Strathclyde Physics holds an Athena SWAN Bronze Departmental Award reflecting our commitment to creating a working environment where all students and staff feel included and supported.

As we work towards renewal of our Athena SWAN accreditation, we are striving to continuously improve our structures and practices to make them more equitable and inclusive with respect to gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, and all the many facets of a diverse community. We strongly believe that this is not only beneficial for our students and staff as individuals, but also enhances the vitality, creativity, and productivity of our department.

Department of Physics stories

Training courses on EDI

Browse all available training courses on EDI provided by the University.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and Athena Swan committee

Further literature promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

• National Association of Disabled Staff Networks - NADSN STEMM Action Group: https://www.nadsn-uk.org/nadsn-subgroups/stemmactiongroup/
• NASA's 'Hidden Figures' awarded Congressional Gold Medals for pioneering space work (19 Sept 2024): https://www.npr.org/2024/09/19/nx-s1-5119312/hidden-figures-women-nasa-space-congressional-gold-medal
• Higher Education Policy Institute publications: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/category/publications/
• The hidden impact of menstruation in higher education: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/07/21/the-hidden-impact-of-menstruation-in-higher-education/ (21 July 2025)
• Boys will be boys: The educational underachievement of boys and young men: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/03/20/boys-will-be-boys/ (20 March 2025)
• Trans and non-binary student experiences in higher education: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2024/05/23/trans-and-non-binary-student-experiences-in-higher-education/ (23 May 2024)
• UKRI Diversity Data: https://www.ukri.org/what-we-do/supporting-healthy-research-and-innovation-culture/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-data/

Information on LGBTQ+ issues and Allyship

• Stonewall LGBTQ+ resources: Stonewall
• Student Minds mental health support: student minds
• MindOut resources to support LGBTQ+  Mindout
• Mind resources for Supporting someone who is LGBTQIA+: Mind
• Equality Network resources: https://www.equality-network.org/about/
• Leading to Change Allyship Toolkit: https://leadingtochange.scot/allyship-hub/ 
• BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, How to be a good ally: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/GxjYmfnH6hbMMy26Z2yTth/how-to-be-a-good-ally
• Newcastle University’s Allyship Guide: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/research/culture/edi-toolkit/allyship/
• Guide to Allyship – how to become a more thoughtful and effective ally: https://guidetoallyship.com/
• “Tackling harassment“, Universities UK.
• Boivin, N., Täuber, S., Beisiegel, U. et al., "Sexism in academia is bad for science and a waste of public funding", Nat Rev Mater 9, 1–3 (2024). 

EDI data:

• https://www.ukri.org/what-we-do/supporting-healthy-research-and-innovation-culture/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-data/ 
• Royal Statistical Society report: https://www.ukri.org/publications/statistical-analysis-by-the-royal-statistical-society/
• STEM Equals reports: https://www.stemequals.ac.uk/Publications-Resources/Reports
• STEM Equals publications: https://www.stemequals.ac.uk/Publications-Resources/Articles-Outputs
• https://www.stemm-change.co.uk/ (similar to STEM Equals but at U. of Nottingham.)
• https://stemeducationjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40594-023-00433-8
•  

Gender Disparity:

• Revealed: the pay bump for being a straight, white man in US science: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01851-4 and the research article: 'The intersectional priviledge of white able-bodied heterosexual men in STEM.': https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abo1558
• The Diversity-Innovation Paradox in Science: https://www.pnas.org/doi/suppl/10.1073/pnas.1915378117
• How you can change gender stereotypes about physicists: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42254-022-00517-4
• How well-intentioned white male physicists maintain ignorance of inequity and justify inaction: https://stemeducationjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40594-023-00433-8
• Gender disparities in promotions and exiting in UK Russell Group universities: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00036846.2024.2361384

Workplace Equity:

• Practical actions towards equity in space physics: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/astronomy-and-space-sciences/articles/10.3389/fspas.2024.1425500/full
• Commentary: Disentangling anti-Blackness from physics https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/online/5184/Commentary-Disentangling-anti-Blackness-from
• #BlackInPhysics Week 2022 essay series https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/online/41836?src=bcrec  https://www.blackinphysics.org/
• Making physics inclusive to LGBTQ+ Folks: https://physics.aps.org/articles/v15/44 
  Research article: https://journals.aps.org/prper/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.010124
• How LGBT+ scientists would like to be included and welcomed in STEM workplaces https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02949-3 and Stepping up to be a role model for LGBTQ inclusion in science https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01146-1