The inaugural CignetS Athena SWAN for Computer Science workshop will take place at the British Computer Society Headquarters on the 1st Floor of the Davidson Building (5 Southampton Street, London WC2E 7HA) from 10am to 4pm on Monday, 1 December 2014. The event is sponsored by the BCS Academy of Computing; the link to the event website is www.bcs.org/content/conEvent/8848, and the link for booking a place is events.bcs.org/book/1171. The agenda is attached below.
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CignetS
Athena Swan for Computer Science Workshop
1 December 2014
1000-1600 at BCS HQ
Sponsored by the BCS Academy
The enthusiastic engagement of Computer Science in Athena Swan is steadily removing barriers to the participation and advancement of women within our departments and is improving working conditions for all. 2013 in particular saw the largest number of Computer Science and related departments successfully achieve Athena Swan Bronze Awards. We are aware that many departments are considering engagement in Athena Swan and that current award holders wish to encourage and support them.
Experience of preparing Athena Swan applications varies a good deal between institutions and the challenges vary accordingly. We will provide practical advice that takes the level of institutional experience, expertise and support infrastructure into account.
Our workshop provides an opportunity for those new to Athena Swan and established award holders to exchange ideas and share best practice. Those already holding Bronze awards will also find encouragement and advice on making further progress.
Our workshop is intended to foster positive collaborative support and to help develop a Computer Science Athena Swan community.
Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
Venue: BCS, 1st Floor,
The Davidson Building
5 Southampton Street
London, WC2E 7HA
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Programme of the Workshop
1 December, 1000 – 1600
Morning session, 1000-1200
The 4 main speakers will speak for 15 minutes each with 10 minutes for questions.
1000-1015: Arrival, registration, refreshments.
1015-1020: John Clark (York) – introduction to the workshop.
1015-1040: Harri C Weeks (ECU) – past, present, future of Athena Swan; some statistics on awards; recommendations on Bronze versus Silver for first-time departmental entry, etc.
1040-1105: Peter Clarkson (Kent) – case study on how to manage an Athena Swan departmental application in a University with little experience or expertise in Athena Swan
1105-1110: Break
1110-1135: Jane Hillston (Edinburgh) – case study on how to manage an Athena Swan departmental application in a University with a lot of experience and expertise in Athena Swan
1135-1200: Caroline Wardle (UCL and Queen Mary) – a panelist’s viewpoint on good and bad practices in developing an application for an Athena Swan Bronze or Silver dept. award; reflections on the judging process.
All participants are invited to identify one or two aspects on which they would like advice and post-note them to a board during the morning. These notes will serve to inform the panel session and later discussions.
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1200-1300: Lunch and networking
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Afternoon session: 1300- 1600
These sessions will share ideas and experiences, allow issues identified earlier to be discussed, and provide further opportunities for networking.
1300-1400: Ideas we have found highly effective
A session where participants are invited to identify their top one or two Athena Swan related
ideas to improve CS Departments.
1400-1445: Discussion topics and panel
This session will be driven by the discussion topics identified earlier.
1445-1515: Refreshments and networking
1515-1600: Final session: The way forward for the CS Athena Swan Community
