Construction Management builds good prospects for women - Athena SWAN award
Friday, 05 July 2013
Back l-r: Alison Spiers, Professor Stuart Green, Dr Tabarak Ballal, Dr Maria Vahdati. Front l-r: Dr Sunila Lobo, Dr Carol Jewell, Stephanie Weller, Professor Runming Yao
'We are delighted that the School's work in ensuring equal opportunities practices and procedures for women has been recognised by these national awards once again.'
The School of Construction Management and Engineering has been recognised once again for supporting and advancing the careers of women, winning an Athena SWAN Silver award.
The Athena SWAN charter is aimed at advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education. This year there were nearly one hundred applications from universities across the UK, which is the highest number to date.
In 2009, the School was the first construction management academic institution to be awarded a Silver award by Athena SWAN.
Head of School Professor Stuart Green said: "Female students can be put off by the traditional male-dominated image of the construction sector. There is undoubtedly still much scope for improvement, but this should not distract from the rich variety of career paths in design and professional services which are far removed from the tired old stereotypes of the past.
"For our part, we are delighted that the School's work in ensuring equal opportunities practices and procedures for women has been recognised by these national awards once again."
Dr Sunila Lobo, a Research Fellow within the School, said: "Having worked at Reading after completing my PhD at Warwick, I then moved to Saudi Arabia for about two years. I returned to Reading because of the exciting opportunities and flexibility afforded me here.
"Academically, I have been given the latitude and support to develop my own trajectory of research, which has been incredibly encouraging. Personally, the School has supported me in my caring responsibilities, enabling me to meet these responsibilities whilst still continuing with my career. I have never felt disadvantaged by my gender - it is a non-issue in this School."
The University holds a Bronze award as whole, Biological Sciences and Mathematical and Physical Sciences have been granted Silver awards, and Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy and Human and Environmental Sciences were recently awarded Bronze.