John Shawe-Taylor Professor of Computational Statistics and Machine Learning & Head of Department

Transcription

1 UCL DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE John Shawe-Taylor Professor of Computational Statistics and Machine Learning HEAD OF DEPARTMENT 7 th December 2012 I am pleased to confirm my wholehearted support for the UCL Computer Science submission for an Athena Swan Silver Award. Computer Science as a discipline has struggled with gender inequality in many parts of the world and not least in the UK. This is the result of quite complex associations and messages that are sometimes difficult to unravel; but the result has been an enormous loss of talent to a subject that is in many respects well-matched with female talents. The Athena Swan submission is an important step in our putting this situation right, something to which I am deeply committed. We are very fortunate that our Department has a number of high profile female academics including four members of our professorial staff. Professor Angela Sasse leads our Information Security Research Group and is a world leader. Professor Ann Blandford was the previous Director of the UCL Interaction Centre (UCLIC), while Professor Yvonne Rogers assumed this role just over a year ago. Both are extremely productive and influential researchers. In addition to the professorial staff we have a number of excellent female colleagues who are making major contributions in their fields. Space does not allow mention of all of the women in the Department who are helping to make it a successful academic unit, but Jill Saunders our Admin Manager, and JJ Giwa our Facilities Manager deserve special mention for their extraordinarily dedicated and professional contributions. I would also like to mention Professor Sue Black who has a strong connection with the Department and has assisted us in preparing our Athena Swan submission. Sue is well-known for her championing of women in computing and her high profile campaign to save Bletchley Park and is currently writing a book about this that the Department will help to finance. Despite the positive examples cited above, there is significant underrepresentation of women at all levels of our Department. Our discussions of the reasons for this have led us to understand the extent to which this underrepresentation extends back into interest in computing in schools. We are recruiting from an already depleted pool. Our departmental strategy and academic mission is to work to turn this completely unacceptable situation around at all levels. In order to tackle this situation in its entirety we are therefore engaging at many different levels, including promoting computer science among girls at school, improving our messages to attract women to apply to UCL at all levels and, once part of our community, to support and nourish their work and careers. I would like to conclude by reiterating my absolute commitment to seeing these developments through, not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because I believe that gender balance can enormously benefit our department and the discipline of Computer Science. Yours sincerely, John Shawe-Taylor Professor of Computational Statistics and Machine Learning & Head of Department UCL Department of Computer Science University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT Tel: +44 (0) Fax: +44 (0) [email protected]

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3 Athena SWAN Silver department award application Name of university: UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON Department: COMPUTER SCIENCE Date of application: 30/11/12 Date of university Bronze and/or Silver Athena SWAN award: 2006 (Renewal: May 2009) Contact for application: JOHN SHAWE- TAYLOR j.shawe- Telephone: Departmental website address: Athena SWAN Silver Department awards recognise that in addition to university- wide policies the department is working to promote gender equality and to address challenges particular to the discipline. Not all institutions use the term department and there are many equivalent academic groupings with different names, sizes and compositions. The definition of a department for SWAN purposes can be found on the Athena SWAN website. If in doubt, contact the Athena SWAN Officer well in advance to check eligibility. It is essential that the contact person for the application is based in the department. Sections to be included At the end of each section state the number of words used. Click here for additional guidance on completing the template. 1. Letter of endorsement from the head of department: maximum 500 words Attached 461 words 2

4 2. The self- assessment process: maximum 1000 words Describe the self- assessment process. This should include: a) A description of the self assessment team: members roles (both within the department and as part of the team) and their experiences of work- life balance Name Professor John Shawe- Taylor Dr Sue Black Professor Zhaoping Li Dr Stephen Hailes Dr Graham Roberts Dr Ivana Drobnjak Sarah Chisholm Larissa Romualdo Suzuki Role in the AS team Chair Instigator Member Catalyst Ideas Member Women in CS Coordinator Member Data analysis Member Teaching and Curriculum Member Athena Swan communication Hard working dynamo Member Data analysis Member Women in CS Research Biographical Data Head of Department. Married, one child. Used to combine picking child from school with other work commitments. Has tried to ensure weekends are kept free of work, including combining trips to project meetings or conferences with family trips. Senior Research Associate since Four children. Veteran champion of women in SET specifically women in computing, e.g. set up BCSWomen network in 2001, online network with 1.5k female members. Completed BSc(Hons) Computing Studies full- time and PhD Software Engineering full- time for 3 years, part- time for 4 years and full time lecturing: all whilst single parent with 3 children. Currently living with partner, one child at home. Professor. Married with two children. Had the second child during first year at UCL. Children in nursery when young and had housekeeping help. Living close to campus/nursery so as to be flexible in working from home and from office/lab. Department Women in CS coordinator providing advice to young CS women. Husband also works at UCL and helps with childcare. Took children on sabbatical to Asia. Deputy Head of Department (2005- ). Married (to a UCL academic), two children, one of whom is now at University, one at GCSE level. Both children were born whilst I was working at UCL, and both children attended UCL nursery in the early years of their lives - they were dropped off and picked up by us both. Childcare is and has always been a joint responsibility, usually done together. Departmental Tutor (2003- date) responsible for student welfare in the department, also Director of studies (2007- date) responsible for organising the teaching in the department. Not married, no child responsibilities. Acted as a carer for late mother for five years during a long illness with serious mobility problems. Currently looking after elderly father. Leverhulme Trust Fellow & Proleptic Lecturer (May date). Post- Doctoral Research Associate at UCL since While pregnant with first child was awarded Leverhulme Trust Fellowship and soon after a UCL lectureship. Had strong support from the department. After coming back from a 6- month maternity leave, initiated Post- Break award scheme at UCL for parents coming back from maternity leave. In first ever round in February 2012, was awarded 10000, which was spent hiring personnel to help get work up- to- speed. Worked full- time ever since. Currently pregnant with twins. First child is in nursery. Husband a busy barrister who helps out. PhD student since Not married, no childcare responsibilities. PhD student since Google Anita Borg Scholar, Ambassador of the Anita Borg Institute. Married, no childcare responsibilities. Dave Twisleton Member Action plan Technical Support Officer in Department since 2002, also Dept Safety Officer. PG Cert in Learning Technologies Two girls, 7 and 19 months, balancing childcare with wife,who works, and childminder. Governor at daughter s Primary School. JJ Giwa Coordinator Joined the Department in Jan 1995 as the Assistant Departmental Secretary. Was away for 6 months of maternity leave in 2007 and returned on a 3- day week basis 3

