IoA Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Activities

At the IoA, we are very serious about promoting equality and diversity in our working environment. As part of this we follow the principles of the Athena SWAN charter and the Institute of Physics' Project Juno.

Athena SWAN and Juno

The Athena SWAN Charter was established in 2005. Its initial objective was to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education and research. The scope of the charter was expanded in 2015 to include the arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law (AHSSBL), and in professional and support roles, and for trans staff and students. The charter now recognises work undertaken to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women.

The aim of Project Juno is to recognise and reward physics departments, schools, institutes and organisations that can demonstrate they have taken action to address gender equality in physics and to encourage better practice for all staff.

In 2017 we achieved Juno Practitioner status and we received an Athena SWAN bronze award . Below you can find more information about what we are doing to improve and sustain a workplace in which everyone can thrive.

Feedback on our award from the Athena SWAN panel. (PDF)

Useful links:

• Athena SWAN Charter 
• Project Juno code of practice

Code of Conduct

• Code of conduct (PDF)
• ED&I resources (PDF)

Our Action Plan and Annual Survey Results

​Our action plan was initially motivated by our first Athena SWAN bronze application and the responses to a questionnaire we sent to all staff and students in October/November 2016.

Read our full action plan (PDF)

This survey has been repeated every year and in 2019 there was a Culture and Communication Review at the IoA.

Survey and Review Summaries

• Read the summary of the 2016 survey results (PDF).
• Read the summary of the 2018 staff survey results (PDF)
• Read the summary of the 2019 staff survey results (PDF)
• Read about the 2019 IoA Culture and Communication Review (raven login)
• Resources regarding the results of the 2020 survey:
  • Read the Executive Summary of 2020 staff survey (PDF)
  • Watch the Presentation of the results of 2020 staff survey (raven login) or
  • View the slides of the Presentation (PDF)
  • Read the summary of the 2020 staff survey results (PDF)
• NEW Resources regarding the results of the 2021 survey:
  • Read the Executive Summary of 2021 staff survey (PDF)
  • View the slides of the Presentation (PDF)
  • Read the summary of the 2021 staff survey results (PDF) and with extended job categories (PDF)

IoA's Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee

Members of our large Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Committee represent all groups, and include females and males at all career stages: undergraduate, postgraduate student, postdoctoral research associate, public astronomer, academic faculty and administrators. Many of the committee members experience dual career family life including caring responsibility for elderly parents.

Amy Bonsor (Co-Chair, EDI Committee)

Nikku (Madhu) Madhusudhan (Co-Chair EDI Committee)

Ashley Worman (Secretary of the EDI Committee)

Diversity at the IoA

At the IoA we are proud to support people from all backgrounds and genders. You can read about the experiences of some of our staff and students on Selected Biographies page.

IoA in the public eye

The IoA aim​s to inspire members of the public from all backgrounds through our impressive outreach programme. We host both public observing nights and community group/school visits.