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Athena SWAN Silver department award application

Name of university: University of Liverpool

Department: Institute of Psychology, Health and Society (IPHS)

Date of application: April 2015

Date of university Bronze and/or Silver Athena SWAN award: Bronze award 2010, renewed in 2014

Contact for application: Professor Rebecca Harris

Email: harrisrv@liverpool.ac.uk

Telephone: 0151 795 5334

Departmental website address: https://www.liv.ac.uk/psychology-health-and-society/

Athena SWAN Silver Department awards recognise that in addition to university-wide policies the department is working to promote gender equality and to address challenges particular to the discipline.

Not all institutions use the term ‘department’ and there are many equivalent academic groupings with different names, sizes and compositions. The definition of a ‘department’ for SWAN purposes can be found on the Athena SWAN website. If in doubt, contact the Athena SWAN Officer well in advance to check eligibility.

It is essential that the contact person for the application is based in the department.

Sections to be included

At the end of each section state the number of words used. Click here for additional guidance on completing the template.

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1. Letter of endorsement from the head of department: maximum 500 words

An accompanying letter of endorsement from the head of department should explain how the SWAN action plan and activities in the department contribute to the overall department strategy and academic mission.

The letter is an opportunity for the head of department to confirm their support for the application and to endorse and commend any women and STEMM activities that have made a significant contribution to the achievement of the departmental mission.

Dear Athena SWAN panel, I am personally delighted to add my wholehearted support for the Institute of Psychology, Health and Society’s application for an Athena SWAN Silver Award, and to add my personal commitment to ensuring that we deliver the changes outlined in our Action Plan. My own research, and the mission of the Institute is focused on improving the health, wellbeing and life chances of people, locally, nationally and across the globe. It is therefore natural that I, along with the Institute, strongly support the principles of equity and opportunity enshrined in Athena SWAN, and consider work towards these objectives to be fundamentally beneficial. Following our Athena SWAN Bronze Award, the on-going process of self-assessment has proved a valuable mechanism to examine the extent to which our culture and practice match our equity aspirations; making changes where necessary. We have reinforced existing good practice; building on our criterion-based recruitment, appraisal and promotion systems, support for early career researchers, mentoring and peer-support systems and family-friendly policy. We have also made changes; reviewing policy on gender-balanced recruitment and review panels, and greater transparency in the appointment to leadership positions. We have also made specific investment in career development and training, made access to such support more transparent, funded colleagues’ attendance on the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education’s Aurora Women in Leadership Programme, and have allocated an annual budget of £7,000 for further training opportunities. There are many female academic role models in the Institute. Eight of the 13 Research groups in the Institute are led by women, and the majority of Senior Management Team are female.

Professor Peter Kinderman

Professor of Clinical Psychology

Head of Institute of Psychology, Health and Society

Waterhouse Building, 2nd Floor Block B

1-5 Brownlow Street Liverpool L69 3GL

T 0151 794 5533

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Examples include Professor Margaret Whitehead, an internationally recognised expert in public health, and one of our three Heads of Department; Professor Caroline Rowland, who jointly led our successful application for the largest grant ever awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Katie Bristow, who is an active member of our Institute Senior Management Team acting as a representative of colleagues on fixed-term research contracts. Our commitment to the principles of Athena SWAN, and our actions to address processes, policies and cultures, have already improved the gender balance at senior levels: for example 34% (13) of our Professors are women - an increase from 22% (5) in 2012. And it is evident that in working for our Bronze award, a shift in culture has resulted in progress in areas even beyond the scope of the original Action Plan. The self-assessment process of Athena SWAN will continue to be valuable and welcome in further promoting gender equity. We will examine ourselves critically and be open to the appraisal of others. We will promote our commitment to equity and social justice, and will celebrate the success and contribution of colleagues such as Margaret, Caroline and Katie, we will examine and, where necessary, change our procedures and policies to ensure transparency and equity, and – as here – ensure that our commitment to the principles of Athena SWAN is explicit.

Professor Peter Kinderman (Head of Institute)

500 words

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2. Describe the self-assessment process. Maximum 1,000 words. This should include:

a) A description of the self assessment team: members’ roles (both within the department and as part of the team) and their experiences of work-life balance

b) an account of the self assessment process: details of the self assessment team meetings, including any consultation with staff or individuals outside of the university, and how these have fed into the submission

c) Plans for the future of the self assessment team, such as how often the team will continue to meet, any reporting mechanisms and in particular how the self assessment team intends to monitor implementation of the action plan.

a) The self assessment team

Our self-assessment team (SAT) was originally formed following open invitation to staff and students. The SAT first met in September 2012 and has expanded over time to include more male members and a representation which includes:

all three Departments in IPHS

Clinical (5 members) and Non-Clinical (9 members) backgrounds

different career stages from PhD students through to senior management

experience of issues e.g. part-time working, maternity/paternity leave, fixed-term contracts and recruitment/promotion processes.

The SAT team Bronze award application was led by Professor Lloyd-Williams, and the Silver by Professor Harris, allowing as much engagement with the Athena SWAN (AS) process among the SAT as possible.

Professor Rebecca Harris, Department Health Services Research (HSR). Institute of Psychology Health and Society (IPHS) Athena SWAN lead. Worked part-time at the University of Liverpool since 2003, with periods of maternity leave. Became full-time and awarded a Personal Chair in February 2013.

Professor Mari Lloyd-Williams, Dept. HSR since 2002. IPHS AS Bronze award lead. Mari has contributed to cross-faculty and academic medicine equality issues. She has family responsibilities and is also a carer for her elderly parents on a daily basis.

Graham Pollard IPHS Institute Manager since 2012. Oversees three teams of professional services and technical staff which support IPHS academics and students. Graham has recently taken paternity leave.

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Professor Margaret Whitehead, Head of Department of Public Health and Policy. Margaret has seen the situation regarding women at Professorial level change remarkably since she was appointed in 1999 when there was just one other female Professor in the whole Medical Faculty. She believes AS has a crucial role in driving further change. Margaret sits on the University-wide Promotions Committee for Personal Chairs and Readerships.

Professor Mark Gabbay, Head of Department of HSR and Director of the CLAHRC NWC. Mark is a member of the national medical academic staff committee and has a longstanding interest in the cause of women in academic medicine, and womens' rights generally. He has a broad clinical and academic perspective.

Professor Chris Dowrick, Dept. Psychological Sciences. An academic GP and a former member of the NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship panel. Involved in developing IPHS researcher mentoring. With five daughters and five grand-daughters, he is acutely aware of gender discrimination issues, and determined they should have equitable opportunity in the future.

Professor Sue Higham, Dept. HSR. Worked at Liverpool University from 1983, initially as a PhD student. Progressed through post-doctorate appointments, Lectureship and Senior Lectureship, to a Personal Chair in Oral Biology in 2003, with periods of maternity leave. Sue is IPHS Director of Postgraduate Research. Married to a Clinical academic.

Abi Rose, Senior Lecturer, Dept. Psychological Sciences. Appointed as a Lecturer in 2010 and promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2013, shortly before going on maternity leave with her first child (returned to full-time work in Nov 2014). Prominent in encouraging female colleagues to increase their external profile e.g. by contributing to blogs.

David Taylor-Robinson, Senior Clinical Lecturer, Dept. Public Health and Policy. Obtained MRC fellowship funding to study inequalities in child health, with twin boys arriving a few months into the fellowship. David has taken periods of parental leave and part-time working to balance child care and work commitments. Involved in AS data analysis.

Chris Hope, Lecturer, Dept. HSR. After his PhD and post-doctorate work he returned to Liverpool University in 2005. Chris values his spare time and understands the importance of work-life balance. Involved in data monitoring and analysis of IPHS PGR student data

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Kerry Woolfall, Research Fellow, Dept. Psychological Sciences. Since 2010 Kerry has completed her PhD, completed a Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellowship and started an IPHS Tenure Track Fellowship. As a mum of 3-year-old twin boys she appreciates the challenges of trying to balance a full-time academic career and parenting.

Dr Claire Noble, Research Associate, Dept. HSR. She completed her PhD in Liverpool in 2009. After a full-time Research Associate post in Manchester University, and the birth of her daughter, she returned to a part-time Research Associate in Liverpool University. Claire hopes to move from fixed term to tenured position in the future. Involved in career development support initiatives for IPHS Researchers.

Katharine Abba is a third-year PhD student (Dept HSR), having worked previously as a fixed-term researcher. She developed IPHS AS induction material for PGR students and supervisors.

Amy Bidgood, Part-time PhD student and Research Assistant, Dept. Psychological Sciences. Currently on her second fixed-term contract in Liverpool University. She represented her fellow students on the IPHS PGR Committee and was also a member of the IPHS Communications Committee

from 2013-14. Involved in AS consultations involving PhD students.

2 b) An account of the self-assessment process

The AS SAT has overseen a range of positive changes following our AS Bronze award application:

Better information for staff on committee membership, promotions processes, family friendly policies, mentoring.

Significant increases in the proportion of women in senior non-clinical academic posts.

Investment in career development and leadership training for women.

Development of tenure-track fellowships and expansion of part-time PhD/salaried posts.

Increase in the proportion of women on decision-making committees.

Increase from 11% in 2013 to 41% in 2014, in the number of stories of career successes/media reports featuring women in IPHS weekly newsletter.

Narrowing the gap between men and women in application success rates for PhD study.

The SAT meets quarterly, although this is reinforced by topic specific sub-groups (e.g. Data gathering, IPHS researcher-mentoring) made up of interested/expert SAT members who address each topic in a more in-depth way. Sub-group activity is reported back to the whole SAT.

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The SAT has been supported with dedicated IPHS-financed administrative and post-doctorate support, with frequent operational meetings taking place between the AS lead, Head of Institute, Institute Manager, IPHS Communications Lead and others.

Athena SWAN consultation has involved several groups, with data feeding into the action planning process via the SAT (Figure 1). Consultation findings and the action plan have been progressed at the monthly Strategic Management Team (SMT) - the AS Lead has a place on the SMT, as do 4 other AS SAT members.

Figure 1: IPHS Athena SWAN self assessment process

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2 c) The future of the SAT

The SAT will continue to meet at least quarterly, with sub-groups meeting more often. The process of consultation and review of data outlined in Figure 1 will be ongoing. AS matters, data and action plan progress will continue to be discussed monthly at the SMT, influencing policy and budget decisions at that level. Certain members of the SAT have access to the HR Explorer database where staff and student data is held. Regular data monitoring reports are generated and uploaded to VOCAL (an intranet site), for sharing.

1,099 words (99 words from additional 1,000 words granted)

3. A picture of the department: maximum 2000 words

a) Provide a pen-picture of the department to set the context for the application, outlining in particular any significant and relevant features.

b) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning.

3 a) Pen picture of IPHS

IPHS was formed in 2010 following a major Faculty-wide reorganisation which created separate Institutes for Research (5) and Teaching (1 Institute divided into 5 schools), (Figure 2). Research Institutes were formed to foster research excellence, inter-disciplinary links and critical mass, with IPHS bringing together academic staff from a range of disciplines, from experimental psychology through to medicine, dentistry and social policy.

