University of St Andrews

External Gender News

Contributions by University staff/student reps: 

Apr 2020:

• We’re managing to be academics and primary school teachers (article in The Times HE).

Jan 2020:

• Academics must balance privacy and honesty to become great role models (article in The Nature Journal by Prof Sascha Hooker from the School of Biology, University of St Andrews).

Dec 2019:

• Female scientists use less positive language about their work, study finds - Tendency of men to use words such as ‘excellent’ has effect on future citations of research (article in The Guardian).

Aug 2019:

• Gender bias among scientists linked to lower rates of hiring women (article in The Times HE).
• Male economists more likely to accept papers by other men (article in The Times HE).

Jun 2019:

• 'Harmful' gender stereotypes in adverts banned (article in the BBC News).

Apr 2019:

• Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) Women in Science publication.

  Jun 2018:

• Women who volunteer still don’t get the credit (article in the Wonkhe blogsite).

Mar 2018:

• Universities have too few women at the top. How can they redress the balance? (article in The Guardian).

Feb 2018:

• The ‘leaky pipeline’ metaphor for the lack of women at senior levels of academia can demotivate those whose professional paths meander, says Prof Aileen Fyfe, St Andrews, School of History (article in The Times HE).
• BBC Radio 4: Why Are Even Women Biased Against Women? (published by ECU (AS) on YouTube).

Jan 2018:

• Study finds female professors experience more work demands and special favour requests, particularly from academically "entitled" students  (article in Inside HE).

Dec 2017:

• As a young academic, I was repeatedly sexually harassed at conferences (article in The Guardian).
• Male academics two and a half times more likely to speak up, as women cite lack of confidence and ‘intimidating’ speakers (article in The Times HE).

Sep 2017:

• Research suggests students are biased against female lecturers (article in The Economist).
• UK gender-equality scheme spreads across the world - The United States is set to trial a version that will also cover race and disability, while other countries have already embraced the voluntary rating system (article in Nature journal).

Aug 2017:

• Women academics "keeping their heads above water" in male dominated universities (article by The Herald).
• The gender imbalance at the heart of Scotland's universities (article by The Herald).

Jul 2017:

• Non-White or female bosses who push diversity are judged negatively by their peers and managers (article by the British Psychological Society).
• Academia needs to confront sexism (article by the Science Magazine).
• Advertising watchdog to get tough on gender stereotypes (article by the BBC).

Jun 2017:

• Keep women in academia by providing childcare, historian urges universities (article in The Guardian).

May 2017:

• If STEM Subjects Were Seen As More Caring, Would More Women Join In? (article in the Huffington Post).
• The stereotype of a scientist leaves little room for women or minorities (article in The Scotsman).

Apr 2017:

• New study suggests female professors outperform men in terms of service - to their possible professional detriment (article in The Inside Higher Ed).

Mar 2017:

• Five unconscious biases that hold back female researchers (article in The Guardian).

Nov 2016:

• A diverse workforce can only help a university to engage with students from many different backgrounds, so what can be done to ensure the faculty is truly representative? Five unconscious biases that hold back female researchers (article in The Guardian).

Oct 2016:

• Scale of sexual abuse in UK universities likened to Savile and Catholic scandals (article in The Guardian).
• Promoting equality in science: what works, and what doesn't? (article in The Guardian).

Sep 2016:

• ‘Dear Sirs’ goes gender neutral (article in The Guardian).
• Women and the History of Peer Review at the Royal Society
• Are universities secretly sexist? (article in the BBC). 
• Gender bias in academic conference ratings revealed - Women's submissions to a leading seminar were viewed more warmly once a gender-blind process was introduced (article in the Times Higher Education). 

July 2016:

• The problem with merit-based appointments? They’re not free from gender bias either (article in The Conversation). 

June 2016:

• RSE YAS Academic Women Now: Experiences of mid-career academic women in Scotland (new good practice booklet created by 3 female St Andrews academics).
• What happens when a husband and wife take the same academic job? (article in the Times Higher Education). 
• 5 ‘don’ts’ for introducing a female speaker (article in the Times Higher Education). 
• Chair of BCS Academy’s Women in Computing Research Group, looks at tackling gender inequality in HE through Athena SWAN (article in the Oxford Journal).

May 2016:

• Gender Bias in Academia: An Annotated Bibliography of Important Recent Studies (article from LSE).
• Universities get creative to even out subject gender imbalance - dropping the need for maths and physics A-level to get more women into engineering and science (article in The Guardian).

April 2016:

• Why modern men are facing their own equality battles (article in Stylist).
• Female scientists face everyday, often-unintentional microaggression in the workplace, and it won't stop unless we talk about it (article in Nature journal).
• Liverpool v-c calls for funding link to improve gender balance (article in the Times Higher Education). 
• Will the Teaching Excellence Framework be sexist? (article in The Guardian).

