Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
<xx Authors> i
Table of Contents
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................................. iii
List of Tables .............................................................................................................................................................. iv
Glossary ..................................................................................................................................................................... vi
Letter of Endorsement ................................................................................................................................................ 1
2. The self-assessment process.................................................................................................................................... 3 (i) Self-assessment team (SAT) ......................................................................................................................... 3 (ii) Self-Assessment Process ......................................................................................................................... 7 (iii) Future of SAT .......................................................................................................................................... 8
3. Profile of the Institution and its Composition ........................................................................................................ 10 3.1 Brief description of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) .................................................................................... 10
(i) Teaching & Research Focus ....................................................................................................................... 11 (ii) Student profile ...................................................................................................................................... 14 (iii) Total number of Schools (Departments) in the Institution ..................................................................... 25 (iv) STEM Schools ........................................................................................................................................ 26 (v) STEM Schools as a proportion of Institute Total ..................................................................................... 28
3.2 Staff data ....................................................................................................................................................... 29
(i) Proportion of categories of staff by gender .................................................................................................... 29 (ii) Leavers by grade and gender 2015 – 2017 ............................................................................................. 33 (iii) Comparison of Contract Types .............................................................................................................. 34 (iv) Evidence from equal pay audits/reviews ............................................................................................... 36
4. Supporting and advancing women’s careers ........................................................................................................ 37 4.1 Key Career Transition Points ........................................................................................................................... 37
(i) Recruitment .............................................................................................................................................. 37 (ii) Induction .............................................................................................................................................. 41 (iii) Personal Development Review .............................................................................................................. 42 (iv) Promotion ............................................................................................................................................ 44 (v) Selection Committees ........................................................................................................................... 48
4.2 Career Development ....................................................................................................................................... 48 (i) Support to postdoctoral researchers for academic Career progression ...................................................... 48 (ii) Training ................................................................................................................................................ 50
4.3 Flexible Working and Managing Career Breaks ................................................................................................ 54 (i) Cover and support for maternity and adoption leave ................................................................................. 54 (ii) Maternity return rate ............................................................................................................................ 54 (iii) Paternity adoption and parental leave uptake ....................................................................................... 55 (iv) Flexible working .................................................................................................................................... 56
4.4 Organisation and Culture ............................................................................................................................... 57 (i) Proportion of Heads of School / Assistant Heads of School by Gender........................................................ 57 (ii) Gender balance on the senior management team at institution level .................................................... 59
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(iii) Representation of men and women on key institutional committees ..................................................... 61 (iv) Workload model ................................................................................................................................... 62 (v) Timing of Institution Meetings and Social Gatherings ............................................................................ 63 (vi) Visibility of Women as role models, outreach and engagement ............................................................. 64 (vii) Childcare .............................................................................................................................................. 67 (viii) Culture ................................................................................................................................................. 68 (ix) Outreach .............................................................................................................................................. 69 (x) HR policies ............................................................................................................................................ 74
5 Other Comments ................................................................................................................................................. 75
6 Action Plan .......................................................................................................................................................... 76
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List of Figures Figure 1: Reporting structure ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Figure 2: DIT’s Strategic Themes ................................................................................................................................ 10 Figure 3: DIT Teaching and Learning Strategy ............................................................................................................ 11 Figure 4: Strategic development of research in DIT ..................................................................................................... 12 Figure 5: Total enrolments DIT 2015 – 2017 ............................................................................................................... 14 Figure 6: DIT students by Level, Academic year 2016/2017 (%) ................................................................................... 14 Figure 7: Students (percentage) by course level v IOT and University sector 2016/2017 ............................................. 15 Figure 8: Gender breakdown of UG students (total and by STEM) ............................................................................... 16 Figure 9: Students at the School of Computing consultation workshop ....................................................................... 17 Figure 10: % F enrolments compared to Universities and IOTs by ISCED, 2017 ............................................................ 18 Figure 11: Taught postgraduate Student numbers ...................................................................................................... 20 Figure 12: Postgraduate research students................................................................................................................. 21 Figure 13: Proportion of female staff academic and professional ................................................................................ 24 Figure 14: DIT Schools ................................................................................................................................................ 25 Figure 15: Career Pipeline for all DIT .......................................................................................................................... 29 Figure 16: DIT STEM career pipeline ........................................................................................................................... 30 Figure 17: Teaching Grades DIT v IOT average ............................................................................................................ 31 Figure 18: Students and staff incl. management, IOT vs. DIT average 2015 – 2017. ..................................................... 32 Figure 19: What activities are most important for career advancement by gender mean. *p < .05 .............................. 42 Figure 20: Disproportionate responsibilities by Yes responses (%) .............................................................................. 43 Figure 21: What activities are most valued in your school by gender mean. *p < .05................................................... 43 Figure 22: Criteria for promotion ............................................................................................................................... 45 Figure 23: ECR career development framework .......................................................................................................... 49 Figure 24: Operations & Resource Committee and proposed sub-committee structure .............................................. 60 Figure 25: Supports that encourage applications for promotion ................................................................................. 67 Figure 26: Staff yes responses by gender (%). *p < .05 ................................................................................................ 68 Figure 27: Satisfaction by gender (means). *p < .05 ................................................................................................... 68
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List of Tables Table 1: SAT Team members 10F:7M (59%F) ................................................................................................................ 6 Table 2: Working Group composition ........................................................................................................................... 7 Table 3: Focus Group composition ............................................................................................................................... 8 Table 4: HEI Students by Level 2017 (percentage) ...................................................................................................... 15 Table 5: Gender breakdown of all UG students........................................................................................................... 15 Table 6: Undergraduate student profile by College 2015 – 2017 ................................................................................. 16 Table 7: Undergraduate students by ISCED Field of study, 2017 .................................................................................. 17 Table 8: Gender profile of Apprentice Numbers in DIT ................................................................................................ 18 Table 9: Apprentice numbers ..................................................................................................................................... 19 Table 10: Student enrolment in taught postgraduate programmes, by college ............................................................ 20 Table 11: Student enrolment in research postgraduate programmes, by college ........................................................ 21 Table 12: Academic and research grades .................................................................................................................... 22 Table 13: Total staff 2015 - 2017 ............................................................................................................................... 23 Table 14: Proportion of female staff across DIT academic v professional..................................................................... 24 Table 15: Female academic staff by College................................................................................................................ 24 Table 16: List and size of STEM Schools (CoEBE) ......................................................................................................... 26 Table 17: List and size of STEM Schools (CoSH) ........................................................................................................... 27 Table 18: Proportion of female v male staff across the Colleges.................................................................................. 28 Table 19: Proportion of all categories of staff by gender DIT (average 2015 – 2017) .................................................... 29 Table 20: Proportion of STEM staff by gender (Average for 2015 – 2017).................................................................... 30 Table 21: DIT all academic grades v IOT ...................................................................................................................... 31 Table 22: Academic Leavers 2015- 2017 ..................................................................................................................... 33 Table 23: Leavers Research staff ................................................................................................................................ 34 Table 24: Staff contract types All staff ........................................................................................................................ 35 Table 25: Staff contract types STEM academics .......................................................................................................... 35 Table 26: Gender breakdown of appointees AL recruitment ....................................................................................... 38 Table 27: Gender breakdown of appointees SLI recruitment ...................................................................................... 39 Table 28: Gender breakdown of appointees Academic managers ............................................................................... 40 Table 29: Staff attendees at Induction workshop ........................................................................................................ 41 Table 30: Line managers with UB training................................................................................................................... 42 Table 31: Progression panel outcomes. 2015 - 2017 ................................................................................................ 44 Table 32: Total promotions academic posts................................................................................................................ 46 Table 33: Total promotions SLI posts .......................................................................................................................... 46 Table 34: Total promotions SL II posts ........................................................................................................................ 47 Table 35: Total promotions SL III posts ....................................................................................................................... 47 Table 36: Postdoctoral researchers (2017) ................................................................................................................. 48 Table 37: Annual programmes November 2017 to April 2018 ..................................................................................... 50 Table 38: Leadership Development participation ........................................................................................................ 51 Table 39: No of mentors and mentees trained to date................................................................................................ 52 Table 40: Researcher Mentorship............................................................................................................................... 52 Table 41: New programmes for 2017 / 2018 to support DIT’s gender equality targets. ............................................... 52 Table 42: Nos attending Unconscious Bias face-to-face training .................................................................................. 52 Table 43: Maternity return rate 2015 to 2017 ............................................................................................................ 54 Table 44: Family leave taken between 2015 and 2017. ............................................................................................... 55 Table 45: Uptake of career breaks and job sharing ..................................................................................................... 56 Table 46: Proportion of Heads of School / College by gender all DIT ........................................................................... 57 Table 47: Proportion of Heads of School / College by gender (STEM only)................................................................... 57 Table 48: Rotation of staff posts ................................................................................................................................. 57
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Table 49: Cascade model of mandatory quotas, staff survey responses % ................................................................... 58 Table 50: Proportion of HOS and AHOS by School Dec 2017 ....................................................................................... 58 Table 51: Membership of DIT Governing Body ............................................................................................................ 59 Table 52: ORC membership May 2018 ........................................................................................................................ 61 Table 53: DIT ORC Sub-Committees ............................................................................................................................ 61 Table 54: Contractual hours for Academic contracts ................................................................................................... 62 Table 55: Allocations for common allowances for non-contact work........................................................................... 62 Table 56: Staff survey 2018 ........................................................................................................................................ 69 Table 57: Gender balance of staff taking part in CoSH Outreach ................................................................................. 71 Table 58: Public Engagement and Recruitment Committee membership .................................................................... 72 Table 59: Student Ambassador recruitment CoSH ...................................................................................................... 73
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Glossary All relevant terms and/or acronyms used in this report are listed below with their associated explanation.
Acronyms
AHoS Assistant Head of School AHSS Arts Humanities Social Sciences AL Assistant Lecturer AS Athena SWAN CERI Centre for Eye Research Ireland CMIS Timetabling systems CoAT College of Arts & Tourism CoB College of Business CoEBE College of Engineering & Built Environment CoSH College of Sciences & Health CPD Continued Professional Development DCU Dublin City University DIT Dublin Institute of Technology DITWIE DIT Women in Engineering group E&CS Engineering & Computer Science ECR Postdoctoral/Early Career Researcher Development Programme ECU Equality Challenge Unit EDI Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity Committee EEH Environment, Energy & Health EM&C Engineering, Manufacturing & Computing ESHI The Environmental Sustainability and Health Institute ESTeEM Equality in Science and Technology by Engaged Engineering Mentoring EU European Union FAQ Frequently asked questions GB Governing Body HE Higher Education HEA Higher Education Authority HEI Higher Education Institutions HoS Head of School HPAL Hourly Paid Assistant Lecturers HR Human Resources HRC Human Resources Committee ICD Irish Centre for Diversity ICMT Information, Communication & Media Technologies ICT Information and Communication Technology IoT Institute of Technology ISCED International Standard Classification of Education ITB Institute of Technology Blanchardstown ITT Institute of Technology Tallaght IWD International Womens Day JIM Group Joint Implementation Management Group NMD New Materials & Devices
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NUIM National University of Ireland, Maynooth ORC Operations and Resources Committee PDP Performance Development Plan PERC Public Engagement and Outreach Committees PMDS Performance Management & Development System REIS Research, Enterprise & Innovation Services RIA Royal Irish Academy S&M Science & Mathematics SAT Self-Assessment Team SCE Society, Culture & Enterprise SL1 Senior Lecturer II SLII Senior Lecturer II SLIII Senior Lecturer III STEM Science Technology Engineering Mathematics STEMM Science Technology Engineering Mathematics Medicine TCD Trinity College Dublin THEA Technological Higher Education Association ToR Terms of Reference TY Transition Year UB Unconscious Bias WAVES Women A Voice in Engineering Society WG Working Group WIE Women in Engineering WLHE Women Leaders in Higher Education
Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Átha Cliath, Gráinseach Ghormáin, Baile Átha Cliath 7, D07 H6K8, Éire
Dublin Institute of Technology, Grangegorman, Dublin 7, D07 H6K8, Ireland
t +353 1 402 3000 l [email protected] l www.dit.ie
OIFIG AN UACHTARÁIN / OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
Coláistí: Ealaíon & Turasóireacht l Gnó l Innealtóireachta & Timpeallacht Tógtha l Eolaíochtaí & Sláinte l Colleges: Arts & Tourism l Business l Engineering & Built Environment l Sciences & Health l
18 May 2018
Dr Ruth Gilligan Advance HE First Floor, Westminster Tower 3 Albert Embankment London SE1 7SP United Kingdom
Dear Dr. Gilligan,
I am writing to you with this sincerely considered re-application for an Athena SWAN Bronze Award.
Enabling our students, in all of their diversity, to realize their full potential is the raison d’être of Dublin Institute of Technology. Our employment practices need to be consistent with that objective and gender equality is an essential ingredient. All colleagues, irrespective of their gender, must be totally confident that DIT will prepare, support and enable them to reach their goals, just as they support our students.
At this moment in our development as an organization, surveys, data and colleagues’ lived experiences show us that this has not been the case for everyone.
To make it so, I am personally committed to eliminating any bias, presumption or stereotyping – whether overt or more insidious - that could lead to gender inequality. While recognizing that this requires a change in culture, I am implementing a number of fundamental changes in our policies and procedures which I believe will make a significant difference. We will measure the effectiveness of these changes and we will listen to colleagues’ views. If necessary, we will revisit the changes or introduce further more effective interventions.
Achieving and sustaining gender equality requires real leadership and significant, dedicated resources. To give effect to this, I am appointing a Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Reporting directly to me, this senior-most role will have equal standing with all other Directors and will build on the actions taken to date across all functions in DIT, to ensure equality from appointment practices to progression.
At this moment, eight of the nine Directors on the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) reporting to myself are male. This is partly a factor of our history but for this to change organically could take two generations. Therefore I have replaced the SLT with a wider Operations and Resources Committee (ORC) which is gender-balanced. Nine senior colleagues – eight women and one man – have been co-opted as equal members of the Committee. The ORC is the highest decision-making committee in DIT, and now all other committees will be gender balanced, with a minimum of 40% being chaired by women and by men.
In personally advocating and leading these changes I have of course encountered some opposition and complacency, but I have also encountered considerable support and encouragement. With the appointment of Ms Jean Cahill as Project Manager for Athena SWAN in DIT, combined with the excellent work of the SAT chaired by Professor Brian O’Neill, Director of Research, Enterprise and Innovation Services,
Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Átha Cliath, Gráinseach Ghormáin, Baile Átha Cliath 7, D07 H6K8, Éire
Dublin Institute of Technology, Grangegorman, Dublin 7, D07 H6K8, Ireland
t +353 1 402 3000 l [email protected] l www.dit.ie
OIFIG AN UACHTARÁIN / OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
Coláistí: Ealaíon & Turasóireacht l Gnó l Innealtóireachta & Timpeallacht Tógtha l Eolaíochtaí & Sláinte l Colleges: Arts & Tourism l Business l Engineering & Built Environment l Sciences & Health l
I feel that we are building the momentum that will drive real change. I believe our Action Plan demonstrates that momentum and our sincere commitment to its success. I would be grateful if you would please give positive consideration to our re-submission for the Athena SWAN Bronze Award. It would be timely and appropriate recognition of our deep commitment to gender equality in all that we do. Yours sincerely,
________________________ Professor Brian Norton President
[484 words]
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2. The self-assessment process
(i) Self-assessment team (SAT)
In 2015 DIT signed up to the Athena Swan Charter and established the SAT, chaired by the Director of Research, Enterprise and Innovation Professor Brian O’Neill. The first institutional Bronze award application was submitted in November 2016, which was not successful. An invitation to all DIT staff in February 2017 for expressions of interest to participate resulted in a reorganised SAT (Table 1, 10F:7M) that includes three members of the Operations & Resources Committee (ORC); a part-time PHD student; postdoctoral researcher; STEM academics; HR staff; administration and technical support; and Institute data managers. Five members had taken family leave or career breaks. Others include mentors and mentees, newly recruited staff and those with long careers in DIT. Two were AS panel observers, three had attended AS Department application workshops organised by Advance HE (AHE, formerly ECU). The Chair attended a National AS training workshop for HEI managers co-organised by Technological Higher Education Association (THEA) and is a Men Advocating Real Change (MARC) alumnus. The AHE were invited to deliver presentations to the SAT on four occasions, including feedback following the first submission.
Jean Cahill, DIT’s National AS Committee representative, was seconded from Research Support to project-manage this application and co-ordinate 4 working groups (WGs) established to focus on different aspects of the application process (Table 2).
The SAT currently reports to the Human Resources Committee (HRC), but this will change following the appointment of the Director of Equality Diversity & Inclusivity (EDI) and the establishment of a new EDI committee. The Chair provided monthly reports to HRC and the Senior Leadership team (Fig 1).
Figure 1: Reporting structure
President
HRC
SAT
EDI Health & Safety
Campus Planning
Directors group
ORC
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Photo Name Role Relevant Experience
Daniela Boehm, Postdoctoral Researcher, Bioplasma Research Group.
SAT member Workshop participant
Engineer; first DIT female awarded National Starting Investigator Grant – only funding programme to target female STEM researchers. Postgraduate supervisor; mentee
Paul Butler, Workplace Relations
SAT Member HR Management Leadership Team. Leads on Employee Relations and key contributor to HR strategy and Change initiatives.
Hugh J Byrne, Head of FOCAS Research Institute
Member WG 1
Workshop participant
Head of STEM Research Institute; Active in Research and Research Management for >30 years; Supervised ~40 PhDs to completion; Aurora Mentor;
Jean Cahill, Athena Swan Project Manager
Supporting 4 SAT working groups and managing application process.
National AS Committee member; EU Advisory Group on gender 2015/2016; STEM background; AS panel observer2015; family leave and agile working experience;
Claire Connell, Communications Specialist, Public Affairs
Chair of WG 4
Workshop participant
Communications to raise awareness for DIT research; PhD Ethnomusicology - explored Irish music in the US through lens of gender, race and power; Leadership programme participant.
Kevin Corbett ESHI Administrator
WG 4 Member; Workshop participant
Member of TU Dublin City Campus Forsa House Committee and of JIM Group for PMDS; first administrative staff member to be conferred with MPhil. Kevin's thesis was on the topic of performance management practice: has commenced 1st year of PhD by part-time study in TU Dublin.
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Michael Devereux, Dean College of Sciences & Health
SAT member STEM background; researcher; Directors Group member; previously Head of Department. Introduced gender-balanced core committees as platform to implement College Team Development Plan
Julie Dunne, Assistant Head of School, Food Science & Environmental Health,
Chair WG 2. Workshop participant
Recently promoted from Lecturer; Member of Academic Council; College Board; Science
Promotion and Recruitment Taskforce; AS panel observer 2016;
Gerald Farrell, Dean, College of Engineering & Built Environment.