IPHS is divided into 3 Departments (Public Health and Policy; Health Services Research; and Psychological Sciences), and 13 Research groups. Heads of Department (HoD) have direct line responsibility for staff working in the Department, with PDR and budgetary responsibilities delegated to Research Group leads. HoD posts are renewable after 3 years with open competition.

One of the three HoD posts is held by a woman (Figure 2).

Over half (8) of the Research Group leads are women (Figure 2).

The SMT is 57% female (roughly the same as the overall proportion of women in IPHS).

Thus women have a high profile within IPHS, successfully achieving the higher levels of management and leadership. Some of the most important Institute academic posts are held by women (e.g. Prof Sue Higham is the Director of PGR; Prof Caroline Rowland is Chair of the Regulatory Affairs Committee).

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Figure 2: Schematic of Faculty and IPHS structure

IPHS has 173 staff, 58% of whom are women. About half (51%) of IPHS staff hold Research-Only contracts, and a higher proportion of this group are women (Table 1). Although there are staff with clinical contracts in medicine, dentistry and psychology, they represent a relatively small group.

Table 1: IPHS staff (January 2015)

Contract type Number of male staff Number (%) female staff

Total number

Research only 26 63 (71%) 89

Teaching and Research

29 29 (50%) 58

Clinical 17 9 (35%) 26

Total 72 101 (58%) 173

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2 b) Student data (i, iii, iii) Foundation courses, Undergraduates, Postgraduate taught courses

IPHS does not have any undergraduate or taught postgraduate courses (although IPHS staff contribute to teaching in many of the Schools within the Institute of Learning and Teaching [Figure 2] – for example, on MBChB, BDS, BSc Psychology courses, as well as to Masters in Public Health and Clinical Doctorate programmes). (iv) Postgraduate male and female numbers on research degrees – full and part-time – comment on the female: male ratio compared with the national picture for the discipline. Describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and the effect to date. Comment upon any plans for the future.

IPHS has a strong and successful programme of degrees in postgraduate research (PGR). For the 2014/2015 academic year, IPHS has 103 PGR students, 61% (63) of whom are women. Numbers of PGR students have increased steadily each year, from 72 in 2011/12 with proportions of female students remaining roughly the same (there are no statistically significant inter-year differences).

Figure 3: Trends in IPHS PGR Numbers - all students

National benchmark data is only available from HESA up until the academic year 2012/13. Table 2 shows our available data from 2010-2013 to enable comparison. The proportion of PGR students who are female compares favourably with benchmarks from Medicine and Dentistry/Biological Sciences (includes Psychology), particularly for part-time students.

Table 2: Comparison PGR student data with Russell group benchmarks

Year Full-time % female Part-time % female All students % female

Benchmark IPHS Benchmark IPHS Benchmark IPHS

2010/11 63.1 63.6 53.2 65.9 60.0 64.9

2011/12 62.8 68.4 53.7 71.0 60.2 69.4

2012/13 63.7 67.4 52.4 66.7 60.8 67.1

Average 63.2 66.4 53.1 67.8 60.3 67.1

50 55 57

63

22 27

31

40

0

20

40

60

80

2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15

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Female

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Because of what appears to be a high percentage of female part-time PGR students in comparison to the benchmark, we looked in more detail at the trends in part-time study, and the percentage of these students who are female (Figure 4). Although overall, the percentage of students studying part-time has reduced, the proportion of female part-time students remains consistently above the last available HESA benchmark. Figure 4: Percentage of PGR students studying part-time, and % part-time students who are female (Historical)

We undertook an online survey of the 31 IPHS part-time PGR students (19 of them female) and found that no women cited child-care as the reason for part-time study. Rather, part-time study was primarily because of financial reasons. A part-time PhD option helps more mature students, some with family commitments, who need to rely on a salary as opposed to a stipend. This issue was then explored further with interviews with students (Figure 1).

Many of IPHS fixed-term Research-Only posts are at Grade 6 (pre-doctoral) level - a natural consequence of research grant funding requirements where costs have to be kept to a minimum. Women occupy the majority of these posts. Career progression to Grade 7 usually requires a PhD.

In recognition of the 'leaky pipeline' effect, IPHS has recognised that part-time PhD studentships provide a way to enhance the career prospects of fixed-term researchers at the same time as maintaining a work-life balance.

Incorporating studentships into research funding proposals, for Grade 6 researchers paid a salary rather than a stipend, allow women to develop their career. Of the 31 students registered part-time in 2015, 13 are Grade 6 members of staff. Eleven of these part-time PGR/Grade 6 staff posts are paid demonstrator (teaching) posts in Psychology, with IPHS working with the School of Psychology to set up part-time studentships alongside the appointment (8 are held by women).

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"I was attracted to my research assistant post because it offered a salary equivalent to my previous NHS salary as well as a PhD opportunity. It was important to me because I had financial commitments to consider." (IPHS Grade 6 female - consultation comment)

A key Silver action plan (AP) objective is to expand opportunities for career development and progression of Grade 6 researchers (see page 43). We will expand our strategy of setting-up part-time PhD studentships alongside Grade 6 posts (AP 1.1). To also allow a self-funding, part-time PGR studentship option, we will also advertise, where practicable, all pre-doctoral ‘Research -Only’ staff posts with a part-time/job share option - to allow people to earn a salary at least part-time, whilst studying (AP 1.1).

Some funding agencies offer fully-funded doctoral fellowships (e.g. MRC fellowships), where students are paid a salary rather than a stipend. In recent years the Department of Public Health and Policy has adopted a strategy of pursing such fellowships. In our AP we will expand this throughout IPHS, strategically identifying and promoting doctoral fellowship applications to research agencies such as the Wellcome Trust, BBSRC and MRC), (AP 1.2)

(v) Ratio of course applications to offers and acceptances by gender for undergraduate, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research degrees – comment on the differences between male and female application and success rates and describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and their effect to date. Comment upon any plans for the future.

Table 3: Ratio of females at application, offer and acceptance stage for the last 3 years

2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 Average

% (no.) PGR applications female

64.3 (90) 53.9 (89) 62.7 (104) 60%

% (no.) PGR offers female 67.7 (23) 50.0 (20) 69.7 (23) 62%

% (no.) PGR acceptances female

73.1 (19) 58.8 (20) 66.7 (24) 66%

(2014/15 data is incomplete to date)

An average 60% of PGR applications are from women. This translates into 62% of offers and 66% of acceptances from women - indicating that the PGR recruitment process is not off-putting for women (Table 3, Figures 5 and 6).

Alongside the range of Bronze award actions emphasising increased transparency and fairness of IPHS processes, (although not included in the original Bronze AP), an interview process for all PGR applicants began in 2013 - panel to include two people who are independent of the proposed research, as well as the primary supervisor.

Culture change in increasing transparency and fairness in IPHS recruitment processes since the Bronze award has led to introduction of an interview process for applicants.

Gender differences in PGR application success rates have narrowed in parallel with this (Figure 5).

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Mindful of this new stage (interviews) in the PGR recruitment process, as part of our AS consultation activity we interviewed a number of PGR students (Figure 1). We found that for women, having at least one female academic on the panel, who could be seen as a role model, enhanced the interview process for some students and symbolised Institute culture.

"Having an all-male panel would have put me off studying here. It would have seemed like the Department was too male-dominated." (IPHS female PGR student - comment from consultation)

Going forward we will therefore ensure that there is a gender balance in PGR interview panels, and that at least one out of the three interviewers is a woman (AP 1.3).

(vi) Degree classification by gender – comment on any differences in degree attainment between males and females and describe what actions are being taken to address any imbalance.

For full-time students, thesis submission is expected within 4 years from the date of registration. Table 4 compares rates of timely submission by gender. Completion rates can be seen as generally high (over 70%), with no apparent gender differences. About 1-2 students of either gender withdraw from study. Completion data for part-time students is not yet available, because the majority of students starting their part-time PhDs in recent years, still have several years before thesis submission is due.

Table 4: PGR completion numbers by year of registration/due completion date (within 4 years for full-time students).

Year of Entry

Year completion due

No. (%) male PGR students completed

No. (%) male PGR students withdrawn

No. (%) female PGR students completed

No. (%) female PGR students withdrawn

2007/8 2011/12 5 (71%) 2 (29%) 6 (75%) 2 (25%)

2008/9 2012/13 2 (100%) 0 (0%) 9 (82%) 2 (18%)

2009/10 2013/14 3 (75%) 1 (25%) 7 (88%) 1 (12%)

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Several IPHS initiatives contribute to high completion rates: IPHS has a formal process for financially supporting students where PGR funding does not allow any provision for maternity leave. Applications are handled by the Institute manager and IPHS Human Resources Manager who consider each case individually and allocate funding from IPHS budgets for stipends to enable students to complete their studies.

Information such as this is now included in IPHS PGR student induction material and supervisor training courses (Bronze action AP 2.3 completed), as well as being available through IPHS AS web-pages.

Other arrangements are also in place to provide support to students. Across the University PGR students receive an annual review with two independent academics to review progress, milestones and discuss any difficulties with the students, including supervisory arrangements. In addition to this, since the Bronze award application (and beyond the Bronze AP) IPHS has;

A PGR peer-buddy system has been introduced where new students are linked with another PGR student further-on in their studies. The system is managed by Departmental PGR leads, with allocation of buddies currently based on Research Groups. The AS SAT intends to undertake a consultation with PGR students about the buddy system in June 2015 to explore whether students would value a buddy of the same gender or a self-selection model.

Appointed two independent staff mentors for PGR students – one female professor and one male professor.

3 b) Staff data (i) Female: male ratio of academic staff and research staff – researcher, lecturer, senior lecturer, reader, professor (or equivalent). comment on any differences in numbers between males and females and say what action is being taken to address any underrepresentation at particular grades/levels

Overall proportion of female staff and recent trends over time

About 60% of IPHS staff are women. Although staff numbers have increased over time, the

percentage of women has not changed significantly (Table 5).

Table 5: Trends in IPHS staff numbers and proportion of females 2012 – 2015

Male Female Total % Female

January 2012 62 96 158 60.8

January 2013 66 95 161 59.0

January 2014 73 94 167 56.3

January 2015 72 101 173 58.0

Proportion of female staff by contract type and grade IPHS staff are employed in three types of post (Table 1). 'Research-Only' staff are generally funded from research grant income and are fixed-term. For staff with Clinical contracts, academic work is often combined with clinical training in order to obtain Consultant alongside Senior Lecturer status. These are often fixed-term posts too. Table 6 shows the proportions of females by post type and grade, for the last 4 years.