Mar 2016:

• Women in HE: where we are how we might do better (Blog by Ellen Pugh, ECU).
• Intersectionality in Scottish HEIs: Examining (student) socioeconomic status and protected characteristics (report by ECU).
• Brands are finally using images to reflect women as they truly are - When it comes to presenting a realistic depiction of women, imagery in advertising has a paramount role to play (article in The Guardian).
• Dare to Dream: Parent Carer Scientist (blog by Athene Donald).

Feb 2016:

• Prof Mapstone will become St Andrews’ second female head in its history while also helping to further boost the recent growing numbers of UK universities led by women (article in the Times Higher Education). 
• Gender balance targets set for Scottish university subjects (article in the Times Higher Education). 
• Women write better code, study suggests (article by the BBC). 

Jan 2016:

• Where new dads are encouraged to take months off work (article by the BBC). 

Dec 2015:

• Tackling the underrepresentation of women in science (blogsite article). 
• Beyond 'he' and 'she': The rise of non-binary pronouns (article by the BBC). 
• Empirically Testing a Three-Step Intervention to Increase Faculty Gender Diversity in STEM (article in bioscience.oxfordjournals.org).
• Gender Equality in Science Will Require a Culture Shift (article in Scientific American).

Nov 2015:

• Identifying gender when you're blind (article by the BBC). 
• Female academic leaders suffer more from ‘workaholic’ hours culture - Higher levels of stress among senior women revealed by Leadership Foundation report (article in the Times Higher Education). 
• Major sector initiatives such as Athena SWAN and Aurora have kept women’s careers and the gender pay gap at the top of institutional agendas (article in the Times Higher Education). 
• Row after University of York cancels International Men’s Day event - Outcry from students and staff forces university to pull event, but campaigners hit back saying move sends out message that ‘men’s rights are not important’ (article in The Guardian).
• How to break back into academia when you've had a baby - A career gap can leave you lacking contacts and confidence. Three academics tell us about a fellowship that helped them return (article in The Guardian).
• Offensive remarks made in offices (article in HR Grapevine).

Oct 2015: 

• Sexist Remarks 'Should Be As Unacceptable As Racism Or Homophobia' (article in The Huffington Post).

Sept 2015: 

• 3 things, beyond childcare, that can help new mothers return to work (article in The Guardian).
• Make academic job advertisements fair to all - Too many university posts are given to men without proper competition (article in Nature Publishing Group journal).
• Is economics a sexist science? gender mix within economics and attempts to encourage more women into the discipline (article in the Times Higher Education). 
• 4 ways for women to kickstart their academic careers (article in The Guardian).
• ‘Neglected’ mid-career women ‘need more recognition’ – Transition to ‘make-or-break’ stage for female academics is a significant challenge, study explains (article in the Times Higher Education).
• 4 steps to killing off sexism in science (article in The Guardian).
• 10 most common sexist office behaviours (article in HR Grapevine):
  1. Being expected to make the tea (43%)
  2. Enduring sexual innuendos (38%)
  3. Having appearance or clothing commented on (33%)
  4. Being accused of being pre-menstrual/menstrual (29%)
  5. Being presumed less competent than male colleagues (27%)
  6. Been joked about in a sexist way (24%)
  7. Being paid less than male colleagues for the same job (19%)
  8. Being presumed to be more junior than they are (18%)
  9. Being spoken over or patronised in meetings (18%)
  10. Being expected to keep the office tidy (17%)

Aug 2015: 

• Men need parental leave just as much as women and kids do. Letting parents take time off to care for newborns is good for the economy and for women, but it’s also good for men and children, and we must note that (article in The Guardian).

July 2015: 

• Is flexible working holding back women’s careers? The way universities perceive and handle flexible hours is an area for improvement, says a joint report by employers and unions (article in the Times Higher Education).
• Countering gender bias at conferences (article in the Science & AAAS journal).
• Research centre in Australia: Practical policies can combat gender inequality (article in Nature Publishing Group journal).
• Athena SWAN success brings new challenges (article in the Times Higher Education). 

June 2015: 

• World’s top 10 universities led by women (article in the Times Higher Education).  
• Harvard study finds daughters of mothers in paid employment have better careers and more equal relationships (article in The Guardian).
• Charting a path to gender equality in a creative sector (article in Media Week). 
• Four myths about why women aren't getting the top jobs in universities (article in The Guardian).
• Universities, don't conflate ‘lad culture’ with ‘drink culture' (article in The Guardian).
• Athena SWAN set to spread wings and head Down Under (article in the Times Higher Education).       
• Science needs women (article by the Royal Society) BBC follow-up article. 
• We need a sexual revolution in economics (article in The Guardian).

