in Cornwall is committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment for all our staff and students and we are proud to have held an Athena SWAN Silver Award since 2014.
Athena SWAN in CLES Cornwall
Our goal is to attract, retain and promote women throughout our pipeline.
We believe that a fair and balanced workforce will benefit everyone in our department and attract the very best students and academics from our rich and diverse society.
Action plan
We have set out an action plan to overcome the obstacles that are in the way of female scientists progressing into successful academic careers. These include ensuring that all of our staff have the ability to work flexibly around caring for their children or other family commitment, giving female academics more time to focus on research after maternity leave and making sure that our department is transparent and accessible.
Athena SWAN provides us with a framework to promote career development and an improved working environment for our female staff and students. Academia must be a career that lacks prejudice. We must all learn about our unconscious biases, and work around them to foster fairness in our department.
Inclusivity influences all activity in CLES Cornwall, and our Inclusivity Committee ranks alongside Research Committee and Education Committee in our management structure. We are deeply proud of our Athena SWAN Silver award, but we are not complacent with issues of equality for all staff and students.
David Hodgson, Professor of Ecology & Director of the Centre of Ecology and Conservation