NCI are proud Athena Swan Bronze Award Holders, an award which we renewed in 2024. This award demonstrates NCI's commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
This award demonstrates NCI's commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion
To review our application, please see NCI Athena Award renewal application. This application was submitted May 22nd 2024, with confirmation of the award on September 3rd 2024. Please note that during that period the validation time for awards went from four years to five years, so the action plan, although noted in the document as 2024-2028, now covers a 2024-2029 period.
Action Plan
The cornerstone to NCI’s submission for the Athena Swan Bronze Award is the 2024–2029 Gender Equality Action Plan which outlines measurable and impactful actions the College.
NCI President Gina Quin holding the Athena SWAN award.
Themes:
- Leadership and Accountability
- Data Capture, Analysis and Reporting
- Positive culture, and eliminating discrimination and unfair treatment, including sexual violence and harassment
- Staffing & Recruitment
- Teaching and Research
- Community and Outreach
- Intersectionality & additional equality grounds
The action plan is also informed by national policy and institutional initiatives within NCI. These include:
In the self-assessment and consultation process key priorities in gender equality were identified. Priorities for additional equality grounds were also identified.
What is critical to note is that these priority areas are interdependent and/or interact, and all are, therefore, important in achieving gender equality. Every individual has multiple identities and is subject to various forms of intersecting oppressions. If we examine discrimination in silos, we are at risk of failing to gain a true understanding of power and oppression and could further exacerbate existing inequalities.
Gender Action priorities
- NCI EDI Policy Context
- Ending Sexual Violence and Harassment
- Departmental Athena Swan Applications
- Workload Allocation Model
- Timetabling
Additional grounds
All of the additional grounds also impact on gender and will all have:
- Data
- Anti Racism
- Autism Friendly
- Quality Assurance and Enhancement
Our Athena Swan award and action plan, coupled with our Consent Framework demonstrates how the College meets these Gender Equality Plan requirements in Horizon Europe. See Horizon Europe and Gender Equality at National College of Ireland Statement for more information.
About Athena Swan Ireland
The Athena Swan charter launched in the Republic of Ireland in early 2015. The extension of the charter to Ireland was made possible through funding from the Higher Education Authority (HEA), which covers applications to the charter from 21 higher education institutions. Engagement with the charter is a key pillar of Ireland’s national strategy for gender equality with progress linked to institutional eligibility for funding from Ireland’s major research agencies. All of Ireland’s universities and institutes of technology and several colleges participate in Athena Swan Ireland.
The Athena Swan Ireland charter underwent a re-development in 2021 in line with the findings of a national consultation and offers a framework for progressing equality in higher education and research that is unique to Ireland. The objective of the Athena Swan Ireland 2021 charter framework is to support higher education institutions, academic departments, and professional units in impactful and sustainable gender equality work and to build capacity for evidence-based equality work across the equality grounds enshrined in Irish legislation.
The Athena Swan Ireland charter is underpinned by eight key principles. The principles act as the foundation for the Ireland charter, with all other elements of the framework – including criteria, application and assessment – aligned to these commitments and the values enshrined within them.
In December 2021 NCI signed a commitment to the Athena Swan Ireland Charter Principles.