SAT Member Co-author Royal Irish Academy “Fixing the leaky pipeline and retaining our talent” report 2017; Established Equality Committee in CoEBE; sponsored Aurora training for staff.
Eidin Finlay, Executive Assistant Professor Brian O’NeillDirector of Research, Enterprise and innovation Services
SAT administration; workshop participant
Senior Administrator, Project administrator, Event Management, licensed to interview, Experience of mentoring, Conflict resolution and counselling.
Paula Kelly, Lecturer, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,
SAT member; Cofounder of WAVES – society to support female engineering students; Volunteer tutor and facilitator in STEM Outreach activities including Roboslam. Active member of ESTeEM initiative.
Tara Kilkenny, Human Resources IS Manager
Co-Chair WG 1. Workshop participant
Developing new data management systems to improve data collection; contributing to HR strategy & change initiatives; was Project Manager for a Workplace Gender Equality Application in Australia 2014-2016.
Mary Kinahan, Assistant Lecturer, School of Management
Member WG 2; Managed and analysed the staff survey; Workshop participant
Lectures in HRM and Organisational Behaviour & Psychology; researches gender and leadership; Recently recruited and on progression pathway to lecturer
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Ashley O’Donoghue, Head of Staff Development
Chair of Management Forum
Overall responsibility for staff. Chair of Management Forum. Introduced Leadership Development. Mentorship and Unconscious Bias training to DIT.
Brian O’Neill, Director, Research, Enterprise & Innovation Service & Dean of the Graduate Research School
SAT Chair, member WG 2 and 3. Workshop participant
Ayesha O’Reilly, Data Reporting Officer, Strategic Services Development
Co-Chair WG 1. Workshop participant
Information analyst; MSc in Strategic Development: dissertation on ‘Work Life Conflict: A study of Academic and Administrative Staff in an Educational Institute’.
Melda Slattery, Head of Public Affairs, Office of the President.
Member WG 4
Workshop participant
Expertise in public and media relations; marketing and design; website development and social media.
Leslie Whyte, ICT Services
Member WG 1; Workshop participant
ICT expert working on a no of cross institute data projects. External consultancies: Knowledge Management, ICT strategic management industry initiatives
Table 1: SAT Team members 10F:7M (59%F)
Special Thanks to Mary Malone, Head of Human Resources
Has attended Men Advocating Real Change, (MARC) two day training programme and National AS training workshops for managers.
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Four working groups (WGs) were established as outlined in the Table below. SAT members chaired each WG and provided updates at SAT meetings; other staff who had expressed an interest in AS were invited to join a WG; the VP Education on DIT’s Students’ Union joined WG 4. A student representative will be appointed to the SAT in Q4 2018 (Action 2.4).
WG 1: Institutional Data.
WG 2: Staff Consultation
WG 3: Career development
WG 4: Communications & Engagement
Chair Ayesha O’Reilly (F) & Tara Kilkenny (F)
Julie Dunne (F). Ashley O’Donoghue (F)
Claire Connell (F).
Members SAT: Hugh Byrne (M) Leslie Whyte (M); Jean Cahill (F)
Non-SAT: Mark Russell (M) Research Analyst;
Conor McCague (M), Academic resourcing
(3F:4M)
SAT: Brian O’Neill (M); Mary Kinahan (F); Melda Slattery; Claire Connell; Jean Cahill (F) Hugh Byrne
Non-SAT:
Nicole O’Neill (F), CoSH, QA
Colm O’Kane CoEBE
Focus group facilitator: Dr Pauline Cullen (F) Sociology Department Maynooth University
(6F:3M)
SAT: Brian O’Neill (M); Jean Cahill (F);Kevin Corbett (M)
Non-SAT: Mary Malone (F) Head of HR; Margaret Whelan (F) Strategic Development Services; Conor McCague (M), Academic Resourcing;
(4F:3M)
SAT: Melda Slattery (F); Kevin Corbett (M); Paula Kelly (F); Jean Cahill (F)
Non-SAT: Leslie Shoemaker (F), Lecturer, CoEBE; Mary Scally (F) Student’s Union’; Pierre Yimbog (M) Education Officer, Student’s Union; Ciaran O’Leary (M), Outreach, CoSH; Mark Deegan, Outreach CoEBE; Barry Sheehan (M) Design CoAT; (6F:5M)
Objective Describe, collate, analyse data.
Benchmark against national data.
Provide data to other WGs
Staff consultation by staff survey and focus group discussion
Consult with relevant departments to identify actions to effect change.
Analyse data for recruitment, progression and promotion; family leave; career development programmes; decision-making committees.
Deliver communications plan to educate and inform staff about the AS application process and DIT’s commitment to gender equality; raise visibility of role models; research and analyse outreach activity
Table 2: Working Group composition
(ii) Self-Assessment Process
The process of preparing a new application commenced with a feedback consultation with the AHE in June 2017. The reorganised SAT devised a new project plan. Work packages were agreed and tasks were allocated to the WGs (Table 2). The SAT met every month and from September 2017 every two weeks. The working groups each had different meeting schedules designed around their work packages. An extensive review of HR policies was conducted by the Irish Centre for Diversity (ICD). This fed directly into the SAT process via the Head of HR. The Project Manager (PM) and a number of SAT members met with the ICD team and Head of HR on a number of occasions.
Dr Mary Kinahan, College of Business, quantitative social researcher on women and leadership, and WG2 colleagues led the staff survey, and reported findings to the SAT. A summary will be circulated to all staff. The
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survey was strongly supported by WG4 and 600 staff (37% of FTE) responded. A paper was submitted and will be presented at the 10th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education, in August.
Six focus groups were held (3 in 2016; 3 in 2018) to focus on progression and promotion and facilitated by an external gender expert .Just over 50 academic staff took part (Table 3).
Focus group 1 Focus group 2 Focus group 3
12 females working in STEM Colleges: 5 postdoc researchers; 7 Assistant lecturers / new starts
7 female STEM College Assistant Heads of School and one Head of School
2 female and 3 male STEM College Senior Lecturer 1
Focus group 4 Focus Group 5 Focus Group 6
7 Female SL1s: 4 STEM, 3 AHSS 8 SL1 Male: 7 STEM 1 AHSS 7 Female Assistant Heads of School: 4 STEM, 3 AHSS
Table 3: Focus Group composition
• The PM met with Academic and Professional Services Managers • Three workshops focusing on critical analysis of the data were organised. Participants included the
President, SAT members, WGs, and invited academics with relevant expertise. • A workshop on Action Planning was facilitated by Dr Sarah Fink from the AHE and attended by members
of the SAT and WGs. • In conjunction with the National Committee, DIT coordinated and hosted two national workshops on
developing key messages related to AS, attended by AS Managers and Presidents from across the Irish HEI sector.
• SAT members attended AS workshops for the IOT sector organised by THEA. • The findings and recommendations of the National Review of Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education
Institutions informed the process. DIT is also contributing to the Department of Education & Skills (DoES) Gender Task Force to progress implementation of the HEA recommendations.
• SAT members disseminated information to College Boards and School fora. • The President included regular updates on AS in his staff briefings across DIT’s campuses.
(iii) Future of SAT
The President has initiated the appointment of an EDI Director (Action 1.1). This role, reporting directly to the President, will work with all Heads of function to deliver the Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP). This Directorate will be fully resourced (Action 1.2) and supported by a new EDI Committee (Action 1.9). The SAT will report directly to this EDI Committee and will meet quarterly. DIT will support the development of 9 School AS applications over the lifetime of this GEAP. As part of this each College will establish a SAT to make School application plans (Action 2.1). Members of staff will be granted a workload allowance to support this important role (Action 4.20). The President has supported 10 SAT members to attend the Gender Equality in Higher Education Conference, August 2018. A seed fund for small research initiatives will be launched (Action 1.7).
[Total Section 2: 851 words]
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Action 1.1 Appoint a new EDI Director. Action 1.2 Establish a fully resourced EDI Directorate. Action 1.7 Launch a seed fund for gender related initiative. Action 1.9 Establish an EDI sub-committee of the ORC. Action 2.1 Support the development of 9 School applications. Action 2.3 Expand membership of the EDI Committee. Action 2.4 Expand SAT membership. Action 4.20 Agree a workload allowance for SAT membership.
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3. Profile of the Institution and its Composition 3.1 Brief description of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT)
DIT is the oldest and largest of 14 Institutes of Technology (IOTs) which make up the technological HE sector. IOTs differ from Universities in offering apprenticeship programmes and progression pathways through to PhD (explained in the sectoral guidance). The DIT Strategic Plan supports ‘purpose-driven and practice-based learning’ (Figure 2).
DIT has 19,729 students (40%F) registered across ~450 undergraduate, postgraduate, CPD, part-time and evening programmes. 59% are registered on Honours degree courses (Level 8). There are 9592 STEM students including the male dominated apprenticeship courses (27%F). Nearly 20% comes from outside Ireland.
Uniquely in the IOT sector, DIT has its own degree awarding powers. However, in common with other IOTs, has less autonomy than Universities. Staff have a much higher teaching load (~18 hours pw) and have an academic nationally defined career structure that, e.g., does not allow for rotation of management posts.
This application comes at a time of significant change for DIT as it works with partner IoTs, Blanchardstown (ITB) and Tallaght (ITT), to create Ireland’s first Technological University. DIT is also progressing the relocation to a new campus at Grangegorman. Diversity and inclusion lie at the heart of both of these initiatives.
Figure 2: DIT’s Strategic Themes
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(i) Teaching & Research Focus
DIT delivers industry-focussed technological education. It is the largest provider of Engineering education in Ireland. The Institute's Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy (Figure 3) incorporates diversity as a key theme.
Figure 3: DIT Teaching and Learning Strategy
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DIT’s research strategy focuses (Figure 4) on four themes: Environment, Energy & Health; Information, Communication & Media Technologies; New Materials & Devices; and Society, Culture & Enterprise. A funded programme to support research growth is captured in DIT’s Research Action Plan and includes activities to help mitigate barriers to research.
Figure 4: Strategic development of research in DIT
There are 2 STEM Research Institutes (FOCAS & ESHI), 19 research centres and a number of smaller research groups. The long-term vision is to establish four Research Institutes (Figure 4). DIT is also participates in a number of nationally-funded Technology Centres.
DIT’s Graduate Research School manages and supports research students; the Graduate Research Board is responsible for Quality Assurance. DIT Hothouse is responsible for the commercialisation of intellectual property and DIT’s business incubation programme.
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Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
14
(ii) Student profile
DIT has a total student enrolment of 19,953 (2017, HEA annual returns) or 10% of the national student cohort.
The majority of students in DIT are at Level 8 (59%) and Levels 6 and 7 (22%) (Figure 5/6).
Figure 5: Total enrolments DIT 2015 – 2017
Figure 6: DIT students by Level, Academic year 2016/2017 (%)
11,460
11,893 11,880
39%
7,369
40%
7,787
40%
7,764
-
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
2015 2016 2017
Male Female
Apprentice
5%
Level 6 & 7
22%
Level 8
59%
Level 9
12%
Level 10
2%
Breakdown of students by Programme DIT 2016/17
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
15
Compared to the rest of the technological sector DIT has a greater proportion of students at Levels 8-10.
However, DIT has a much higher proportion of students at Levels 6 and 7, including apprenticeship students
(Table 4).
2017 Student breakdown across programmes
Programme DIT % of total IOT average
% of total University average
% of total
Apprentice 815 5% 3313 4% 0 0%
Level 6 & 7 3914 22% 35663 40% 5681 5%
Level 8 10635 59% 43068 48% 83748 70%
Level 9 2180 12% 6879 8% 22900 19%
Level 10 448 2% 864 1% 7156 6%
Total 17992 100% 89787 100% 119485 100%
Table 4: HEI Students by Level 2017 (percentage)
Figure 7: Students (percentage) by course level v IOT and University sector 2016/2017
The proportion of female undergraduate students in DIT (43%) is similar to the IOT sector (45%) but lower than
the university average (55%) (Table 5). The proportion of female STEM students (by ISCED) (24%F) is also
similar to the IOT average (23%) but much lower than the university average (36%).
2017 DIT Universities Institutes of Technology
M F T M F T M F T Total Numbers 7,362 5,484 12,846 39,032 47,332 86,364 35,463 28,731 64,194
% M % F 57% 43%
45% 55%
55% 45%
STEM (by ISCED) 3761 1214 4975 14582 8296 22878 17166 5105 22271
% M % F 76% 24%
64% 36%
77% 23%
Table 5: Gender breakdown of all UG students
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Apprentice Level 6 & 7 Level 8 Level 9 Level 10
Breakdown by course level
% DIT
% IOT
% University
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
16
Figure 8: Gender breakdown of UG students (total and by STEM)
DIT has a lower percentage of female students compared to the HEI average, partly due to being the largest
provider of Engineering/apprentice education, where females are traditionally underrepresented.
Undergraduate Students by College
2015 2016 2017
F M Total %F F
M Total %F F M Total %F
CoEBE STEM 494 4059 4553 11% 640 4185 4825 13% 658 4449 5107 13%
CoSH STEM 1410 1623 3033 46% 1514 1696 3210 47% 1524 1651 3175 48%
CoAT AHSS 2786 2135 4921 57% 2901 2313 5214 56% 2816 2143 4959 57%
CoB AHSS 1532 2114 3646 42% 1553 2227 3780 41% 1613 2159 3772 43%
Total DIT 6222 9931 16153 39% 6608 10421 17029 39% 6611 10402 17013 39%
Table 6: Undergraduate student profile by College 2015 – 2017
The proportion of female students enrolled in CoEBE UG programmes (13% 2017) is lower than the Institute
average (39%). However, two courses have attracted more females include: Product Design (26%) and Computer
and Communications Engineering (30%).
Dr Susan McKeever, School of Computing, has conducted research with students on branding of programmes.
Where 10% of females selected BSc in Computer Science, 24% selected BSc Computer Science International and
28% chose Information Technology and Information Systems. A cross-HEI group of academics in Computing has
now been established to share best practice in programme promotion to increase gender balance in Computing.
A pilot initiative in CoEBE will also evaluate programme content and branding with low female participation
(Action 1.10). Action 1.11 will investigate the potential of developing more cross-disciplinary programmes to
increase female student participation in Engineering.
CoSH has a greater proportion of female students at undergraduate level, e.g. Schools of Food Science (72%F)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
M F M F M F
DIT Universities Institutes of
Technology
Gender balance
% M F all students
% M F STEM (by ISCED)
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
17
and Biological Sciences (80%F), though with lower numbers in the School of Computing (10 to 28%F). Within the
School of Physics, there are >70% females on clinical and optometric sciences courses and <15% females on
more mainstream physics courses.
Figure 9: Students at the School of Computing consultation workshop
Compared to other HEI sectors by field of study (ISCED), DIT female participation is similar to IOTs in each area
(Table 7). DIT has greater female representation in Natural Sciences, but lower representation for ICT and
Engineering than universities.
As the largest provider of Engineering education in the country with potential to make a large impact, DIT aims
to do better. Outreach initiatives aim to achieve better gender balance (see Section 4.4ix). A network of
student/graduate STEM Ambassadors will be established to help promote STEM careers to secondary school
students (Action 3.3.2).
2016/2017 DIT Universities Institutes of Technology
Field of Study
(ISCED)
M F Total %F M F T %F M F T %F
05 - Natural
sciences,
mathematics
and statistics
459 534 993 54% 6,155 5,978 12,133 49% 2,397 2,910 5,307 55%
06 - Information
and
Communication
Technologies
738 132 870 15% 3,194 689 3,883 18% 5,686 1,002 6,688 15%
07 -
Engineering,
manufacturing
and
construction
2,564 548 3,112 18% 5,233 1,629 6,862 24% 9,083 1,193 10,276 12%
Total STEM 3,761 1,214 4,975 24% 14,582 8,296 22,878 36% 17,166 5,105 22,271 23%
Table 7: Undergraduate students by ISCED Field of study, 2017
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
18
Figure 10: % F enrolments compared to Universities and IOTs by ISCED, 2017
Apprenticeships DIT is the largest provider of apprenticeship training in Ireland, traditionally almost exclusively male. Overall
numbers have increased with an improving economy (Table 8). Female participation remains extremely low,
both nationally and in DIT (<1%). CoEBE recently organised the ‘Young Women in Apprenticeships’ event in
partnership with the transport, electrical, engineering and construction sectors. This featured talks and seminars
by hiring employers and women in trades profession. A 12-week apprenticeship ‘taster’ course is now running
with 2 female students.
Apprentice Student Numbers
2014/15 2015/16 2016/2017 Male 687 697 811
Female 1 3 4
Total 688 700 815
F% <1% <1% <1%
Table 8: Gender profile of Apprentice Numbers in DIT
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
19
Apprentices are primarily in CoEBE but a small number of print apprentices are in CoAT (Table 9).
2016/17 Male Female Grand Total Dublin School of Creative Arts 15 1 16
Dublin School of Architecture 30 1 31
School Electric and Electronic Engineering 173
173
School Mechanical and Design Engineering 293 2 295
School Spatial Plan and Transport 300
300
Grand Total 811 4 815
2015/16 Male Female Grand Total Dublin School of Creative Arts 11 1 12
Dublin School of Architecture 37
37
School Electric and Electronic Engineering 145
145
School Mechanical and Design Engineering 246 1 247
School Spatial Plan and Transport 258 1 259
Grand Total 697 3 700
2014/15 Male Female Grand Total Dublin School of Creative Arts 13
13
Dublin School of Architecture 14
14
School Electric and Electronic Engineering 146 1 147
School Mechanical and Design Engineering 412
412
School Surveying and Construction 102
102
Grand Total 687 1 688
Table 9: Apprentice numbers
Postgraduate
The proportion of female postgraduate students in CoEBE (Table 10) is significantly higher than for
undergraduate programmes (24% for taught and research), although still substantially below the DIT average.
CoEBE postgraduate progammes that attract more female students include: Postgraduate Certificate Building
Performance (Energy Efficiency in Design) 32%F (2017); Master of Supply Chain Management 36%F (2017); and
Master Sustainable Development 56%F (2017). As part of the preparation for School Athena Swan applications,
UG and PG programmes will be assessed for linguistic gender-coding (Action 1.10).