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Table 6: Trends in numbers of IPHS staff by gender, grade and contract type (2012 – 2015)

2012 2013 2014 2015

M F % F M F % F M F % F M F % F

Research-Only

Grade 6 6 26 81.3 5 25 83.3 5 24 82.8 1 26 96.3

Grade 7 11 24 68.6 13 24 64.9 10 24 70.6 17 24 58.5

Grade 8 2 7 77.8 6 9 60.0 9 10 52.6 8 11 57.9

Grade 9 1 1 50.0 1 1 50.0 1 2 66.7 0 2 100.0

TOTAL 20 58 74.4 25 59 70.2 25 60 70.6 26 63 70.8

Teaching and Research (T&R)

Grade 6 (T&S)

1 0 0.0

Grade 7 (T&R)

1 1 50.0 0 1 100.0

Grade 8 (T&R) 8 10 55.6 6 8 57.1 7 10 58.8 9 9 50.0

Grade 9 (T&R) 10 10 50.0 4 11 73.3 6 9 60.0 6 8 57.1

Professorial (T&R) 7 4 36.4 14 7 33.3 14 9 39.1 14 11 44.0

TOTAL 25 24 49.0 25 26 51.0 28 29 50.9 29 29 50.0

Clinical

Lecturer 0 3 100.0 0 1 100.0 0 1 100.0 2 1 33.3

Research Fellow 1 3 75.0 1 3 75.0 4 0 0.0 0 3 100.0

Sen Lecturer / Sen Res Fellow / Reader

5 7 58.3 4 5 55.6 5 2 28.6 4 3 42.9

Professorial 11 1 8.3 11 1 8.3 11 2 15.4 11 2 15.4

TOTAL 17 14 45.2 16 10 38.5 20 5 20.0 17 9 34.6

TOTAL IPHS STAFF 62 96 60.8 66 95 59.0 73 94 56.3 72 101 58.4

Women predominate in ‘Research-Only’ posts - particularly at Grades 6 and 7.

At senior levels, there has been an increase in the number of female T&R Professors; however males continue to predominate, particularly for Clinical staff (although numbers are smaller).

Our Silver award actions consequently include: o an IPHS mentoring programme focused on enabling career progression of 'Research-

Only' researchers (AP 2.1) o promotion of female role models who have been able to progress in their career from

a fixed-term researcher (AP 2.2) o widening opportunities for Tenure -Track Fellowships and strategically encouraging

applications to Fellowship programmes (AP 2.3) o a strategy to invest in junior Tenure-Track positions rather than the most senior posts,

when posts become vacant, written into the IPHS strategic plan (AP 2.4) o raising the profile of mentoring in IPHS (AP 2.5) o further training investment to allow leadership and personal development, particularly

for women in Grade 9 posts (Senior Lecturer/Reader) via the Aurora Leadership programme (AP 2.7)

o active encouragement of women to apply for the most senior Clinical academic posts as men retire (AP 2.6)

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Trends in staff progression To explore whether gender patterns in employment have changed over time, we combined staff on ‘Research-Only’ and ‘Teaching and Research’ contracts into a ‘Non-Clinical’ category and looked at Clinical academic data separately. Clinical academics have a different grade structure as well as dual responsibilities (NHS and academic) and different work demands. Figure 7: IPHS Non-Clinical staff by grade, proportions by gender in 2012

Figure 8: IPHS Non-Clinical staff by grade, proportions by gender in 2015

81%

69% 63%

50%

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31% 37%

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Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Professor

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60% 54%

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The analysis shows:

There has been significant career progression and appointment of women in IPHS over the last 3 years.

The proportion of female senior Non-Clinical post holders is now closer to the overall proportion of women in the Institute (58%), (Figure 8).

The gender gap for Non-Clinical staff has narrowed particularly at Professor level, but also at Non-Clinical Grades 7 and 8. The increased gap at Grade 9 seen here is probably a consequent 'pipeline' effect (Figure 8).

The increase in numbers of Professors within IPHS (with proportionally more of these being women) has been steady since 2012 (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Trend in numbers of IPHS professors (includes Non-clinical and Clinical Profs)

Narrowing of the gender gap in IPHS can be attributed to a number of recent initiatives:

The benefits of mentoring (both having a mentor and being mentored) have been highlighted on IPHS AS webpages (Bronze AP 3.1 completed).

Increased transparency around promotion processes with a fact-sheet and Head of Institute podcast e-mailed to staff and featured on AS webpages (Bronze AP 3.2 completed).

A culture of senior female role models, e.g. increases in the numbers of women in senior committee roles.

Women funded to take up the Aurora leadership programme.

Clinical staff and trends in Clinical staff progression

IPHS Clinical staff are either academic medical practitioners, public health doctors/dentists, clinical psychologist or clinical psychiatrists. Numbers are much smaller than for Non-Clinical staff, but when averaged between 2012 and 2015 (to try to adjust for sampling errors) data shows the existence of a ‘leaky pipe’ - there are higher proportions of women in lower clinical grades than men, and proportionally more men at senior levels (Figure 10).

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Figure 10: IPHS clinical staff by grade, proportions by gender 2012-2015 average

In order to contextualise these patterns we compared IPHS with data for other Higher Education Institutions (Table 7). IPHS staff averages for 2013 is the most relevant to compare with the last available benchmark data from HESA (2012/13). The most relevant comparable subject areas are Clinical Medicine and Psychology/Behavioural Science. We have roughly equated Clinical Medicine with IPHS Clinical staff (although of the current 26 IPHS Clinical staff, 9 are Clinical Psychologists rather than doctors/dentists).

This shows that in the subject area Psychology and Behavioural Science, the percentage of female staff in IPHS was above the benchmark for both all staff, and for female professors in 2013 - and the gender balance in IPHS has even further improved since then.

Table 7: Benchmarking of percentage of women in IPHS

For IPHS Clinical staff though, this is a different story. The percentage of IPHS Clinical staff who are female is below the benchmark for all Clinical staff, and particularly low for Clinical professors. These 2012 figures however are based on IPHS having 12 IPHS Clinical professors (one woman) at the time.

HESA * 2012/2013

Russell Group * 2012/2013

IPHS January 2013

Clinical Medicine All Staff 52% 52% 39%

Professor 24% 25% 8%

Psychology and Behavioural Science All Staff 60% 52% 63%

Professor 27% 30% 33%

* Source: HESA staff records 2012/20013

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Since then, a female Senior Clinical Lecturer (SCL) has been promoted to Professor bringing the percentage of female IPHS Clinical Professors up to 15%.

A further promotion or appointment would raise the IPHS figure to the benchmark, and this therefore forms part of our AP (AP 2.6).

When IPHS Clinical staff trends are explored, comparing 2012 (Figure 11) and 2015 (Figure 12), (using numbers rather than percentages because of the small numbers), attrition at the SCL/Reader stage is evident (in both men and women), as well as some attrition at Clinical Lecturer stage. Figure 11: Number of IPHS Clinical staff by grade and gender in 2012

Figure 12: Number of IPHS Clinical staff by grade and gender in 2015

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0

4

8

12

Lecturer Research Fellow Senior Lecturer /Reader

Professor

Nu

mb

er

of

staf

f, J

anu

ary

20

15

Clinical grade

Female Male

20

Many Clinical posts are training (fixed-term) posts where staff have to meet the training

requirements of NHS Consultant accreditation, alongside academic development. This

explains the relatively high attrition rate.

IPHS supports and prepares its female Clinical staff to go on to obtain senior roles

elsewhere if not at the University (e.g. Grade 9 staff moving on to obtain a Chair), thus

reducing the 'leaky pipeline'.

Success in supporting Grade 9 Non-Clinical women to progress to Professorships is planned

to help drive forward further change for Clinical academics in the future e.g. increasing the

profile of mentoring and making use of schemes such the Academy of Medical Sciences

mentoring, through initiatives such as producing a mentoring leaflet for staff, will provide a

further way to increase appropriate career support for Clinical academics (AP 2.5).

There are relatively more Clinical staff at Professor level, than at junior levels. A national

bottleneck exists in Clinical academic medicine, because of the relatively low numbers of tenured

Lecturer posts available. However:

The Public Health Clinical Lectureship scheme in IPHS has provided some 3-year-training

positions (see page 27, Figure 14)

Integrated clinical and academic training programmes funded via NIHR provide another

means of opening up the career 'pipeline'. Since January 2015 (and therefore not included

in figures above), an Academic Clinical Lecturer (ACL), (female) has been recruited, and a

further ACL post is under recruitment. To accommodate work and family responsibilities

for the new ACL appointee, IPHS arranged with NIHR a 4-day-a-week over five years

(instead of full-time for four years) training programme.

"I'm very keen to continue both my clinical and academic careers whilst still being able to spend time with

my young family. The Head of Department was very forthcoming and prompt in arranging this full-time

position to become part-time." (NIHR Clinical Lecturer)

Seven Professors are in their 60s and so may be approaching retirement in the next 5 years (Table

8). Although there may not be any IPHS opportunities in the near future for recruitment to senior

roles (particularly for Clinical academics), our leadership development plans aim to support

women to apply for these posts when they do arise (AP 2.7). We will also actively encourage

women to apply for these posts; promoting IPHS family -friendly policies to attract them (AP 2.6).

Table 8: Age profile of IPHS Professors

Age Band 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 66+

Teaching & Research Professors Male 1 1 2 2 5 1 1

Female 1 1 4 2 1

Clinical Professors Male 1 1 7 1 1

Female 2

(ii) Turnover by grade and gender – comment on any differences between men and women in turnover and say what is being done to address this. Where the number of staff leaving is small, comment on the reasons why particular individuals left.

21

IPHS staff turnover between 2012 and 2014 is 23% or less of total staff numbers. For men this ranges between 11 – 16%, and for women between 17 – 27% (Table 9).

IPHS leavers are mainly concentrated in Research-Only posts: 75% (2012), 88% (2013) and 90% (2014) - the majority of which are fixed-term posts (Table 9).

Leavers are almost exclusively accounted for by people on fixed-term contracts: 86% (2012), 96% (2013) and 79% (2014). Of these leavers, 77% (2012), 67% (2012) and 83% (2014) were women.

Since about 70% of staff holding 'Research-Only’ contracts are women (Table 1); gender differences in turnover are because of higher numbers of women in this type of post.

Actions (AP 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5) to address female progression from Grade 6/7 into career development posts are likely to impact on turnover figures.

Table 9: IPHS staff turnover by gender, grade and contract type, 2012-2014

February 2012 to January 2013

February 2013 to January 2014

February 2014 to December 2014

Male Female Male Female Male Female

No. Left

% staff

No. Left

% staff

No. Left

% staff

No. Left

% staff

No. Left

% staff

No. Left

% staff

Research-Only (RO)

Grade 6 4 67% 11 42% 3 60% 9 36% 2 40% 12 50%

Grade 7 2 18% 8 33% 4 31% 5 21% 1 10% 7 29%

Grade 8 1 50% 1 14% 2 22% 1 10%

Grade 9 1 100%

RO TOTAL 7 35% 20 34% 7 28% 14 24% 6 24% 20 33%

Teaching & Research (T&R)

Grade 6 1 100%

Grade 7

Grade 8 1 13% 1 13%

Grade 9 1 10% 1 10% 1 9%

Professorial 1 7%

T&R TOTAL 2 8% 1 4% 1 4% 2 8% 1 4%

Clinical

Lecturer 1 33%

Research Fellow 1 33% 1 N/A

Senior Lecturer /

Reader 3 43% 1 20%

Professorial 1 9%

CLINICAL TOTAL 1 6% 5 36% 1 5% 1 20%

IPHS TOTAL 10 16% 26 27% 8 12% 16 17% 8 11% 21 22%

N.B “% staff” is the number of leavers calculated as a % of the staff in that contract/grade/gender combination in the January of the period. e.g. There were 6 men on Grade 6 on Research-Only contracts in January of 2012, 4 of these left IPHS between February 2012 and January 2013, so “%staff = 67%”.

