| Name | Area |
| Professor Colin Scott (Co - Chair) | Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion |
| Dr Emma Sokell (Co - Chair) | School of Physics - Science |
| Marcellina Fogarty | Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, HR |
| Dr Sara Benedi Lahuerta | School of Law |
| Professor Kath Browne | School of Geography |
| Rory Carey | Culture and Engagement, HR |
| Dr Paula Carroll | School of Business |
| Tom Costelloe | Equality, Diversity and Inclusion |
| Michael Donohue | School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering |
| Dr Jennifer Doyle | Access and Lifelong Learning |
| Ruth Harrison | School of Business |
| Dr Simon Kelly | School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering |
| Dr Arun Kumar | School of Veterinary Medicine |
| Professor Jason Last | Office of Registrar |
| Dr Antoinette Perry | College Vice-Principal for EDI, College of Science |
|
Ruairí Power
|
SU Welfare Officer |
| Dr Meriel McClatchie | School of Archaeology - Social Sciences & Law |
| Paula McGarry | China Joint Colleges |
| Dr Catherine Mooney | Computer Science |
| Dr Emma Nicholson | Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems |
| Eimear O'Reilly | Equality Diversity and Inclusion |
| Mark Simpson | Culture and Engagement, HR |
| Dr Veronica Sofianos | Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering |
| Dr Saoirse Tracy | School of Agriculture & Food Sciences - Health & Agricultural Sciences |
| Dr Arun Kumar | School of Veterinary Medicine - Science |
| Lisa Bennett | Finance Office |
| Joanna O'Keeffe (Secretary to the GEAG) | Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Unit, HR |
Gender Equality in UCD
Page Updated: 2nd August 2022
UCD is committed to supporting gender diversity, equality and inclusion in the University. For more information on how UCD is making strides in gender equality and how you can support UCD in contributing to positive change for everyone, continue reading below.
Information on UCD's commitment to the Athena Swan Ireland Principles can be found here:
Athena Swan Ireland Principles Certificate 2022
HEA Online Review of Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) is undertaking a Second National Review of Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This Review will assess the progress made in recent years and make recommendations to ensure the continued advancement of gender equality in the higher education sector. By taking part in this consultation, you are helping the HEA to identify areas for improvement, and ways to make those improvements
You are invited to participate in the second HEA national review of gender equality in Irish Higher Education (HE) Institutions through a survey and/or written submissions. The Expert group will consider the collated consultation output to provide an overall picture of gender equality across the sector, and progress made since the first National Review in 2016. .
HEA Gender Profiles Report 2021 and UCD Benchmarking
Since 2016, the Higher Education Institutional Staff Profiles by Gender collate gender disaggregated data from Irish higher education institutions (HEIs) that are in receipt of annual core-grant funding from the HEA. These profiles provide information on key indicators which will contribute to the assessment of gender-equality in Irish HEIs. This publication offers a valuable baseline from which progress can be measured, and includes all grades of staff, in seven universities, three colleges, fourteen institutes of technology and RCSI.
UCD Institutional Research has created a report for the UCD Gender Equality Action Group on Higher Education Institutional Staff Profiles by Gender, which uses the HEA's report as a benchmark for UCD data. The report focuses on an analysis of the UCD data, compared to the available data for the other universities. You can download the report here:
Athena SWAN at UCD
University College Dublin has received its second Athena SWAN Bronze institutional award in recognition of the university’s work towards gender equality. To achieve this accreditation, an institution must demonstrate that it has undertaken a thorough self-assessment of gender equality challenges and has developed a detailed action plan to tackle them. The UCD Gender Equality Action Plan 2020-2024 was prepared by the Gender Equality Action Group and its Working Groups, in a process that involved external benchmarking, an EDI employee survey, focus groups and consultation across the university. It includes actions relating to recruitment, promotions, leadership, work practices, organisation and culture. The implementation of the Plan is already underway, and includes mechanisms to track progress on each of the actions. It will be updated to include the actions that arise from the review currently underway of the university’s policy and procedures on Dignity and Respect.
Athena SWAN Schools Application
UCD Schools with Athena SWAN Awards and School Gender Equality Action Plans are available on UCD's Athena SWAN Schools webpage.
For information on how to apply, visit our Athena SWAN for Schools section. If your School is interested in applying and you would like more details, please contact edi@ucd.ie.
Gender Equality Action Group
The Gender Equality Action Group chaired by Professor Colin Scott and Dr Emma Sokell oversees the implementation of the Gender Equality Action Plan and also acts as the Steering Group for University Athena SWAN applications. It will also encourage and support applications from Schools across all disciplines to apply for Athena SWAN awards and carry out a mock assessment role for School applications prior to submission. This group also has a broader remit in terms of addressing gender related issues and promoting gender equality that may fall outside the scope of Athena SWAN.
Any queries or comments in relation to gender equality can be sent to edi@ucd.ie and will be considered by the Gender Equality Action Group.
Athena SWAN in action
Diversity is highlighted in the university’s strategic plan as one of the core values of UCD, and one of our strategic objectives is the attraction and retention of an excellent and diverse cohort of students, faculty and staff. The Athena SWAN Gender Equality Action Plan will be central to our ability to deliver on this objective.