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
20
Taught Postgraduate Students
2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017
F M Total %F F
M Total %F F M Total %F
CoEBE STEM 178 493 671 27% 149 423 572 26% 139 440 579 24%
CoSH STEM 158 182 340 46% 209 243 452 46% 196 248 444 44%
Total
STEM
336 675 1011 33% 358 666 1024 35% 335 688 1023 33%
CoAT AHSS 266 178 444 60% 246 170 416 59% 274 145 419 65%
CoB AHSS 400 491 891 45% 399 433 832 48% 428 351 779 55%
Total DIT 1002 1344 2346 43% 1003 1269 2272 44% 1037 1184 2221 47%
Table 10: Student enrolment in taught postgraduate programmes, by college
Figure 11: Taught postgraduate Student numbers
The proportion of female STEM research students (Table 11) is 39%. Although female participation in research
in CoSH has increased, the overall proportion has decreased from 56% to 49%. Although there is now good
gender balance, further decline must be avoided. CoEBE female research students increased from 21% to 24%.
Over the last 5 years, DIT has allocated significant supports to increase research activity. An external review of
the process of selection for postgraduate research students will be conducted informed by the ICD HR review
(Action 1.12).
27
%
46
%
60
%
45
%
43
%
26
%
46
%
59
%
48
%
44
%
24
%
44
%
65
%
55
%
47
%
C O E B E C O S H C O A T C O B T O T A L
Taught Postgraduate Students (%F)
2014/2015 %F (2014/2015) 2015/2016 %F (2015/2016)
2016/2017 %F (2016/2017)
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
21
Postgraduate Research Students
2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017
F M Total %F F
M Total %F F M Total %F
CoEBE STEM 19 71 90 21% 25 93 118 21% 27 85 112 24%
CoSH STEM 64 51 115 56% 78 84 162 48% 85 90 175 49%
Total
STEM
83 122 205 40% 103 177 280 37% 112 175 287 39%
CoAT AHSS 35 32 67 52% 61 58 119 51% 69 65 134 51%
CoB AHSS 27 31 58 47% 31 35 66 47% 35 39 74 47%
Total DIT 145 185 330 44% 195 270 465 42% 181 240 495 37%
Table 11: Student enrolment in research postgraduate programmes, by college
Figure 12: Postgraduate research students
21
%
56
%
52
%
47
%
44
%
21
%
48
%
51
%
47
%
42
%
24
%
49
%
51
%
47
%
37
%
C O E B E C O S H C O A T C O B T O T A L
Postgraduate Research Students (%F)
2014/2015 %F 2014/2015 2015/2016 %F 2015/2016 2016/2017 %F 2016/2017
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
22
Staff Profiles
DIT staff is categorised into Academic and Professional, Management and Support Services grades. Professional
Services includes librarians, technical staff and administration. Assistant Lecturer (Table 12) is the entry
academic grade with progression to Lecturer. Senior Lecturer I (SLI), a teaching grade, and the two School
management grades (SLII) and (SLIII), are permanent posts subject to open competition. SLII and SLIII posts
include Heads/Assistant Heads of School (see Section 4.4 i) and Heads of functions. Hourly Paid Academic staff
(HPALs) are specified purpose/fixed term contracts to cover family leave, specialist roles or permanent posts in
recruitment. There are small numbers of research staff mostly at postdoctoral research grade (see 4.1 ii).
Academic Grade Researcher grade
Senior Lecturer III / Head of School Senior Research Fellow
Senior Lecturer II/ Assistant Head of School Research Fellow
Senior Lecturer I (Teaching) Senior post-doctoral research
Lecturer (including legacy grades of Lecturer I
and Lecturer II)
Post-doctoral Researcher
Assistant Lecturer Research Assistant
Table 12: Academic and research grades
Action 1.10 Develop a pilot initiative in the CoEBE to evaluate programme content and branding of courses
with the greatest under-representation of females.
Action 1.11 Investigate the potential of developing more cross-disciplinary programmes to increase the
proportion of female student
Action 1.12 Review the process of recruitment and selection for postgraduate research students
Action 3.3.2 Recruit a network of industry ambassadors to reduce burden on underrepresented genders
Dublin Institute of Technology ATH
ENA SW
AN APPLICATIO
N
May 2018
23
FT
E
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5
De
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6
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c-1
7
Aca
de
mic
M
F
F%
Total
M
F F
%
Total M
F
F%
Total
De
an
s
6 0
0%
6
7 0
0%
7
4 1
20
%
5
SLIII
19 8
30
%
27 20
12 3
8%
32
17 9
35
%
26
SLII
41 22
35
%
63 48
26 3
5%
74
42 25
37
%
67
SLI
21 6
22
%
27 42
22 3
4%
64
42 26
38
%
68
Le
ctu
re
r
323.9 195.3
38
%
519.2 278.2
186.9 4
0%
465.1
278.5 186.2
40
%
464.6
Assis
ta
nt L
ectu
re
r
115.2 84.7
42
%
199.9 122
87.7 4
2%
209.7
138.4 96.7
41
%
235.2
To
ta
l Aca
de
mic
Ex H
PA
L
526.1 316
38
%
842.1 517.2
334.6 3
9%
851.8
521.9 343.9
40
%
865.8
HP
AL
13.5 11.8
47
%
25.3 14.6
21.7 6
0%
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26.6 18.4
41
%
45
To
ta
l Aca
de
mic
539.6
327.8 3
8%
867.4
531.8 356.3
40
%
888 548.5
362.3 4
0%
910.8
Pro
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ssio
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l Se
rv
ice
s
Pa
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ca
le w
ith
ma
xim
um
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ve
€7
0,0
00
28.6
29.6 5
1%
58.2
30.1 34
53
%
64.1 33.8
30.9 4
8%
64.7
Pa
y s
ca
le w
ith
ma
xim
um
po
int o
n o
r b
elo
w €
70
,00
0
301.2 336.1
53
%
637.3 282.6
305.9 5
2%
588.5
306.9 339.6
53
%
646.5
To
ta
l Pro
fe
ssio
na
l Se
rv
ice
s
329.8 365.7
53
%
695.5 312.7
339.9 5
2%
652.6
340.7 370.5
52
%
711.2
To
ta
l sta
ff
86
9.4
6
93
.4
44
%
15
63
8
44
.5
69
6.1
4
5%
1
54
1
88
9.2
7
32
.8
45
%
16
22
Table 13: Total staff 2015 - 2017
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
24
The total number of staff is 1622 (56% Academic/44% Professional services). The proportion of female staff has remained constant over three years for both cohorts (Table 14).
Staff % Female
2015 2016 2017
Academic 38% 30% 40%
HPAL 38% 39% 40%
Total academic 38% 40% 40%
Professional staff > €70k 51% 53% 48%
Professional staff < €70k 53% 52% 53%
Total Professional 53% 52% 52%
Total Staff 44% 45% 45%
Table 14: Proportion of female staff across DIT academic v professional
Figure 13: Proportion of female staff academic and professional
The proportion of female academic staff is balanced in two of the Colleges (CoAT, CoSH), slightly over-represented in CoB, but significantly under-represented in CoEBE (19%).
Female Academic staff (FTE)
College 2015 2015 2016 2016 2017 2017
CoAT 131 49% 133 50% 132 49%
CoB 68 53% 67 55% 77 56%
CEBE 54 18% 54 18% 58 19%
CoSH 90 46% 99 49% 103 49%
Table 15: Female academic staff by College
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2015 2016 2017
% fe
mal
e
Female % across grades
Total academic
Total Professional
Total Staff
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
25
(iii) Total number of Schools (Departments) in the Institution
There are 24 Schools in DIT: 13 STEM and 11 AHSS (Figure 14)
College of Sciences & Health (CoSH)
Biological Sciences
Chemical & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Computing
Food Science & Environmental Health
Mathematical Sciences
Physics and Optometric & Clinical Sciences
College of Engineering & Built Environment (CoEBE)
Dublin School of Architecture
Civil & Structural Engineering
Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Mechanical and Design Engineering
Multidisciplinary Technologies
Surveying & Construction Management
Transport Engineering, Environment and Planning
College of Arts & Tourism (CoAT)
Dublin School of Creative Arts
Culinary Arts and Food Technology
Hospitality Management and Tourism
Languages, Law and Social Sciences
Media
Music and Drama
College of Business (CoB)
Accounting and Finance
Graduate Business School
Management
Marketing
Retail and Services Management
Figure 14: DIT Schools
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
26
(iv) STEM Schools
The percentage of female staff in CoEBE is low (24%). Numbers have increased between 2015–2017 (Table 16).
Informal support by the Dean and female managers; establishment of a College Equality Committee; introduction of DIT Leadership and Aurora Leadership training and the Women Leaders in Higher Education
network have all contributed.
There are more female staff in CoSH Schools (overall 50%) (Table 17). The School of Computing has the lowest
proportion (30% female), although the numbers are increasing. Males are under-represented in Biological Sciences (38%) and Food Science & Environmental Health (33%).
Targeted measures are being introduced in under-represented areas including: HR recruitment/selection policies and advertisements to be checked for bias using an online gender decoder; new wording to be added
to advertisements to encourage females to apply; Candidate Briefs to highlight DIT’s flexible and agile working policies and family leave (Action 4.1).
The new competency framework for Heads of School will help existing staff to plan career development. New competency frameworks for all jobs are being developed (Action 4.15). The DIT mentorship programme is being
rolled out across the Institute (Action 4.3). Gender equality and unconscious bias has been incorporated into the current mandatory Licence to Interview programme. A refresher License to Interview course will be delivered to
400 staff already trained, reflecting recommendations of the external HR review (Action 4.2.1).
CoEBE 2015 2016 2017
School F M T F% F M T F% F M T F%
Civil Engineering 6 16 22 27% 8 13 21 38% 8 13 21 38%
Architecture 10 34 44 23% 11 35 46 23% 12 37 49 24%
Electrical & Electronic Eng
9 61 70 13% 8 61 69 12% 10 56 66 15%
Mechanical & Design Eng
8 57 65 12% 8 58 66 12% 9 58 66 13%
Multi-Disciplinary Technologies
7 13 20 35% 7 14 21 34% 6 13 19 32%
Spatial Planning & Transport
4 37 40 9% 4 38 42 10% 6 35 41 15%
Surveying & Construction
10 29 39 24% 9 30 39 22% 8 28 36 22%
Academic Staff 54 247 300 18% 55 249 304 18% 59 240 298 19%
College Mgt 1 4 5 20% 0 4 4 0% 0 4 4 0%
College Admin 25 4 28 87% 22 5 27 83% 19 1 20 95%
Total Staff 80 255 333 24% 77 258 335 23% 78 245 322 24%
Table 16: List and size of STEM Schools (CoEBE)
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
27
CoSH 2015 2016 2017
School F M T F% F M T F% F M T F%
Biological Sciences 18 11 29 61% 19 12 31 61% 20 12 32 62%
Chemical & Pharmaceutical Sciences
15 13 27 54% 16 9 24 65% 17 12 29 59%
Computing 12 31 43 28% 14 31 45 31% 15 35 50 30%
Food Science & Environmental Health
17 15 32 54% 19 14 33 58% 23 11 34 67%
Mathematical Sciences
7 13 20 35% 7 13 20 35% 8 13 21 38%
Physics & Clinical & Optometric Sciences
19 18 37 52% 22 19 41 53% 19 19 39 50%
Academic Staff 90 105 195 46% 99 104 203 49% 103 106 209 49%
College Mgt 3 5 8 38% 3 6 9 33% 1 4 5 20%
College Admin 0 5 15 68% 4 1 5 80% 3 1 4 75%
Total 91 111 211 43% 104 105 208 50% 106 107 214 50%
Table 17: List and size of STEM Schools (CoSH)
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
28
(v) STEM Schools as a proportion of Institute Total
Non STEM STEM
CoAT CoB CoEBE CoSH
2015 2016 2017 2015 2016 2017 2015 2016 2017 2015 2016 2017
Female 131 133 132 68 67 77 54 54 58 90 99 103
Male 137 135 138 60 54 60 251 253 244 105 104 106
Total 268 267 270 128 121 137 305 307 302 195 203 209
Female %
49% 50% 49% 53% 55% 56% 18% 18% 19% 46% 49% 49%
Table 18: Proportion of female v male staff across the Colleges
STEM staff comprise 56% of total staff (Table 18) in the Institute (2017).
Action 4.1 Implement recommendations of the external review of recruitment and selection policies.
Action 4.2.1 Revise the programme of training delivered to staff who play a role in recruitment and selection to reflect the recommendations of the external review.
Action 4.3 Extend DIT Mentorship programme across the Institute Action 4.15 Develop competency-based framework for each role within DIT.
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
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3.2 Staff data
(i) Proportion of categories of staff by gender
Overall the gender balance is good and is consistent across the levels. There is however a greater proportion of male students and staff from undergraduate to Director (Table 19 Fig 15). There are currently 8 male and 1
female Directors. Actions to address this include: revision of all HR recruitment and selection policies (Action 4.1); shortlisting an equal number of men and women for all new President & Director posts (Action 1.5).
Academic Career Pipeline all DIT Female % Male % Female Male Total
Undergraduate 39% 61% 6,611 10,402 17,013
Post Graduate Taught 44% 56% 1,153 1,478 2,631
Postgraduate Research 40% 60% 174 232 405
Total Students 40% 60% 7,764 11,880 19,644
Assistant Lecturer 41% 59% 115 165 280
Lecturer 40% 60% 186 278 465
Senior Lecturer 1 38% 62% 26 42 68
Senior Lecturer 2 37% 63% 25 42 67
Senior Lecturer 3 35% 65% 9 17 26
Director 20% 80% 1 4 5
Table 19: Proportion of all categories of staff by gender DIT (average 2015 – 2017)
Figure 15: Career Pipeline for all DIT
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
Undergr
aduat
e
Post Gra
duate T
augh
t
Postgra
duate R
esear
ch
Assist
ant L
ecture
r
Lectu
rer
Senior L
ecture
r 1
Senior L
ecture
r 2
Senior L
ecture
r 3
Directo
r
DIT pipeline
Female %
Male %
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
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STEM Academic Career Pipeline Female % Male % Female Male Total
Undergraduate 26% 74% 2,182 6,100 8,282
Post Graduate 34% 66% 343 676 1019
Postgraduate Research 38% 51% 99 158 257
Total Students 27% 73% 2,605 6,907 9,512
Assistant Lecturer 34% 66% 52 101 153
Lecturer 27% 73% 72 200 272
Senior Lecturer 1 33% 67% 11 23 34
Senior Lecturer 2 41% 59% 11 16 27
Senior Lecturer 3 27% 73% 6 16 22
Director 0% 100% 0 2 2
Table 20: Proportion of STEM staff by gender (Average for 2015 – 2017)
Figure 16: DIT STEM career pipeline
The gender gap in STEM Lecturer grades (Figure 16) is being addressed through actions to ensure clarity around
the progression process as highlighted in focus groups (Action 4.11 – 4.14).
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
Undergr
aduat
e
Post Gra
duate
Postgra
duate R
esear
ch
Assist
ant L
ecture
r
Lectu
rer
Senior L
ecture
r 1
Senior L
ecture
r 2
Senior L
ecture
r 3
Directo
r
STEM pipeline
Female %
Male %
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
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Figure 17: Teaching Grades DIT v IOT average
When benchmarked against the IOT sector (Figure 17), DIT has a slightly lower proportion of females, but the
IOT sector exhibits more of a leaky pipeline.
Female IOT Male IOT Female DIT Male DIT
Undergrad 43% 57% 39% 61%
Postgrad 45% 55% 44% 56%
AL 49% 51% 41% 59%
L 45% 55% 40% 60%
SLI 30% 70% 38% 62%
SLII 38% 62% 37% 63%
SLIII 29% 71% 35% 65%
Table 21: DIT all academic grades v IOT
Undergraduate Post GraduateAssistantLecturer
LecturerSenior Lecturer
1
DIT Female % 39% 44% 41% 40% 38%
DIT Male % 61% 56% 59% 60% 62%
IOT Female % 43% 45% 50% 43% 31%
IOT Male % 57% 55% 50% 57% 69%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Gen
der
%DIT vs. IOT average
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
32
Figure 18: Students and staff incl. management, IOT vs. DIT average 2015 – 2017.
Figure 18 shows the IOT sector has consistently higher percentages of females at lower grades, but DIT has more
female staff in higher grades. DIT has proposed a number of changes to tackle the gender gap along the whole pipeline from student to Director/Dean. Appointment of the EDI Director is a key priority in the Action Plan
(Action 1.1).
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
UG PG AL L SLI SLII SLIII
DIT vs. IOT all academic
Female IOT
Male IOT
Female DIT
Male DIT
Action 1.5 Equal numbers of female and male candidates will be shortlisted for all Directors and President
roles; successful candidates will have demonstrable gender equality experience Action 4.1 All recommendations of the HR review will be implemented in full
Action 4.11 Review progression and promotion processes Action 4.12 Develop and roll out progression workshops for Assistant Lecturers.
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
33
(ii) Leavers by grade and gender 2015 – 2017
Academic staff Gender
College Leaving Code and Description F M TOTAL CoAT - None 3 4 7
1 - Contract Ended 1
1
11 - Career Break 1 1 2
4 - Voluntary (Early) Retirement 8 4 12
5 - Ill-Health Retirement 2
2
6 - Compulsory Retirement 4 11 15
8 - Resignation 1 3 4
9 - Other 5 3 8
Total 25 26 51 CoB -
1 1
1 - Contract Ended 1 1 2
11 - Career Break 1 1 2
4 - Voluntary (Early) Retirement 2 2 4
5 - Ill-Health Retirement
1 1
6 - Compulsory Retirement 1 14 15
8 - Resignation 2 2 4
9 - Other 1
1
Total 8 22 30 CoEBE - None
2 2
1 - Contract Ended 1 1 2
11 - Career Break 1
1
4 - Voluntary (Early) Retirement 1 20 21
5 - Ill-Health Retirement 1
1
6 - Compulsory Retirement
10 10
8 - Resignation 2 5 7
Total 6 38 44 CoSH - None
1 - Contract Ended 1 3 4
11 - Career Break
1 1
4 - Voluntary (Early) Retirement 1 2 3
5 - Ill-Health Retirement 1 1 2
6 - Compulsory Retirement 1 1 2
8 - Resignation 2 2 4
9 - Other 1 2 3
Total 7 12 19 Grand Total 46 99 145
Table 22: Academic Leavers 2015- 2017
Retirement and end of contract (Table 22) accounted for the majority of academic staff who left DIT between 2015 and 2017. A small number of staff (19) resigned their posts, 33% of whom were women. No formalised exit
interviews were conducted but this is now a key action (Action 4.10).