5 for a period of 4 months. Became Departmental Administrator responsible for Facilities Management and Operations in Married and mother of two children. A Departmental Equal Opportunities Liaison Officer. Working was highly collaborative both at and between meetings. All members are extremely enthusiastic and have taken responsibility for different areas. Dr Dean Mohamedally (Senior Teaching Fellow), Ms Alex Douglass- Bonner (PhD Student), Dr Simon Julier (Undergraduate Admissions Tutor) and Dr Anna Cox also contributed. b) an account of the self assessment process: details of the self assessment team meetings, including any consultation with staff or individuals outside of the university, and how these have fed into the submission After an initial meeting in July 2012 to launch the project, the core Athena Swan team met first twice monthly, then weekly from September The main goals were to identify and discuss the objectives of the Athena SWAN initiative; collect and discuss the data required; and to formulate a plan of action leading up to and following our submission. Our meetings were highly collegial and animated, often consisting of brainstorming and discussion of identified issues. JJ and Jill provided administrative support. Sarah and Alex, in collaboration with Steve Hailes, obtained and worked with the data. In November we also presented our work to the department s External Advisory Board which included industry experts from Google, IBM, SAS, Causata and Cisco. During a very active discussion we received useful input on how to address work- life balance issues. We had discussions about making computer science careers more attractive for girls with J P Morgan, Careers Officer of City of London School and the headteacher of Townley Girls Grammar School. We invited the head to talk to us about gender issues from the school s perspective. This then fed excellently into our action plan for increasing the number of female undergraduate applicants. We have really enjoyed working together as a group and are excited about the progress we have made already, but that is just the beginning c) Plans for the future of the self assessment team, such as how often the team will continue to meet, any reporting mechanisms and in particular how the self assessment team intends to monitor implementation of the action plan. We have really enjoyed meeting up over the last few months and plan to carry on meeting at least every two months to discuss and review progress and of course come up with new ideas. We will report our progress, successes and achievements through our dedicated Women@CS web pages, our Facebook and Twitter, and departmental meetings, e.g. 4

6 Academic Staff meetings, Departmental Staff Meetings, External Advisory Board and the UCL Faculty of Engineering Sciences Women in Engineering group. We will monitor implementation of the action plan, looking for changes in the data. One of our key action points is to make the data collection easier and more automatic. We will also consult regularly with students and staff via a Women@CS focus group, our Facebook and Twitter pages and our new department blog. The group will work on building a community in which women can network, get support, develop confidence, learn skills and grow. 992 words 3. A picture of the department: maximum 2000 words a) Provide a pen- picture of the department to set the context for the application, outlining in particular any significant and relevant features. UCL Computer Science is one of the leading UK departments in research and teaching in computer science. In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 80% of our work was rated world- leading or internationally excellent. UCL Computer Science also prides itself on the quality and breadth of its teaching portfolio: we admit highly able students, and provide courses that are grounded in the fundamentals of our discipline but that extends the students both technically and in terms of qualities of cooperation and leadership, using a variety of practical problem- and project- based tasks. We run both undergraduate programmes and a wide variety of postgraduate programmes, most of which are linked directly into our research base and that draw on the expertise of cutting- edge researchers. 5

7 The department comprises 54 academic & 53 research staff, as well as 31 support staff. There are currently 244 undergraduates, 132 taught (MSc) postgraduates and 148 research postgraduates. The department comprises a number of research groups, most of which have associated research centres that both integrate expertise from outside the department and act as an outward facing presence through which we can promote the activities taking place in the department and forge new links. This structure can be seen in the diagram above. Our specialties include virtual environments and graphics, computer vision and imaging, networks, software systems engineering, human- computer interactions, information security, intelligent systems, media futures, bioinformatics, financial computation, and programming principles, logic and verification. In the UCL tradition, we are multidisciplinary sharing ideas and resources from other departments and the wider world to incorporate into our novel research. b) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning. Student data (i) Numbers of males and females on access or foundation courses comment on the data and describe any initiatives taken to attract women to the courses. Not applicable UCL CS doesn t offer foundation courses. (ii) Undergraduate male and female numbers full and part- time comment on the female:male ratio compared with the national picture for the discipline. Describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and the impact to date. Comment upon any plans for the future. UCL UK Female Male Total Female Male Total 2007/ % % % % / % % % % / % % % % / % % % % / % % 194????? 2012/ % % 244????? 6

8 Over the last 6 years female student numbers have been increasing from a baseline from of 18 to 20 %. Having a similar number of female students to the national average is not good enough for us. We want more female students in our department and plan to increase the percentage year on year, providing them with an environment where they will thrive. 30% 20% 10% 0% Comparison of percentage of female UG students at UCL vs UK average UC L We have many initiatives in our department to encourage and support female students. Listed below are many of our actions, which are either ongoing or planned to begin in We are very proud of our students and include examples here of just some of their achievements. Showcase Role Models: use all channels available (Facebook, Twitter, Departmental website and blog) to showcase our female students and staff to show our UG students that there are some very cool females at UCL doing some really cool things in computing. Top women programmers in our 1st year Robotics class, now one year on - Giulia (left) is now leading a software systems engineering team, developing UCL CS s first 3D Games Console and Kinga is now Student Chair for the Special Interest Group (SSIG) in Information Security. Open Days and Conference Days Ensure that at least half of the speakers and others involved with our Open Days are female, and that all materials, slides etc. used at open days have photos etc. showing positive female role models. Ensure that these days happen not only at Year 12 as is the case now when the girls already chose their study area, but earlier on at Year 9 before the girls are committed to a particular direction. Real world focus Embed a real world focus for computer science in our courses, with especial focus on year one. 7

9 Scholarships Provide scholarships targeted at female students across the department. PR, marketing, social media We are keen to showcase our female staff and students and their great achievements both internally and externally. We have set up Facebook and Twitter accounts which are proving popular, screenshots of these are on the front page of our submission. We are also setting up a departmental blog which will aim to include female staff and students in 50% of its content. Not only will we have female specific channels, but also our general PR and marketing channels will aim to have 50% of content female staff/student related. Outreach activities Build on our already strong links with schools, increase the amount of schools that we are linked to, and work more closely with them to improve and deepen the relationship Stephanie and Tina are dedicated Android and ios fans. Together with a team of our best app developers, they represented UCL as ambassadors at this year s UK DroidCon Android conference, the largest apps conference in the UK. Here they reached out to top companies such as Intel, Sony and app service providers to learn and engage with communities of software developers. UCL- CS were the only university to demonstrate apps technologies at the show. Strong emphasis is placed on student visibility to companies. High quality and topical events for school teachers We plan to trial holding an event next summer aimed at teaching teachers programming. It has been found that the way programming is taught to girls can make a massive difference in whether they enjoy it or feel alienated by it. Carnegie Mellon University ran a program, which linked teaching programming to teachers with teaching them gender awareness 1. We aim to trial a similar event at UCL next summer. 2 nd year undergraduates doing projects in schools As part of our outreach activities one of our medium term plans is to explore the feasibility of creating a link between the undergraduate students in our department and both the schools from which they originated, and schools and colleges in developing regions. Career Progression Broker links between our feeder schools and industry. We already have very strong links in place (JP Morgan, Google, Cisco and IBM), and at the recent External Advisory Board meeting, several of the industrial members, suggested they would be quite 1 Allan Fisher and Jane Margolis Unlocking the clubhouse: the Carnegie Mellon experience.sigcse Bull. 34, 2 (June 2002), DOI= /

