A very interesting conference and well worth reporting back on
the presentation, or rather hour long chat by Professor Tom Welton, Dean
of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Imperial College London and proud owner,
not personally, of an Athena SWAN gold Award in the Sustainable Chemistry Department.
His talk focused what he thought Athena SWAN was all about. Awards, of any
colour, are nice and look to be increasingly essential as an initial hurdle for
getting grants but that should not be why we are taking on the Athena SWAN
principles in his view (although he does already have a Gold Award!).
Athena SWAN is about tackling issues of Equality and Diversity,
but these are not issues that can be easily isolated from the type of department
we want to work. Tom Welton linked the drive for Athena SWAN principles with
his departmental vision for the future – their desire to be the top Chemistry department
in Europe. It is fine to have a vision but why do you want that vision in the first
place and what do you need to do to get there? When asked what the best chemistry
department in Europe would be like, staff come up with a place top people would
want to work in, a place top students would want to study, a place where going
to work would be enjoyable. Is this general vision any different from one we would
think of?
The question is how to get there from where you are. So where
are you? This is what the data analysis and staff surveys should reveal. They
should also reveal how far you are from your vision and point towards what you
need to do to get there. Putting in place formal procedures and practices can
help and are essential for some things such as formal flexible hours. We all
know though that procedures do not mean things actually happen nor do they necessarily
reflect the sum total of what we can or should do. If Athena SWAN principles are to
really work, if we are really going to tackle issues of Equality and Diversity then
we need to all buy into accepting that there are issues that need tackling and into
the belief that our actions as individuals and collectively can make a real
difference to these issues. Little things can make a difference – coffee and cakes,
the odd pint or eight, saying thank you – we can improve our working environment
by small and large steps, as individuals and by our collective efforts.
A key point that came across to me was the importance of
listening. Not just remaining attentive before you construct your defensive response,
but actually listening and thinking does the person have a point and could things
be done differently.?We may all believe we do this, but I can tell you from
individual experience I certainly don’t do this some of the time 9or is it most of
the time?) I think it’s called empathy but I will have to check! Listening doesn’t
mean agreeing with the other person’s viewpoint but it does mean trying to think
about that viewpoint.
Anyway what do you think?
Absolutely agree that an environment of listening and empathy is where we want to be. We are a great department that is relatively progressive, but we must always listen and never assume. It would be great if geography could start to lead on this within the University.
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