22

In order to monitor reasons for turnover and to pick up any issues which give rise to gender differences, exit information is now collected from all staff leavers (Bronze action AP 1.3 completed). All leavers are offered an exit interview with their line manager or Institute manager.

2,899 words (899 additional words from 1,000 granted to outline non-clinical and clinical staff issues)

4. Supporting and advancing women’s careers: maximum 5000 words

Key career transition points

a) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning.

(i) Job application and success rates by gender and grade – comment on any differences in recruitment between men and women at any level and say what action is being taken to address this.

In 2012-2014, 34 women and 20 men were recruited to IPHS (Table 10). Higher numbers of women reflect the general preponderance of women within IPHS disciplines. The success rates for female applicants range from 2.2 to 5.2% over the three year period and the success rates for male applicants range from 2.8 to 5.4% over the same period. We found no statistically significant differences in overall success rates by gender and therefore we conclude:

there is no evidence of underlying gender bias judged on overall recruitment figures.

Table 10: Total IPHS staff recruited by gender 2012-2014

2012 2013 2014 2012-14

No.

male

No.

Female

(F)

% F No.

male

No.

Female

(F)

% F

No.

male

No.

Female

(F)

%F No.

male No.

Female (F)

%F

Total applications

231 642 73.5% 184 401 68.5% 106 173 62.0% 521 1,216 70.0%

Total recruited

7 14 66.7% 10 11 52.3% 3 9 75.0% 20 34 63.0%

% recruited of applicants

3.0% 2.2% 5.4% 2.7% 2.8% 5.2%

3.8%

2.8%

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Analysis of gender bias by recruitment according to grade of post We did however, explore the data further to consider whether there might be different recruitment patterns by gender, grade and post, although conclusions are limited because of smaller numbers, so we combined some of the grades.

Most 2012-2014 recruitment has been in Research-Only posts (39 people). Eleven other people were recruited to Teaching and Research posts and 4 people to Clinical posts.

Recruitment into Research-Only posts between 2012 and 2014 was almost entirely into Grade 6-8 posts (Table 11). Only one Grade 9 position was appointed during this time (female, 2013).

Table 11: Recruitment to Research-Only posts 2012-2014, by gender

2012 2013 2014 2012-2014

No. Male

No. Female

% F No.

Male

No. Fema

le % F

No. Male

No. Female

% F No.

Male No.

Female

% F

Grades 6-8

Applied 208 633 75.3 131 321 71.0 96 157 62.1 435 1,111 71.9

Recruited 2 14 87.5 6 7 53.8 1 8 88.9 9 29 76.3

% success 1.0% 2.2% 4.6% 2.2% 1.0% 5.1% 2.1% 2.6%

Grade 9

Applied 0 0 0 1 11 91.7 0 0 0 1 11 91.7

Recruited 0 0 0 0 1 100 0 0 0 0 1 100

% success 0% 0% 0% 9.1% 0 0 0% 9.1%

Total

Applied 208 633 75.3 132 332 71.6 96 157 62.1

Recruited 2 14 87.5 6 8 57.1 1 8 88.9

% success 1.0% 2.2% 4.5% 2.4% 1.0% 5.1%

Three-quarters of Research-Only applicants in 2012 were women, although this proportion has declined over the years. The success rate for female applicants ranged from 2.2% to 5.1% and for male applicants between 1% and 4.5%. There were no statistically significant differences between women and men in success rates for Research-Only posts and we therefore conclude:

there is no evidence of gender bias in recruitment to this type of research contract.

Table 12: Recruitment to Teaching and Research (T&R) posts 2012-2014, by gender

2012 2013 2014 2012-2014

No. Male

No. Female

% F No.

Male

No. Femal

e % F

No. Male

No. Female

% F No.

Male No.

Female

% F

Grades 7-8

Applied 6 7 53.8 27 47 63.5 6 11 64.7 39 65 62.5

Recruited 2 0 0 2 3 60.0 1 0 0 5 3 37.5

% success 33.3 0 7.4 6.4 16.7 0 12.8 4.6

Grade 9 and Prof

Applied 16 2 11.1 24 22 47.8 0 0 0 40 24 37.5

Recruited 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0

% success 12.5 0 4.2 0 0 0 7.5 0

Total

Applied 22 9 29.0 51 69 57.5 6 11 64.7

Recruited 4 0 0 3 3 50.0 1 0 0

% success 18.2 0 5.9 4.3 16.7 0

In Teaching and Research (T&R) posts, of the 8 men and 3 women were recruited between 2012 and 2014 (Table 12), only 3 were at Grade 9 (Senior Lecturer) level or higher.

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In the lower grades (mainly at Lecturer and Tenure-track fellow level), slightly more women than men applied for the positions, and this was consistent across all three years (54 - 65%). The success rates for female applicants was 0 - 6% over the three years, and for males 7-33%.

Although the number of posts at this level is small (8 in total) and the differences between men and women in success rates is not statistically significant; we conclude that there may be a slight tendency towards gender bias here in favour of men which needs further scrutiny. In order to improve transparency around recruitment decision making, in our Silver AP we will summarise by gender, reasons for appointment and non-appointment to T&R posts (AP 3.3).

For the higher grades (Senior Lecturer and Non-Clinical Professor), the numbers are so small – only 2 posts in 2012 and 1 in 2013, none in 2014) that it is best to comment on general patterns rather than statistics. Overall, almost double the number of men (40) than of women (24) applied for these 3 higher grade posts, which is the reverse of the pattern of applicants seen for Research-only posts and T&R grade 6-8 posts. All three posts went to men, resulting in none of the 24 women being successful, compared with 3 of the 40 men. Small numbers however make this data inconclusive.

Recruitment to Clinical posts is so small (4 posts over 3 years, 2012-2014) that analysis by grade of post is also inconclusive. For the two Lecturer posts advertised there were 2 male and 5 female applicants, with one man and one woman appointed. At SCL for two posts advertised, out of a field of 2 male and 2 female applicants, 2 men were appointed. 4 a) ii) Applications for promotion and success rates by gender and grade – comment on whether these differ for men and women and if they do explain what action may be taken. Where the number of women is small applicants may comment on specific examples of where women have been through the promotion process. Explain how potential candidates are identified.

Numbers being put forward for promotion each year are small, so promotions data have been combined for the years 2012-2014 (Figure 13). Thirteen women and 3 men applied for promotion in this time, and all but one woman was successful, suggesting that no gender bias exists.

Figure 13: Gender breakdown for promotions data 2012-2014 (Grades 6-9 combined)

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In response to data from the staff survey of 2013, awareness of the promotion process was highlighted as an issue which required further clarity (only 47% of responders - which included both genders, felt fully informed about promotion processes). In response, an IPHS fact-sheet and HOI podcast has been produced and circulated to staff (Bronze AP 3.2 completed). This information makes explicit for all IPHS staff, that the university-wide process is that a discussion on promotion should be an integral part of every annual PDR; and that staff have an individual right to put themselves forward to the Faculty Annual Review committee for promotion each year. For staff going forward for promotion, Departmental support such as mock interviews is provided (see Case study 2). 4 b) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed. (i) Recruitment of staff – comment on how the department’s recruitment processes ensure that female candidates are attracted to apply, and how the department ensures its short listing, selection processes and criteria comply with the university’s equal opportunities policies

As data in section 4ai) shows, women are attracted to apply to roles in IPHS. All IPHS posts are developed using Equal Opportunities guidance: the AS logo and family friendly policies feature in adverts (Bronze AP 3.4 completed). Currently a check is made as to whether members of interview panel have undergone Equality and Diversity training. If no-one is suitably trained the IPHS HR administrator sits on the appointment panel in this capacity.

In our Silver Award AP we will increase the overall number of staff who have undergone Equal Opportunities training (AP 4.1), in order to raise the level of understanding around the law and principles around equality, and what expectations of staff behaviour are in this area.

Shortlisting is currently undertaken by the key recruiter and one other person. In the future we will ensure that at least one of those shortlisting is female (AP 3.2).

The gender composition of appointment committees is now monitored (Bronze action completed AP 3.5). In 2014, of 23 interview panels, 5 was an exclusively female panel and 1 was exclusively male, with panels comprising, on average, of two women and one man. In 2015, so far there have been 6 interview panels. One of these 2015 panels was exclusively female, and none exclusively male. So far 2015 panels again comprise, on average, of 2 women and 1 man.

In our Silver AP we have included an action to avoid exclusively male or female panels in the future (AP 3.1).

(ii) Support for staff at key career transition points – having identified key areas of attrition of female staff in the department, comment on any interventions, programmes and activities that support women at the crucial stages, such as personal development training, opportunities for networking, mentoring programmes and leadership training. Identify which have been found to work best at the different career stages.

The major reason for staff attrition is the loss of fixed-term researchers. Since women occupy the majority of these posts, initiatives which provide opportunities for professional development and eventually progression into tenured positions are an important priority for IPHS. Creation of part-

26

time PhD/part-time Grade 6 posts offers a means to progress to a Grade 7 position, and is an initiative to be expanded in our Silver AP (AP 1.1).

Fellowships offer a route for the further career development of researchers. Currently IPHS provides bridging funding for IPHS researchers waiting to hear the outcome of fellowship applications. In our Silver award action plan we will expand, across all Departments, a strategy currently used by the Department of Public Health and Policy, of particularly pursuing doctoral fellowships which support students on a salary (AP 1.2).

IPHS Tenure-Track Fellowships also offer a means of progression (See Case study 1). Currently IPHS has four Tenure-Track Fellows (one female), with a Silver action to continue and expand this (AP 2.3), supported by an IPHS strategic plan objective of investing in junior posts when senior post-holders retire in order to secure succession (AP 2.4).

Our priority on the career development of Grade 6 and 7 Researchers has also informed the development of an IPHS mentoring programme focused on this group (AP 2.1). Using a 'Next-steps' model, we are training a team of mentors at Research Fellow, Principal Investigator, Senior Lecturer and Professor-level who can give independent (outside line-management responsibilities) career signposting advice and support. Mentor training covers the general principles of mentoring and the use of professional development tools such as the Vitae Researcher Development Framework.

A range of professional training opportunities exists across the university and these are promoted to staff at all levels by line managers and through the PDR process. One such programme is the Research Team leader programme which aims to facilitate development of researchers to a stage of independence:

"Since my training I have received a successful grant application. This was completed with colleagues I met

at this course and with things I learnt from the earlier weeks. I will now look to applying skills I've learned

about recruiting and managing a full project from start to finish." (Grade 7 Researcher - comment following

Research Team leader training)

Routes to research independence are also promoted by using IPHS role models of female academics who have achieved the most senior academic positions, from a starting position of a fixed-term contract post. Profs Whitehead and Jacoby have held seminars outlining their career experiences and trajectory to fixed term contractors in more junior positions, with plans to extend this to other Departments in IPHS (AP 2.2).

For more senior staff, we recognise that mentoring from outside IPHS brings added benefits of a wider perspective, and so, the University-wide mentoring scheme, is promoted to all staff by the IPHS mentoring lead, by the mentoring pages within the IPHS web-site, and by line-mangers in the PDR process.

