The Faculty of Science at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) has become the first international holder of an Athena SWAN award from the UK’s Equality Challenge Unit (ECU). The awards recognise commitment to advancing women's careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) in higher education and research.
“Congratulations to The University of Nottingham in Malaysia Faculty of Science for becoming our first international holder of an ECU Athena SWAN award, to all our new award holders and to those successfully renewing or upgrading previous awards.” Sarah Dickinson, Athena SWAN charter manager at Equality Challenge Unit, said.
“I am delighted that the Equality Challenge Unit has recognised the achievement of the Faculty of Science at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus with a prestigious Athena SWAN Bronze Award.
It is a great honour and testament to our ongoing efforts to ensure the successful career development of all our staff, especially women, in STEMM disciplines,” said Professor Claire O’Malley, Dean of Faculty of Science at UNMC.
“Our submission for the Athena SWAN bronze award provided a great opportunity for understanding how we are currently performing in relation to gender equality, as well as for reflection on what further we can do as a Faculty to support women in science subjects. Being the first unit to receive this award outside the UK is a particularly special achievement,” said Dr Elizabeth Sheppard, Athena Committee chair for Faculty of Science and Associate Professor at the School of Psychology at UNMC.
On September 9, UNMC launched the first working group amongst Malaysia’s higher education institutions which promotes gender equality. At the launch two new career development initiatives, the WinSET Mentoring Programme (WMP), and the WinSET Leadership Development Programme (WLDP) were unveiled by Yg. Bhg. Professor Dr Raha binti Abdul Rahim, Director of the Higher Education Excellence Planning Division, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Malaysia.
The Athena SWAN awards presentation ceremony will be held on 6 November 2014 at the University of Cambridge.
About Athena SWAN Charter
The Athena SWAN Charter is owned by the Equality Challenge Unit. It is funded by ECU, the Department of Health, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Royal Society, the Biochemical Society, the Scottish Funding Council and the Higher Education Authority Ireland.
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For more information please contact Dr. Elizabeth Sheppard or Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager on +6 03 8924 8746.
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with campuses in China and Malaysia modelled on a headquarters that is among the most attractive in Britain’ (Times Good University Guide 2014). It is also the most popular university among graduate employers, the world’s greenest university, and winner of the Times Higher Education Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development’. It is ranked in the World's Top 75 universities by the QS World University Rankings.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest-ever fundraising campaign, is delivering the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
Posted on 29th September 2014