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Athena SWAN

The Athena Swan Charter is an international framework which is used to support and transform gender equality within higher education and research.

Trinity College currently holds an Institutional Bronze award, and 15 Schools at Trinity have secured bronze Athena SWAN awards.

The Schools that currently hold awards are:

Medicine
Chemistry
Genetics and Microbiology
Natural Sciences
Physics
Law
Psychology
Social Work and Social Policy
Engineering
Computer Science and Statistics
Histories and Humanities
School of Social Sciences and Philosophy
Trinity Business School
School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences
School of Biochemistry and Immunology

Background to the Athena SWAN Charter

The Athena SWAN Charter is a recognition and award scheme for positive gender practice in Higher Education, administered by Advance HE, UK.

Originally established in the UK in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) in higher education and research, it was extended to Ireland in 2015. That same year, the scope of the Charter was expanded to cover gender equality in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law disciplines, staff in professional and support roles as well as academics, and for trans staff and students. The Charter now recognises work undertaken to address gender equality more broadly, not just the barriers to progression that affect women. Read more at the Athena SWAN Ireland website.

Athena SWAN Ireland 2021 Charter

The objective of the new Athena SWAN Ireland 2021 charter framework is to support higher education institutions, academic departments, and professional units in impactful and sustainable gender equality work and to build capacity for evidence-based equality work across the equality grounds enshrined in Irish legislation. Trinity has endorsed this new charter by committing to the principles contained in it.

To read the letter signed by Provost Dr Linda Doyle committing Trinity to this new Athena SWAN Ireland charter, click here.

University Athena SWAN Committee

The committee is responsible for overseeing Trinity’s objectives in relation to Athena SWAN and the pursuit of Athena SWAN awards, as well as steering implementation of the institutional gender action plan, submitted as part of our successful Bronze award.

Institutional Application and Current Action Plan

Click on the links below to view our 2018 Bronze institutional submission and gender action plan:

Find out more / Get involved

The EDI Unit oversees Athena SWAN in Trinity and works directly with Schools, supporting them to engage in and embed the process locally. We can help with data collection and analysis, as well as advising on good practice and reviewing applications.