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
34
Research staff Gender
College Leaving Code and Description
Female Male Total
Arts & Tourism 8 - Resignation 3 3
CoAT Total 3 3
Business 1 - Contract Ended 1 1
8 - Resignation 1
1
CoB Total 2 2
Engineering and Built Environment 1 - Contract Ended 2 8 10
8 - Resignation 1 1 2
CoEBE Total 3 9 12
Sciences & Health - 1 1
1 - Contract Ended 5 5 10
8 - Resignation 6 9 15
CoSH Total 11 15 26
Grand Total 16 29 45
Table 23: Leavers Research staff
The majority of research staff (Table 23) leave at the end of their contract. Formalised exit interviews will also be introduced for research staff (Action 4.10). DIT has also formalised researcher development to provide better
career development support and a senior manager has now been appointed full-time to deliver this (Action 4.17)
(iii) Comparison of Contract Types
Pursuant to Institute policy, the vast majority of staff are on permanent contracts (Table 24). Research staff tend to be on fixed term contracts commensurate with funding. There are no zero hour contracts in DIT. Some HPALs
have a Contract of Indefinite Duration (CID) for the hours they deliver and may compete for whole-time AL roles as they arise.
When a permanent full-time AL post becomes vacant, it is advertised internally first and all eligible fixed term staff can compete before the post is externally advertised. There is no gender difference in the percentage of
staff on contracts.
Adjunct posts are non-remunerated visiting positions.
Action 4.10 Introduce a formalised exit interviews process for all staff leaving DIT
Action 4.17 Deliver Early Career Researcher (ECR) Development Programme
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
35
Permanent Contract
STEM 2015 2016 2017 2015 2016 2017
Female 121 135 143 31 30 33
Male 328 333 328 37 33 36
Female %
27% 29% 30% 46% 48% 48%
Male % 73% 71% 70% 54% 52% 52%
Table 24: Staff contract types All staff
Permanent Contract
All academic
2015 2016 2017 2015 2016 2017
Female 324 345 359 53 44 52
Male 537 534 529 55 48 57
Female % 38% 39% 40% 49% 48% 48%
Male % 62% 61% 60% 51% 52% 52%
Table 25: Staff contract types STEM academics
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
36
(iv) Evidence from equal pay audits/reviews
DIT salary scales are determined and fixed by the Department of Education and Skills (DoES). Researcher salary
scales are also nationally agreed. There is little or no discretion to adjust starting salaries. All salary scales have automatic annual increments. The annual staff census records salary payments for professional staff. There was
no gender difference between those earning above and below €70,000 (Table 13).
[Total Section 3: 1487 words]
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
37
4. Supporting and advancing women’s careers 4.1 Key Career Transition Points
(i) Recruitment
Recruitment and selection is managed by the HR resourcing team. HR Business Partners support hiring managers locally.
The external review conducted by the ICD, together with DIT data, identified areas where the potential for gender bias needs to be addressed including updated recruitment and selection processes, and improved data collection and equality monitoring (Action 4.1).
The review specifically recommended the design and implementation of competency frameworks for every job category (Action 4.15). Funding has been approved to support this Action. This will ensure objective criteria (knowledge, skills, and behaviours) are used to anchor the process from the design of an objective candidate brief with inclusive language, criteria used for shortlisting, the design and scoring of interview questions, and objective interview feedback for candidates. A competency framework for Heads of School (HoS) was approved in January 2017. The framework has been incorporated into the HoS Candidate Brief and performance review.
A new Recruitment and Selection policy is in development to provide greater clarity around recruitment processes.
To encourage more women to apply for jobs and promotion, the external reviewers recommended the inclusion of a number of statements in advertisements, emphasising DIT’s commitment to gender equality, and outlining family-friendly policies and flexible working options. A positive action statement will be used where a post is being advertised within Departments where females are under-represented, e.g. ‘Applications are particularly welcome from female applicants as women are currently under-represented in this School/in Leadership posts in the Institute’.
A process has been agreed with the HR business partners to support the hiring manager where either gender falls below 40% and will be piloted in CoEBE (Action 4.1).
The collation of recruitment data has proved challenging as most records to date are paper-based. The gender of applicants is not recorded until applicants are called to interview. However, for the purposes of this application, a 2-year sample of all academic recruitment data was compiled (Table 26. 27. 28) The data shows fewer females were called for interview in CoEBE at all grades although more were shortlisted and were successful in management recruitments.
A technology-led data management system will be introduced (Action 4.14) and a data management plan developed as part of this process. A HR-IS data manager has been appointed and an update of e-Recruit is planned for Q4 2018 to enable gender monitoring.
Action 4.1 Implement recommendations of the review of HR policies and procedures for all stages of the recruitment, selection and retention process.
Action 4.1.3 Develop a recruitment and selection policy
Action 4.14 Develop a Technology led data management system taking GDPR restrictions into account
Action 4.15 Develop competency-based frameworks for all grades
Dublin Institute of Technology ATH
ENA SW
AN APPLICATIO
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May 2018
38
A
ssis
tan
t Le
ctu
rer P
osts
Co
lleg
e N
o A
pp
lica
nts
No
ca
lled
for
Inte
rvie
w
Ma
le
Fe
ma
le
Ap
po
inte
es
Ma
le
Ap
po
inte
e
Fe
ma
le
% o
f Ap
plic
an
ts
ca
lled
wh
o a
re
Fe
ma
le
% o
f Su
cce
ssfu
l
Ap
plic
an
ts wh
o
are
Fe
ma
le
2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017
Scie
nce
an
d
He
alth
124
101
37
(57% F)
43 (47%
F)
15
23
22
20
5
4
4
5
59%
47%
44%
56%
En
gin
ee
ring
& B
uilt
En
viro
nm
en
t
64 98
33
(33% F)
43 (17%
F) 22
35 11
8 5
10 4
2 33%
17%
47%
17%
Arts
an
d
To
uris
m
144 228
40 (50%
F) 75 (55%
F) 20
34 20
41 7
10 7
11 50%
55%
50%
52%
Bu
sin
ess
147
224 63 (43%
F) 102 (41%
F)
36 58
27 42
12 12
7 12
43%
41%
37%
50%
Table 26: Gender breakdown of appointees AL recruitm
ent
Dublin Institute of Technology ATH
ENA SW
AN APPLICATIO
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May 2018
39
S
LI C
om
pe
tition
Co
lleg
e N
o A
pp
lica
nts
No
ca
lled
for
Inte
rvie
w
Ma
le
Fe
ma
le
Ma
le a
pp
oin
tee
s F
em
ale
ap
po
inte
es
% o
f Ap
plic
an
ts
ca
lled
wh
o a
re
Fe
ma
le
% o
f Su
cce
ssfu
l
Ap
plic
an
ts wh
o
are
Fe
ma
le
2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017
Scie
nce
an
d
He
alth
53
NA
34 (53%
NA
16
NA
18
NA
3
NA
3
NA
53%
NA
50%
NA
En
gin
ee
ring
& B
uilt
En
viro
nm
en
t
27 N
A 14 (0)
NA
13 N
A 1
NA
4 N
A 0
NA
7%
NA
0%
NA
Arts
an
d
To
uris
m
60 51
21 (43%)
21 12
10 9
10 5
4 2
4 43%
52%
29%
50%
Bu
sin
ess
147 11
59 (70%)
10 31
3 28
7 14
1 9
1 47%
70%
39%
50%
Table 27: Gender breakdown of appointees SLI recruitm
ent
Dublin Institute of Technology ATH
ENA SW
AN APPLICATIO
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May 2018
40
Co
lleg
e M
an
ag
em
en
t (SLII, S
LIII, D
ea
n) p
osts
Co
lleg
e N
o. O
f
Ap
plic
an
ts
No
ca
lled
for
Inte
rvie
w
Ma
le
Fe
ma
le
Ma
le A
pp
oin
tee
s F
em
ale
Ap
po
inte
es
% o
f Ap
plic
an
ts
ca
lled
wh
o a
re
Fe
ma
le
% o
f Su
cce
ssfu
l
Ap
plic
an
ts wh
o
are
Fe
ma
le
2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017 2016
2017
Scie
nce
an
d
He
alth
NA
18
NA
18
NA
11
NA
7
NA
4
NA
1
NA
36%
NA
20%
En
gin
ee
ring
& B
uilt
En
viro
nm
en
t
77 35
33 (38%)
24 24
18 9
6 7
4 4
0 38%
25%
36%
0%
Arts
an
d
To
uris
m
35 76
11 64%)
19 4
11 7
8 0
2 3
2 64%
42%
100%
50%
Bu
sin
ess
11 37
8 50%)
23 4
14 4
9 2
4 1
2 50%
39%
33%
33%
Table 28: Gender breakdown of appointees Academ
ic managers
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
<xx Authors> 41
(ii) Induction
The Staff Induction Policy details the compulsory Induction process for all staff, including responsibilities for line managers and HR. Funding has been approved for online Equality, Diversity & Unconscious Bias training for all new staff (Action 4.2.2).
Induction for new staff is organised 3 times per year (Table 29) and incorporates Dignity and Respect in the Workplace. An EDI pack will now be prepared for new recruits (Action 4.6). Workshops include a welcome from the President, information on career development, work-life balance supports, flexible working policies, the Employee Assistance Programme, mentoring, leadership development and fee-support for postgraduate qualifications.
There was no significant gender difference in attendance (Table 29). Low numbers of women from CoEBE attending induction reflect the small staff increase for that college.
A guide to AL progression will be made available to new academic staff with AL progression workshops within their first year (Action 4.12). The new Co-ordinator for Researcher Development delivers researcher induction to new Early Career Researchers (Action 4.17).
New Staff Induction January 2015 – December 2017
Total Numbers College Representation
Gender %F of total
All DIT 184 - 103 (56%)
CoSH 24 13% 16 (67%)
CoEBE 15 8% 3 (20%)
Table 29: Staff attendees at Induction workshop
Action 4.2.2 Develop online equality and diversity training and make it available to all staff. Action 4.6 Develop an EDI information pack for staff induction. Action 4.12 Develop and roll out progression workshops for Assistant Lecturers. Action 4.17 Develop an ECR career development programme
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
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(iii) Personal Development Review
All permanent and contract staff are entitled to a performance development review at least every 2 years. This is a nationally agreed process between management, staff and union representatives.
PMDS (Performance Management & Development System) training is provided for managers and staff so the process is open and fair. A PDP (Performance Development Plan) is agreed and sent to Staff Development to plan training events. Line manager training now includes a session on unconscious bias to understand how gender bias can influence performance feedback in recognition and attribution of achievement, self-image and self-efficacy as well as work allocation (Table 30).
PMDS participation rates are tracked monthly and reported to the President, ORC and HRC. Currently, researcher engagement with the PMDS process is low and will be embedded in the ECR programme (Action 4.19). A research representative has joined the Institute PMDS steering committee where Institutional targets are currently set at 70%.
Heads of Function Unconscious Bias Training April 2017-April 2018
STEM College Total Numbers College Representation
Gender %F
All Functions 89 - 46 (52%)
CoSH 14
16% 9 (64%)
CoEBE 18 20% 5 (28%)
Table 30: Line managers with UB training
In the staff survey, participants rated their perception of certain activities in relation to their career advancement. Significant gender differences were found. Women rated the following activities as important: Research; Industrial Engagement; Internationalisation; and Contribution to DIT. By contrast, men rated administrative activities as important for advancing their careers (Figure 19).
Figure 19: What activities are most important for career advancement by gender mean. *p < .05
Teaching Research Administration
PastoralCare
IndustrialEngageme
nt
Enabling,outreach
orknowledgetransfer
Internationalisation
ContributiontoDIT
Havinggood
work-lifebalance?
Male 3.46 4.52 3.21 2.72 3.8 3.7 3.63 3.7 3.46Female 3.6 4.7 2.93 2.8 4.1 3.9 3.95 3.93 3.6
1
2
3
4
5
1=VeryUnimportant5=Very
Important
Most important for advancing your career
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
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Figure 20: Disproportionate responsibilities by Yes responses (%)
Most respondents reported in the survey being given disproportionate responsibilities for administration (Figure 20). Overall research is perceived as being most valued in their school with women, more so than men, perceiving it as more valued by their school (Figure 21).
Figure 21: What activities are most valued in your school by gender mean. *p < .05
The survey results will inform the training for line managers and new workload models (Action 4.20) will remove perceptions of bias.
Teaching Research Administration
PastoralCare
IndustrialEngageme
nt
Enabling,outreachorknowledgetransfer
Internationalisation
ContributiontoDIT
Male 29% 8% 46% 9% 6% 5% 6% 12%Female 25% 8% 44% 14% 3% 2% 3% 11%
0%
100%
Do you feel you are given disproportionate responsibilities for any of the following?
Teaching Research Administration
PastoralCare
IndustrialEngageme
nt
Enabling,outreachorknowledgetransfer
Internationalisation
ContributiontoDIT
Male 3.69 3.96 3.48 3.28 3.95 3.44 3.69 3.61Female 3.86 4.38 3.29 3.31 3.98 3.61 3.71 3.55
1
2
3
4
5
1=N/A
2=StronglyDisagree5=StronglyAgree
Most valued by your school
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
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(iv) Promotion
Progression The only academic promotion pathway is progression from AL to L (Table 31). All other academic posts are filled by open competition. For progression, an evidence-based application is made to the DIT Progression Panel comprising three College Deans. In the period under review, the panel was not always gender balanced although the outcomes were. As a decision-making body, the progression panel will be required to have at least 40% of either gender (Action 1.3).
2015 2016 2017
M F M F M F
CoSH 3 3 3 6 1 2
CoEBE 2 2 2 2 2 1
COAT 3 6 2 5 2 2
CoB 1 3 1 3 0 2
Total successful 8 12 12 11 5 7
Total applications 10 17 14 16 7 10
Table 31: Progression panel outcomes. 2015 - 2017
The HR review identified the need for more formalised feedback for unsuccessful candidates. In the staff survey, 48% indicated they were unsure of AL to L progression processes. A progression workshop will be delivered each semester; a guide with FAQs will be produced and provided as part of induction. The policy will be updated annually to remove any gender bias in wording (Action 4.12).
The SLI Teaching post is considered a very desirable post. A limited number of SLI posts arose in this period due to retirement or resignation. However, no new SLI posts had been offered since between 2007 and 2015 due to national embargoes. In 2016, 60 new posts were made available, attracting 449 eligible applications. The recruitment process consisted of a two-stage process of shortlisting and interview using Institute-wide criteria.
Focus groups highlighted a number of issues with the process. There was strong support for a clear and transparent academic career pathway from AL to L and through to SL1, highlighting the lack of promotional opportunities. Currently, the career structure in IOTs is subject to national agreement. A sub-committee of the ORC will examine the potential for a new academic career path and work with THEA to lobby for change (Action 4.16).
Action 4.15 Develop a competency-based framework for all grades
Action 4.19 Increase the uptake of PMDS among researchers
Action 4.20 Establish a more transparent workload model
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
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Figure 22: Criteria for promotion
Academic management posts (SLII and SLIII)
With no rotation of posts currently, academic management grades are permanent appointments. During 2015-2017, two Head of School vacancies arose (Table 35). The ORC will explore the feasibility of rotating management posts to create more opportunities for leadership role (Action 4.16). There are more opportunities at AHoS level. The numbers of successful applications from women increased from 29% to 50% between 2015-17. In focus groups, a lack of clarity and consistency in AHoS roles was highlighted. Competency based frameworks are being developed for all roles and are agreed for HoS (Action 4.15).
Staff promotions are advertised to all staff by email. Applications are made via the online e-recruit portal. A Candidate Brief for each role outlines the knowledge, skills and behaviours required. Staff Development provides career development training to staff preparing applications for promotion and preparing for interview. The survey highlighted significant gender differences, with women (39.3%) more than men (28.9%) rating career advice as beneficial.
Teaching & Learning
Contribution to DIT (eg committee
work) L to SLI Promotion selection criteria
Research & Scholarship
Engagement International- isation
Action 4.12 Develop and roll out progression workshops for Assistant Lecturers. Action 4.15 Competency based framework to be developed for each role within DIT Action 4.16 A sub-committee of the ORC will investigate the potential for a new academic career path and rotation of posts
Dublin Institute of Technology ATHENA SWAN APPLICATION May 2018
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Promotions to Senior Lecturer I, II III Total No
2015 2016 2017
Number of promotions to these grades 7 60 21
Male 5 37 14
Female 2 23 7
Female % 29% 38% 33%
Number of qualified applications for the positions 23 481 75
Male 12 292 48
Female 11 189 27
Female % 48% 39% 36%
Number of qualified applicants external to DIT 3 6 10
Male 2 4 5
Female 1 2 5
Female % 33% 33% 50%
Table 32: Total promotions academic posts
SL1 Total No
2015 2016 2017
Number of promotions to these grades 0 49 13
Male 0 31 9
Female 0 18 4
Female % 37% 31%
Number of qualified applications for the positions 0 449 45
Male 0 277 31
Female 0 172 14
Female % 38% 31%
Number of qualified applicants external to DIT 0 0 0
Male 0 0 0
Female 0 0 0
Female %
Table 33: Total promotions SLI posts
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SLII AHoS Total No
2015 2016 2017
Number of promotions to these grades 7 11 6
Male 5 6 3
Female 2 5 3
Female % 29% 45% 50%
Number of qualified applications for the positions 23 32 21
Male 12 15 10
Female 11 17 11
Female % 48% 53% 52%
Number of qualified applicants external to DIT 3 6 10
Male 2 4 5
Female 1 2 5
Female % 33% 33% 50%
Table 34: Total promotions SL II posts
SLIII HoS Total No
2015 2016 2017
No of Promotions to these grades in the Institute 0 0 2
Male 0 0 2
Female 0 0 0
Female % 0%
Number of qualified applications for the positions 0 0 9
Male 0 0 7
Female 0 0 2
Female % 22%
Number of qualified applicants external to DIT 0 0 0
Male 0 0 0
Female 0 0 0
Table 35: Total promotions SL III posts
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(v) Selection Committees
All members of recruitment and selection boards must complete the “Licence to Interview Training”, updated in January 2017 to include unconscious bias in recruitment and selection. A further update to a “Licence to Recruit” programme is planned (Action 4.2.1).
Membership of selection boards is determined by statute and is outlined in the Institute’s Selection Procedures. The President may nominate alternatives to Directors to avoid overburdening of under-represented genders. Since January 2017, all selection and shortlisting boards must have at least 40% of either gender.
4.2 Career Development
(i) Support to postdoctoral researchers for academic Career progression
DIT offers a 5-year Fixed Term Specified Purpose contract to newly recruited postdoctoral research staff (Table 36), providing some of tenure once funding is available within their research group.