10 happy to have a system in place in the department which would connect them up with schools. (iii) Postgraduate male and female numbers completing taught courses full and part- time comment on the female:male ratio compared with the national picture for the discipline. Describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and the effect to date. Comment upon any plans for the future. UCL Female Male Total Female Male Total 2007/ % 91 65% % % / % 93 72% % % / % % % % / % % % % / % % 132??? UK Our department has been steadily oscillating about a 28% baseline for the past five years. This is significantly above the national average of around 21% and is quite encouraging. Nevertheless, as in the case of the undergraduates we aim to increase these numbers. 40% 30% 20% 10% Comparison of percentage of female PGT students at UCL vs UK average The MSc numbers are significantly larger 0% than at the undergraduate level and this 2007/ / / / /12 is most likely due to existing very applicable and exciting MSc courses that we have. We are also partners in teaching on the MSc Human Computer Interaction with Ergonomics, which has a consistently high number of female students (currently 50%). We aim to continue providing these Masters and are actively thinking how we can improve them even further. UCL UK From our Masters in Financial and Software Systems Engineering, Irina and her team presented a case study to an executive panel of senior architects and project managers from IBM Global Business Consulting Services. They received Distinction awards from both academics and senior industry members. Similar to our plans for the undergraduates, we aim to increase how much we feature female staff and students in marketing and publicity materials; not only do we positively reflect our female student population but we also include featured research by our academic and research staff. 9

11 (iv) Postgraduate male and female numbers on research degrees full and part- time comment on the female:male ratio compared with the national picture for the discipline. Describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and the effect to date. Comment upon any plans for the future. UCL Female Male Total Female Male Total 2007/ % 74 76% % % / % 67 74% % % / % 87 78% % % / % % % % / % % 141????? 2012/ % % 148????? Postgraduate research enrolment has been fairly steady around 22%, which is above the national average baseline of 20.5%. However, our aim is to further improve the ratio. In order to have more PhD students we need to both inspire our own undergraduate and MSc students to choose to do research, and to Comparison of percentage of female successfully attract candidates from other PGR students at UCL vs UK average universities to choose to do their PhD at 30% UCL. Here are a few initiatives we are planning: 20% Summer research posts (internships) of 10% UG students with academics The goal of this action point is to attract 0% undergraduates to choose careers in research, and we believe this will result in increasing our PhD numbers. The system is already in place. Women@CS group We plan to create a dedicated group to build a community in which women in our department can develop confidence, learn skills, develop networks and grow. We will do this through organising events, mentoring, conferences, outreach and professional networking. We have read about this this working at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) with great success. Dr Sue Black who is part of our Athena Swan Working Group has many years of successful experience in this area and will be part of making this group a resounding success. UK 2007/ / / / / /13 UCL UK (v) Ratio of course applications to offers and acceptances by gender for undergraduate, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research degrees comment on the differences between male and female application and success rates and describe any initiatives taken to address any imbalance and their effect to date. Comment upon any plans for the future. UG Applications Offers Acceptances Female Male Female Male Female Male 2007/ (17%) (19%) (16%) /09 93 (17%) (18%) (16%) / (17%) (18%) (20%) / (18%) (22%) (26%) / (20%) (23%) (23%) / (17%) (19%) (21%)

12 The data for all three groups imply that the proportion (by gender) of offers made is in line with the proportion of applications received. The only data point that is different is Postgraduate Research 2009/10, which we believe was a one off anomaly. PGT Applications Offers Acceptances Female Male Female Male Female Male 2007/ (27%) (34%) (32%) / (26%) (28%) (31%) / (27%) (29%) (25%) / (28%) (28%) (27%) / (27%) (25%) (22%) / (40%) (33%) (31%) 276 This data shows that the application process at the Department is not favouring men, and re- enforces our determination to focus on the goal of increasing the number of female applicants in all three groups. The initiatives for this are described in the previous sections. PGR Applications Offers Acceptances Female Male Female Male Female Male 2007/08 44 (24%) (29%) 29 7 (24%) /09 46 (19%) (20%) 43 8 (21%) /10 41 (18%) (8%) 69 4 (7%) /11 56 (22%) (21%) (17%) /12 78 (24%) (32%) (36%) /13 73 (26%) (26%) (26%) 28 (vi) Degree classification by gender comment on any differences in degree attainment between males and females and describe what actions are being taken to address any imbalance. UG Classification Completion Female Male award year Female Male 1 2:1 2: :1 2: % 50% 33% 17% 24% 34% 31% 10% % 50% 38% 0% 33% 37% 23% 7% % 63% 25% 13% 14% 50% 36% 0% % 67% 0% 33% 23% 49% 28% 0% % 38% 31% 8% 35% 46% 19% 0% The data shown in this table is quite worrying. We can see that in 2008/10 and 11 no female students received a first class degree and in % of females received a third class degree compared to 0% of male students. Partly with this in mind in 2011 we revised our undergraduate programme with the intention of making it much more strongly problem- based. Figures for 2012 are much improved but we are not complacent, this issue must be addressed and is an item on our action plan. 11

13 Staff data (vii) Female:male ratio of academic staff and research staff researcher, lecturer, senior lecturer, reader, professor (or equivalent). Comment on any differences in numbers between males and females and say what action is being taken to address any underrepresentation at particular grades/levels Academic Lecturer Senior Lecturer Reader Professor Total /15 (13%) 1/7 (14%) 1/10 (10%) 3/14 (21%) 7/46 (15%) /17 (12%) 0/6 (0%) 0/8 (0%) 3/16 (19%) 5/47 (11%) /19 (11%) 1/7 (14%) 0/6 (0%) 3/18 (17%) 6/50 (12%) /19 (16%) 1/9 (11%) 0/5 (0%) 3/18 (17%) 7/51 (14%) /15 (20%) 1/13 (8%) 0/5 (0%) 4/21 (19%) 8/54 (15%) *Lecturers also include Teaching Fellows and Senior Teaching Fellows We are keenly aware that the percentage of female staff in the department is low and are focusing our efforts on improving this situation. We are very happy that the department has four female professors but recognise that 0% to 20% females in different roles leaves lots of room for improvement. We will be working as per our action plan to improve this situation with a three- pronged approach: o Use of current best practice for making positions attractive to females when advertising future academic positions. o A formalised talent spotting process ensuring that females with potential are given appropriate advice, support and coaching. o A mentoring program which encourages female staff to achieve their potential. Research Research Assistant Research Associate Research Fellow Senior Research Fellow Total /5 (40%) 2/33 (6%) 1/3 (33%) 0/2 (0%) 5/43 (12%) /4 (25%) 4/36 (11%) 1/5 (20%) 0/1 (0%) 6/46 (13%) /7 (29%) 7/48 (15%) 1/7 (14%) 0/1 (0%) 10/63 (16%) /3 (0%) 12/56 (21%) 2/8 (25%) 0 14/67 (21%) /3 (0%) 12/38 (32%) 3/12 (25%) 0 15/53 (28%) The data for research posts shows more females employed than in academic posts, at 28% overall, but we are not complacent. We also want to improve the percentage of female research staff. We identified that obtaining an academic post is one of the hardest steps to achieve on the academic career path as there are very few posts available. From our observations and external research, we also note that this career point often occurs when women are in their early/mid- thirties and personal factors (such as wanting to have children) overlap with the straining demands of work. We will also be working on getting our PhD students interested in academic careers. 12

