INSTITUTE OF DENTISTRY - ATHENA SWAN NEWSLETTER
Issue 2
Athena
SWAN
Newsletter
www.dentistry.qmul.ac.uk
@IoDEqualities
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY& INCLUSION | CREATING A GREAT PLACE TO WORK
Welcome!
Welcome to the second Athena SWAN
Newsletter and to the new Academic year!
The summer- what we had of it – is quickly
forgotten in the preparations for the new
intake of students and it is hoped everyone
has returned refreshed and ready roll with
the punches that each new year academic
year brings.
This summer saw a continuous stream of
consciousness in response to the Professor
Sir Tim Hunt debacle. On 9 June 2015, at the
2015 World Conference of Science Journalists
in Seoul, during a lunch for female journalists
and scientists, Professor Hunt was asked at
short notice to say a few words in which he
said:
“It's strange that such a chauvinist
monster like me has been asked to speak to
women scientists. Let me tell you about my
trouble with girls. Three things happen
when they are in the lab: you fall in love
with them, they fall in love with you, and
when you criticise them they cry. Perhaps
we should make separate labs for boys and
girls? Now, seriously, I'm impressed by the
economic development of Korea. And
women scientists played, without doubt an
important role in it. Science needs women,
and you should do science, despite all the
obstacles, and despite monsters like me.”
IN THIS ISSUE: Tim Hunt Debacle; Staff & Student
Successes; Self-Assessment Team Activities
assured? In the past, the culture of “political
correctness” was vilified yet at least it made
unwelcome comment just that: unwelcome
Professor Hunt may have meant to be
humorous, but his words were not taken as a
joke by his audience. One or two began
tweeting what he had said and within a few
hours he had become the focus of a
particularly intense social media storm.
Professor Hunt also suffered trial by tabloid
in a most fierce manner. Certain Institutions
were shown to be apparently paying only lip
service to their commitment to equality and
diversity. Many did not see the “joke” and
organisations associated with him quickly
distanced themselves or severed ties
entirely.
But not so among some female scientist who
posted many hilarious pictures on YouTube
and Facebook and other social media sites,
lampooning his remarks.
The allure of the category three containment
suit was not lost on these female scientists.
But among those of us of a certain age, it
brought back uncomfortable memories of
telling - shall we say ‘untruths’ - when asked
at interview if we were going to get married
or have children (or have a life outside the
lab?) I wonder how many senior women
removed engagement rings or went through
their probationary period never mentioning
significant others until a contract was
One of a flurry of tweets using #distractinglysexy
and positively taboo. What a shame that we
seem to have regressed to the awful 1970’s
culture where women were valueless in many
professions.
“The past is another country - they do things
differently there” (L.P. Hartley, ‘The Gobetween’ 1953). In many ways we have
moved on, and yet…
ATHENA SWAN NEWSLETTER
| Issue 2
The newspapers are full of international
stories accounting the appalling inequalities
that women are suffering throughout the
world. UN: Time for Global Action (15
September 2015)
The legal profession has also been the
subject of scrutiny following unwanted
comment by a senior male lawyer on the
profile picture of a female lawyer’s LinkedIn
account BBC: LinkedIn Sexism Row
And more recently, the head of St Paul’s
Girls’ School was interviewed in ‘The Sunday
Times’ (13 September 2015) on her mission
to involve the heads of boys’ schools to end
the “lad” culture that is so pervasive Learn
some respect, lads
Oxford University is also active in trying to
stamp out “Crewdates” and lad initiations
common in fresher’s week. It has launched a
programme called Good Lad which aims to
promote “Positive Masculinity”, and in doing
so, enable men to deal with complex gender
situations and become agents of positive
change within their social circles and broader
communities. Freshers’ Week is almost upon
us here at QMUL; and we trust the behaviour
of our own students will be exemplary.
What’s Athena
SWAN got to do
with me?
So it came as a big surprise that anecdotal
feedback from our own postgraduate
students suggests that many feel that
Athena SWAN in the Institute of Dentistry
had nothing to offer them. The consensus
among the Self-Assessment Team was sharp
and to the point. Perhaps they are yet to hit
any of the unseen barriers that are out there.
What is Athena SWAN?
Athena SWAN is a gender equality charter
for the UK Higher Education sector (run by
