The Brief

Following a bronze accreditation in the SAGE Athena SWAN program, our client wished to delve deeper to understand and address the slower progression of academic women in STEMM. CogNative developed the STEMM Women’s Advancement Program to find out from the women themselves the barriers and challenges they experienced, and what they thought would help to advance their careers.​

Solution Building​

The program comprised focus groups and a survey. All academic women in STEMM schools were invited to participate by the University program sponsors. A survey was distributed of which over 40 women participated. The survey gathered data on promotional experience, caring responsibilities and demographic characteristics.​

The target group was split into academic levels of which over 30% participated in the focus groups. One focus group was dedicated to line managers; capturing their perspectives and recording their responses.​​ Other segmented focus groups provided context to the slow progression so that well founded takeaways could be collated.

The Outcome​

The key barriers and enablers identified provided our client with clarity on what makes a difference and what needs to be done. Targeted action will help boost research and teaching outcomes and accelerate women’s careers in STEMM schools for our client.