14 (viii) Turnover by grade and gender comment on any differences between men and women in turnover and say what is being done to address this. Where the number of staff leaving is small, comment on the reasons why particular individuals left male voluntary leavers (Swan grade 5) - no female leavers male voluntary leavers (Swan grade 2x5, 1x4) - no female leavers male voluntary leavers (Swan grade 1x6, 6x5, 3x4, 1x1) - 1 female voluntary leaver (Swan grade 5) We have a very low staff turnover, with only one female leaving in the last three years. NB We did not include research staff leaving when the grant funding ends words 4. Supporting and advancing women s careers: maximum 5000 words Key career transition points a) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning. (i) Job application and success rates by gender and grade comment on any differences in recruitment between men and women at any level and say what action is being taken to address this. RES Applicants Interviews Appointments Year Female Male Withheld Female Male Withheld Female Male Withheld (43%) (14%) (23%) (14%) (31%) (40%) (23%) (36%) (54%) (20%) (26%) (13%) 6 1 In general from this data we can see that there is no obvious bias towards men in recruitment of research staff, and a slight preference towards female applicants both at interview and appointment stage. Two data points are worrying however: o In 2009 from a 43% level of applications from females only 23% females were appointed o In 2012 only 13% females were appointed when 26% were interviewed. ACA Applicants Interviews Appointments Year Female Male Withheld Female Male Withheld Female Male Withheld (50%) (0%) (24%) (50%) (50%) (19%) (14%) (20%) (10%) (8%) (0%)

15 Regarding academic staff, there are less appointments in general so it is harder to make more concrete conclusions. However, similarly to research staff, the data convincingly shows lower number of female candidates applying for the posts in the first place. We as a Department are working hard to increase these numbers both for research and academic staff and our action points regarding this have been described already in 3 (vii). However, in order to maintain the current fair recruitment trend, we will put monitoring in place to insure it continues. (ii) Applications for promotion and success rates by gender and grade comment on whether these differ for men and women and if they do explain what action may be taken. Where the number of women is small applicants may comment on specific examples of where women have been through the promotion process. Explain how potential candidates are identified. Applied Successful Female Male Female Male 2010 L - > SL SL - > R R - > P L - > SL SL - > R R - > P L - > SL SL - > R R - > P * L=Lecturer, SL = Senior Lecturer, R = Reader, P = Professor The data shows that most applicants that apply for promotion get it (with one exception in 2011). However, of all applicants over the last three years only one was female. We noted that the method by which potential candidates are identified is through a professorial committee that reviews all non- professorial academic staff. While this process does not require individuals to put themselves forward, there is a potential to overlook the specifics of females unless this is specifically flagged. The department is already running professional and developmental courses for staff related to career planning. They involve improving leadership skills, grant and publication writing to encourage our less experienced academics to progress and be considered for promotion. In addition to this we discovered that mentoring by more senior academics can be really crucial in the earlier stages of academic career. We therefore plan to put a mentoring program in place alongside other initiatives, described within this document and detailed as part of our action plan, designed to improve female staffs confidence and awareness of how to apply for promotion. b) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed. 14

16 (i) Recruitment of staff comment on how the department s recruitment processes ensure that female candidates are attracted to apply, and how the department ensures its short listing, selection processes and criteria comply with the university s equal opportunities policies We found that the department ensures its advertising, short listing and criteria adhere to the university s equality policies. UCL organises recruitment and selection training for members of staff involved in interview panels. The training is mandatory, and the department ensures that we comply with this requirements. Our shortlisting and interview panels comply with UCL regulations and where possible, to include male and female members of staff. However, we do believe we could take a more pro- active approach to attracting the right female candidates. Currently we are working on improving our work- life balance structure and providing stronger support for women. We plan to make this obvious in our advertisements for future job vacancies in the department. (ii) Support for staff at key career transition points having identified key areas of attrition of female staff in the department, comment on any interventions, programmes and activities that support women at the crucial stages, such as personal development training, opportunities for networking, mentoring programmes and leadership training. Identify which have been found to work best at the different career stages. It can be observed from the data we have shown that that the number of female researchers decreases as we go further on the academic path see histogram (average over the last five years is shown). Mentoring: We plan to introduce mentoring at every level of the academic career. Students will be mentored by research staff, research staff by the academic staff. As a department we already have plenty of developmental courses in place, mentors will identify which skills need to be built and recommend appropriate training for their mentees. Yearly meetings with HoD: We plan to put in place lunch meetings of our female academic staff with the Head of Department during which they can give opinions on the situation in the department, raise issues that need to be addressed and also feedback the opinion of the younger members of staff and students that they are mentoring. Networking and role models: We plan to use our Women@CS group to facilitate these for students and all staff levels. Career development a) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed. 15

