Athena Swan recognises a department’s commitment to gender equality, to understanding their own culture and context, to engaging with their communities and to committing to detailed and ambitious action plans in response to data and consultation.
NDORMS submitted an application for the Athena Swan Bronze Award in November 2013, and achieved this in 2014.
In 2015 NDORMS submitted and achieved the application for the Athena Swan Silver Award, which was renewed in 2018.
There are many initiatives within NDORMS that have helped us to achieve the Silver Award, and lots of people that have helped us to get there.
NDORMS Mediation Service
In 2022 we launched an internal Mediation Service. Led by Maria Granell Moreno and Isuara Thomas, the service helps to informally manage workplace conflicts and learn from them. The Mediation Service is open to staff and students who find themselves in conflict with another member of staff or student, and provides a confidential space and a chance to voice feelings and hear things from the other person’s perspective.
Mediation helps to improve our working environment and research culture by empowering individuals and teams to manage their conflicts efficiently, informally and constructively.
NDORMS will share the progress of the Mediation Service with the wider University and will potentially help to launch this in other departments.
Find out more about the Mediation Service.
NDORMS Taught MSc
The Taught MSc in Musculoskeletal Sciences is a part-time two-year course integrating orthopaedics and rheumatology. The vision is to train the future leaders in the field of musculoskeletal sciences.
In 2017 Professor Steph Dakin was appointed as the Director of Graduate Studies for the course. Since then, we have increased our efforts to balance the gender ratio and attract more female candidates to the course.
Working with the Communications Team, we have used social media to reach potential female students. We also ensure that women are represented on the course. The Course Director is female, as are several members of the Organising Committee, and we strive to have 50% on-course teaching materials contributed by women.