2005

Athena Swan Charter launched.

2005

Establishment of the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (UKRC)
The UKRC provides extensive information on women in SET for employers and individuals. They hold statistics on the numbers of women in all areas of SET, as well as a comprehensive database of publications and research reports.

2002

Greenfield Report on Women in Science, Engineering and Technology
Among the tasks of the Greenfield report were to:

• address the issue of the retention of women in SET, and to increase the number of women in policy-making roles
• examine how best to combat the apparent blockage of promotion in Higher Education.

1999

Athena Project
The Athena Project aimed to foster increased innovation and development within SET by promoting the careers of women in Higher Education, and achieving a significant increase in the number of women recruited to top posts.

1997

Winning Women
The Winning Women report, commissioned by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, took the form of three guides on Access, Participation and Progression and aimed to help Scottish universities to support women in SET throughout their careers.

1994

Women's Development Unit
The Office of Science and Technology (OST) established the Women’s Development Unit (WDU) to increase the participation of women in SET following the revelations of the “Rising Tide” report earlier in the year. The new Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills (2007) has since taken over these functions of the OST, and the UKRC continues on from the WDU.

1994

The Rising Tide
The Rising Tide Report brought the issue of the under-representation of women in science to the fore in the UK. In 1993, a Committee and Working Group on Women in Science, Engineering and Technology was established and tasked with preparing a report which appeared the following year. The report aimed to enable science to make further use of the talents of women scientists, and to aid women’s advancement within science.