Case Study: Occupational Segregation - Queens University Belfast

In May 2000 the Women’s Forum presented a report detailing twelve recommendations over a ten-year timescale to improve the position of women at the University. The prevailing culture at the University at that time was male-dominated with few opportunities for women to advance in their careers either academically or administratively. The recommendations resulted from the responses of 600 women from across all areas of the University at a series of listening seminars.

The Queen’s Gender Initiative (QGI) was set up to implement the recommendations. The Director of the QGI reports directly to the Vice-Chancellor and works closely with other senior managers, such as the Director of HR.

The Women’s Forum continues to meet monthly and provides feedback from various subgroups set up to deal with issues such as childcare, flexible working, and career advancement.

Although the Gender Initiative (QGI) deals with gender issues affecting all women working in the University, it particularly targets women working in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET). The University is actively seeking to address issues such as:

• The unequal representation of women in science
• High loss of women
• The negative effect of short-term contracts on the retention and progression of women

The difficulty women face in making the transition from PhD into a sustainable academic career in science

Having implemented all the original recommendations ahead of time, Queen’s has now developed a new 5-year plan for the QGI. The plan received a Silver SWAN.

As a result of the Initiative, Queen’s has baseline statistics for women in science from undergarduate to professor, against which progress can be measured in future years. By September 2007 the University will have implemented its short-term plans, setting up champions in every SET School.