Male Female Total
Postdoc 12 10 (45%) 22
STEM 11 10 (48%) 21
Non-STEM 1 0 1
Table 36: Postdoctoral researchers (2017)
All staff training programmes are open to postdoctoral researchers. Research, Enterprise & Innovation Services (REIS) also runs a programme of training events and a staff member is assigned to provide proposal development support. In 2017, REIS funded School projects (€70k-€100k) to support research development. Two programmes included Researcher Mentoring and coaching for ECRs.
DIT recognises the need for a dedicated career development programme for ECRs. A Senior Manager has been appointed to develop a competency-based framework (Fig 23) and a career development programme for researchers (commencing September 2018) (Action 4.17). A Welcome Orientation is delivered to all new postdocs and a dedicated website has been developed. The DIT Mentorship programme (Action 4.3) is being extended to all researchers through the new Researcher Development Framework.
Action 4.3 A co-ordinated mentorship will be rolled out to all staff
Action 4.17 A new Postdoctoral/Early Career Researcher (ECR) Development Programme will be delivered to all ECRs
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DIT Researcher Development Framework: Core Competencies
Figure 23: ECR career development framework
Area A
Discipline/Disciplinary Skill
Specific:
• Disciplinary - knowledge of field, critical thinking, analysis, interpretation, etc.
• Research design, methods, techniques, tools, data management
• Creativity/Innovation • Research funding landscape (general and
discipline specific)
Area B
Engagement , Dissemination and Impact:
• Teaching • Supervising and mentoring • Societal/stakeholder/professional
network/media • Publication (academic and non-academic
audiences) • Commercialisation • Interdisciplinary awareness, knowledge and
skills
Area C
Professionalism:
• Ethics & Integrity • Equality & diversity • Health & Safety • HR/People management skills • Research governance, project and financial
management, and reporting
Area D
Personal/interpersonal skills:
• Professional and Career Self-management • Communication skills (e.g. interpersonal,
team, presentation, networking, digital tools)
• Team/ Leaderships skills • Writing (for academic and non-academic
audiences)
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(ii) Training The Staff Development website details all training which is also advertised through All-staff emails. Fee Waiver and Fee Support schemes are available up to PhD. In 2017, 1,370 participants attended 119 training and development workshops. However, gender was not recorded until November 2017. Overall, (Table 37) there is no significant gender difference in uptake. Significantly, more females (79%) than males (21%) attended well-being courses. Only 7% of participants at “Mental Health Training Working with Students in Distress” were male. A targeted approach to encourage more male engagement with pastoral duties to address overburdening female staff. (“Students in distress are being passed on from male colleagues” (female focus group participant).
Programme Total Female Male
DIT Policy 102 58 (57%) 44 (43%)
-PMDS for Managers
-PMDS for Staff
- Licence to Interview
- Child Protection
Good Practice 71 45 (63%) 26 (37%)
- Staff Induction-
Licence to Supervise Research Degrees
- Risk Management
- Minute Taking
-Dealing with Aggressive Students/Public
-Effective Meetings
Well-being 124 98 (79%) 26 (21%)
- DIT Well-being
Week
-Working with students in distress
-Understanding Young People’s Mental Health Jigsaw
-Managing your Mental Health SeeChange
- Mid Career
Financial Planning
Health & Safety Training 239 99 (41%) 140 (59%)
- Manual Handling
- Emergency First Aid
Total 536 300 (56%) 236 (44%)
Table 37: Annual programmes November 2017 to April 2018
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Programme No. Applicants F M
DIT Leadership Development Programme
Apr-17 30 (47%F) 10 (45%) 12 (55%)
Nov-17 38 (61% F) 16 (67%) 8 (33%)
Apr-18 21 (71%F) 15 (71%) 6 (29%)
Aurora Leadership Development Programme for Women
2014 Staff nominated by HoS 12 0
2015 19 12 0
2016 26 12 0
Table 38: Leadership Development participation
The DIT Leadership Development Programme (Table 38) was introduced in April 2017. It is open to all staff though places are limited. Leadership and management skills training is delivered by subject experts from across the HE sector. Modules include: Gender & Leadership in Higher Education, Managing Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, and Unconscious Bias. The proportion of female applicants is growing (45% to 71%). Accordingly, 10 places each are now reserved for men and women to maintain gender balance. Feedback has been consistently positive - over 90% of participants say that it helped them to address their leadership challenges and they would recommend the programme to a colleague. There is good participation from staff across STEM disciplines (CoSH 20%, CoEBE 12%, Research 9%) and the number of researchers attending is growing.
DIT sponsors 12 women annually to participate in the Aurora Leadership Development Programme for Women. There is consistently positive feedback from participants who identify personal and professional development; learning about barriers to career progression for women in in Higher Education; and expanding their professional network as key outcomes. Mentoring is a key component of the leadership programmes. Given staff survey and focus group feedback, highlighting the importance of mentoring for their own career progression, mentoring is now being extended
across DIT (Action 4.3) for which extra people resources have been approved (Action 4.4). There are now over 70 mentoring partnerships, including some with mentors from outside DIT (Table 39). Mentees identified broader organisation and sectoral knowledge; improved problem solving and decision making; and greater confidence as key outcomes.
Leadership programmes have had a positive impact on career progression. 23% (5) and 25% (6) of participants on the first two DIT Leadership Development Programmes, and 25% of the Aurora participants gained promotion within 4 months of completion.
A total of 89 heads of function have also already received face to face UB training (Table 42) (Action 4.22)
Aurora has helped me understand and act on what I can do for myself to help me move forward. Practically it has meant me reaching outside my usual comfort zone and being braver in my decision making. It has definitely helped me in my professional language and helped me understand what value I have as a leader .
Just being able to chat to someone in a structured way about challenges at work has been refreshing. It helps clear the mind and make decisions
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Mentee Male Female Mentor Male Female
107 31 29%) 76 (71%) 54 24 (44%) 30 (56%)
Table 39: No of mentors and mentees trained to date.
Staff development has developed mentoring partnerships in STEM Schools to support research growth (Table 40).
Mentee Male Female Mentor Male Female
CoEBE 9 5 4 Mentoring within that group
CoSH 9 2 7 7 4 3
Table 40: Researcher Mentorship
New Programmes for 2017 / 2018
Mentorship training being expanded Unconscious Bias Workshop for Managers
Working with students in distress
Career Development Preparing for Interview being adapted
Equality & Diversity Awareness Understanding Young People’s Mental Health Jigsaw
Effective Meetings Equality, Diversity & Unconscious Bias on-line training
Managing your Mental Health SeeChange
Training programme for all hiring managers on new recruitment and selection policies and update of Licence to recruit programme
Table 41: New programmes for 2017 / 2018 to support DIT’s gender equality targets.
Heads of Function Unconscious Bias Training April 2017-April 2018
STEM College Total Numbers College Representation
Gender %F
All Functions 89 - 46 (52%)
CoSH 14 16% 9 (64%)
CoEBE 18 20% 5 (28%)
Table 42: Nos attending Unconscious Bias face-to-face training
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Action 4.3 Develop and promote the DIT mentorship programme across the Institute Action 4.22 Develop mandatory online equality and diversity training Action 4.4 Provide additional resources to support staff training in career development, progression and mentorship.
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4.3 Flexible Working and Managing Career Breaks
(i) Cover and support for maternity and adoption leave
All female staff (including contract and research staff) are entitled to 26 consecutive weeks paid maternity leave and a further 16 weeks unpaid leave. HPALs do not have paid maternity leave but are entitled to the same leave time and State support. At the end of a lecturer’s maternity leave, she can take leave of absence without pay until the end of the academic year as well as 16 weeks additional unpaid maternity leave. National research funding agencies pay maternity leave top ups to researchers, extend grant periods and/or pay a supplemental grant to Institutions to allow them to bring in additional staff.
DIT Maternity, Adoptive and Parental Leave policies, support expectant parents to attend one set of ante-natal classes without loss of pay and breastfeeding mothers returning to work who have given birth within the previous 6 months, are entitled to time off work each day in order to breastfeed. Informal support such as flexible timetabling is provided for new parents within Schools and was praised in the focus group. However, a more formalised process will be considered in the development of an overall support programme. All academic staff who took maternity leave (Table 4.14) were replaced, generally by HPAL staff, using a fast track recruitment process.
(ii) Maternity return rate
There is an excellent maternity return rate for staff across DIT. In the 3-year period, only 1 staff member did not return to work. Two members left within 1 year of returning. Three females took the opportunity to go on career break. Exit interviews have not been formally conducted across DIT to date but will be introduced as one of the actions to inform DIT retention strategies (Action 4.10).
2015 2016 2017
Maternity Leave 58 46 47
Returned to work 57 46 44
Career break 0 0 3
Left after 6 months 1 0 0
Left after 1 year 1 0 0
Table 43: Maternity return rate 2015 to 2017
Action 4.5 Develop a support programme for staff going on and returning from maternity leave including the option of keep in touch days.
Action 4.10: Exit interviews will be conducted with all staff who resign their posts
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(iii) Paternity adoption and parental leave uptake
Type of Leave 2015 2016 2017
Female Male Female Male Female Male
Adoptive Leave 1 1 0 1 0 1
Parental Leave 49 5 49 8 59 11
Maternity Leave 58 0 46 0 47 0
Paternity Leave 0 17 0 13 0 16
Table 44: Family leave taken between 2015 and 2017.
A parent is entitled to take a total of 18 working weeks unpaid parental leave per eligible child up to age 13. There is a significant gender difference (Table 44) in the uptake of parental leave (F>M), although the number of males has more than doubled (2014-17).
Paid paternity leave is for a continuous period of two weeks taken up to 26 weeks after the birth. Neither the number of men who had children during this time nor the related percentage uptake is known. However, male respondents to the staff survey said they did not avail of it because they “could not afford it”, although it is paid. There were specific gender differences in how work-life balance was understood and experienced in focus groups, with male SLI post holders suggesting a relatively seamless fit between their post and obligations. HR roadshows will provide more information about the paternity/parental leave policies to encourage more men take-up (Action 4.1.5). An Institute action group will be established to develop a funded structure of family leave (Action 4.21).
Action 4.1.5 HR roadshows will be used to inform line managers about leave policies Action 4.21 An Action group to establish funded family leave will be established
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(iv) Flexible working
DIT offers a range of flexible working opportunities including flexi-time for Professional Services staff, (Core working hours 10.00 to 4pm), job sharing, and career breaks up to five years (Table 45). Informal flexible working practices for staff are also organised locally including timetabling teaching to suit carers and new parents and those with long commuting times; and having the flexibility to work at home. All policies are published on the website but a number of Actions have been agreed to improve communication (Action 4.1).
Overall, there is no gender difference between those who take career breaks but job sharing is primarily taken up by female professional services staff for family reasons.
Type of Leave 2015
2016
2017
Female Male Total Female Male Total Female Male Total
Career Break 20 (54%) 17 37 18 (51%) 17 35 17 (52%) 16 33
Job Sharing 30 (67%) 3 33 27 (96%) 1 34 31 (86%) 5 36
Table 45: Uptake of career breaks and job sharing
‘Agile Working' rather than 'Flexible Working' incorporates dimensions of time and place flexibility, but also involves doing work differently focusing on performance and outcomes. It can encourage women into and to remain with an organisation as their personal circumstances change and develop.
As part of the HR review, the need for a new Staff Retention Policy incorporating guidelines on all
flexible working options was identified.
Action 4.1 Implement all the recommendations of the HR review of policies and procedures
"DIT is committed to providing agile work practices where possible to enhance the work life balance of staff with caring responsibilities. The purpose of this policy is to help interested staff to understand the criteria and process of applying for, and receiving, agile working."
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4.4 Organisation and Culture
(i) Proportion of Heads of School / Assistant Heads of School by Gender
FTE DIT Dec-15 Dec-16 Dec-17
Academic M F Total % F M F Total % F M F Total % F
Head of School (SLIII) 16 6 22 38% 16 8 24 33% 15 7 22 32%
Assistant Head of School (SLII)
36 20 63 35% 26 18 44 41% 35 24 59 41%
Total 52 26 78 33% 42 26 68 38% 50 31 81 38%
Table 46: Proportion of Heads of School / College by gender all DIT
The proportion of female staff at AHoS level is 41% (Table 46) and 42% in STEM Schools. This meets Institute targets for gender balance (40% of either gender in leadership posts) though a number of targeted initiatives have already been outlined to bring about greater gender balance (see Section 3.1 (iv)).
FTE STEM Dec-15 Dec-16 Dec-17
Academic M F Total % F M F Total % F M F Total % F
Head of School (SLIII)
10 3 13 23% 10 3 13 23% 9 3 12 25%
Assistant Head of School (SLII)
21 10 31 32% 21 13 34 38% 19 14 33 42%
Total 31 13 44 30% 31 16 47 34% 28 17 45 38%
Table 47: Proportion of Heads of School / College by gender (STEM only)
The HoS level is much less balanced (Table 47) especially in STEM (2017 STEM 25% F / Total 32% F). Rotation of posts would bring about greater gender balance but currently there are few vacancies. However, staff feedback strongly supported rotation. A sub-committee of the ORC will be established to consider ways to implement this and to lobby for change nationally (Action 4.16).
Strongly agree Agree Unsure Disagree Strongly disagree
Should HoS posts be rotated?
49.6% 17.6% 21% 8.4% 3.4%
Table 48: Rotation of staff posts
The HR review proposed a flexible cascade model of recruitment for HoS positions (Action 4.9) where the number of shortlisted applicants will reflect the number of staff in the grade below. The staff survey gave a mixed response to the idea of quotas with 23% in favour and 25.3% against. Good communication on this topic will therefore be paramount.
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Support Partly Unsure Partly Not Not at all Other
Would you support mandatory quotas based on the flexible cascade model?
23% 19.9% 15.4% 4.2% 25.3% 11.8%
Table 49: Cascade model of mandatory quotas, staff survey responses %
An analysis by individual School (Table 50) shows there is only 1 female Head of School in CoEBE and 2 in COSH. There are 6/15 AHoS in CoEBE (29%) and 8/12 in CoSH (67%). This data will inform the development of a flexible cascade process.
As of 31/12/2017 Heads of School Assistant Heads of School
STEM Schools F M F% F M F% Entire Institution 7 15 32% 24 35 41% STEM 3 9 25% 14 19 42% Civil Engineering
1 1 1 50%
Dublin School Of Architecture 1
2 2 50% Electrical And Electronic Engineering
1
4 0%
Mechanical And Design Engineering
1 1 3 25% Multi Disciplinary Technologies
1 1 1 50%
Spatial Planning And Transport
1
1 2 33% Surveying And Construction
1
2 0%
Biological Sciences 1
1 1 50% Chemical And Pharmaceutical Sciences
1
1 1 50%
Computing 1
1 2 33% Food Science And Environmental Health
1 2
100%
Mathematical Sciences
1 2
100% Physics & Clinical & Optometric Sciences
1 1
100%
Entire Institution 7 15 32% 24 35 41% Non-Stem Schools 4 6 40% 10 16 38% Art Design And Print
1
1 0%
Conservatory Of Music And Drama 1
1 3 25% Culinary Arts And Food Technology
1
2 0%
Hospitality Mgmt. And Tourism
1 1 1 50% Languages, Law And Society
Post
vacant 1 2 33%
Media
1
2
100% Accounting And Finance 1
2
100%
Graduate Business
1
1
100% Management 1
1 2 33%
Marketing 1
1 3 25% Retail And Services
1
2 0%
Table 50: Proportion of HOS and AHOS by School Dec 2017
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(ii) Gender balance on the senior management team at institution level
Governing Body (GB) (35% female) has overall responsibility for managing the affairs of the Institute. Appointments are made according to the DIT Act (Table 51). GB is committed to addressing gender equality in the Institute; it has approved the recruitment of the EDI Director and establishment of an EDI sub-committee (ToRs to be approved at June 2018 meeting). External organisations have been asked to consider gender in their nominations. Legislation for Technological University status sets out a new Governing Body structure with a requirement for gender balance.
Governing Body Membership
31-Dec-17
Position held Female Male
Chair 1
President of DIT 1
Members nominated by CDETB 2 4
Members nominated by DIT Academic Staff 1 1
Members nominated by DIT Non Academic Staff 1
Members nominated by Students Unions Members 1 1
Members nominated by Irish Congress of Trade Unions 1
Member nominated by University of Dublin 1
Members nominated by external Organisations recommended by the DIT Academic Council
1 4
Total 7 13
Table 51: Membership of DIT Governing Body
Action 4.9 Develop a flexible cascade model of gender quotas and pilot it for Head of School posts in STEM Colleges. Action 4.16 Establish a sub-committee of ORC to investigate the potential for rotating posts at HoS and to lobby Nationally for change
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Figure 24: Operations & Resource Committee and proposed sub-committee structure
The Directors Group (8M: 1F) is responsible for advising the President on strategic and major Institute development matters. The Operations & Resource Committee (Table 52, 10F:10M) is now the most senior executive team (Fig 24) responsible for all resource allocation, appointments and promotions.
The ORC will build greater gender balance into organisational decision-making and provide leadership opportunities to female staff on rotating one-year terms. A number of sub-committees will be convened, including a new EDI committee, and each of these will comprise at least 40% of either gender and at least 40% will be chaired by females.
The ORC will be supported to work effectively as a team with a facilitated training session by CATALYST on 18 May 2018.
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Membership of the ORC
President (Chair) M
Head - Graduate Business School M Head - Graduate Research School F
Director, & Dean - College of Sciences & Health M Director - Corporate Services M
Director, & Dean - College of Engineering & Built Environment M
Director - Academic Affairs, Digital & Learning Transformation M
Director - Campus Services & Relocation M Director, & Dean - College of Arts & Tourism M
Chief Information Officer F Director - Student Development M
Head - Dublin School of Arhcitecture F Director, Research, Enterprise and Innovation M
Head - School of Biological Sciences F Head - Student Administration F
Director, & Dean - College of Business F Head - Public Affairs F
Head - Human Resources F Head - Strategic Development F
Head - Conservatory of Music & Drama F Manager - Campus Services & Relocation
Table 52: ORC membership May 2018
(iii) Representation of men and women on key institutional committees
Currently the gender balance of all key decision-making committees except one is gender balanced (Table 53). All committees are now required to address gender balance (Action 1.3). Starting at the highest level and cascading down through the organisation, committees are being reconstituted to have at least 40% of either gender (Table 53). In all cases, flexibility will be allowed to avoid over-burdening under-represented genders. The Leadership Teams of Colleges and Professional Services, and sub-committees, will follow this approach.