UCD put in place a number of actions from our 2016 - 2019 Action Plan, including:
- The appointment of a Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
- The establishment of an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group reporting to the University Management Team
- A new University Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy
- The development of an Equality Impact Assessment Tool, which will enable and require all policy developers to ensure that UCD policies are inclusive and promote equality and diversity
- The introduction of a social levy, to distribute the costs of leave
- Introduction of Core meeting hours
- Gender Balance target for Committee membership
- Introduction of a welcome statement in all advertisements to under-represented groups and mandatory EDI criteria in job descriptions and tips and tools on drafting inclusive job descriptions
- Development of a gender analytics tool for Schools
- Development of targets for promotions based on the cascade model targets
Athena SWAN comes to Ireland
In April 2014, it was announced that the Athena SWAN would be extended to Ireland. The extension of the Athena SWAN Charter is supported by the Higher Education Authority.
UCD is proud to have been among the Higher Education Institutions (HEI's) who helped bring Athena SWAN to Ireland and continues to support the process through participation on the National Coordination Committee (NCC). Since 2014, UCD has been working with the UK Equality Challenge Unit (ECU), the Higher Education Authority (HEA), Irish Universities Association (IUA) and the NCC to adapt the UK model for the Irish context. The goal for the initial three year period is for all Irish HEIs to join the Charter and successfully secure the entry level Athena SWAN Bronze Award.
Athena SWAN was formally launched in Ireland on 5th February by the Minister for Education and Science, Jan O’Sullivan TD. Speaking at the launch, UCD’s President and current IUA President, Professor Andrew Deeks welcomed the initiative.
While Athena SWAN currently focuses on academic and research staff in STEMM areas, in the UK this is being broadened out to include staff across all disciplines. In line with the Athena SWAN framework, from the outset, UCD has included all disciplines, STEMM and AHSS. It also developed an incremental approach, seeking ultimately to include all employees in gender equality initiatives, noting also the relevance of certain initiatives for students.
Athena SWAN in UCD
UCD recognises the contribution that women have made to our progress. However, it is widely acknowledged including at a European level - that proactive steps need to be taken to ensure sustainable and equal participation of women in higher education and research roles throughout their careers. While initiatives have been taken at a European level, UCD equally is seeking to ensure that we have an environment that supports and enables equality for women in this area.
UCD has established a number of equality related initiatives across the University. In 2014, in line with our commitment to gender equality, UCD developed a specific gender project to enhance women’s participation and equality, including through engaging in gender equality action planning and developing frameworks to encourage relevant stakeholders to develop actions to support gender equality. UCD strives to support a culture of commitment to equality, beyond compliance with legal requirements.
UCD’s Strategic Plan for 2015-2020 names diversity as a key value and one of our ten priority objectives is to attract and retain an excellent and diverse cohort of students, faculty and staff. The Strategic Plan commits UCD to promoting gender balance and equality of opportunity among students and employees and to engaging in national and international cutting edge diversity programmes to ensure that UCD achieves the benefits of diversity at all leadership levels.
UCD applied for the Athena SWAN Bronze Institutional Award at the first opportunity and attained an Athena Swan Bronze Institution award in 2017
There are six guiding principles underpinning Athena SWAN, namely:
- To address gender inequalities requires commitment and action from everyone, at all levels of the organisation
- To tackle the unequal representation of women in science requires changing cultures and attitudes across the organisation
- The absence of diversity at management and policy-making levels has broad implications which the organisation will examine
- The high loss rate of women in science is an urgent concern which the organisation will address
- The system of short-term contracts has particularly negative consequences for the retention and progression of women in science, which the organisation recognises
- There are both personal and structural obstacles to women making the transition from PhD into a sustainable academic career in science, which require the active consideration of the organisation
While Athena SWAN currently focuses on academic and research staff in STEMM areas, this is being broadened out to include staff across all disciplines.
Further information on Athena SWAN
The Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) UK had developed a range of resources to support universities. The Handbook (to be adapted for Ireland) is a very practical resource.
UCD Statement: Meeting Horizon Europe – Gender Equality Plan (GEP) Eligibility Requirements
With Horizon Europe, the Commission re-affirms its commitment to gender equality in research and innovation and sets gender equality as a cross-cutting priority. As a result, having a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) will be an eligibility criterion for certain categories of legal entities, including public bodies, from EU Member States and associated countries. This requirement will apply to all calls for proposals with a deadline in 2022 onwards. Horizon Europe has set out what it requires in a GEP with four mandatory process-related requirements as follows:
- Publication of a formal document
- Dedicated resources in gender equality
- Data collection and monitoring of gender
- Training and awareness raising on gender equality/unconscious bias
There are also five thematic themes that it requires an institution to address either in the GEP or broader EDI action plans (see Figure 1). The following statement demonstrates how UCD meets these GEP requirements in Horizon Europe.
Figure 1: Horizon Europe GEP Eligibility
Download the Horizon Europe - GEP Requirements document