"I stress in the PDRs I do and at all talks I give to the research group and staff in the department that they should have a mentor - internal or external or both, but not neither." (Comment from 2015 staff survey)

However, our 2015 IPHS staff survey indicated that we have some-way to go before the majority of IPHS staff are linked regularly with a mentor.

Currently 28% of women and 38% of men are mentors; and 34% of women and 38% of men are mentees.

27

Therefore we have identified increasing the proportion of IPHS staff who have a mentor as a Silver action plan objective (AP 2.1, 2.5). Leadership training is also recognised in IPHS as being an important way in which women can be helped to progress to the highest levels of academia. Currently four women have been funded from the IPHS training budget to undertake the Aurora Leadership training programme. This budget is being expanded in 2015/16 to £7,500, allowing more women to take up this type of training (AP 2.7).

Progression in Clinical-academic careers has been recognised nationally as presenting particular challenges. Developments in Clinical Public Health in IPHS, however, have bucked the trend to offer a success story which holds lessons for the wider Institute. Figure 14 illustrates how the Public Health Clinical Lectureship Scheme in IPHS has provided a stepping stone to an academic career, which has worked equally well for women and for men. This scheme provides three-year, fixed-term Clinical Lecturer (CL) posts for medically-qualified postgraduate Specialist trainees in the NHS. All six of the former CL post-holders over the past decade (4 women and 2 men) have gained promotions to more senior posts, and that the two current CLs (one woman, and one recently appointed man) are on course to win prestigious fellowships. Since our AS Bronze Award submission, there has been further progress, with two female former CLs appointed to Chairs in Public Health (BB and CC) at other universities and one male former CL promoted internally to Senior Clinical Lecturer (FF), all in 2014. Extension of the Public Health strategy of pursuing external doctoral fellowships to the rest of IPHS forms part of our Silver AP (AP1.2).

Figure 14: Success story for Clinical-academic careers: Outcomes of the Clinical Public Health Lectureship Scheme in IPHS

28

Career development

a) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed.

(i) Promotion and career development – comment on the appraisal and career development process, and promotion criteria and whether these take into consideration responsibilities for teaching, research, administration, pastoral work and outreach work; is quality of work emphasised over quantity of work?

The PDR process documents and facilitates discussion between staff and line managers about the previous year’s activity and future plans, including professional development and promotion. Documentation is generic to the University and allows recording of the range of work such as research, teaching, administration, outreach, pastoral and NHS work. Promotions criteria are also generic to the University, specific to the type and grade of post, revisited annually and available to all staff in written form each year. The HoD/ line manager helps members of staff to assess when best to go forward for promotion, or whether areas of their curriculum vitae may need strengthening. Staff going forward for promotion then enter the University-wide Annual Review process.

For Research-Only staff, progression is either via a re-grading exercise or award of an additional pay increment/exceptional performance award. Again, an application is made following the PDR discussion, with the Line Manager putting forward a case to the HoD and then to the Executive Pro-Vice Chancellor for endorsement.

A fact sheet of Frequently Asked Questions regarding the promotions process which is tailored to IPHS staff at all levels has been produced and circulated, supported by a HoI podcast (Bronze AP 3.2 completed).

All academic staff in Research Institutes are expected to be active in publishing, grant income, PGR supervision (on average 2 per FTE staff) and knowledge exchange, and these are the main criteria for promotion. Quality of publication outputs is judged on the basis of REF criteria, with quality of outputs valued above quantity. Staff whose main activity and achievements are in other fields such as teaching, outreach etc are generally employed in the Institute of Teaching and Learning, and so whilst most IPHS academic staff contribute to teaching in some way, teaching responsibility and other non-research-related workloads are not main criteria for promotion. Fairness in distribution of teaching and other non-research related workload is monitored across IPHS (see pages 34-35).

(ii) Induction and training – describe the support provided to new staff at all levels, as well as details of any gender equality training. To what extent are good employment practices in the institution, such as opportunities for networking, the flexible working policy, and professional and personal development opportunities promoted to staff from the outset?

All new IPHS staff and students receive an induction when they start - this is carried out by a member of the IPHS HR team. An IPHS staff induction handbook has been produced (Completed Bronze AP 4.1), which includes information on: maternity/paternity/ adoption leave, flexible working, compassionate/domestic/personal leave (unpaid leave to care for a dependent), child-

29

care on campus, the child-care voucher scheme and requesting reductions in working hours. The information is also available on IPHS AS webpages under family-friendly policies. New starters also receive signposting to IPHS AS web-based information on career/parent networks and career support material (e.g. mentoring arrangements), on induction.

While all senior staff involved in management of staff have completed formal Diversity and Equality Training, only 13% of IPHS staff overall have completed such training. One of our Silver award actions, therefore, is to increase this to 50% of all by June 2015 and 80% by November 2015 (AP 4.1).

(iii) Support for female students – describe the support (formal and informal) provided for female students to enable them to make the transition to a sustainable academic career, particularly from postgraduate to researcher, such as mentoring, seminars and pastoral support and the right to request a female personal tutor. Comment on whether these activities are run by female staff and how this work is formally recognised by the department.

PGR students are supported by two (one female, one male) independent mentors appointed

following our Bronze action plan, to supplement support of peer buddies and supervisors. Each

student is also allocated two academics who are independent of supervision arrangements, and

who meet to discuss the students' progress each year. University networks (LivWiSE, Early-Career

Researchers network, parents network) are promoted in the IPHS newsletter and AS web pages.

PGR students attend a careers seminar as part of the Graduate School Skills programme towards

the end of their studies. An IPHS event ‘Successfully completing your PhD and how to continue

with a career in academia' is run for PGR students. This takes the form of a panel discussion of

IPHS academic staff from IPHS to provide useful information and tips to students. IPHS AS activity

ensures there is a mix of men and women on the panel.

As part of the SAT process, a number of male and female IPHS PhD students were interviewed – all

were satisfied with their experience and particularly commented on the supportive nature of IPHS

PGR supervision which extended beyond pure academic support. Current data held centrally in

the University shows 100% employment in full-time work for both female (3) and male (5) PGR

students completing in 2012/13. For students completing in 2011/12, 20% (3) female students and

14% (1) male student are unemployed. Following our Bronze AP, we now have an IPHS system to

collect exit data/career plans of PGR at completion (a form completed with thesis submission),

(Bronze action completed AP 2.2).

Organisation and culture a) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning.

(i) Male and female representation on committees – provide a breakdown by committee and explain any differences between male and female representation. Explain how potential members are identified.

30

Since IPHS was only formed in 2010, initially there were only committees: the Senior Management

Team (SMT) and the Research Strategy Team, with only 20% female representation on the most

senior committee, the SMT. In 2011, as the Postgraduate Research Committee was added to the

governance structure, overall female representation on IPHS committees actually went down

further (Figure 15). However, as the governance structure has developed, there has been a

conscious effort to achieve a gender balance on IPHS committees. Consequently gender balance

on IPHS committees has steadily improved, and now we have an overall proportion of females on

committees (55%) which generally reflects the proportion of female staff in IPHS as a whole (58%).

Figure 15: Trends in female membership of IPHS committees

Figure 16: IPHS Senior Management Team April 2015

31

Female representation on the SMT is now 58%. This has been achieved because the HOI has been

personally committed to increasing the number of women sitting on Institute committees. A

female fixed-term researcher and female mid-career researcher now sit on the SMT, as does the

Chair of the Athena SWAN SAT (Figure 16). The SMT is chaired by the Institute Manager, with all

members having an equal responsibility for decision-making. The only committee which has seen

the proportion of male representation increase over time is the Athena SWAN SAT (20% male in

2013 to 36% male in 2015, in response to Athena SWAN Bronze award feedback (Table 13).

Table 13: Development of female representation on IPHS committees Numbers Percentage

2010 Male Female Male Female

IPHS Senior Management Team 8 2 80 20 IPHS Research Strategy Committee 4 5 44 56

Total Representation 12 7 63 37

2011 Male Female Male Female

IPHS Senior Management Team 8 2 80 20 IPHS Research Strategy Committee 14 5 74 26 IPHS PGR Committee 3 1 75 25

Total Representation 25 8 76 24

2012 Male Female Male Female

IPHS Senior Management Team 10 4 71 29 IPHS Research Strategy Committee 7 3 70 30 IPHS PGR Committee 5 3 63 38 IPHS Regulatory Affairs Committee 3 2 60 40 IPHS Communications Committee 8 7 53 47 IPHS Knowledge Exchange Committee 5 5 50 50

Total Representation 38 24 61 39

2013 Male Female Male Female

Senior Management Team 7 3 70 30 PGR Committee 4 2 67 33 Space and Facilities Committee 4 2 67 33 Knowledge Exchange Committee 5 5 50 50 Research Strategy Committee 7 2 78 22 Communications Committee 4 3 57 43 Regulatory Affairs Committee 3 2 60 40 Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team 2 8 20 80

Total Representation 36 27 57 43

2014 and 2015 Male Female Male Female

Senior Management Team 6 8 43 57 PGR Committee 8 9 47 53 Space and Facilities Committee 4 5 44 56 Knowledge Exchange Committee 5 6 45 55 Research Strategy Committee 6 7 46 54 Communications Committee 6 6 50 50 Regulatory Affairs Committee 3 2 60 40 Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team 5 9 36 64

Total Representation 43 52 45 55

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The composition and gender balance of IPHS committees is reviewed annually by the HOI and

Institute Manager. As the committee structure has developed, membership of committees has

generally defined by virtue of people’s roles (e.g. as Head of Department, Director of PGR etc.) and

areas of known expertise (e.g. technical knowledge in relation to Communications etc); although

the female ‘Research-Only’ member of SMT was elected by her peers from the IPHS Researchers

group. Going forward we will make the process of recruitment to committees more transparent,

and create a more consistent and formalised process of recruitment to IPHS decision-making

committees (AP 4.2).

(ii) Female: male ratio of academic and research staff on fixed-term contracts and open-ended (permanent) contracts – comment on any differences between male and female staff representation on fixed-term contracts and say what is being done to address them.

Patterns of employment vary considerably by type of post. People on Research-Only contracts mainly hold fixed-term contracts (Table 14). The proportion of fixed-term contract Research-Only positions held by females (67 – 78%) is roughly similar to the overall proportion of Research-Only contracts held by females (average of 71%, 2012-2015).

Table 14: IPHS staff on fixed term and permanent contracts, 2012 - 2014

CONTRACT TYPE

January 2012 January 2013 January 2014

Male Female % F Male Female % F Male Female % F

Research Only Fixed 17 52 75 22 45 67 12 43 78

Perm 3 6 67 3 14 82 13 17 57

Teaching & Research

Fixed 2 2 50 4 2 33 3 2 40

Perm 23 22 48 21 24 53 25 27 52

Clinical Fixed 12 8 40 0 4 100 2 1 33

Perm 5 6 54 16 6 27 18 4 18

Total Fixed 31 62 67 26 51 66 17 46 73

Perm 31 34 52 40 44 52 56 48 47

TOTAL 62 96 61 66 95 59 73 94 56

The number of Research-Only staff on permanent contracts has increased in recent years for both

men and women. This is because of a new arrangement where Research-Only staff are moved

onto a ‘permanent-but-insecure funding’ contract, once they have been in continuous

employment at the University for four years or more. IPHS senior management has, over the last

two years, worked with the IPHS Researcher Group to address issues around fixed-term and

permanent-insecure contracts. A representative (female) of this group now sits on the IPHS SMT,

and through this on the University Research Concordat Committee. Thirty eight per cent of

Research-Only staff are now on permanent-insecure contracts, reflecting the efforts made within

IPHS to secure continuing employment for valued staff. The Researcher Group is currently working

with administrative staff in IPHS to design mechanisms by which this process can be facilitated and

more transparent.