In addition, at least 40% of the chairs of key decision-making bodies (concerned with resource-allocation, appointments and promotions) will be of each gender. It is expected that over a three-year period the ratio will be 50:50.
Female Male
Human Resources Committee 11 (46%) 13 (54%)
Academic & Research Committee 7 (44%) 9 (56%)
Campus Development Committee 10 (67%) 5 (33%)
Health & Safety Committee 4 (50%) 4 (50%)
Table 53: DIT ORC Sub-Committees
Action 1.3 Review and reorganise executive structures to ensure all decision-making bodies consist of at least 40% women and at least 40% men.
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(iv) Workload model
All academic staff are contractually required to teach a set number of contact hours, agreed nationally (Table 54).
Hours per annum Hours per week*
AL 630 18**
L/SLI 560 16**
Table 54: Contractual hours for Academic contracts
*Based on a 35-week year **Can vary ±2 per week with agreement of staff member and is weighted at 1.5 for contact teaching after 6pm
In DIT, work allocation is strictly managed and transparently recorded through the CMIS timetabling system. Time-tabling guidelines are provided to managers to ensure consistency of allocation with common allowances for non-contact activities (Table 55)
Non-contact Work Allowance
Postgraduate (by research) supervision 2 hours per students per week
Undergraduate and Postgraduate (Taught) project supervision
20 min per student per week
Year tutor (pastoral and administration role) 1 hour per week
Programme Chairperson (administration role for QA) 1 hour per week
Registration on PGDip Teaching (mandatory teaching qualification)
3 hours per week
Table 55: Allocations for common allowances for non-contact work
There are no defined allowances for additional discretionary activities. A HoS/Dean may implement allowances for strategically focused activities, potentially leading to inconsistency. There is currently no defined allowance for participation in Athena SWAN. Going forward, SAT membership will have an agreed allowance (Action 2.4)
In the staff survey, most respondents (male and female) report being overburdened with administrative responsibilities while research is perceived as being most valued in their school. Most survey participants (M&F) work longer hours or additional hours outside their contract (94%); with a small majority believing management appreciates their efforts. More clearly defined allowances for all work would be welcomed by staff, many of whom believe a more transparent workload model would be beneficial (65%). If all work was more clearly defined and captured in CMIS, it would permit better general and gender analysis of actual workload distribution. A cross-institute working group will be established (Action 8.1) to consider a more transparent workload model for academic staff that includes defined allowances for a wider range of non-contact activities.
Action 2.2 Institute SAT academic members will be allocated 15 hours per semester in lieu of contributions made to the Athena Swan project. Professional Services to be allocated the time in lieu
Action 4.20 Establish a cross-institute Action group to make recommendation on a better workload model
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(v) Timing of Institution Meetings and Social Gatherings
In the staff survey, 37% of females responded that supports such as holding meetings between 10 and 4 would encourage them to apply for promotion. Institute policy will be established and communicated to all staff. Reminder emails will be sent on a regular basis to all staff. College organized social events will be held at a time that suits all staff members (Action 4.23)
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(vi) Visibility of Women as role models, outreach and engagement
The most recent issue of DIT’s publication, Research News, focuses entirely on female STEM researchers and is part of an overall communications campaign to promote gender equality and raise the profile of female role models throughout the Institute.
Launching the magazine at an event celebrating ‘Women in STEM’ to mark IWD 2018, Professor Norton, DIT president said it was “an opportunity to highlight some of the dynamic research initiatives led by women scientists, engineers, and technologists in the Institute”.
DIT’s Public Affairs Office has also been profiling female STEM researchers on the DIT website. All marketing and communication materials are monitored to maintain gender. There is a plan to commission a new Institute website at the end of the year and maintaining gender balance will be part of the procurement criteria.
From “A Conversation with Prof Orla Howe”
From “A Conversation with Dr Deirdre Lillis”
A new staff ezine dedicated to equality and diversity was launched in 2018 to raise awareness of Athena Swan and to keep staff up to date on the progress of the application. It is circulated monthly and referenced in the regular staff newsletter and posted on the DIT Athena Swan website. In the staff survey, a majority of respondents indicated they
“Dr Deirdre Lillis, Head of the DIT School of Computing and HEA board member, discusses the goals and potential impact of the HUBLinked project, and explores the topics of gender and ethics in Computer Science”.
“We caught up with Professor Orla Howe, a prolific researcher in the area of cancer therapies, recently conferred with the title of Professor by Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), to learn more about her career path and her passion for academic research and teaching”.
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were aware of Athena SWAN (77%). An annual Communications Plan will continue to form an important part of SAT activities (Action 3.1).
The CoEBE also has introduced a number of schemes to support female students when they arrive into a very male environment. These include: networking and social events, complementary toiletries to make the environment more inclusive, and ensuring at least one female staff member at every First Year induction event.
The DIT Women Leaders in Higher Education (WLiHE) Network which grew out of a network of Aurora Leadership training alumni, was established in 2015 and has been growing steadily ever since. With 90 female members from across all job categories, the WLHE organises bi-annual events with female role model guest speakers from across a range of sectors, nationally and internationally.
Dr Anita Sands a global technology and business leader, speaker and advocate for the advancement of women pictured with members of the WLHE network.
DIT is also leading a communications project to promote gender equality across the Irish HEI sector. Two focus groups comprising HEI Athena Swan representatives (pictured left) from across Ireland focused on developing common communication messages.
Dr Una Beagon, Assistant Head of School, Civil & Structural Engineering, established the DIT Women in Engineering group (DITWIE) in 2015. Its main aim is to provide a support network where female engineers can meet each other (both
students and staff) and to organise events to raise their profile. In 2016, DIT WIE launched the DIT Schools pasta bridge competition and invited three DEIS all-girls schools to participate.
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DITWIE celebrated International Women’s Day and Engineers Week in 2017 with over 50 attendees at a ”Celebrating Successful Women in Engineering” event held in DIT, organised in conjunction with the Young Engineers Society in Engineers Ireland (pictured below).
A very successful mentorship programme called ESTeEM (Equality in Science and Technology by Engaged Engineering Mentoring) was launched in the 2017 academic year by Dr Leslie Shoemaker, lecturer in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Female engineering students were paired with successful women mentors from two of the largest multinational engineering companies in Ireland: Arup and Schneider Electric.
How would you rate your overall experience
Excellent Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor
Students 50% 42% 8% 0 0
Mentors 64% 36% 0 0 0
Stakeholder 82% 18% 0 0 0
Table 55 Feedback on the overall experience of ESTEeM
“TAKING PART IN THE PASTA BRIDGE SCHOOLS COMPETITION WAS A REALLY FULFILLING PERSONAL EXPERIENCE…………I REALLY ENJOYED HELPING THE GIRLS ENGAGE WITH THE COMPETITION AND UNDERSTAND THAT ENGINEERING COULD BE A POSSIBLE CAREER FOR THEM”
AMY MONAHAN, 4TH YEAR STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
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(vii) Childcare
In the staff survey, no gender differences were found in relation to “finding good day-care services” as a barrier in career development. However, significant gender differences for other supports were identified (Figure 25).
DIT does not currently have on-site childcare facilities. Childcare facilities will be on or close to the Grangegorman site and available for staff and students. Suitable facilities for pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers will be set aside on each campus (Action 4.24)
Figure 25: Supports that encourage applications for promotion
ChildcareFlexibleParental
LeaveMentoring
Meeting10-4
PDP Other
Male 14% 20% 23% 28% 31% 14%
Female 22% 30% 40% 37% 32% 18%
0%
100%
% o
f Yes
Res
pons
es
Supports to encourage applying for or accepting a higher level position
Action 2.24 Provide suitable facilities for pregnant and breast-feeding women on campus
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(viii) Culture The staff survey asked participants to rate how often they or others are treated unfavourably due to their gender, and due to protected characteristics. Women (mean = 2.73) more than men (mean = 2.55), felt they were more often treated unfavourably due to their sex. Most stated they would be comfortable reporting instances where they were treated unfavourably (51.6%) or witnessed others (57.1%). Overall, participants rated a positive culture with highest scores for descriptions of a supportive (47.5%), but also stressful (46.5%) culture (Figure 26).
Figure 26: Staff yes responses by gender (%). *p < .05
Work-life Balance is a significant issue for staff (Figure 27). Women, more than men, were less satisfied with their current work life balance. In particular, women were less satisfied with the current balance between their professional and personal life (43.1%) and their ability to balance the needs of their job with those of their personal or family life (43.3%). Notably, both women (93%) and men (86%) rated good work life balance as an important in their decision to pursue a senior position.
Figure 27: Satisfaction by gender (means). *p < .05
Supportive
Welcoming
Macho Cliquey SexistStressfu
lHappy
Competitive
Miserable
Inclusive
Other
Male 46% 43% 7% 28% 4% 45% 25% 21% 14% 31% 19%
Female 49% 37% 12% 37% 7% 48% 17% 27% 9% 24% 22%
0%
100%
% o
f Yes
Res
pons
es
How would you describe your place to work :
Current balance - profvs. personal life
The way you divideyour time
Your ability to balanceneeds
Men 3.3 3.2 3.3
Women 3.03 3.1 2.9
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
1 =
Very
Dis
satis
fied
5
= V
ery
Satis
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Please rate how satisfied your are with:
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Better communication on family friendly policies, a policy dealing with agile working, a transparent workload model, line manager unconscious bias training and online EDI training programmes will all contribute to better work-life balance (Action 4.1).
(ix) Outreach
Outreach activities coordinated by Public Engagement and Outreach Committees (PERC) aim to attract diverse students to STEM careers and guiding new entrants in their subject choices. Each year, Career Guidance Teachers are invited into DIT. As major influencers of student choices there will be a focus on gender balance in STEM programmes at these events.
What activities do you think are most important for career advancement ?
Enabling, Outreach, & Transfer of Knowledge
Female Male
Very Unimportant 3%(6) 4.8%(7)
Unimportant 6%(12) 8.3%(23)
Unsure 21.1%(42) 20.7%(30)
Important 42.2%(84) 46.2%(67)
Very Important 27.6%(55) 20%(29)
Total 100%(199) 100%(145)
Table 56: Staff survey 2018
A wide range of events and activities is organised each year. A database of all events, including gender monitoring, will now be developed (Action 3.3.1). Events include: Open Days; Anyone for Science Summer camps for Teens; 'Female Engineering Role Model Day': CanSat: a European Space Agency competition for 2nd Level Students; Roboslam: Robot building workshops for Transition Year students organised as part of Engineering Week. SciFest@DIT – a one day STEM fair for second-level students.
From 2019, an annual Equality Forum will showcase activities (Action 1.6). The College PERCs will agree a common process for data collection that can be shared with the SAT (Action 3.4).
Action 4.1 Implement all recommendations of external HR review
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Computing Project Fair: An annual event showcasing undergraduate Computing student projects attended by over 100 industry staff.
Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor T.D., Minister of State for Higher Education, and Chair of the Gender Equality Taskforce for Higher Education (centre right) pictured at the Computing fair.
Engineering Your Future is a week-long, hands-on programme for TY students who have an interest in science and maths. Oversubscribed but 40 places available – 36 reserved for girls.
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DIT’s Access and Civic Engagement Office provides local schools with a variety of transformative learning experiences
PERC committee
The CoSH committee Terms of Reference require a minimum of 40% female and 40% male representation and is responsible for ensuring there is gender balance in all outreach activities. The CoEBE ToRs will be changed to reflect the same (Action 1.2.2) though it will need to consider overburdening the female staff and students.
There is good gender balance among staff attending most of the CoSH events (Table 57).
2015-16 2016-17 2017-18
Female Male Female Male Female Male
Presentations by Staff in Secondary Schools
16 48% 17 52% 10 63% 6 38% 9 69% 4 31%
Presentations at DIT Open Day
2 33% 4 67% 2 33% 4 67% 2 33% 4 67%
Staff Representation at College Open Day
6 43% 8 57% 7 47% 8 53%
Judges at Scifest 25 50% 25 50% 22 52% 20 48%
Participants at Scifest
96 77% 29 23% 74 68% 35 32%
Speakers / Organisers at Science Week
4 44% 5 56% 2 18% 9 82% 5 45% 6 55%
Presenters at Further Education Open Day
8 50% 8 50% 5 45% 6 55% 7 54% 6 46%
Table 57: Gender balance of staff taking part in CoSH Outreach
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Public Engagement and Outreach Committee membership
College of Sciences & Health Gender College of Engineering & Built Environment Gender
Head of Research Male Dean of College Male
Head of Learning Development Male Head of Apprenticeship & Engagement (Chair) Male
School Representative – School of Biological Sciences
Female HoS Architecture plus 1 staff rep 1 x Female 1 x Male
School Representative – School of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Male HoS Civil Engineering plus 2 staff reps 2 x Male
1 x Female
School Representative – School of Computing
Female HoS Surveying & Construction management plus 2 staff reps
3 x Male
School Representative – School of Food Science and Environmental Health
Female HoS Electrical & Electronic Engineering plus 2 staff reps
3 x Male
School Representative – School of Mathematical Sciences
Male HoS Multidisciplinary Technologies plus 2 staff reps
3 x Male
School Representative – School of Physics and Clinical and Optometric Sciences
Female HoS Transport Engineering, Planning & Technology plus 2 staff reps
1 x Female
1 x Male
Staff Representative 1 Male HoS Mechanical & Design Engineering plus 2 staff reps
3 x Male
Staff Representative 2 Female DIT Admissions Office 1 x Female
Staff Representative 3 Male
Total F: 45% M 55% 11 (5F:6M)
Total F: 18% M 82% 22 (4F:18M)
Table 58: Public Engagement and Recruitment Committee membership
Student Ambassadors (pictured above) help with engagement and female graduates will be recruited to an Industry Ambassador programme to assist where female numbers are low (Action 3.3).
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2015-16 2016-17 2017-18
Female Male Female Male Female Male
Student Ambassador Applicants
11 85% 2 15% 4 36% 7 64% 8 80% 2 20%
Student Ambassadors Selected
8 89% 1 11% 3 30% 7 70% 7 88% 1 12%
Actively Engaged Student Ambassadors
8 89% 1 11% 3 30% 7 70% 4 100% 0 0%
Table 59: Student Ambassador recruitment CoSH
Action 1.2.2 All executive decision-making committees will be reconstituted so that at least 40% of the members and 40% of the Chairs will be of either gender
Action 1.6: An annual EDI Forum will promote best practice across the Institute, inform staff, and reinforce commitment to gender equality.
Action 3.3.2 Student and graduate STEM Ambassadors will be recruited to help promote STEM careers to Schools Action 3.4: College PERCs will agree a common process to collate outreach data
Action 4.20 A cross-institute Action group will be established to consider a more flexible workload model
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(x) HR policies
DIT is committed to a positive and safe working environment which is free from all forms of bullying or harassment.
Policies include:
• Dignity at Work Anti Bullying & Harassment Policy (and Investigation Procedures)
• Grievance Procedures
• Child Protection Policies Equal Opportunities policy • Code of Conduct for Colleagues
• Occupational Stress Management
• Employee Assistance Programmes
Respect & Dignity in the Workplace training is provided for all staff (Action 4.2.2). Senior managers are trained as investigators and there is a clear process for dealing with any investigation and grievances. There is also a highly regarded free and confidential Occupational Stress Management and Employee Assistance Programme.
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5 Other Comments
DIT is at a very exciting stage of our development with our application for university designation with partners ITT and ITB, and the development of our new campus at Grangegorman. This is a valuable opportunity for us to build equality, diversity and inclusion into our new organisation structures, culture and campus. To support the achievement of this vision, the Athena SWAN self-assessment process has inspired a number of equality advocates and developed equality auditing expertise at many levels and job categories across the Institute.
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6 Action Plan
Priority actions are highlighted in the following table
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1. Strengthen organisational commitment to gender quality 1.1 Appoint through a publicly
advertised competitive process a Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion as a full academic member of the executive. (HEA 1.5)
In order to advance a future vision of gender equality in DIT and following best International practice a specific academic agent of cultural and organisational change will help embed gender equality within all aspects of the work of the institution. Most respondents to the staff survey (48%) stated they were not sure if DIT's engagement with Athena Swan will improve gender equality
Appointment process has started and due to complete in June 2018 with a commencement expected Q4 2018
President High level leadership and visibility will keep gender and diversity on the agenda, and embedded in the strategic plan. By 2021, the proportion of female staff will increase overall from 45% to 48% and in CoEBE from 18% to 25%. In the annual staff survey the overall percentage of respondents that agree "that engagement of DIT with Athena Swan will improve gender equality in DIT" will rise from 39% to: 2019: 60% 2020: 70% 2021: 80%
1.2 Establish a Directorate of Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity (EDI) with the appropriate resources to manage the programme of activities to strengthen and consolidate gender equality throughout the Institute.
In order to advance a future vision of gender equality in DIT and following best International practice a specific academic agent of cultural and organisational change will help embed gender equality within all aspects of the work of the institution.
Recruitment of EDI Director completed by end of June 2018. EDI Director's resourcing plan approved by O&RC by December 2018. Recruitment of EDI team completed by Q3 2019.
President Operations & Resource Committee
Annual reports of EDI activity will demonstrate an upward trajectory towards the achievement of real gender equality at all levels of the organisation.
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(HEA 1.5)
The Action Plan will be implemented and by 2021, an application for Bronze AS award under the expanded Charter will be ready for submission. 9 School applications will have been supported 2019: 2 STEM School applications 2020: 3 STEM School Applications 2021: 2 STEM and 2 AHSS School applications
1.3 Review and reorganise executive structures to ensure all decision-making bodies consist of at least 40% women and at least 40% men. (HEA 1.6)
An improved decision making structure will lead to better decisions and provide better leadership development opportunities for all staff There is a need to provide enhanced leadership development opportunities for female staff.
Implementation being rolled out from Q2 2018. Annual monitoring of success by EDI Directorate Census of committees to be completed annually and reported to President
President EDI Director
All executive committees will be monitored annually for 100% compliance. An annual census of committee membership will be carried out and at least 90% of all other committees will have at least 40% of either gender by 2021.
1.4 Reconstitute the senior decision-making body as a gender-balanced ‘Operations & Resources Committee’ (ORC) to oversee all resource
Data analysis highlighted the gender imbalance of the most senior management team over the three-year period of evaluation. There is a need to provide enhanced leadership development opportunities for female
The ORC will be established and terms of reference completed by end of April 2018. Success will be evaluated annually by the EDI Director from 2019 and reported to the President.As
President Directors GroupEDI DirectorOperations & Resource Committee
DIT's most Senior executive committee will be fully gender-balanced (50%F 50%M) At least 80% of the rotating members each year will report that
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allocation, appointments and promotions.(HEA 1.6)
staff. The Operations & Resource Committee led by the President will comprise the Directors Group and a senior manager from each Directorate or College. Each Director and Dean will nominate a senior manager of the opposite sex to the ORC on a one-year rotating basis. Membership will be published on the website
part of Catalyst, training being delivered in May 2018 to the first ORC participant’s expectations and measures of success will be recorded.
their contribution was valued.