May 2015:

• Room at the top: how to redress the gender imbalance (article in the Times Higher Education).
• Why McMaster University gave all its female academics a pay rise (article in the Times Higher Education).

April 2015:

• Four simple tools to promote gender balance at conferences
• Academic alert: Higher education’s gender gap (article in The Saint).

Feb 2015:

• Online Webinar by Equate Scotland on improving staff and student work/life balance 12 Feb @ 12pm.
• UK study finds just 17 black female professors (article in The Independent).

Jan 2015:

• The Easiest Possible Way to Increase Female Speakers at Conferences
• Women are scarce in some, but not all, academic disciplines. New work suggests the cause may be a special kind of prejudice—one that also applies to black people (article in The Economist).
• Gay academic: 'I came out to all my colleagues in an email' (article in The Guardian).
• Mums and part-time work: How to get exactly what you want (article in The Telegraph).

Nov 2014:

• Ten Simple Rules to Achieve Conference Speaker Gender Balance
• Neoliberalisation and ‘Lad Cultures’ in HE (article in the SAGE Journals).
• Rosie Alderson, PhD student at the University of St Andrews tells 'Interconnect' about Women in Science Networking
• She Blinded Me With Science” video.  

Oct 2014:

• 100 Women 2014 (article in the BBC).
• Women in academia are judged on their appearance. Feminine means frivolous, and those considered scruffy are subject to sexist assumptions (article in The Guardian).
• Ada Lovelace Day: how much do you know about women in science? (online quiz article in The Guardian).
• Why women leave tech: It's the culture, not because 'math is hard' (article in the Fortune Magazine).

Jul 2014:

• Male Scientists Employ Fewer Women in Labs (article in the Time Magazine).
• Female leaders underrate how their bosses and colleagues perceive their performance, find US researchers (article in Nature Publishing Group journal).

Jun 2014:

• Are ‘returnships’ key to inclusivity? - a form of internship aimed at easing returnees back into work – and is being heralded as a way of targeting women who left the labour market to have children, as well as those who may have taken time out due to long-term illness or to look after relatives (article in the CIPD).
• The RSE Young Academy of Scotland (YAS) is pleased to announce the appointment of 43 new members - congrats to the University's two members, news of the University's Dr Silvia Paracchini (Athena SWAN rep) as a new member: neurogenetics.st-andrews.ac.uk/.

May 2014:

• Government launched a campaign to attract more women into careers in STEM: the Your Life campaign (article in the Times Higher Education).

Apr 2014:

• Number of girls taking A-level physics has remained stagnant for the past 20 years or more, and the UK has the lowest proportion of female engineers in the EU(journal article).
• Feminism and me (blog article).
• Unconscious biases are a roadblock for gender equality in science (journal article).
• Just published: Athena SWAN Handbook (April 2014) (PDF, 1,499 KB)
• Research institutes to join Athena SWAN Charter "We support this expansion of the Athena SWAN Charter to research institutes as an opportunity to ensure that the potential of women throughout the workforce is retained and encouraged." - David Willetts, universities and science minister.

Feb 2014:

• Women in academia: what does it take to reach the top? (article in The Guardian).

Jan 2014:

• Code First: Girls is coming to St Andrews this semester! A free, part-time introductory programming course aimed at female students. Tech is becoming an ingrained part of our lives, but many women don't feel able to create and contribute digital content because of a lack of understanding of programming. Over 7 weeks, 2 hrs per week, Code First will teach you the basics of web development: HTML, CSS, Git, collaboration on GitHub. Wednesday, 29 Jan 4-5pm in the Careers Centre.  Apply now online.

• Free Assertiveness in the Workplace Workshop for Women with qualifications in STEM by the Scottish Resource Centre with refreshments and buffet lunch: 
  20th Feb 2014, 10am-4pm, Education Suite, Discovery Point, Discovery Quay, Dundee, DD1 4XA.

Nov 2013:

• Major survey plans to study why women's careers stall in their 30s (article in The Guardian).

Oct 2013:

• Equality for Women in Higher Education: Now, Sometime, Never? Prof. Paul Walton seminar on ‘York's Athena SWAN experience’. York's Chemistry Department were the first department in the UK to hold a ‘Gold Athena SWAN Award’.

Sep 2013:

• Stemming the Tide: Gender Eq and Athena SWAN (article in the Royal Society of Chemistry).

