School of Communications receives Athena SWAN Bronze Award
DCU’s School of Communications has been awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze Award in the latest assessment round for Athena SWAN Ireland. Award holders are recognized for their commitment to gender equality in higher education. This marks the first department award conferred on any DCU School or Faculty.
The School of Communication’s submission was commended by the panel for their firm commitment to making progress on gender equality, particularly evident in related work on teaching and learning. Positive examples of such commitment include a comprehensive gender audit of School modules, the effort to address gender issues in course content with significant changes to 10 modules, and the introduction of a gender-specific undergraduate module. The School’s changing demographic profile and a new system of undergraduate programme chair tutors to prepare female staff to take on programme chair roles also were positively evaluated.
Prof. Derek Hand, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, welcomed the news of the award:
“On behalf of the Faculty, we are delighted that the School’s commitment and our ongoing efforts have been recognised by the attainment of our first departmental Athena SWAN Bronze Award. This achievement also reaffirms our commitment to action to improve gender equality and diversity for staff and students by the School, the Faculty, and the University.”
The School’s Athena SWAN application committee was co-chaired by Dr. Aileen O’Driscoll and Dr. Dónal Mulligan (and previously chaired by Dr. Debbie Ging) and supported by DCU’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Unit. Dr. Mark O’Brien, Head of the School of Communications, said:
“This award marks an important moment for the School’s development amid growing discussions about diversity and equality in academia and the media and communications sector. It is very encouraging to see this recognition of our work and planning.”
Speaking on behalf of the application committee, co-chair Dr. Dónal Mulligan said:
“The Athena Swan Bronze Award is both an accomplishment and an opportunity for the School of Communications. It's the culmination of very substantial efforts by colleagues in the School and invaluable contributions from DCU EDI. We've analysed and made commitments to improve the culture of participation, equality, and diversity for staff and students – and the award has prompted much useful reflection. It is also the beginning of a continuing process where we put plans into action over the next few years to further improve our School's culture and strive to become a leading example.”
In March 2017, Dublin City University was awarded the Athena SWAN Bronze Award in recognition of its commitment to advancing gender equality for women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and creating cultural change within the University. This Bronze Award was renewed in 2020, with DCU now focusing on ensuring equity for other key areas that intersect with gender including race, age, disability and sexual orientation.
Find out more about the University’s work on equality, diversity and inclusion, as well as DCU’s ambitious gender action plan.
More about Athena SWAN Ireland
The Athena SWAN Charter is an accreditation framework that is used across the globe to support and transform gender equality in higher education (HE) and research. Athena SWAN launched in Ireland in 2015 and versions of the charter are in place in the UK, Australia, the USA, India and Canada. Engagement with the Athena SWAN charter is a key pillar of Ireland’s national strategy for gender equality in higher education.
More about the School of Communications
The DCU School of Communications is an internationally-focused centre for excellence in teaching and research in the areas of media, communications and journalism. It is currently ranked number one in Ireland and in the top 150 globally among communications and media studies departments.