1.5 At the final selection step in the appointment process for new Presidents and Directors / Deans the final pool of candidates will comprise an equal number of women and men. A requirement of appointment will be demonstrable experience of leadership in advancing gender equality. HEA 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4
To foster gender balance in the leadership of HEIs.
Demonstrable experience of leadership in advancing gender equality will be listed as a core competence (essential criteria) on candidate brief from now on.
Governing Body Chair President Head of HR
100% of these posts will have an equal number of shortlisted candidates. 100% of those appointed will have demonstrable experience of leadership in advancing gender equality.
1.6 Establish an annual EDI forum to promote best practice across the Institute, to consult with staff and reinforce commitment to gender equality.
A forum dedicated to equality will provide time to share best practice; to manage concerns; to facilitate staff consultation; to present research findings and to communicate about Athena Swan
Annually from 2019 Webinars to be introduced from 2020
EDI Director Shared best practice will support staff across the Institute to make strategic changes. Research findings will build Institute knowledge and case studies will showcase successful activities.
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The numbers of attendees will grow year on year from 150 staff from across the Institute in 2019 to 300 in 2021.
1.7 Create a seed fund for research projects and initiatives to promote and monitor the progress of gender equality at DIT, building capacity and knowledge that can be leveraged in future action plans.
A seed fund open to staff and students will generate new knowledge and support gender equality activities; raise awareness across the Institute; and to encourage more staff to get involved in the activities. Findings can be used to underpin applications for funding from external funders such as SFI's Discover programme; EU SWAFS funding
Resourcing approved by ORC by Q4 2018. The impact of each project will be reported to the EDI Director and reported annually to the ORC. Annual call for funding and winners to be announced on International Women's Day 2019, 2020, 2021 Projects will be showcased online and at the annual equality & diversity forum
EDI Director Operations & Resource Committee
A budget of €10,000 will be allocated annually from 2019 One successful application for funding will have been made during the lifetime of the Action Plan.
1.8 Embed gender equality into all Quality Assurance and Quality Enhancement processes and documents. HEA 1.12
All units in DIT are subject to cyclical QA reviews. Quality Enhancement provides a framework within DIT to monitor, enhance and mainstream equality. Gender equality needs to be embedded into the review so it is automatically considered during the review process. Quality assurance reviews should similarly be gendered balanced and all review panels should comprise at least 40% of either gender.
Pilot QA processes incorporating gender monitoring to be completed Q4 2018.
EDI Director Director of Academic Affairs, Digital and Learning Transformation
Academic Council approves all changes to DIT QA processes. School, College Review and functional units will consequently evaluate gender equality during the cyclical QA review process from Q3 2019. Actions related to
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enhancing gender equality are identified in all Quality Action Plans with responsibility assigned to appropriate functional units
1.8.1 Pilot a new annual monitoring process (Q5) for selected programmes in the College of Sciences & Health. Include data and trigger questions associated with gender equality especially of student pipeline, marketing materials, visibility of mentors and role models.
Q5 process of bottom up quality action planning commences at the level of annual programme review.
Q5 pilot process for 17/18 academic year programme review. Programme Chairperson meeting in September 2018 to include a workshop for gender equality action planning. All CoSH Programme Chairpersons are involved in Pilot Q5 programme in Q3 2019 and final version rolled out across the Institute in Q3 2020
Head of Staff Development CoSH and all Programme Chairpersons Director of Academic Affairs, Digital and Learning Transformation
Actions to support gender equality are identified and embedded in Programme Quality Action plans with action owners at programme / School / College / Institute level identified for all Programme Quality Action plans in the Q5 pilot in 2019 and in all Programme Quality Action plans in 2020.
1.8.2 Incorporate gender dimension in Student evaluation of Programme (Q6C Survey)
Students evaluate the overall programme annually by completing a Q6C form online. This feeds formally into the Q5 annual Programme monitoring process. There is no element of gender equality in the current process although recent Q6 forms (circulated in April 2018) have been updated to record their sex so the responses can now be evaluated and disaggregated by gender. This feeds formally into the Q5 annual Programme monitoring process. There is no element of gender equality in the
Forms updated in time for online evaluation in April 2019, 2020, 2021.
EDI Director Director of Academic Affairs, Digital and Learning Transformation.
Gender disaggregated student feedback can be obtained from Q2 2018. Actions informed by this identified for the Programme Quality Action Plan. Students are consulted in relation to Gender Equality on their Programme of study through the new questions added to the survey. Awareness of gender
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current process although recent Q6 forms (circulated in
stereotyping is raised, and students are empowered to evaluate their programme in the context of gender equality. Actions arising from student feedback are incorporated in the Programme Quality Action Plan. Each year at least 80% of students will complete the Q6C form
1.8.3 Incorporate gender equality into DIT's Quality Assurance processes at school, Department and College level, and in the institutional quality assurance report.
All units in DIT are subject to cyclical QA reviews. If Gender Equality is included as a quality enhancement metric there will be a framework within DIT to monitor, enhance and mainstream equality. The quality assurance process includes reports by review panels, which include external members and should include 40% of either gender. Gender equality needs to be embedded into the review so it is automatically considered during the review process.
Following appointment of EDI Director Q3 2018, the review process will be evaluated and updated to incorporate gender criteria for review by Q2 2019.
EDI Director Director of Academic Affairs, Digital and Learning Transformation
Gender equality becomes mainstreamed during School and College review self-assessment providing opportunity to engage all staff and increase awareness of equality issues. Staff gender balance is highlighted as a quality measure in Schools and Colleges. Actions to support gender equality are identified and embedded in School Quality Action plans with responsibility assigned at School, College, or Institute level identified from Q2 2019.
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Departmental Athena SWAN process is supported and embedded in existing reviewing processes.
1.9 Establish an Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity Committee of both Governing Body and ORC.HEA 1.8 and 1.9
An improved decision making structure will lead to better decisions and provide better leadership development opportunities for all staff. BY establishing a sub-group of Governing Body, it will be a key focus at GB meetings.
ORC sub-committee structure completed in Q3 2018By Q4 2018 the Institute SAT will report to the ORC committee.
Governing Body Chair PresidentEDI Director
Gender equality will be a standing item on the Governing Body and ORC agenda from Q4 2018.Gender equality at Governing body will aim to be at 50% by 2021.
1.10 Develop a pilot initiative in the CoEBE to evaluate programme content and branding of courses with the greatest underrepresentation of females
There may be subtle gender bias in course programme and marketing materials that are not inclusive and may impact the no of females enrolling on courses in CoeBE
All programmes will be evaluated and revised by Q4 2019
Dean of CoEBE An increase in the proportion of female UG students in the CoEBE from 13% to 15% by 2021
1.11 Investigate the potential of developing more cross-disciplinary programmes to increase the proportion of female students
Courses with the highest intake of UG and PG female students in the CoEBE are interdisciplinary.
One new cross-disciplinary programme will be developed by 2021
Assistant Head of School Civil & Structural Engineering
1 new programme will be developed and piloted by the end of 2021
1.12 Review the process of recruitment and selection for postgraduate research students
The proportion of female research students is gender balanced but declining and there may be a connection to the process used to recruit students
Engage external consultants to commence a review by end Q4 2018
Dean of Graduate Research
Proportion of female CoSH research students will be maintained at 49% or more. The percentage of female CoEBE research students will increase from 24% to30% by 2021.
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2.Future plans for Athena swan 2.1 Support the development of
9 departmental applications over the three-year lifetime of the award.
Three Schools have already expressed an interest in making an application once Institute Bronze has been awarded (Computing, Civil & Structural Engineering and Food Science & Environmental Health) Schools and Colleges will build on the momentum associated with the Institute application and benefit from the implementation of the Institute Action Plan.
College SATs to be established in Q4 2018 EDI Directorate to have supports in place by Q4 2018.
College Deans EDI Directorate Institute SAT
At least 9 STEM Schools will have made an application for a Department award by 2021. 2019: 2 Department applications 2020: 3 Department Applications 2021: 4 Department application Awareness of Athena Swan measured in annual staff survey will increase from 71% to 85% over the period of the plan
2.2 Recognise and support staff participation on SAT committees with the appropriate workload allowance.
The Institute recognises the significant amount of time SAT members contribute to the promotion of gender equality in the Institute. To encourage more staff to get involved and to help prevent overburdening under-represented genders.Recognition of the contribution of SAT members will encourage more staff to get involved in the activities and build support across the Institute.
Workload Allowances for Institute and College SAT members to be agreed at O&RC and implemented for the 2018/2019 academic year.PMDS document to be updated to reference SAT contributions. Workload allowances for Institute and College SAT members to be agreed at O&RC and implemented for the 2018/2019 academic year.An annual call for EoI in AS
EDI DirectorHeads of SchoolHeads of function
Numbers of staff responding to EoI requests in relation to AS participation to increase each year from 25 in 2017:2019: 352020: 552021: 75
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applications will be issued by the EDI Directorate
2.3 Expand membership of the EDI Sub Committee to include representatives from partner Institutions in the TU4D Alliance and
To prepare for future joint applications and to maintain common standards of data collection in preparation for merging data.
Q4 2018 after incoming EDI Director has been appointed.
EDI Director An EDI Sub Committee Steering group with input from future potential partners for Athena swan applications that is strategically well prepared well in advance of joint applications being submitted. By 2021 an application under the extended charter will be under preparation By 2021 9 School applications will have been prepared
2.4 Expand Institute SAT membership to include student representatives.
The current team was formed to develop an application under the original charter, focusing on STEM academics and although it had a part-time PG representative, members will be sought from the full-time students The Institute under the leadership of the EDI Director will broaden representation in preparation for School applications, and future Institute applications.
The incoming EDI Director will review and complete the recruitment of new members and Chair the expanded SAT by the end of 2018.
EDI Director Student representation on SAT will be completed by Q4 2018. In 2019, an annual student survey will be conducted to improve student consultation around EDI issues. A 40% response rate will be targeted in 2019 rising to 60% by 2021
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3. A picture of the Institution and its composition Visibility, Communications and Consultancy Outreach 3.1 Develop an annual
Communications Plan with the EDI Director to inform staff and students of the changes taking place across DIT to support greater gender equality and to celebrate good practice and achievements.
Communication is an essential part of the change management process. Staff survey showed 77% had knowledge of Athena Swan but 48% were unsure of the benefits.
The e-zine will continue to be circulated every month during each academic year; an annual event to celebrate IWD will be organised; all events, outputs and outcomes will be promoted on the DIT website, via staff email, and on DIT social media accounts such as @DIToffical Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and DIT alumni newsletters; 50% of content in each Research News publication will focus on female researchers. The Communications Plan and will be submitted to the EDI subcommittee of the ORC in 2019, 2020, 2021
EDI Director Communication & Engagement Group Public Affairs EDI Steering Group DIT Graduate Network
Knowledge of Athena Swan will increase year on year until at least 90% of respondents to the annual staff survey will say they have knowledge of Athena Swan by 2021. Over three years the percentage of staff that are unsure of the benefits will have reduced from 48% to 20%
3.2 Administer an annual staff survey on Gender Equality to develop an evidence base, monitor attitudes, measure success and contribute to research into gender equality in Higher Education in Ireland.
It is important to consult with staff on a regular basis and to use the responses to underpin activity and to measure success. The 2018 survey will provide a baseline for monitoring impact.
Annually 2019, 2020, 2021 Annual report to be presented to ORC and used to inform DIT's strategic plan. Summary report to be made available to all staff annually.
EDI Director Academic researcher SAT Communications & Outreach working group SAT Consultation working group
Almost 600 (37% of FTE) staff members responded to the 2018 survey. The response rate will be maintained and an increase of 5% year on year will be targeted. 2019: 629 2020: 660 2021: 693
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3.3 Embed gender equality into
all STEM outreach activities to encourage more female students to choose STEM subjects in Higher Education.
Outreach activities are an important influence on student numbers and can help improve gender balance in STEM programmes in the future. Many excellent activities are taking place but not being recorded centrally and showcased across the Institute. All promotional materials need to present a gender-balanced Institute to students. The activities will be showcased annually at the Equality Forum (see 1.3) to establish a community of best practice. CoEBE Public engagement recruitment committees will aim to have a minimum of 40% of either gender 2021.
Outreach activities will be reported to the EDI Director every 6 months and reported annually to the Equality; Diversity & Inclusivity Committee Outreach activities will be showcased annually at the Equality Forum from 2019.
EDI Director Head of Staff Development Head of Apprenticeship & Engagement CoEBE Head of Strategic Services
The percentage of female STEM students will increase from 40% to 43% by 2021
3.3.1 College PERCs will agree a common process to collate outreach data that can be shared with the Institute SAT.
To capture the outreach and engagement activities taking place. Gender balance of those taking part in outreach will be monitored in both STEM Colleges
Process in place by Q2 2019 and annual census of Outreach activity to be conducted and reported to SAT and ORC EDI committee.
College PERCs EDI Director
Monitoring of Outreach activity to be formalised and gender balance of those taking part in outreach activities to be monitored to try to mitigate overburdening of underrepresented gender. Databank of activity to be developed and used to deliver census data by Q4
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2018.
3.3.2 Recruit a network of student and graduate STEM Ambassadors to help promote STEM careers to secondary school students, reducing the burden on under-represented genders.
There are a limited number of female staff available to work on Outreach activities in some Schools. Female STEM alumni Ambassadors working in industry would help increase the numbers and highlight career opportunities.
Public Engagement and Outreach Committees will agree a process in Semester 1 2018 / 2019 academic year.
College PERCs EDI Director
The number of student and alumni ambassadors recruited each year: 2019 10 students 5 alumni 2020 15 students 7 alumni 2021: 20 students 10 alumni A 5% increase in the number of female students choosing STEM subjects from 2019 to 2021.
3.4 Provide continuing funding and administrative support for the Women in Leadership in Higher Education (WLHE) network at DIT.
This is a key cross Institute network for women in DIT that is growing is well supported and encourages all female staff to aim for leadership posts.
Ongoing and funding and admin support to be provided in 2019 /2020 and 2021
Director, Academic Affairs, Digital & Learning Transformation EDI Director Head of Staff Development,
The aim will be to double membership from 90 to 180 members. 2019: 120 2020: 140 2021: 180
3.5 DIT will in conjunction with the Athena SWAN National Committee deliver a HE Communications Resource Pack incorporating key messages around gender equality for all HEIs and establish an all-Island
By agreeing and promoting key communication messages around Athena Swan across the Irish HEI sector, there will be more visible support for cultural change. An all-Island network of shared expertise with access to an online portal and forum with resources specifically for the
DIT is managing this collaborative project that started Q1 2018 and will be completed by the end of 2018. Key communications messages identified in facilitated workshops will be refined and agreed nationally and will be
DIT project manager
Visibility of Athena Swan will be raised throughout the HEI sector; a sustainable model for an interactive resources portal will be agreed, piloted by Q1 2019 and reviewed annually.
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resource to support HEI activity in this area.
Irish HEI sector will support gender equality SAT teams across the Higher Education sector.
incorporated into the Communications and Engagement Working Group Communications Plan. An all-island portal to support Athena Swan teams across Ireland will be piloted Q4 2018 and rolled out to HEIs by Q2 2019.
School applications for AS awards will increase from 2 at end of 2019 to 4 in 2021.
4.0 Recruitment, selection and retention policy update 4.1 Implement recommendations
of the review of HR policies and procedures for all stages of the recruitment, selection and retention process.
The Irish Centre conducted the HR external review for Diversity on behalf of and in collaboration with DIT's Human Resources Department and formed part of the SAT self-analysis for the Athena Swan application. The review highlighted gaps in recruitment and selection policies and procedures that may have a negative impact on gender. For example, unsuccessful applicants had not been asked for feedback about the recruitment process to monitor if they experienced real or perceived gender bias. Most respondents agreed that they understood the process of criteria for promotion (54.7%). However, women (21.1%) less than men (37.8%) agreed that promotion process is transparent
All the recommendations have been accepted to date and incorporated in draft policies and strategies. All relevant policies will be agreed by HRC, updated, approved and made available on the HR website by the end of Q1 2019 All templates for monitoring gender and ensuring gender equality at each recruitment stage will be agreed and implemented by Q4 2018 An online gender decoder will be used to evaluate wording on advertisements from May 2018. Annual monitoring reports will be submitted to the EDI
Head of HR Human Resources Committee EDI Steering Group
A clear set of recruitment and selection guidelines and templates will remove any inconsistencies in procedures and remove any gender bias. The numbers of females in leadership posts will increase to 40% by end 2021. A greater number of Female staff survey respondents will agree that the promotion process is fair and transparent: 2019: 40% 2020: 45% 2021: 50%
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and fair and less women (37.2%) than men (42.3%) agreed feedback was appropriate and useful.
Steering Group to measure impact.
The number of females making applications for posts in STEM subjects will be measured once gender monitoring commences and a 10% increase year on year will be targeted.
4.1.2 Complete and implement in full the DIT People Strategy and its implementation plan, incorporating all the recommendations of the recent review of policies and procedures.
The People Strategy has been under development within DIT since 2016 and has been going through various revisions based on consultation with a wide range of managers, the feedback received after the Irish Centre for Diversity's Gap Analysis and the staff consultation conducted by the SAT. The People Strategy gives structure to strategic planning within the HR function. The strategic content can be utilised to advertise to potential job candidates DIT's commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and to selecting the best candidate based on merit and regardless of identity. The People Strategy will support DIT's strategic goal to attract, retain and develop great people in a supportive and innovative workplace. It has been informed by the review of recruitment,
The final stages of the process are near completion and the Strategy and its Implementation Plan will be finalised and agreed by Q4 2018. The People Strategy will be introduced to all new staff at Induction days from October 2018; all staff will be informed by email and staff newsletter Update and it will be available on the website. It will form part of the HR Roadshow content from October 2018. The Implementation Plan will be an agenda item at HRC from Q4 2018. The Strategy will be reviewed annually from Q4 2019. Wording on advertisements and candidate briefs to include
Head of HR Human Resources Committee
In the annual staff survey, at least 75% of respondents in 2020 and 80% in 2021 will report a knowledge of the People Strategy.