Aug 2013:

• Wikipedia edit-a-thon increases recognition for women in science
• A short film, a book and a call to action about the dearth of women in Science produced by Edinburgh Chemistry
• Athena SWAN charter mark will tackle arts gender bias (article in The Times Higher Education)
• Academia could be an easy environment in which to make flexible hours work(article in The Guardian)

Jul 2013:

• How can we enhance the visibility of women in UK science? (article in The Guardian) notes on Meeting timings and Career breaks Download: Enhancing visibility of women in Science - notes Jul 2013 (PDF, 263 KB)‌‎

Jun 2013:

• School of Chemistry's Dr Tracey Gloster was awarded the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards at The Royal Society in London.
• Women in STEM careers, Westminster Parliament's The Science and Technology Committee has agreed to hold an inquiry into women in academic STEM careers and seeks written submissions.
• Gender Issues in European Academic Science (blog by Athene Donald).
• Academics and others discuss a typical working week (article in The Times Higher Education).
• Workload overload: 8 days a week (article in The Times Higher Education).

May 2013:

• Why women leave academia and why universities should be worried (article in The Guardian).
• David Willetts, Minister of State (Universities and Science), Business, Innovation and Skills, signposts Athena SWAN in his letter from the government to HEFEC.  Stating that HEIs receiving grant funding from the HEFCE have to meet the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty in the Equality Act (2010) to advance equality of opportunity.
• THE Global Gender Index: Women in Academia (article in The Times Higher Education listing the percentages of Women in Academia by Country).  
• Women in STEM (WiSE) Newsletter signposting of:
  • Maiden Voyage, a free Social Network for Women Business Travellers.
  • Play Fair Toys, a webpage fighting to end stereotyping in children's toys.   
  • Calender Grads, a UK-wide project set up by graduates aimed at targeting the 70% of female STEM graduates who do not pursue a career in the STEM.
  • Women in STEM from Classroom to Boardroom UK 2012 data publication.

Apr 2013:

• Prof. Louise Richardson has experienced sexist prejudice in her time, but dismisses "stupid comments" by chauvinists with a contemptuous shake of her head (article in The Herald Scotland).
• Changing the Departmental Mind-set (blog by Athene Donald relating to Athena SWAN not being a tick box exercise).
• Scottish Women of Science: Celebrating trailblazers from our past exhibition open to all until 30 April 2013 held at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh. 
• Equality Outcomes Feedback: Now open to all staff and students to feedback on the strategic actions for the University to work on equality and diversity, this activity forms an essential part of creating a gender inclusive environment for all as recommended by ECU. 
• Academic workload: a model approach (article in The Guardian).

Mar 2013:

• Career Re-entry Fellowships by the Welcome Trust.
• Why don’t more girls study physics? (article in The Telegraph).
• Gender leadership gap tackled by manifesto (article in The Times).
• MIT doyenne: science still a man’s world (article in The Times).
• 'Fife Science Festival' (15-24 March) as part of 'Women in Science' (8-24 March) in collaboration with Abertay and Dundee universities.   

Feb 2013:

• Returning To A Career In Science 3 minute BBC Radio 4 audio clip of Prof. Lesley Yellowlees (first female president of the Royal Society of Chemistry) re Fellowships for women to return to work in STEM. 
• Sarah Dickinson ECU (article in the Biochemical Society). 
• Leadership Strategies for Dealing with Jerks (blog by Athene Donald relating to Work Load Models).
• Gender balance can make universities better (article in University World News).
• Fellowships For Women In Science - Candidates must be female postdoctoral level researchers who have already been awarded their research doctorate in the fields of life or physical science. Apply online by 15 March 2013.

Jan 2013:

• The worrying brain drain of women from science and technology (article in The Scotsman of the "leaky pipeline" of women leaving jobs in SET at critical stages).
• My university life as a woman professor (article in The Guardian). 
• She’s (Rarely) the Boss (article in the New York Times).
• Is Removal of the Gender Pay Gap a Utilitarian Dream? (women's pay equality blogby Athene Donald).

Dec 2012:

• Interconnect Newsletter Dec 2012 (PDF, 316 KB) including news about the new University of St Andrews group.
• Just How Bad Is It? (blog by Athene Donald on problems that some women may face when working in STEM).
• Women in science: confronting failure, developing resilience (article in The Guardian by Athene Donald).

Nov 2012:

• Research intelligence - Gender bias hides, even in open minds (article in The Timessignposting to research about understanding gender bias for those in managerial positions in higher education academic departments). 

Oct 2012:

• Women in biomedicine: Athena Swan analysis reveals promotion roadblocks(article in The Guardian discussing if there are fewer women in senior roles due to application numbers or recruitment). 

Apr 2012:

• RSE Tapping all our Talents (PDF, 2,004 KB) - a report into Women in STEM relating towards a strategy for Scotland.