17 (i) Promotion and career development comment on the appraisal and career development process, and promotion criteria and whether these take into consideration responsibilities for teaching, research, administration, pastoral work and outreach work; is quality of work emphasised over quantity of work? UCL staff are expected to take part in the Appraisal, Review and Development Scheme. Normally, staff have an appraisal meeting with their line manager each year (no less frequently than every two years). The scheme s aim is for all members of staff to 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Propordon of female staff/students at key transidon points averaged over last 5 years UG PGT PGR Research Academic Female Male understand the department s expectations of them, an opportunity for detailed discussion of their contributions, and to feel valued. This scheme also includes an opportunity for identifying training and development needs and ensuring that they are met. Interestingly, our records show that female line managers are consistently good at carrying out regular appraisal meetings with the staff they line manage. The definition of clear and stretching objectives is key to the process and is also important in creating the conditions for promotion. We therefore plan to dedicate a session to this topic led by Ann Blandford at the next Awayday in March Special attention will be paid to gender specific issues in setting such objectives and appraisals generally. (ii) Induction and training describe the support provided to new staff at all levels, as well as details of any gender equality training. To what extent are good employment practices in the institution, such as opportunities for networking, the flexible working policy, and professional and personal development opportunities promoted to staff from the outset? All new staff have a thorough induction with HR Manager, line manager and other relevant staff. Gender equality training is covered as part of the mandatory online equalities training that all new staff have to do within their probation period. The flexible working policy, professional and personal development are all part of our induction material, both in print and web- based. Our administrative staff send all the relevant information to all the new staff, together with meeting them and informing them of the possibilities in person. We will make sure that the mentors remind their mentees about this material and where it can be found from time to time as well. (iii) Support for female students describe the support (formal and informal) provided for female students to enable them to make the transition to a sustainable academic career, particularly from postgraduate to researcher, such as mentoring, seminars and pastoral support and the right to request a female personal tutor. Comment on whether these activities are run by female staff and how this work is formally recognised by the department. 16

18 (ii) This has not been provided by the department in the past, but is an area where we plan to make significant changes as indicated elsewhere in this document. Organisation and culture a) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning. (i) Male and female representation on committees provide a breakdown by committee and explain any differences between male and female representation. Explain how potential members are identified Female Male External Advisory Board 3 20 Finance Committee 3 7 Management Team 3 9 Operations and Premises 4 9 Teaching Committee 3 18 Heads of Research Groups 2 10 Current numbers for committee membership show a much higher representation on our committees by men than women. This has occurred for different reasons on each committee. The External Advisory Board (EAB) which comprises 20 males and 3 females depends on companies putting forward people to sit on the board or UCL CS department staff members asking a contact that they have in industry to sit on the panel. In a recent meeting the EAB themselves noted that the department needed to do some work on getting more female staff and students into the department, so it is clear that they are keen on promoting an awareness of gender issues. The Teaching Committee mainly comprises of the course leaders within the department. Some thought needs to be given as to how to either have more female staff as course leaders or to get a greater representation of women on the teaching committee by another means. The Head of Research Groups committee comprises of academics who are heads of research groups. As above, this needs to be looked at to work out the best way of ensuring that the gender balance on the committee can be addressed. (ii) Female:male ratio of academic and research staff on fixed- term contracts and open- ended (permanent) contracts comment on any differences between male and female staff representation on fixed- term contracts and say what is being done to address them. Our academic staff is on open- ended contacts. Our research staff is on open- ended contracts with grant/project end dates. Although this is formally considered open ended, it ultimately depends on the grant being renewed, or a PI getting a new grant or a project being extended. So, in a conversation we had with one of the Athena Swan team members, we were advised to consider these kind of contracts fixed term. Hence, the ratio is the same as in 3.b)(vii) Staff Data, and therefore the main action points to address these are summarised there. b) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed. 17

19 (i) Representation on decision- making committees comment on evidence of gender equality in the mechanism for selecting representatives. What evidence is there that women are encouraged to sit on a range of influential committees inside and outside the department? How is the issue of committee overload addressed where there are small numbers of female staff? The main committees involved in the running of the Department are the Management Committee, Finance Committee, Teaching Committee, and Professorial (Promotions) Committee. These committees all have female representation, but we will continue to monitor this aspect more carefully in the next months. Improving the representation of women on committees is Action Point 5.7 and will start to be addressed in early See section 4a (i) Organisation and culture for more details. (ii) Workload model describe the systems in place to ensure that workload allocations, including pastoral and administrative responsibilities (including the responsibility for work on women and science) are taken into account at appraisal and in promotion criteria. Comment on the rotation of responsibilities e.g. responsibilities with a heavy workload and those that are seen as good for an individual s career. Our workload model is based on a fixed teaching allocation of two modules per academic with exceptions made for particularly heavy administrative or other commitments as for example head of department or for new recruits. Administrative duties are shared as evenly as possible, again with new recruits typically being shielded from these duties during their first year or two. We will consider the possibility of introducing allowances specifically recognising circumstances arising during careers of female academics in order to adjust these allocations where appropriate. (iii) Timing of departmental meetings and social gatherings provide evidence of consideration for those with family responsibilities, for example what the department considers to be core hours and whether there is a more flexible system in place. Our departmental meetings are usually held between 10am- 4pm as some of our female and male staff have family responsibilities (e.g. nursery, school pick ups). The only exception is the board meeting which is at 4pm, but that is organised by the faculty and not our department. We have instigated a monthly academic staff lunch that provides an opportunity for discussions and social gathering. The timing is deliberately aimed to allow maximum inclusiveness. Other events are our biannual awaydays that involve spending two days at an offsite location. We encourage all academic staff to attend these important events. (iv) Culture demonstrate how the department is female- friendly and inclusive. Culture refers to the language, behaviours and other informal interactions that characterise the atmosphere of the department, and includes all staff and students. 18

20 (ii) The department has a strong tradition of friendly and supportive collaboration that characterises most of UCL. Every effort is made to ensure that any criticisms are couched in a positive light to encourage growth and adaptation to meet new challenges. We have recently acquired a good quality coffee machine that has provided a focal point for social gathering in our common room throughout the day. This has encouraged mixing between groups and helped those less familiar with the department to feel welcomed and settled here. The Department holds a summer party which is aimed at all members, including their families, and children. These are usually held in the early evening, but occasionally the party has been held on a weekend to allow more people to attend as part of a day out in London. (v) Outreach activities comment on the level of participation by female and male staff in outreach activities with schools and colleges and other centres. Describe who the programmes are aimed at, and how this activity is formally recognised as part of the workload model and in appraisal and promotion processes. At present, our outreach activities are mainly limited to running open days at UCL, coupled with a generally encouraging attitude for staff and students to visit schools and participate in the educational process through governorships, etc. However, the department is currently working with the Institute of Education and others to seek to develop training programmes for new teachers, and we are seeking to develop links with girls schools through our contacts at Townley and elsewhere. For example, Hornsey Girls School, a school with a high number of BME pupils, have been invited to a Coding Day where they will be designing applications. Students on the MSc Software Systems Engineering have been designing web services to support schools and charities. We plan to hold a UCL- based conference next summer with a primary focus on girls and their teachers. Flexibility and managing career breaks a) Provide data for the past three years (where possible with clearly labelled graphical illustrations) on the following with commentary on their significance and how they have affected action planning. (i) Maternity return rate comment on whether maternity return rate in the department has improved or deteriorated and any plans for further improvement. If the department is unable to provide a maternity return rate, please explain why. 2007/ / / / / /13 Maternity

