The School of Geographical Sciences is committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion for all our staff and students. We are delighted to have achieved an Athena SWAN Bronze Award in 2019. We believe this award recognises our continued commitment to ensuring that all staff and students can achieve their full potential and we value the diversity of thought, belief, and background in our community. We are committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment for our students and staff.

Geography is an inherently international and global discipline attracting people from all over the world, and as a result our department is very diverse. In the last few years, we have made progress regarding gender equity among our academic staff in senior roles by appointing more female professors and supporting female progression. We have also improved inclusivity at the recruitment stage. We have also focussed on improving the working environment for all staff, specifically by supporting flexible working, managing career breaks and flexible transitions back to work.

Despite our achievements in improving gender balance and encouraging an inclusive environment for people needing a flexible working pattern, we recognise that there is still progress to be made. We aim to improve participation from some underrepresented groups. This is particularly the case for minority ethnic diversity in our school. We are aware that this can only be changed by engaging more broadly with our community, which is now part of our long-term strategy involving outreach. We have therefore set an action plan for the next four years, where we address some the challenges facing the School. The School’s Equity and Diversity Committee oversees the implementation of our Athena SWAN action plan and leads new initiatives in response to current topics (e.g. Black Lives Matter movement, COVID-19 impact on equality for students and staff).

As a School, we are open to learn from our students and staff and we welcome feedback and suggestions on cultivating a positive, welcoming, and inclusive environment.