EDINBURGH’S Roslin Institute has won a top award for the promotion of women in science after the number of its women professors soared so that women now hold more than a third of its professorships.
Prominent scientists are gathering to celebrate the Institute – part of Edinburgh University – gaining a prestigious award for supporting women’s career development.
The Institute received an Athena SWAN Gold award from the Equality Challenge Unit for its work promoting gender equality. It is the only higher education department in Scotland to hold the award.
Dame Anne Glover, who was Chief Scientific Advisor for Scotland and the first Chief Scientific Advisor to the president of the European Commission, will speak at the event.
The chief executive of the UK Government’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Professor Melanie Welham, will also speak.
There will also be a discussion on the challenges associated with encouraging more women to develop careers in science, technology, engineering and maths – the so-called STEM subjects – in higher education and industry.
Professor Eleanor Riley director of The Roslin Institute, said: “We have worked extremely hard to create and mainstream sustainable structural and cultural changes to advance gender equality. We have put in place a wide range of actions to develop and support the careers of women scientists at every stage, and we have shared these within the university and across the higher education sector.”
Professor Helen Sang, chair of the Institute’s Career Development Committee, said: Since our engagement with the Athena SWAN process there has been a marked increase in the proportion of female professors at the institute – from 23 per cent to 35 per cent.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here