33

Staff in T&R and Clinical posts are more likely to be on permanent contracts. Around 50% of

permanent-contract T&R posts are held by women (2012-2014 data). The proportion of women on

permanent contracts in Clinical posts has fallen from 54% in 2012 to 18% in 2014, reflecting the

decrease in the number of women in Clinical posts in that period (although numbers of females in

clinical permanent posts are small). National clinical academic training structures are based

around fixed-term posts - our data reflects this.

b) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed.

Representation on decision-making committees – comment on evidence of gender equality in the mechanism for selecting representatives. What evidence is there that women are encouraged to sit on a range of influential committees inside and outside the department? How is the issue of ‘committee overload’ addressed where there are small numbers of female staff

Following our Bronze award we have increased the transparency around our committee structure, with committee membership information available to all IPHS staff on IPHS governance webpages (Bronze AP 3.5 completed). As a Silver Award action, we will formalise the terms of reference, terms of office and process of identifying committee members to all IPHS committees, to ensure that all staff have a fair opportunity to serve in what may be a career-developing capacity (AP 4.2). Whilst monitored, 'committee-overload' does not tend to be an issue because of the wide participation of women in committees.

Knowledge exchange is an activity which is core to the mission of IPHS. Committee membership of external committees of all staff is therefore something which is encouraged, with reported activity fed back via Departmental representatives to the Knowledge Exchange committee. Women are encouraged to sit on external committees through the PDR process, and through high visibility of the many female senior academic role models in IPHS.

(i) Workload model – describe the systems in place to ensure that workload locations, including pastoral and administrative responsibilities (including the responsibility for work on women and science) are taken into account at appraisal and in promotion criteria. Comment on the rotation of responsibilities e.g. responsibilities with a heavy workload and those that are seen as good for an individual’s career.

All IPHS academic staff with either T&R or Clinical contracts are expected to contribute to teaching as well as research. Some Research-Only staff also contribute to teaching because this offers an opportunity for their career development. There is an expectation that although the Institute is research-focused, that staff have a mixture of other responsibilities (from pastoral, outreach work, administration, knowledge exchange as well as teaching). Promotion criteria are based primarily on research performance (high impact papers, grant income etc), once their contribution in other ways is evidenced.

In order to monitor the fairness of the distribution of non-Research related activity, data is collected each year by the Head of Institute on staff contribution to Teaching and other activities

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(Bronze AP 1.4 completed ). Routine monitoring data on time allocation to research, teaching, and administration provides a benchmark by post seniority as a platform for PDR discussions. We have provided a breakdown by gender (Figure 17), and although there are some gaps in the data, and numbers are small for some grades (e.g. Grade 7/Lecturer), it suggests that there is no significant unfairness between women and women in time allocated to non-research related activities.

Figure 17: Workload for Teaching & Research and Clinical IPHS staff by grade and gender, August 2014 – January 2015

Data from our 2015 IPHS staff survey supports this. Excluding those staff on Research-Only contracts, results showed no difference between teaching commitments between men and women. Most staff undertook a combination of face-to-face teaching, exam setting and marking, and curriculum development activities.

In the Department of Psychological Sciences, annual data on teaching load supplied to the HOI is now routinely used to identify any members of staff who may be carrying too high or too low non-research related workloads. This then informs discussions between individual staff and their line manager at annual PDRs, where the member of staff more fully outlines their activities over the year. Where workload is identified as too heavy or hindering career development, responsibilities are shifted.

To ensure that there is further transparency and fairness in the distribution of administrative workloads, in our Silver AP we will record and make available on the intranet, names of staff with significant administrative responsibilities (AP 4.4), and review this annually at SMT.

3%

31% 22%

12%

48%

65% 72%

63%

49%

4% 6% 25%

27% 29% 28% 14%

62% 64% 63%

69%

11% 7% 10% 17%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Male (2) Female (2) Male (9) Female (7) Male (10) Female(12)

Male (24) Female(12)

T&R G7 / ClinicalLecturer

T&R G8 / ClinicalResearch Fellow

T&R G9 / Sen ClinLecturer / Sen Clin

Fellow / Reader

Professorial

Staf

f w

ork

load

(A

vera

ge p

erc

en

tage

of

tim

e s

pe

nt)

Combined Teaching & Research and Clinical grades (Number of staff)

Male % Teaching Male % Research Male % Other

Female % Teaching Female % Research Female % Other

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Timing of departmental meetings and social gatherings – provide evidence of consideration for those with family responsibilities, for example what the department considers to be core hours and whether there is a more flexible system in place. Departmental meetings and seminars are all held within IPHS core working hours of 9-4pm. Seminars are all held at lunchtime to facilitate all staff to attend. For meetings “Doodle poll” is employed allowing all staff to indicate the most convenient of a range of times for meetings to take place. IPHS also encourages other methods of conferencing e.g. telephone conference , Skype etc. to allow for flexibility for staff who may find it difficult to participate due to family / carer commitments. Social events e.g. IPHS Christmas Lunch are usually within core working hours. (ii) Culture –demonstrate how the department is female-friendly and inclusive. ‘Culture’ refers to the language, behaviours and other informal interactions that characterise the atmosphere of the department, and includes all staff and students.

Women have a high profile in IPHS - from PGR students to women in management roles, and all grades between. A weekly news bulletin is issued by the IPHS Communications Lead, with women often featuring in articles. This newsletter contains news of up-coming events, celebrates achievements (e.g. a (female) Research Associate whose TED talk reached 3 million views online), interviews with staff and students to profile their role and research, as well as web-links to notify of wider media activity of various staff members.

The proportion of newsletter articles featuring women has risen from 11% in 2013 to 41% in 2014. This was beyond the Bronze AP.

The newsletter also contains articles of wider interest, highlighting potential future opportunities: e.g. a (female) undergraduate receiving a studentship from the British Psychological Society to study in IPHS over the summer. Notification of Family Friendly initiatives, seminars and other events are also communicated by this means, as well as on the IPHS website (e.g. Female Early Career network meetings, University network for parents/parents-to-be, 'a Celebration of women in science - interactive panel discussion'). The 'e' bulletin also contains more personal stories wishing staff well as they go on maternity leave etc and congratulations and information regarding births to any members of staff of the Institute and other family events. Face-to-Face events such as charity coffee and cake events, farewell and celebratory gatherings, and the regular seminar series provide opportunities for networking and support.

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Figure 18: Example snapshot from an e Bulletin

News & Information – 6th January 2015

REF 2014 Results Published By now you will no doubt be aware of the results from last year’s Research Excellence Framework. Congratulations everyone for all your hard work. You can see some of the highlights of the report on our website. For a more detailed analysis, please contact your HoD.

Becoming an Expert – Sara Ronzi, Public Health

Sara Ronzi, PhD Researcher of the Department of Public Health and Policy, was recently the subject of the University’s “becoming an expert” column. To read Sara’s fascinating interview, please follow this link.

Staff Promotions: Congratulations!

At the end of last year, IPHS saw two promotions. Dr Fiona Rowe of Health Services Research was promoted to Reader and Dr Sally Sheard of Public Health and Policy became Professor Sally Sheard, being promoted to a personal chair. Two fully deserved promotions for two fantastic members of our team. If you or a colleague has been promoted recently and would like to be congratulated, please let me know cdeputy@liv.ac.uk

Dr Fiona Rowe Prof Sally Sheard

Lindsay Edmonds Presented with Thank You Gift

As you may know, Lindsay Edmonds will leave her role as PGR Administrator next week to take up the glamorous role of PA to the Head and Manager of IPHS. As a way of thanking Lindsay for being an amazing PGR Administrator, the Postgraduate Research Students got together and presented Lindsay with a bracelet and card. Congratulations on your new role Lindsay and a big thank you on behalf of us all for doing such a great job!

The newsletter provided us with a data source to look at how often the work and role of IPHS women were featured in the wider media in recent years (radio, television, and newspapers). In 2014, the newsletter highlighted 29 media stories involving women in IPHS and 41 involving men.

Our 2015 survey showed that 80% of IPHS felt they were encouraged to raise their personal profile - a rise from 59% in response to the same question in 2013.

Further media activity of women will be encouraged by Institute funding to attend a University-wide Media Master-class for women.

PGR students are also active in engaging with the wider public, and this is actively encouraged. For example: a Female PGR student (funded through an ESRC-Case studentship with Alcohol Research UK) writes a blog ‘Diary of an Alcohol Researcher’ which has been subsequently highlighted in the wider media.

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(iii) Outreach activities – comment on the level of participation by female and male staff in outreach activities with schools and colleges and other centres. Describe who the programmes are aimed at, and how this activity is formally recognised as part of the workload model and in appraisal and promotion processes.

University-wide programmes supporting Widening Participation (WP) consistently deliver well-above HESA benchmarks. An IPHS Senior Lecturer leads the Faculty WP programme.

“I am convinced that the work we do with widening participation students is an important factor in them going on to gain a place at a Russell Group University. Our activities include campus visits, lectures, and tutorship of individual students. The confidence-building and interview-practice that we offer to students applying for selective entry programmes has a significant impact on their interview performance." (Faculty WP Lead)

Twenty seven IPHS staff are involved in visiting schools in lower-participation areas to encourage pupils to consider STEMM careers. Years 10 to 13 are targeted, with 20 schools involved in 2012-14. Female IPHS staff give talks encouraging girls to consider STEMM as a career and how to combine this with a work-life balance and family responsibilities.

The Liverpool Scholars Programme supports talented students from backgrounds currently under-represented in Higher Education. Between 2011 and 2013, of the 220 young people entering a year 0 in STEMM subjects who were involved in this programme, 80% successfully entered Higher Education.

Our 2015 staff survey showed that 27% of women and 26% of men in IPHS are involved in schools outreach. They spend an average of 3-days-per-year on this activity.

This data also showed that men in IPHS spend an average of 10-days on pastoral work for students/staff outside line-management responsibilities, compared to 8-days-per-year for women.

Contribution to outreach activities is discussed at PDRs as part of workload considerations. (Page 33/4).

Flexibility and managing career breaks

a) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning.

(i) Maternity return rate – comment on whether maternity return rate in the department has improved or deteriorated and any plans for further improvement. If the department is unable to provide a maternity return rate, please explain why.

The number of IPHS staff taking maternity leave between 2011 and 2013 was small (2 - 4 women, Table 15).

All women who took maternity leave returned to work in IPHS.

100% were still working for IPHS 12 months later.

