Athena Swan

Loughborough University aims to ensure gender equality in all of its activities. We are committed to the principles of the Athena SWAN charter through our actions to encourage representation, progression and success for all.

In particular, given our subject mix, we are taking action to encourage young women to study Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) subjects and pursue STEMM careers, especially those in engineering and the physical sciences. This loss of female talent is bad for women, bad for STEMM disciplines, bad for Higher Education, and bad for the economy and society.

Across academia,  female percentages decline significantly along the academic career ladder from PhD student to Professor, a phenomenon known as the ‘leaky pipeline’, even in those subjects that are popular with women at undergraduate and postgraduate level. We also recognise wider gender equality challenges including the decline in female representation amongst senior professional service staff and the underrepresentation of male students in subjects such as psychology and the arts.

At Loughborough, we recognise that we must do more and through our commitment to Athena SWAN, we are taking action to tackle gender inequalities and celebrate the success of everyone.