The Cavendish Laboratory, at the University of Cambridge, has been recognised as a Juno Champion by the Institute of Physics (IOP) for efforts made to reduce gender inequality among academic staff. The laboratory is the second physics department in the UK to be awarded both the Juno Champion award and Athena SWAN Silver.
The Cavendish Laboratory, at the University of Cambridge, has been recognised as a Juno Champion by the Institute of Physics (IOP) for efforts made to reduce gender inequality among academic staff. The laboratory is the second physics department in the UK to be awarded both the Juno Champion award and Athena SWAN Silver.
The department has met the five principles set out in the Juno Code of Practice, a set of actions recommended by IOP to address the under-representation of women in physics departments, including increasing transparency and communication about gender issues across the whole department.
The Juno Code of Practice seeks to redress a long-sustained issue of under-representation of women at the very highest level of physics academia in England. While approximately 20% of England’s physics undergraduates and lecturers are female; the same can only be said of 5% of professors.
Jennifer Dyer, Diversity Programme Leader at IOP, said: “The University of Cambridge has demonstrated that barriers, sometimes responsible for blocking the progression of female physicists to the highest posts in academia, can be addressed and that, importantly, the removal of these barriers helps everyone, men and women alike.”
Examples of real action taken at Cambridge in order to reduce gender inequality include investigating the reasons why fewer undergraduate girls progress in physics and why there are fewer women researchers moving to permanent academic appointments.
Professor Peter Littlewood, Head of the Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, said: “The Department is delighted to have been accorded Juno Champion status. The award recognises the hard work of many people over the past few years to improve the working environment for everyone in the Department and for women in particular. Our action plan provides us with an excellent framework to develop new initiatives and consolidate best practice.”
High-achieving women at the Cavendish Laboratory include Professor Dame Athene Donald, who conducts research into the physics of medicine, and Professor Valarie Gibson, who works on high energy physics.
Professor Gibson was presented with the Juno Champion certificate at the IOP Awards Ceremony on Thursday 30 September.
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