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Table 15: Maternity leave for all female IPHS staff, 2011-2013

All female academic and research staff 2011 2012 2013*

Total number who took maternity leave 3 2 4

Number who returned to work 3 2 4

Number still in work 6 months later 3 2 1

Number still in work 12 months later 3 2 n/a

* Data is incomplete: insufficient elapsed time to capture all women at 6 and 12 month time points. (ii) Paternity, adoption and parental leave uptake – comment on the uptake of paternity leave by grade and parental and adoption leave by gender and grade. Has this improved or deteriorated and what plans are there to improve further. Between 2011 and 2015, 5 men took paternity leave, and one member of staff (female) took parental leave. Two men (Non-Clinical Grade 8 and a Senior Clinical Lecturer, (SCL)) took paternity leave in 2011. One man (SCL) took paternity leave in 2012, and subsequently reduced his hours following the birth of twins.

As a Bronze action (4.1), IPHS produced a Family-Friendly policy leaflet, and circulated this to all staff, together with web-links and information on IPHS AS webpages.

The impact of this is shown in survey results:

In the 2013 IPHS staff survey, 64% of men knew about the paternity leave policy.

Our subsequent survey in 2015 showed 88% of men knew about the paternity leave policy

Our IPHS 2015 survey found 74% of women and 62% of men agreed they had access to information on flexible-working, maternity, paternity and parental leave.

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(iii) Numbers of applications and success rates for flexible working by gender and grade – comment on any disparities. Where the number of women in the department is small applicants may wish to comment on specific examples.

No applications for flexible-working were recorded for years 2009-2012 (for which data is available). IPHS positively promotes flexible-working and this is available to all staff. Since our Bronze application, positive changes can be seen:

In our 2013 survey 69% of staff reported they were able to work flexibly.

In the 2015 survey, in response to the same question, 97% of staff said they were able to work flexibly.

b) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed.

(i) Flexible working – comment on the numbers of staff working flexibly and their grades and gender, whether there is a formal or informal system, the support and training provided for managers in promoting and managing flexible working arrangements, and how the department raises awareness of the options available.

Although no staff are recorded in the HR data as having a formal flexible-working arrangement, it is apparent that flexible-working is part of IPHS culture, arranged on an informal basis.

100% of staff reported that that their flexible-working was an informal arrangement between individuals and their line manager (2015 survey).

This is applied equally across the 3 IPHS Departments (2015 survey data).

Our Family-Friendly leaflet has further highlighted flexible-working options open to staff, and also the possibility of moving to part-time, for staff on a full-time contract.

During interviews with staff, many with caring responsibilities commented on supportive culture of flexible-working. A similar sentiment is expressed in our Case studies, as well as in comments in our 2015 survey.

"I very much appreciate being able to work from home. I am given every support from my department to do this." (Female Comment, 2015 staff survey)

(ii) Cover for maternity and adoption leave and support on return – explain what the department does, beyond the university maternity policy package, to support female staff before they go on maternity leave, arrangements for covering work during absence, and to help them achieve a suitable work-life balance on their return.

IPHS fully supports all staff returning to work following maternity leave, and provides maternity leave bridging-funding for fixed-term staff. The University operates a system of “Keeping-In-Touch (KIT) days” whereby people on maternity leave can be paid to spend up to 10 days at the University during their maternity leave, in order to attend meetings etc.

Our 2015 staff survey showed that 55% of staff taking maternity or extended-paternity leave used (KIT) days.

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All maternity leave returners have a meeting with the Institute HR team and their HoD where family-friendly policies and work-life balance are discussed.

Consultation with our maternity returners (Figure 1) revealed that whilst feeling supported both before their maternity leave, and after their return to work, the processes for example of undertaking PDRs soon after return to work etc were patchy and left to local arrangements. As a result we will develop a specific maternity handbook for IPHS staff, and a standard procedure involving the IPHS HR team in our Silver AP (AP 4.3).

4,997 words

5. Any other comments: maximum 500 words

Please comment here on any other elements which are relevant to the application, e.g. other STEMM-specific initiatives of special interest that have not been covered in the previous sections. Include any other relevant data (e.g. results from staff surveys), provide a commentary on it and indicate how it is planned to address any gender disparities identified.

6. Action plan Provide an action plan as an appendix. An action plan template is available on the Athena SWAN website. The Action Plan should be a table or a spreadsheet comprising actions to address the priorities identified by the analysis of relevant data presented in this application, success/outcome measures, the post holder responsible for each action and a timeline for completion. The plan should cover current initiatives and your aspirations for the next three years.

Action Plan Our action plan is underpinned by the following key objectives which are focussed on addressing some of the further challenges to gender equality which have been set out in our application. Silver award objectives

1. To expand opportunities for career development and progression for our Grade 6 fixed- term (‘Research-Only’) researchers (AP 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5).

2. To increase the proportion of female Clinical Professors (AP 2.5, 2.6, 2.7). 3. To increase the proportion of IPHS staff at all levels who have a mentor (AP 2.1, 2.5). 4. To strengthen PGR and staff recruitment processes by ensuring gender balance on

selection committees (AP 1.3, 3.1, 3.2). 5. To increase the proportion of all IPHS staff who have undertaken formal Equality and

Diversity training (AP 4.1) See Appendix for:

Silver award action plan

Bronze award action plan (completed)

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7. Case study: impacting on individuals: maximum 1000 words

Describe how the department’s SWAN activities have benefitted two individuals working in the department. One of these case studies should be a member of the self-assessment team, the other someone else in the department. More information on case studies is available in the guidance.

Dr Kerry Woolfall (SAT member)

I have an undergraduate degree in Social Science and Masters in Research Methodology, which I

completed part-time at the University of Liverpool alongside a number of fixed-term contract

research posts. These posts helped to strengthen my research experience so that I was in a strong

position when applying for postgraduate positions. My PhD in Applied Social Science was funded

by the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University, where I worked as a Senior

Researcher in substance use. In 2010 I joined the University of Liverpool as a Research Associate

on a one year fixed-term contract within the Institute of Psychology Health and Society. The main

aim of this MRC Hubs for trials Methodology Research funded post was to obtain a Postdoctoral

Fellowship, which was the ideal next step in my career.

My IPHS supervisor was extremely supportive and spent a considerable amount of time helping

me to develop my research ideas and fellowship applications. These discussions extended well

beyond the usual career development advice within PDR meetings. I had submitted an application

to the prestigious Wellcome Trust and received my PhD Viva feedback when I gave birth to

identical twins very early. After spending four months in hospital they both came home needing a

small amount of oxygen and minimal drugs. It was an amazing day. During this time I submitted

my PhD corrections and prepared for an interview at Wellcome Trust. When I look back now I’m

not sure how I did it - although I received amazing support and guidance from IPHS colleagues. My

transition back to full-time work was particularly aided by flexible working arrangements which

were supported by my IPHS line managers. I am able to work at home a few days a week, which

means I am able to take my twins to school and be part of their daily routine. This has enabled me

to balance being a mum and a busy full-time academic career.

During my three-year fellowship I have been guided by my IPHS line manager through the process

of writing grant applications and journal articles - support which has been absolutely invaluable. I

have submitted 10 grant applications and I am about to begin work on some fascinating projects,

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including two NIHR funded clinical trials in children’s emergency medicine. Professor Young has

championed my work throughout.

My successes have been acknowledged and supported by senior members of IPHS through the

instigation and award of a Tenure Track Fellowship. Institute Manager Graham Pollard has worked

to ensure that everything is in place so that this new position will begin when my Fellowship ends.

After 15 years of fixed-term research contracts this tenured position is a huge step in furthering

my academic career. Professor Young and Head of Department Jason Halford have encouraged me

to apply for University of Liverpool personal development and leadership training, which I hope

will provide me with the skills I need to effectively manage members of my new research team.

Professor Sally Sheard

My job is divided between the Department of Public Health and Policy in the Institute of

Psychology, Health and Society, and the Department of History, to help stimulate interdisciplinary

projects. I have spent most of my academic career at the University of Liverpool, and for twelve

years, while my two children were at primary school, I worked half-time. IPHS has been very

supportive of my career development, from allowing flexible-working to pump-priming some of

my research initiatives.

I am a health policy historian, with a specific focus on the political economy of public health, and

the interface between expert advisers and health policymakers, in the nineteenth and twentieth

centuries. As a historian, most of my research projects have not required large research teams. I

put effort instead into developing strong national and international collaborations, through

editorial roles, and on the scientific committee for a major EU thematic network project. These

have proved very useful as I have expanded my research areas. The annual PDR system with my

line manager has helped me with strategic planning, especially moving from solo research projects

to writing large grant applications

As a policy historian I particularly enjoy working with current policy makers at both local and

national levels. I collaborated with Sir Liam Donaldson (Chief Medical Officer for England 1999-

2010) on a joint book on the history of the CMO. I have provided historical context on emerging

health policy issues to the Department of Health and local health authorities, on such diverse

topics as changing staffing levels in the medical civil service to the risks of anthrax contamination

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on a proposed housing development site in Wigan. I have also sought opportunities to develop

media and public engagement work. In 2012, I co-wrote and presented a BBC 4 documentary

series Health Before the NHS, and I am currently planning a MOOC (massive open access online

learning course), which will support one of IPHS’s key strategies for increasing public engagement

with our research.

In particular, I have valued the informal mentoring provided by senior female academics, and I’m

really pleased to see that this has become an integral part of university life. When I applied for

promotion to a Readership and then to a personal Chair, discussions with Professor Margaret

Whitehead (IPHS Head of Department), helped me to see that I should also highlight my extra-

university (non-academic) roles as evidence of my leadership and management abilities – I have

served as a primary school Chair of Governors and on the Strategic Management Council of the

Liverpool Medical Institution. I also benefitted greatly from having mock interviews before going

to the promotion committees, and from attending networking events for senior female academics.

947 words

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IPHS Silver award Action plan A

ct

ion

Description of action Action already taken Further action planned Responsibility Timescale Outcome Measure

1. Postgraduate Research Students

1.1 Support for part-time PGR study whilst earning a part-time salary

Part-time psychology demonstrator posts, part-time IPHS studentships.

Expand IPHS support for part-time studentships alongside part-time Grade 6 posts. Advertise pre-doctoral (Grade 6) posts with part-time/job share options where feasible, to allow a self-funded part-time study option

Peter Kinderman (HoI) Sarah Gladwinfield (IPHS HR)

Increase number of Grade 6 staff registered as part-time PhD students to 20 by 2016, and 25 by 2017

Number of Grade 6 staff registered as part-time PGR students.

1.2 Initiatives to pursue doctoral fellowships which support students on a salary

Dept. Public Health and Policy strategy of pursuing certain doctoral fellowships.

IPHS strategy of pursuing doctoral fellowships which support students on a salary.

HoDs Jason Halford, Mark Gabbay, Margaret Whitehead

By 2017 submission of 10 external doctoral fellowship applications.

Number of doctoral fellowship applications.

1.3 Ensure a gender balance on PGR student interview panels

Interviews with PGR students experiencing recruitment interviews

Ensure at least one out of the three interviewers on all PGR interview panels is a woman.

Sarah Gladwinfield (IPHS HR)

By April 2016, 100% of PGR interview panels will have at least one woman.

Composition of PGR interview panels

2. Staff

2.1 Develop specific IPHS mentoring and career support for IPHS Research- Only (fixed-term contract) staff

Sub-group established to develop IPHS Researcher mentoring. Support written into IPHS strategic plan. Work with IPHS Researcher group and HR to develop structure

Develop mentor training material specific to IPHS, recruit and train IPHS mentors for this programme. IPHS mentors to train mentees.