21 Since 2007 our department has experienced a 100% return rate following maternity leave. The numbers of female staff taking maternity leave is relatively small, however all are supported to return to work under conditions suited to their family commitments and in line with our flexible working policy. (ii) Paternity, adoption and parental leave uptake comment on the uptake of paternity leave by grade and parental and adoption leave by gender and grade. Has this improved or deteriorated and what plans are there to improve further. We are aware that our male staff have been taking paternity leaves of approximately two weeks. In the past this has been reported to their line managers. Last year a formalised human resources (HR) process was set up for fathers taking paternity leave. We believe that this will make this kind of data more accessible and consistent in the future. We also plan to conduct an informal survey in which we can learn more about the length of the leave and the reasons behind. The department adopts a very informal and supportive approach to offering flexibility around family commitments. This approach enables staff to work flexible hours to fit in their new home demands. We have not received any applications for parental or adoption leave in the last three years, however, we would fully support those in the future. (iii) Numbers of applications and success rates for flexible working by gender and grade comment on any disparities. Where the number of women in the department is small applicants may wish to comment on specific examples. The department has a very informal and flexible approach to work arrangements, hence we do not hold a record of applications and success rates for flexible working. Most employees discuss this with their line managers and a dedicated HR person within the department in order to get a solution that suits all. Based on our discussions with staff involved we believe that this arrangement is working for all. Future staff questionnaires will have appropriate questions on this topic to ensure that this is working for all staff. b) For each of the areas below, explain what the key issues are in the department, what steps have been taken to address any imbalances, what success/impact has been achieved so far and what additional steps may be needed. (i) Flexible working comment on the numbers of staff working flexibly and their grades and gender, whether there is a formal or informal system, the support and training provided for managers in promoting and managing flexible working arrangements, and how the department raises awareness of the options available. Flexible working is arranged both formally and informally within the department so accurate numbers are not available. Managers do not have any formal training in managing and promoting flexible working hours, however based on numerous individual examples 20

22 we came across in the past few months, our department has a very good record in supporting flexible hours. For example, we interviewed a PhD student who was working flexible hours after she came back from maternity leave, and an academic on this team was actively encouraged by both the line manager and the support staff to take as much leave as she needs and to organise suitable flexible hours once she is back. We do however recognise that there are still some members of the department who do not take flexible hours work option and we do plan to implement a system that would further raise the awareness and be more pro- active in encouraging women to take this option. The action plan for this is described in the paragraph five of the next sub- section. (ii) Cover for maternity and adoption leave and support on return explain what the department does, beyond the university maternity policy package, to support female staff before they go on maternity leave, arrangements for covering work during absence, and to help them achieve a suitable work- life balance on their return. Before going on a maternity leave, staff have a number of options to take in order to make the pregnancy period more manageable. They can either work from home once the travelling becomes too hard, or use some of their annual leave, or take sick leave in case the pregnancy is difficult and prevents them from working. Once they are ready to talk about their pregnancy they usually have a meeting with their line manager in which they discuss the start/end date of their maternity leave, cover during the time they are gone and are offered general support. Once they are back at work, flexible or part time work hours are in place to help with transitioning to the regular work atmosphere. Individual cases show that staff are aware of these and from various case studies we have, we discovered that they do use the options that are provided. In order to help maternity returners get back up- to speed with their work the Department set up a Post- Break Award. The award is especially designed to provide grants after large breaks, such as maternity leave. It has a value of and is meant to help with getting the awardee s research back up- to speed once the leave has finished. Our department is very friendly and open regarding bringing babies to work during/after the maternity leave has ended. One of our self- assessment team academic staff members worked with her baby daughter in the office, took her to various meetings, and when necessary sometimes breastfed her in the shared office. Another student brought her baby regularly to her meeting with her supervisor. Our Department is very friendly and open, making this kind of situation not only possible but also comfortable. There are also easy accessible designated areas for breastfeeding and baby changing in the building. We acknowledge that there are some cases when staff choose not to use the available facilities for maternity leave and flexible work hours. We believe that this is due to peer pressure and the general demands of the competitive academic life both internally in the Department and externally. 21

23 In order to address this we plan to set up a more organised encouragement system in which staff are not only supported when taking a leave and flexible work hours, but actively encouraged to do so. The best people to give this kind of encouragement in the Department are the line managers and the HoD, as they can offer reassurance regarding the expectations from the Department. Currently a dedicated HR member in our department is in charge of processing applications for maternity leave. To broaden the scope of this process we aim to provide a checklist which includes: a pre/post leave meeting with the HoD; all information about cover arrangements and a contact person that can help; the line manager to be briefed by the HR about the need to encourage staff to consider one of the plentiful options the Department offers, and any other relevant material mothers- to- be should be aware of. 5. Any other comments: maximum 500 words 3995 words Please comment here on any other elements which are relevant to the application, e.g. other STEMM- specific initiatives of special interest that have not been covered in the previous sections. Include any other relevant data (e.g. results from staff surveys), provide a commentary on it and indicate how it is planned to address any gender disparities identified. The appointment of a designated departmental Athena Swan champion is going to be key in us making sure that the action plan is implemented. Our use of social media to start creating a community of interest and support around what we are doing has already proven to work well. We have 111 members of our Facebook page already giving us a reach of over 28k people that potentially can see what we post, see chart below for more details. Our Twitter account has been followed by almost 100 people too and we have had quite a bit of interaction with people both inside UCL and externally. 22

24 We have really enjoyed working on this project. Our group and our department are all keenly committed to making a difference when it comes to increasing the amount of female staff and students and to making the department as female friendly as possible. We believe that it will not be one or two initiatives alone that make a difference but improving the overall culture through our many initiatives and actions working together. We look forward to seeing rising numbers of female staff and students over the next few years. 6. Action plan Provide an action plan as an appendix. An action plan template is available on the Athena SWAN website. The Action Plan should be a table or a spreadsheet comprising actions to address the priorities identified by the analysis of relevant data presented in this application, success/outcome measures, the post holder responsible for each action and a timeline for completion. The plan should cover current initiatives and your aspirations for the next three years. 7. Case study: impacting on individuals: maximum 1000 words Describe how the department s SWAN activities have benefitted two individuals working in the department. One of these case studies should be a member of the self assessment team, the other someone else in the department. More information on case studies is available in the guidance. Case Study 1 (Ivana Drobnjak - Athena Swan team member): I had a great experience working as a Postdoctoral Researcher at UCL's Department of Computer Science when I had Nina. I took 6 months maternity leave paid in full (4 maternity + 2 annual months leave) and I was advised by the very friendly administrative staff throughout so I always felt well informed and supported. At the time, I was on a 3 year fixed term contract funded by the EPSRC project grant of my supervisor. The maternity leave was paid by the grant body (EPSRC policy), additional to the 3 years of the contract, so the length of my contract was extended. My supervisor and the other colleagues at the department were also very friendly and supportive, and there were quite a few keeping in touch meetings during which I had Nina sleeping next to me or she was adoringly looked after by the group's PhD students. I was back at work after 6 months and chose to work full time. Nina was settled in the UCL nursery which is wonderful and is just next door so I could always go and see her during the day if I wanted to. This made me feel much better about working full time. Now, two years after giving birth, I am a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow and a Proleptic Lecturer here at the Department of Computer Science, UCL. I am a very hard working person with a lot of energy and I worked pretty much all the way until the last couple of days before giving birth. Throughout the pregnancy I was applying for fellowships and was awarded a Leverhulme Trust Fellowship and sometime later a lectureship. Throughout all this I had a very strong support by my department, and I felt that me having a baby was looked upon with kindness and shared excitement. I did feel that my work suffered a bit because I was away for 6 month, so I prompted the Department to initiate an award for people who are coming back from a break - Post- Break Award. I was awarded in its first round, and could then afford to hire a research assistant 23

