Gender

University site visits

Women in University Physics Departments: A Site Visit Scheme 2003-2005

The Women in University Physics Departments site visit scheme was set up by the Institute of Physics in 2003 and ran until 2005. The idea of the scheme was to allow an external panel of visitors to spend a day in the department to investigate its “gender friendliness”- that is, how welcoming it was to female students and staff.

The Institute contacted every physics department in the UK and Ireland, and 40% of these requested a visit. The visiting panel spent a day in the department looking round, and talking to both staff and students. Each visit was followed up with a confidential written report sent to the head of department highlighting good practice, as well as areas that were not so satisfactory – this in no way constituted a formal audit, but was instead seen as giving friendly advice to the head of department. The individual reports form the basis of an overall report on the scheme, which highlights issues and recommends good practice, without identifying any particular institutions.

This Women in University Physics Departments report may be downloaded by clicking here.   

If you have any comments or queries, or if you require hard copies of the report, please contact the Diversity Team at: diversity@iop.org

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