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selection and retention policies and procedures.
wording in relation to agile working and encouraging under-represented genders to apply
4.1.3 Complete and circulate a new Recruitment and Selection Policy and Guide.
The HR review identified the need for a Recruitment and Selection Policy that guides hiring managers through the recruitment and selection process. Increased clarity around the process will make it more accessible to DIT staff and the guide will include policy guidance in relation to contemporary practice and templates to use in recruitment and selection processes.
Final policy to be agreed by Human Resources Committee by June 2018 and reviewed in 2021. Policy and guides to be made available on HR website and link circulated to all staff by September 2018. A training programme for all staff involved in recruitment and selection will be rolled out from Q2 2018 (see 5.0)
Head of HR Human Resources Committee
Staff survey will report on the percentage of staff who are aware of the recruitment process and selection procedures that have been updated to mitigate gender bias. In the annual staff survey, at least 75% of respondents in 2020 and 80% in 2021 will report a knowledge of the recruitment process and selection procedures ref to appeals process in MM text
4.1.4 Develop a bespoke data management plan to support deeper analysis of recruitment processes
HR and SAT review identified weaknesses in the current processes for evaluating recruitment data and monitoring impact. Much of it is collected manually and protection of data under new GDPR regulations must be taken into consideration.
A bespoke Data Management Plan will be developed by September 2018 to enable full evaluation of the recruitment process in terms of its effectiveness in increasing diversity. The process around updating systems and developing a system that makes data collection easier and more
Head of HR IS HR Manager
Better data monitoring processes will lead to better evaluation, reporting and monitoring of impact and support strategic development and measurement of success. A central data portal for future School and Institute
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functional will take longer to develop but should be completed in the lifetime of the Action plan
applications will be developed by Q1 2019
4.1.5 Use HR Roadshows as a vehicle to communicate changes in policies; consult with staff and create awareness of best practice
The HR review, staff survey and focus group findings have all suggested that staff are not aware of all the HR policies and how they can support them.
The first two roadshows have been delivered and feedback was taken on board and topics agreed for the next one. Two per semester will be arranged annually. A recruitment timeframe for each vacant post is now agreed between HR and the hiring manager.
Head of HR Resourcing staff
All hiring managers who attend roadshows will report a greater understanding of HR policies and processes. By the end of the action plan all recruitment will have been completed within the period agreed at the start of the process.
Staff Training and Development 4.2 Update training programmes
for all staff who play a role in recruitment, selection and retention when policies have been revised
HR review and staff consultation identified a lack of understanding of the recruitment process. Many policies and procedures are being revised and updated and relevant staff will need to be informed. SAT self-analysis process has identified training needs to support hiring managers especially around gender equality and UB. Line managers need support to learn how to take gender into consideration
Information on all new policies and strategic plans to be incorporated into HR roadshows from October 2018. All training programme updates to be finalised by Q1 2019 and rolled out over the following 3 years
Director, Academic Affairs, Digital & Learning Transformation
All those responsible for recruitment, selection and retention will be informed of all changes to policies by Q1 2019. New policies will easy to find on website. 100% of hiring managers will have received gender equality training by Q4 2019
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4.2.1 Revise License to Interview
Training programme and replace with a new ‘Licence to Recruit' programme for all hiring managers and staff who will take part in recruitment.
Unconscious bias training has already been incorporated into the Licence to Interview Training but a more complete training programme will include information on new policies and procedures linked to recruitment and selection. A total of 400 staff have attended licence to Interview training and these will over time need to attend the more comprehensive Licence to Recruit programme.
Monitoring to be included in annual report to EDI Director from 2019
Director, Academic Affairs, Digital & Learning Transformation Head of Staff Development,
All 400 current staff with Licence to interview will have completed new training by end of 2021. A further 100 staff over the lifetime of the project will have attended for the first time and at least 40% of these will be female. Feedback from applicants will be monitored and over the lifetime of the plan, 80% of applicants will report no gender bias was perceived.
4.2.2 Develop online equality and diversity training and make it available to all staff who must complete it on an annual basis. Deliver Respect & Dignity in the Workplace Training at team level to drive a culture change.
All staff throughout the Institute will need to receive UB training and an online version of the programme will facilitate this process. Face to face UB will also be delivered as part of senior management, leadership and License to Recruit training
Funding has been sourced and following a procurement process, online training is expected to be available from Q1 2019. Evaluation to be monitored and included in annual report to EDI Director.
Director, Academic Affairs, Digital & Learning Transformation Head of Staff Development, EDI Director
By the end of 2019, all staff will have successfully completed online training. All new staff will complete online training as part of their induction process.
4.2.3 Provide training for HR staff to learn how to gender-proof the language used in the design of all Candidate Briefs
HR review process identified the Candidate brief as a suitable document to provide more information about DIT's commitment to gender equality;
Changes to candidate briefs to be agreed and implemented from June 2018 and throughout the lifetime of the plan.
Head of HR Head of Staff Development
Clear consistent messages going to candidates in relation to all aspects of recruitment and selection
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and to use the gender decoder for analysing the
information about the culture and commitment to valuing diversity; details about each step in the recruitment process
By Q4 2018, only HR staff trained in gender-proofing language in Candidate Briefs will prepare them. Templates and toolkits will be used to maintain consistency
will be monitored in applicant feedback forms and by 2019 at least 90% of candidates will provide overall positive responses. An increase of 10% per year in the no of female applicants to STEM posts will translate into an increase in the number of female academic STEM staff of 5% overall.
4.3 Deliver a co-ordinated mentorship programme locally but supported centrally by Staff Development & Training.
The majority of respondents to staff survey (50.9%) were not aware of the DIT mentorship programme with women (25.7%), more than men (17.3%), interested in being both mentor and mentee. Men (25.9%) compared to women (7%) indicated greater interest in being mentors.
All members of ORC who have not yet received mentor training will have attended a workshop by the end of 2018; Database of mentors and those available to deliver mentor training has been established and will be updated as new mentors come on board; Mentorship Training Programme to be delivered 2 times per year from September 2018 and delivered locally to groups on request.
Director, Academic Affairs, Digital & Learning Transformation Head of Staff Development
Each ORC member who is willing to, will have mentored at least one person by the end of 2020. At least 50% of the staff who have been promoted to a senior post in 2020 will have been mentored. Awareness of the mentorship programme in the staff survey will increase by 5% year on year 2019: 65% 2020: 70% 2021: 75%
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4.4 Provide additional resources
to support staff training in career development, progression and mentorship.
Most of the necessary changes to policies and procedures require extra resources to deliver associated training programmes, and provide mentoring opportunities to staff across the Institute. More men (20.5%) than women (4.1%) believed they were disadvantaged for promotion because of their sex. More women (36.1%) than men (10.9%) believed that women were disadvantaged for promotion because of their sex.
Recruitment to be completed by December 2018; Budget line to be included from 2018
Director, Academic Affairs, Digital & Learning Transformation
Resources dedicated to the delivery of training on equality and diversity will deliver greater support to staff resulting in more positive responses in the staff survey when asked about gender differences in relation to promotion. The new staff will raise the number of staff who have received mentorship training from 70 to 300 from Q2 2019. All external selection board panellists will be required to complete unconscious bias training before interviews take place.
4.5 Develop a support programme for staff going on and returning from maternity leave including the option of keep in touch days and a Buddy system and a meet and greet event on return.
The self-assessment highlighted the lack of a formalised support system for those going on or returning from maternity leave. Clear guidance will be given to line managers in relation to timetabling of hours and setting aside time to research. A new parent's network will provide support to new parents.
Establish New Parent's network following consultation with relevant staff by Q4 2018 Maternity leave forms to be updated immediately to provide an option for keep in touch days / email
Head of HR The no of staff making applications for promotion while on maternity leave will be monitored and an increase from the baseline will be recorded as a percentage of those who have taken this leave. By the end of 2021 100% of those on maternity leave will report that they were kept informed of
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new vacancies, changes in their departments and were provided with opportunities to attend training / key meetings
Recruitment Processes 4.6 Develop an information pack
on gender, diversity & inclusion for staff induction training events
Provide information for new staff on gender & equality policies and procedures; Athena swan; Aurora leadership training and the WLHE network
From next Induction event in October 2018 and at each event in January May and October of each year.
EDI Director Head of Staff Development,
All new staff will be made aware of all gender and equality activities and supports that are in place throughout the Institute. The numbers of WLHE members will double by 2021; the percentage of staff who are promoted after attended leadership training will increase from 25% to 35% over the course of the Action Plan
4.7 Develop system for gender monitoring in all recruitment and progression processes
To improve data collection to allow better evaluation of impact of policy changes.
E Recruit will be updated to allow gender and diversity monitoring by Q4 2019 A process to record the information manually will be agreed by Q4 2018
Head of HR HR IS manager
The number of applications from women to STEM posts will increase year on year by 10%.
4.8 Include appropriate gender statements in advertising and candidate briefs
Hiring managers will analyse gender balance in department and include an appropriate gender statement in advertising material where relevant. Recruitment forms will be updated to
For all relevant posts from end May 2018. Monitoring to be included in annual report to EDI Director
Head of HR EDI Director College Deans and Directors Heads of School
Monitoring of recruitment data will highlight any increase in numbers of applicants from the under-represented gender. The number of female
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prompt hiring managers to consider gender in advertising.
Academic staff in STEM colleges will increase by 5% over the course of the plan.
4.9 The flexible cascade model of gender quotas will be introduced for all new posts at Head of School level in STEM Colleges. HEA 1.17
The gender balance in STEM Colleges for Heads of School is poor (9M: 3F) and the most appropriate means of increasing the gender balance at senior academic grades is to introduce the flexible cascade model of gender quotas – i.e. where the proportion of women and men to be recruited or promoted to a certain level is based on the proportion of each at the career level directly below. These quotas are realistic and attainable.
As new posts arise Head of HR STEM College Deans
The gender balance at Head of School level will be analysed at the end of the pilot to identify any improvements directly related to the pilot model.
4.10 Conduct exit interviews with all staff who resign their posts.
Formal exit interviews are not conducted and therefore we cannot monitor the reasons for leaving and use that information to make improvements where possible.
Immediate Head of HR Feedback from those who resign their posts will be used to inform retention policies.
Career Development 4.11 Review progression and
promotion processes in order to: - provide clear, measurable guidelines and criteria, weighted appropriately. - Inform all relevant staff about the process
The staff survey highlights that 50% of AL staff do not understand the progression process and criteria for promotion from AL to L. Qualitative open comments from staff survey indicate lack of understanding of process and criteria Feedback obtained by the National and Irish Centres for Diversity identified a lack of consistency and lack of constructive feedback.
Progression policy review to be completed by September 2018. Recommended changes to be approved by Academic Council by December 2018. All staff to be provided with information on the online handbook. All newly recruited Assistant Lecturers will be provided with a copy of the
Operations & Resource Committee Head of HR Academic Deans Head of Staff Development
At least 80% of ALs report a "good" or "very good" understanding of the progression process and criteria in the 2021 staff survey.
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- gather feedback from applicants to monitor any perceptions of inequality. - develop a formal feedback process for all candidates who fail to progress. - ensure gender balanced progression panel is in place for all the rounds
Focus group research reported strong support for a review of the process. Research highlights that females are impacted more than males if the criteria for progression are unclear.
handbook in their induction pack from January 2019. Training programme will be delivered each semester (see 5.1.6)
4.12 Develop and roll out progression workshops for Assistant Lecturers.
The staff survey highlights that 50% of AL staff do not understand the progression process and criteria for promotion from AL to L. Qualitative open comments from staff survey indicate lack of understanding of process and criteria.
Progression workshops to be delivered each semester from Semester 1 2018 / 2019 academic year. All new ALs to complete training within their first year. One month before the workshop date all new ALs will be contacted to remind them to attend. Evaluation to be completed after each workshop. All unsuccessful applicants will have received updated feedback forms by Q1 2019
Head of Staff Development,
100% of all eligible Assistant Lecturers will have made an application for progression by the end of 2020. Percentage of females at L grade will increase from 40% to 45% by 2021 Feedback from applicants will be used to monitor success.
4.13 Increase the number of academic staff who are attending PMDS meetings over a 2-year cycle.
DIT target set to 70% but the outputs feed into the staff training and development annual training programme and it is a great opportunity to discuss career plans.
PMDS Joint Implementation & Monitoring (JIM) Group will research
Head of Staff Development Deans
80% of academic staff to attend a PMDS meeting over a two year cycle by 2021
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4.14 Amend the PMDS
documentation to include specific questions in relation to academic progression and embed this and UB training in PMDS training for line managers.
45% of respondents reported that career progression was discussed at their PMDS meetings. 34% of staff survey respondents rated 'effective PMDS process' as something that would benefit them and their career development
PMDS documents to be updated by end of June 2018 and appropriate training to be incorporated into line manager PMDS training workshop from September 2018
Head of HR Academic Deans
All ALS will report that PMDS meetings included a discussion on Progression by 2020.
4.15 Develop competency based frameworks for all roles to assist hiring managers prepare recruitment campaigns; manage PMDS process; and support staff in career progression.
Competency based recruitment is more gender neutral and concentrates on skills for the role rather than achievements in the past. The majority of respondents to staff survey aim to advance their careers beyond their current grade. 67.6% of women and 49.6% of men aspired to SL1 grades
Project team already established funding identified Competency framework for leadership roles to be completed and approved by end of 2019. Competency framework for all other staff to be completed by 2020.
Head of HR Deans
Clear competency frameworks will help staff to target the competencies they will need for future leadership or promotional aspirations. Unconscious bias will be removed from recruitment campaigns and there will be an increase in the numbers of female applicants for leadership roles
4.16 Establish a sub-group of ORC to investigate academic career structure including potential for rotational management posts
Focus group staff consultation highlighted a strong desire for a clear and transparent competency based academic career path from AL to L to SL across the Institute. Although National Agreements this working restrict DIT group can prepare a consultation document to support lobbying for change Nationally in collaboration with THEA. The HEA review
The President will establish a sub-group of the Operations & Resource Committee by June 2018. Consultation document completed end of 2018/2019 academic year.
President College Deans
Lobbying nationally to introduce change to the academic staff structures will be supported by DIT. A new academic career structure will be developed and agreed by Q4 2020.
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has recommended rotation of posts; DIT is not currently in a position to do this as National Agreements restrict it. However, the working group can prepare a consultation document to support lobbying for change Nationally in collaboration with THEA.
4.17 Develop & Deliver a new Postdoctoral/Early Career Researcher (ECR) Development Programme for all Early Career Researchers
There is a lack of a structured progression to employment within academia (recognising that these opportunities are limited), unclear pathways to exiting academic employment, and varying levels of learning and development opportunities across higher education.
New postdoctoral researcher development post in place since February 2018; DIT Researcher Development Framework agreed by end of Q4 2018; Programme to be rolled out on a monthly basis and reviewed annually.
Co-ordinator - Researcher Development (Postdoctoral & Early Career Researcher Support)
100% of all ECRs will have commenced programme by end of 2019.
4.18 Incorporate gender equality and embedding gender into research design as part of the ECR programme
To embed the gender dimension into research content and teams and provide training and support for research staff on how to do this.
From September 2018 as part of the ECR programme
Co-ordinator - Researcher Development (Postdoctoral & Early Career Researcher Support)
All researchers will have attended at least one workshop over a period of two academic years.
4.19 Increase the uptake of PMDS among researchers and embed the process in ECR career development
Low numbers of research staff have had formalised PMDS reviews to date or the uptake is not consistent across the Institute.
Data gathering to be completed by Q4 2018.
Head of Staff Development
All researchers will have had PMDS reviews by end of 2019.
Workplace environment and work life balance 4.20 Establish a cross-institute
working group to consider a more transparent workload model for academic staff that includes defined allowances
Focus group research and staff survey identified a disproportionate amount of pastoral care duties and administration being allocated to female staff yet more women rated pastoral care and administration lower than all other
Group established in Q4 when EDI Director has been recruited
EDI Director A new workload model will underpin PMDS meetings, improve guidelines for timetable managers, create transparency for staff in
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for a wider range of non-contact work activities.
activities in relation to valued activities in their School.
their workload allocation, recognise all contributions to School activities, and allow a fairer promotion and progression process.
4.21 Establish a cross-institutional working group to develop a funded structure of family leave (inclusive of maternity, paternity, parental, adoptive, and carer’s leave) and develop mandatory guidelines to underpin this.
A strong consensus emerged from the HEA consultation process that there was a need for better work-life balance in HEIs. In particular, there was a focus on family leave and therefore it was deemed appropriate for this to be given particular attention in the recommendations. The comments received demonstrate that this is an area important to both women and men. Significant gender differences were found, in the staff survey with women feeling less satisfied with their current balance between their professional and personal life and their ability to balance the needs of their job with those of their personal or family life
ORC subcommittee will investigate a funded structure of family leave and to investigate measures to address gaps in staffing due to family leave by Q3 2019
HR Given DITs objective of improving the gender diversity of its staff pool, the existence and visibility of family friendly policies has the potential to attract a wider pool of applicants, if this is effectively communicated at the outset. A funded structure of family leave will be delivered by Q4 2019 and will be highlighted in candidate briefings. Job applicants will be asked what attracted them to apply for posts in DIT and by 2021; at least 75% of applicants will choose DITs family leave structure.
4.22 Update extended leave forms to include an option for keeping in touch days, and being contacted about new
Because while someone is on leave, for example on parental leave, they may miss an opportunity to apply for a promotion. However, the individual
Immediate but ask for input from staff who have already taken extended leave
Head of HR Staff who are on leave (including maternity leave above) and have chosen to keep in touch will have
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opportunities or key meetings.
should be allowed to choose if they want to be contacted or not or if they want to attend a keep in touch day or a key meeting.
an opportunity to access information on career development and make applications for promotion. All staff who have chosen to keep in touch will be asked for feedback. At least 80% will report that it made a positive difference to them returning to work.
4.23 Establish Institute policy to ensure that all meetings will as far as possible begin and end within core working hours (10am – 4pm)
To facilitate those with caring responsibilities
An all staff email will remind staff about the Institute policy at the start of each academic year.
President Operations & Resource Committee College Deans
Meeting times for key staff committee meetings will be published on the website and 100% will be held during the core working hours
4.24 Provide suitable facilities on new campus for pregnant or breast-feeding women; new mothers (staff and students);
A major building project is currently underway to bring College of Sciences & Health and some Engineering Schools on to the new campus. Therefore, it is a good opportunity to incorporate suitable resources. By providing a caring environment DIT can expect to attract and retain the best talent
New facilities will be considered at the appropriate stage in the development process,
Head of Campus Planning Team
100% of staff and students will report high levels of satisfaction with the new facilities on campus.