25 for a few months. This was really helpful to me as I could get up to speed with my research. Now, I am pregnant again - with twins - and feel very comfortable and excited of becoming a mother again in such a friendly and supportive environment such as UCL Computer Science. Case Study 2 (Kelly Androutsopoulos - non Athena Swan team member): I joined UCL in 2010 as a Research Associate when the CREST research centre moved from Kings College London. My supervisor and head of group were very excited and supportive during my pregnancy. The administrative staff made sure that I was comfortable, for example I moved to the first floor from the fourth to avoid walking up four flights of stairs. I was due to give birth in April so worked until end of February 2011 and was off on maternity leave in March. My son was born at the end of March. While on maternity I was on a fixed term contract ending in June Since I have been back, my contract has been extended for 2 years enabling me to continue with my research. Everyone has been very supportive with me coming back to work. I was given the option of going part- time if that suited, but in the end I decided to go back to work full time in February The department is very flexible with working hours to accommodate picking up/dropping off at nursery and working from home when my son has been sick. Since coming back to work I have: organised a research workshop where I was given total control over who to invite etc This has led to organising another workshop that is co- located with the POPL conference. I also got two journal publications accepted. The department are very supportive with travel as its difficult for me to travel to international conferences at the moment, but I am hoping to next year. I m also currently helping with teaching support for the first year students. 694 words 24

26 Action Description of Action Further Action Planned at November 2012 Progress Log Responsibility Timescale Start Date How Success will be Measured 1 Baseline Data and Supporting Evidence Monitor UG student data: applications, offers, acceptances, progression (particularly on programming Continue to monitor, set up data collection 1.1 modules), degree classification systems where lacking Monitor PG student data: applications, offers, acceptances, progression and Continue to monitor, set up data collection 1.2 achievement systems where lacking Monitor staff data: appointments, Continue to monitor, set up data collection 1.3 fellowships, promotions, pay awards systems where lacking Monitor numbers of female staff on 1.4 departmental committees Continue to monitor Run staff and student surveys focusing on positive and negative experiences 1.5 within the department Continue to monitor Current data not complete Teaching committee, Higher percentage of females at ASWG Annual Jan-13 every point Current data not complete Teaching committee, ASWG Annual Higher percentage of females at Jan-13 every point Current data not Higher percentage of females at complete ASWG Annual Jan-13 every point Current data not Higher percentage of females on complete ASWG Annual Jan-13 committees To begin when AS Champion in post ASWG Annual Mar-13 Feedback increasingly positive 2 UG and PG Students Review the representation of women in all department publications both online and offline, aiming for 50% 2.1 representation Ensure representation of women at 2.2 Open Days brought up to 50% Provide Scholarships for female 2.3 students within the department Promote and encourage applications for both internal and external awards 2.4 to female students Conduct review Working with Open Day organiser to recruit student ambassadors and have more female speakers. Produce leaflets & posters targeting female applicants. HoD to get approval from relevant university committees Page on Women@CS website listing awards To begin when AS Representation of females Champion in post ASWG + AS Champion Annual Mar-13 increases First open day taking feedback into account held November 2012 Awaiting approval of funds To begin when AS Champion in post ASWG + AS Champion HoD ASWG + AS Champion Review quarterly Review Annually Review 6 monthly Nov-12 Representation of females increases 2013 Scholarships provided Jan-13 Number of females gaining awards increases Promote and publicise positive stories about and achievements of female students both internally and externally Run female focused events that promote and encourage students and faciliate networking between students and staff To be actioned by AS Champion when in post early 2013 London Hopper moving to UCL for 2013, previously organised by Queen Mary College. Prof Caroline Wardle who has organised it for the last few years also moving over to UCL to work with us To begin when AS Number of positive stories Champion in post AS Champion Ongoing Mar-13 increases Discussion held by HoD and Sue Black with Prof Caroline Wardle, Caroline to organise London Hopper for and at UCL in 2013 and in future Women@CS Ongoing Mar-13 Female focused events run

27 Looking at the possibility of using Mentornet, US based online mentoring for female students. Previously introduced by Sue Black Set up a mentoring program for female and run very successfully at London South 2.7 students Bank University. Embed a focus on real world uses for computer science into courses, especial focus on year one semester 2.8 one Offer short summer course for incoming students in problematic Discussions ongoing with ASWG and Year areas. Tutor Summer Course to support ICT teachers transitioning to CS and 2.10 promote CS as a choice for girls. Implement first course in summer To begin when AS Champion in post Teaching committee, ASWG Students mentored, students surveyed before during and after Set up in to ensure any issues dealt with 2013 Mar-13 and successes celebrated Discussions ongoing with ASWG and Year 1 Real world content in first year Tutor UG tutor Annual Sep-13 courses increases UG Tutor Course content being discussed with Institute of Education Director of Studies Set up in 2013 Set up in 2013 Summer 2013 Summer 2013 Progression and final classification closer to that of male students. More female applicants of high quality Review strategies for increasing female students degree classification, review assessment process to see if a focus on more coursework-based assessment would help ASWG investigating with teaching staff UG Tutor Annual Progression and final classification closer to that of Mar-13 male students Introduce Conference Days for secondary school pupils, Year 9 and Year 12 Create links with more secondary school headteachers nd year UG doing projects in schools 2.15 Act as a broker between schools and industry Working with Director of Studies to organise, create and plan the content for the additional coference days. The goal would be to have students present their projects. We plan to invite headteachers to our Conference days as well, and also connect with the ones we know would be interested Explore the feasibility of creating the link between the UG students and both the schools they originate from and schools in developing regions In order to increase tha awareness of pupils of the variety of careers in computer science, having connections both with the academia and with industry is crucial. Given our exisiting strong links with the industry we can act as a broker in this process. Increase of the number of applicants from those schools that were present at the Conference days. The planning stage is already in process. Director of Studies Annual Spring 2013 We so far have have a strong link with the Headly Grammar School Head teacher. One of our AS team was invited there to give a Director of Increase in number of schools we presentation Studies+ASWG Ongoing Nov-12 are connected to Very early stages. So far just an idea. Director of Studies Links established We have generated an interest and got approval from our industry partners to act as a broker. HoD + Deputy Ongoing Nov-12 Relationships established

