Laurissa Tokarchuk and Nikos Tzevelekos, co-chairs of the EDI Committee talk about the Athena Swan application, new initiatives and how you can get involved.
In the last edition of the EECS Newsletter, we were very pleased to report that the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science Athena SWAN Bronze application was submitted 20 May 2020. The School is committed to providing a positive working environment where everyone can achieve their full potential irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation or disability.
We caught up with Laurissa Tokarchuk, Senior Lecturer, and Nikos Tzevelekos, Senior Lecturer, co-chairs of the EDI Committee about the application, new initiatives and how you can support this ongoing work.
How and why did you get involved with this application?
Laurissa: I am a senior lecturer in computer science. I first became interested in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) issues as an undergraduate student when I spent some time exploring the portrayal of men and women in video games. At the time, I was disappointed in my findings and the strong reactions these issues provoked. Unfortunately, little has changed since my undergraduate days and equal opportunity is not a “done deal”. I joined the EDI team to continue challenging and pushing both the opinions and structures around us to create a fairer and more inclusive society.
Nikos: I am a senior lecturer and programme coordinator for computer science. Male dominance in our field is so extensive that it made me wonder what is going on exactly and can I do something about it. What has been going on is a recurring discrimination against female talent. I would like to see this trend reversed and us making big steps as a School in eliminating inequalities.
What ideas/initiatives have you implemented to promote equal gender representation?
Two of the most important things over last couple years include the new parental plus policy and significant strides in workload allocation.
The Parental Plus Policy is to address the fact that parental leave periods can have a detrimental effect on academics’ careers. In addition to the normal QMUL entitlements, the School will be offering academics provisions to help them get back on track with their career.
The workload allocation initiative aims to capture all the types of “work” that academics do in a transparent and (as much as possible) accessible way, ideally in one document. It builds on and complements SWARM, which unfortunately many colleagues do not trust yet.
Another key change has been that we include the chairs on Senior Management Team as observers/champions of gender diversity. A key example where this has been successful is when we suggested that tutor groups contain more than one woman.
How can we (the rest of the School) support and help to continue the work you have started?
It’s really easy – get involved with the Equalities Committee and look for opportunities to shift the balance. A great example is inviting more women to give talks.
Find out more about EDI within the School here: http://eecs.qmul.ac.uk/about-us/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/