AS SAT Structure completed by April 2016. All IPHS Researchers will have access to a 'Next Steps mentor' if they want one, by April 2017

Evaluation of IPHS mentoring and career support for IPHS Research-Only (fixed term contract researchers) staff

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2.2 Use role models of female fixed-term researchers who developed a sustainable academic career

Seminars by Professors in Public Health & Policy

Further seminars in Psychology and Health Services Research and web-based material on IPHS AS site

Jason Halford & Mark Gabbay (Head of Depts Psychology & Health Services Research),

By Jan 2017 Seminars held in Dept of Psychology and Dept of Health Services Research

Record of seminar events

2.3 Establish Tenure Track Fellowships for Post Doc researchers

IPHS Tenure Track Fellowships established

Widen availability of information on Tenure Track Fellowships. Strategically promote information on and applications to Fellowships.

HoI By April 2018 increase the number of Tenure Track Fellows to 8.

Number of IPHS Tenure Track Fellows

2.4 Investment in junior academic tenured posts rather than senior ones as staff retire

Strategy in IPHS strategic plan

Junior academic tenured posts advertised rather than senior ones as staff retire

HoI, HoDs By April 2018 an increase of 5 in the number of IPHS junior tenured positions.

Number of IPHS junior tenured positions.

2.5 Promote availability of formal mentoring for staff at all levels

Mentoring Lead appointed. Information on mentoring on IPHS AS webpages

Invite and train further female mentors and promote within IPHS website and through PDR

Kate Bennett (IPHS Mentoring Lead)

By December 2016 50% of IPHS staff will have a mentor. By April 2018 75% will have a mentor

IPHS staff survey. Proportion of IPHS staff with a mentor

2.6 Address the imbalance of women in Clinical posts

Public Health lectureship scheme, NIHR Clinical Academic Trainees scheme

As some of the current male Clinical Academic Professors retire, actively encourage women to apply for these posts

Institute Manager, HoDs and HoI

Percentage of female Clinical Professors to be raised from 15% to 30% by April 2017

Number of female Clinical professors relative to male.

2.7 Support staff at Grade 9 in career development to progress to Grade 10/management positions

IPHS financial support for women to attend the Aurora Leadership programme

Focus on supporting all Grade 9 staff. Expansion of IPHS training budget.

Institute Manager, HoDs and HoI

All Grade 9 academic staff will have had access to leadership training by April 2017

Training records and record of training funding

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3.0 Key transition points; appointments and promotions

3.1 Ensure a gender balance on recruitment interview panels

Monitoring of gender balance on recruitment committees

Ensure at least one interviewer is a woman on all interview panels.

Sarah Gladwinfield (IPHS HR)

By April 2016, 100% of interview panels will have at least one woman

Composition of interview panels for staff recruitment.

3.2 Ensure a gender balance in shortlisting processes

Monitoring of shortlisting process

Ensure at least one person shortlisting is a woman.

Sarah Gladwinfield (IPHS HR)

By April 2016, 100% of shortlisting involve at least one woman

Record of people involved in shortlisting

3.3 Investigate reasons for appointment and non-appointment by gender to Teaching and Research (T&R) posts

Monitoring by gender of success rates of applications

Summarise reasons for appointment and non-appointment by gender to Teaching and Research posts

Sarah Gladwinfield (IPHS HR)

By April 2016 (and then annually), summary of reasons for appointment and non-appointment report to AS SAT

Reasons for appointment and non-appointment by gender to T&R posts

4. Culture, Communication and Organisation 4.1 Extend the current formal

Equality and Diversity training requirements to all staff

Online Equity and Diversity training available to all IPHS staff online

Increase proportion of IPHS staff undertaking formal equality and diversity training

HoI and HoD Increase proportion of IPHS staff who have formal Equality and Diversity training to 50% by June 2015 and 80% by November 2015.

University HR Records of training completed by IPHS staff

4.2 Formalise the terms of reference, terms of office and process of identifying committee members to all IPHS committees

Data collection already in place and increase of females on committees achieved. Information on terms of references, and committee membership available to all staff on IPHS website

Increase the rotation of membership on committees by monitoring terms of office, and widen opportunities to serve on committees by formalising processes of recruitment.

Peter Kinderman HoI, Graham Pollard Institute Manager

April 2016 Terms of office of all committees and committee recruitment processes formalised

All IPHS staff are aware how committee representation is determined and the process of recruitment to all IPHS committees

4.3 Make processes for staff taking maternity/adoption leave more consistent across IPHS

Availability of information on IPHS family friendly policies

Develop a specific maternity handbook for IPHS staff, and a standard procedure

Sarah Gladwinfield (IPHS HR)

By April 2016 all staff taking maternity and adoption have a handbook

Handbook for staff taking maternity and adoption leave

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4.4 Make allocation of administrative workloads transparent

Availability of information on committee membership

Monitor, record and make available on the intranet, names of staff with significant administrative responsibilities. Review fairness of administrative workloads

Graham Pollard (Institute Manager)

By September 2015 information on main administrative responsibilities made available to all staff. Reviewed annually at SMT.

Intranet information

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Bronze award Action Plan with Progress log and Page reference in Silver award application

Act

ion

Description of action Action already taken Further action planned Responsibility Timescale Outcome Measure

Progress log and Page number reference Silver application

1 Baseline Data 1.1 Monitor gender balance of

staff at all grades and including PGR students

Data already collected Ensure gender balance of staff at higher grades and PGR students (lower grades already have higher proportions of female staff which reflects the favourable numbers of women entering the constituent disciplines).

Head of Institute Institute manager AS Lead

Ongoing over next 3 years

Report to AS team and Institute SMT.

COMPLETED Embedded into AS SAT activity. Upload data quarterly to AS VOCAL site, report to AS SAT and IPHS SMT. Pages 9-32

1.2 Monitor and increase gender balance on all institute and senior decision making committees and monitor and record female IPHS staff representation on external committees

Data collection already in place and to include data on female staff on external committees

Encourage female staff to consider appointment to institute and decision making committees

Head of Institute Institute manager AS Lead

Ongoing over 3 years

Increase number of female staff on institute and decision making committees

COMPLETED Embedded into IPHS processes Responsibility HoI and Institute Manager Proportion of females on committees increased Page 30-31

1.3 Monitor more closely reason for staff attrition

HR exit data collected Monitor data according to gender

Institute Human Resources Manager Head of Institute Institute manager

Ongoing over 3 years

Ensure more accurate and gender specific data on reasons for staff attrition

Exit questionnaire now used for IPHS leavers and interview offered. Summary to AS SAT Page 22

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1.4 Monitor pastoral roles and outreach roles of staff in relation to gender

Inclusion of data within PDR process

Monitor data according to gender

Institute Human Resources manager Head of Institute Institute manager

Ongoing over 3 years

Ensure pastoral and outreach roles for all staff are formally recorded and monitored

COMPLETED 2015 IPHS staff survey reviewed gender distribution of outreach & pastoral roles. Included in PDR workload review. Page 33, 34,37

2 Postgraduate Research Students 2.1 Monitor gender balance of

applications for PGR studentships

Data already collected Monitor according to gender Director of Postgraduate Research

Ongoing over 3 years

Ensure gender balance maintained and reported within PGR data

COMPLETED Embedded into AS SAT activity. Data uploaded quarterly to AS VOCAL site by Chris Hope AS SAT, report to AS SAT and IPHS SMT Page 12

2.2 Monitor experience and career destination of PGR students

Data collected via University PGR system

Monitor according to gender and Fulltime / Part time experience

Director of Postgraduate Studies

Ongoing over 3 years

Ensure experiences reported according to gender and whether PGR student FT/PT / monitor career destination of PGR students and need for career support

COMPLETED Data collected via University PGR system, and with form at ‘Intention to Submit’ stage Page 29

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2.3 Ensure all PGR students and supervisors are aware of Athena Swan

No current collation of this information

Ensure all PGR students are informed of Athena Swan within induction and also PGR Supervisors

Director of Postgraduate Studies AS Lead

To commence with next recruitment of PGR students

Whether PGR students were aware of Athena Swan to be included in annual review of PGR students

COMPLETED Student Induction & PGR supervisor training material embedded in PGR processes. Kathryn Abba (AS SAT). Page 14

3.0 Key transition points; appointments and promotions 3.1 Formalise IPHS mentoring

for female staff at all levels Already operating informally but requires formalising to ensure parity and equality for all staff who want mentoring

Invite and train further female mentors and promote within IPHS website

Institute Human Resources Manager AS lead Head of Institute

Mentors To be appointed and trained within 4 months and on-going

Monitoring of mentorship by AS team and HR manager – and feedback to IPHS SMT for corrective action

Sub-group established to develop IPHS Researcher mentoring. Support written into IPHS strategic plan. Work with IPHS Researcher group and HR to develop structure. Page 17, 26

3.2 Enhance information regarding promotions process within IPHS and PDR

Already in place however requires enhancement

Ensure all information regarding promotions system and process discussed within PDR and available on Website

Head of Institute Institute manager Human Resources manager Heads of Department

Commence within 3 months and ongoing for 3 years

Increase numbers of female IPHS staff applying and successfully obtaining promotion

COMPLETED Fact sheet, IPHS promotions process web information and Head of Institute podcast Page 17, 25, 28.

3.3 Retention of female academic staff ( including maternity leave)

Exit data in place however requires formalising

Ensure data collected by gender and that all staff receive exit interview from line manager

Institute Human Resources Manager Heads of Department Head of Institute

Commence within 3 months and on-going

Staff attrition monitored by gender and corrective action proposed where appropriate,

COMPLETED Exit questionnaire in with data summarised by gender and reported to AS SAT by Institute Manager with exit interviews offered. Page 34

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3.4 Recruitment and promotion of female academic staff

High numbers of female staff of grades 6 and 7 not currently translated to gender balance at senior levels

Promote Athena Swan and family friendly policies within IPHS adverts and Job descriptions and within internal PDR and promotion processes

Institute HR manager Heads of Department Head of Institute

Commence within 3 months and on-going

Increase in numbers of female academic staff at senior levels (clinical and non-clinical) within IPHS

AS logo and family friendly policies promoted in recruitment processes Increase in non-clinical academic staff at senior levels seen in line with AS activities Pages 16-17, 24-25

3.5 Monitor composition of IPHS appointments committees with view to gender

Although HR data is collected on composition of appointment committees this is following recruitment

Ensure female academic staff are recruited onto appointment committees

Institute Human Resources manager Head of Institute AS Lead

Within 3 months and on-going

To be monitored 3 monthly and reported to IPHS SMT for corrective action where necessary

Appointment committees to be gender balanced Page 25, 28, 30

4. Culture, Communication and Organisation 4.1 To promote and publicise

IPHS and University policy on flexible working, special leave e.g. paternity / adoption leave and family friendly policies

All new staff to receive information and included on IPHS website

Promote information within IPHS website; via heads of department and HR

Institute Human Resources Manager Head of Institute Heads of Department

Within 3 months and on-going

To be monitored by AS Team and HR manager

COMPLETED All new staff to receive Athena SWAN information on induction as a handbook. Information also on IPHS AS web pages and Family Friendly policy leaflet distributed to staff. Page 28, 38