28 UG Research summer internships with 2.16 the academic staff We aim to improve and extend the scheme by increasing the number of project topics, allocating extra departmental funding to encourage both academics and students and finally, to have the process advertised more widely e.g. including for example having project days during which the academics/research staff would present their projects to students. The basic system is already put in place. There are several projects that students can choose from and these are advertised on our webpages. UG Tutor Ongoing Summer 2013 Internships established 3 Key Career Transition Points, Transitions and Promotions Ensure that females are encouraged to apply for positions within the department by using best practice in 3.1 advertising positions To be actioned by ASWG early 2013 UCL-HR Ongoing Advertisements for positions in Mar-13 future are female friendly Ensure that females coming back from maternity leave can get back up to speed quickly with their work Set up a mentoring program for female staff with a focus on achieving their potential Ongoing Review of exisiting programs before deciding on program to implement Formalise a talent spotting process to highlight females with potential and Review of exisiting programs before deciding give them appropriate advice/coaching on program to implement Post-Break Award instituted especially designed to provide grants after periods of big breaks, such as maternity leave. It has a value of Line manager/pi or Head of Research Group as appropriate in collaboration with ASWG Annual 2012 Post-break award is taken up Mentoring program set up, mentees surveyed before during ASWG working with and after to pick up issues and HoD Annual 2014 celebrate successes Line manager/pi or Head of Research Framework set up to formalise Group as appropriate the process reporting in to the xx working with ASWG Annual 2014 committee 3.5 Ensure that female staff are aware of promotion criteria and application information and encouraged to achieve their potential Dedicated session planned at staff awayday March 2013 A dedicate session to this topic will be led by Ann Blandford at the next awayday in April Special attention will be paid to gender Line manager/pi or specific issues in setting Head of Research All mentors to ensure that their such objectives and appraisals generally. Group as appropriate working with ASWG Annual mentees are aware of the Mar-13 promotion criteria 4 Career Advice and Support

29 Promote success stories from the department of achieving work life 4.1 balance Set up department blog AS Champion At least monthly updates Feb-13 Success stories highlighted on the department blog and social media channels and if appropriate externally too Encourage and support female staff who wish to take part in high profile media activities Set up mentoring specifically for women before, during and after going onto maternity leave as Culture, Communications and Departmental Organisation Run unconscious bias training for all staff To be held at Staff awayday 2013 Publicise success stories of staff and students within the department both 5.2 internally and externally Formalise the departmental workload allocation model, ensure that all "soft" activities such as communicating with students are taken into account in the 5.3 model Set up a general departmental blog which aim for 50% representation of 5.4 women in content Set up departmental social media channels which aim for 50% 5.5 representation of women in content Set up women@cs group for all females within the department, academic staff, support staff and 5.6 students Annually invite female staff to Include a blog post about this and contact all relevant staff asking if they would like to participate AS Champion Annual put themselves forward for media training, mentors to Apr-13 encourage female staff to apply See 5.4, 5.5, Internal s pointing at department blog, website and social media channels Line manager/pi or Head of Research Group as appropriate working with ASWG Annual Process set up to match mentors 2014 with mentees UCL-HR (Organisational Staff Development) All staff given unconscious bia training Facebook and Twitter regularly highlighting success stories since September 2012 AS Champion Ongoing Success stories highlighted on the department blog and social media channels and if Feb-13 appropriate externally too Review of department workload model, research into current best practice HoD Annual To be set up by AS Champion when in post To be reviewed up by AS Champion when in post To be set up by AS Champion when in post Summer 2013 To begin when AS Champion in post AS Champion Early 2013 To begin when AS Champion in post AS Champion + ASWG Early 2013 To begin when AS Champion in post AS Champion + ASWG Early 2013 Workload model formalised and details shared with all staff Blog set up, content both text and images 50% female focused Social media channels set up, content 50% female focused Group set up and starts meeting regulalrly 5.7 Improve the representation of women on key departmental committees, aiming for 50% representation Produce action plan to ensure this is carried out HoD, ASWG review quarterly Early % representation of females on all committees achieved

30 Employ a member of staff with the remit of championing and implementing the Athena Swan action plan. This person will also be 5.8 Women@CS coordinator. HoD is currently securing funding for this position HoD Early 2013 Athena Swan champion appointed Have women@cs reps representing each grouping within the department 5.9 e.g UG, Support staff etc. To be set up by AS Champion when in post women@cs group lead Early 2013 Women@CS reps appointed Currently meeting every Wednesday lunchtime, in future to be held at least 2 monthly, probably Athena Swan/women@CS committee to meet at least every 2 months to 5.10 implement and review the Action Plan 2 monthly meetings at least more frequently as we all enjoy the meetings so much :) women@cs group lead 2 monthly Athena Swan committee Jan-13 meetings held * 6 per annum 5.11 Social Media presence for Women@CS to promote dept members and engage with STEM campaigns Prescence set up, to be expanded and enhanced, screen shots inculded in document Established Facebook group and Twitter accounts, 100+ members already and good feedback/reach AS Champion review quarterly Nov-13 Social media activity, especially referrals. 6 Career Break and Flexible Working Time departmental meetings to ensure care givers and those working flexibly 6.1 can attend All meetings currently held midday with lunch Ensure that special events and social occasions are held within times that care givers and those working flexibly 6.2 can attend Event organisers 6.3 Encourage online participation at meetings for those unable to attend in person due to childcare or other commitments Write blogpost highlighting ways to join meetings remotely, include on department webpages Departmental Committee Chairs and Secretaries Departmental Committee Chairs and Secretaries Review Annually started Departmental meetings held during 10am-3pm Review Social events mainly held during Annually am-3pm Review Annually Mar-13 Facilities made available for online attendance at important meetings and staff made aware that they are able to attend this way KEY ASWG HoD UCL-HR Athena Swan Working Group - currently the group that have worked together to produce this submission. The AS Champion will be a member of this group Head of Department University College London Human Resources

31 PI AS Champion Women's network being set up for all female students and staff in the Computer Science department. The AS Champion will be a member of this group Prinicipal Investigator on a research project New member of staff soon to be recruited to champion Athena Swan initiatives within and for the Computer Science department. Will work with and report to the HoD and be a member of ASWG and Women@CS