the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) ). It is
based on ten key principles. By being part of
Athena SWAN, our Dental School is publicly
committing to a progressive charter; to
adopting these principles and embedding
them across all we do. Awards under this
Charter recognise advancement of gender
equality: i.e. representation, progression and
success for all.
2
Schools/Departments/Institutions can apply
for awards ranging from Bronze to Gold to
reflect their commitment to, and progress
on, equality and diversity.
This is where Athena SWAN is vitally
important in signposting potential
inequalities and road-mapping a way
around, through or over them.
Perhaps it’s worth reminding ourselves of the
Athena SWAN Charter principles:
Our own Action Plan, that takes us from
Bronze and onto our immediate goal of a
Silver award, strives to address these unseen
obstacles in a constructive manner that will
enable our Institute to grow in its attitude
toward equality and Diversity issues.
ATHENA SWAN CHARTER PRINCIPLES
(ECU, updated May 2015)
1. We acknowledge that academia cannot
reach its full potential unless it can benefit
from the talents of all.
2. We commit to advancing gender equality
in academia, in particular, addressing the loss
of women across the career pipeline and the
absence of women from senior academic,
professional and support roles.
3. We commit to addressing unequal gender
representation across academic disciplines
and professional and support functions. In
this we recognise disciplinary differences
including:
•
•
the relative underrepresentation of
women in senior roles in arts,
humanities, social sciences, business
and law (AHSSBL)
the particularly high loss rate of women
in science, technology, engineering,
mathematics and medicine (STEMM)
4. We commit to tackling the gender pay
gap.
5. We commit to removing the obstacles
faced by women, in particular, at major
points of career development and
progression including the transition from
PhD into a sustainable academic career.
6. We commit to addressing the negative
consequences of using short-term contracts
for the retention and progression of staff in
academia, particularly women.
7. We commit to tackling the discriminatory
treatment often experienced by trans people.
8. We acknowledge that advancing gender
equality demands commitment and action
from all levels of the organisation and in
particular active leadership from those in
senior roles.
9. We commit to making and mainstreaming
sustainable structural and cultural changes to
advance gender equality, recognising that
initiatives and actions that support
individuals alone will not sufficiently advance
equality.
10. All individuals have identities shaped by
several different factors. We commit to
considering the intersection of gender and
other factors wherever possible.
The measure of any great institution is the
manner in which its mature handling of
changing cultural mores allows for the
recognition of poor policy and the
implementation of changes that enhance the
wellbeing of its members in a way that finally
benefits not just the individual but the
reputation and cultural ethos of that
institution.
If any of us find ourselves in a position to
support and promote woman’s issues on the
national and /or international stage it is our
duty and honour to do so.
Anyone wondering if Athena SWAN, and
equality and diversity in general, has
anything to do with them should spare some
time to see the highly acclaimed film on the
movement: SUFFRAGETTE
Astonishingly,
this is the first
time the fight for
universal
women’s
suffrage has been
subjected to the
silver screen. It is
perhaps a timely
reminder of how
much we owe to
these pioneering
women.
In another
first, Nicole
Kidman
returns to
the stage
to portray
Rosalind
FRANKLIN
-the female
pioneer
who
cracked
DNA - lost too soon to the scientific
community. The play “Photograph 51” is on
now at the Noel Coward Theatre .
ATHENA SWAN NEWSLETTER
| Issue 2
Graduation
Dame Sally Davis gave an inspiring address
to the SMD students and told them to reach
for the stars!
Female graduates once again made up a
large proportion of the students and many of
these women start their careers having
gained distinctions in many categories over
the 5 years of their study. Kelly Thomas had
distinctions in year 2, 3, 4 and 5 and also was
the recipient of the Principal’s Prize. Looking
at the Part 5 results of all 67 students (30
women and 37 men) three passed with
Honours - Nikki Georgiadou, Kelly Thomas
and Mark Franks. PhDs were awarded to
Bana Abdulmohsen, Nasrine Mohammed
and Samera Siddiqui. All students are to be
heartily congratulated on all their
achievements!
Appointments and
Promotions
Congratulations to the following women on
their recent appointments and promotions:

New Appointments:
Huda Albasrin Clinical Teacher in Adult
Oral Health (13/04/15)
Katie Benett Laboratory Technician
Dental Physical Sciences (07/09/2015)
Janet Davies Clinical Senior Lecturer in
Paediatric Dentistry (19/10/15)
Kim Piper Professor of Oral Pathology
(01/08/15)

3
Kseniya Shuturminska
wins Grad Fest Photo
Competition
Royal Soc Medicine
Odontology section
Presidents Prize
At the opening of a week of events for postgraduate students that formed the ‘QMUL
Grad Fest’, 10 finalists competed in a photo
competition. The competition featured a
range of stunning images in different styles.
Kseniya won the first prize with her image
‘Rose’, a hand coloured electron micrograph
of calcium phosphate crystals, taken in the
NanoVision electron microscopy centre.
Kseniya’s project, named “Design and
synthesis of peptide self-assembling systems
for enamel therapeutics” aims to create
devices to repair enamel biomimetically. She
captured the image while studying protein
templated crystal growth for enamel
therapeutics for her PhD, funded by the Life
Sciences Initiative, based in Dental Physical
Sciences.
Many congratulations to the PhD students
on these very prestigious prizes and
recognition of their excellent work:
representative on this Committee of
nine members.

Promotions in the 2014/15 Round
All promoted to Senior Lecturer:
Maisoon Al-Jawad;
Dominiki Chatzopoulou;
Eleni Hagi-Pavli;
Ioana-Ruxandra Moraru;
The full list of all appointments and
promotions was included in the Dean’s
Dental School Update, via email on 11
September 2015. We salute all our
colleagues, male and female, on their
success.
External appointments:
Save the date: there will be a drinks
Dr. Sharan Sidhu was appointed for a
3 year-term to the International
Association for Dental Research
‘Innovation in Oral Care Awards’
Committee She is the s0le UK
reception following the Staff
Development event on 21st October to
celebrate all promotions in Dentistry
this year. We hope as many staff as
possible will be able to join us in raising
a glass to their success!

Jie Liu: Best
Research
Paper

Amal Senusi: Shortlisted Poster
(Samiul Hasan: Winner, Best Poster)
Athena SWAN SelfAssessment Team
Activities
Dr. Mangala Patel, Chair of the Athena
SWAN Self-Assessment Team, has been
appointed as the lead for Equality and
Diversity in the Institute of Dentistry.
We are also pleased to announce that Marcia
Williams joined in early August 2015. Marcia
is an Organisational Development consultant
with over twenty years’ operational and
strategic experience as a Diversity &
Inclusion specialist. She will be advising the
Dental Executive Group and Athena SWAN
Self-Assessment Team as we prepare for our
Silver Award Application in November, and
helping us further embed our wider equality
and diversity commitments across the
Institute.
ATHENA SWAN NEWSLETTER
| Issue 2
4
Looking Back…
Looking Forward…
History of
Women’s
Education and
Gilbert & Sullivan
Olympian opens
Dental Outreach
Clinic
“I am delighted to be here to open this fantastic
dental facility, which provides a learning
environment for students and vital patient care
for the people of East London. The treatment I
received from the team here during London
2012 was second to none and enabled me to
make a swift return to the games. I am
extremely proud to see their work continuing as
we build on the Olympic legacy”
Kate Richardson-Walsh MBE
It might not be an obvious pairing but there is
a history of ridicule of women’s higher
education that culminated in the staging of a
comic opera ‘Princess Ida’ or, ‘Castle
Adamant’ with a libretto by Gilbert and
music by Sullivan at the Savoy in 1884 (it ran
for only 126 performances but is still popular
with both amateur and professional
companies today– hopefully with more irony
than originally intended!)
The establishment of The College for Ladies
at Westfield in 1882 was highly controversial
in Victorian England. Alfred, Lord Tennyson
had already written a “serio-comic” narrative
poem in 1847 in response to the founding of
Queen’s College London- the first college to
admit women for higher education. In 1869
Girton College had been established in
Cambridge and a women’s college was
becoming a more established concept. In
1870 Gilbert had written a farce (The
Princess) and then collaborated with Sullivan
to turn this into a full comic opera satirizing
feminism, women’s education and Darwinian
evolution - all highly controversial at that
time. It is no coincidence that the opera
appears two years after the establishment of
Westfield as this is said to be the model for
Gilbert’s, ‘Castle Adamant’
The present formation of Barts and The
London School of Medicine and Dentistry
(SMD) was formed in 1995 by a merger of the
historic medical schools of St Bartholomew’s
Hospital Medical College (founded 1843) and
England’s first Medical College, The London
Hospital Medical College (founded 1785). The
Institute of Dentistry was opened in 1911 and
female Dental students were first admitted
to the School following World War II.
More importantly, Westfield College, this
pioneering college for the higher education
of women is incorporated into our history by
merger with Queen Mary in 1989. The
integration of Westfield College has
underpinned an ethos of fostering women in
the Medical and Dental disciplines and in
promoting an inclusivity which was
historically unique and remains central to the
ethos of the Institute of Dentistry.
Queen Mary University of London (QMUL)
and Barts Health NHS Trust are delighted to
officially open their new dental outreach
centre in Stratford, set in the heart of the
Olympic Park.
EQUALITY-THEMED #FACTS:

To mark the occasion, the clinic was opened
by Olympic bronze medallist and Great
Britain’s Women’s Hockey Captain, Kate
Richardson-Walsh MBE, who this month led
her team to victory in the EuroHockey
Championship 2015.
During the 2012 London Olympics, onsite
dental care was provided by clinicians from
QMUL and Barts Health. During the games,
Kate Richardson-Walsh underwent urgent
dental surgery carried out by Dr Simon
Holmes, Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial
Surgeon, after suffering a fractured jaw
during a match.


Did you know that the Centre is
named after the founder of the
modern Paralympic Games?
Professor Sir Ludwig "Poppa"
Guttmann was a German-born British
neurologist who established the
Paralympic Games in England. The
Jewish doctor, who fled Nazi
Germany just before the start of the
Second World War, is considered to
be one of the founding fathers of
organized competitive physical
activities for people with disabilities
Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the
National Centre for Disability Sport in
the United Kingdom, was developed
by him alongside the hospital
Dr Guttmann's daughter, Eva
Loeffler, was appointed the mayor of
the London 2012 Paralympic Games
athletes' village
ATHENA SWAN NEWSLETTER
| Issue 2
5
Message from Ankur Patel
Undergraduate Dental Representative for
Athena SWAN &Fourth Year Dental
Undergraduate Student
Last year I was fortunate enough to hold the
position of Student Dental President at Barts
and The London Dental School. It was an
incredibly busy year and there was much
going on around the school. For example, we
celebrated our first full year in the new Royal
London Dental Hospital, opened a new
Dental Outreach centre (Sir Ludwig
Guttmann Centre) in Stratford and hosted
the largest dental student conference in the
UK (BDSA 2015 London) in collaboration
with our colleagues from King’s College
London. We were also able to send two
students to Szeged, Hungary to represent
our department at the European Dental
Students’ Conference, which was a great
step for the school. Alongside these personal
highlights we ensured that we represented
our student’s interests appropriately and
addressed any issues that had presented
themselves efficiently. We worked hard to
always maintain the happy working
environment for our students and organised
numerous enjoyable social events for both
students and staff. I have truly enjoyed my
time as President, and getting involved with
Athena SWAN is another reason this is the
case
During my term as Student President, I was
asked if I would like to get involved with the
Athena SWAN Silver application and act as
the Undergraduate Representative. I have
been a great admirer of the programme and
was thrilled to sit on this committee which is
working very hard to achieve great goals in
our department. I have enjoyed my time on
this committee, acting as a link between the
students and the working group. I have
learned about the progression and
representation of women in the Dental
School and helpful resources for students
relating to equality and diversity. This
information is being publicized to students
and shared across multiple avenues of social
media and student communications.
More information?
Website
If you’d like to find out more about equality
and diversity in the Institute of Dentistry,
please take a look under the ‘Equality and
Diversity’ tab on our website
www.dentistry.qmul.ac.uk , where you’ll also
find links to other QMUL equality and
diversity resources and support
Twitter
If you’re on Twitter, why not keep up to date
with Dentistry’s new equality-themed
Twitter account @IoDEqualities
Even if you don’t have a Twitter account, you
can still see our tweets online at
www.twitter.com/IoDEqualities or using the
live feed on the Institute of Dentistry Equality
and Diversity web page:
In person
You can reach the Dental School’s Equality
and Diversity Specialist Marcia Williams on
020 7882 2921 or via
[email protected]
Please get in touch with Marcia if you have
ideas to share, would like to be more
involved in the School’s Athena SWAN and
E&D work, or would like to discuss related
matters in strict confidence.
WISE@QMUL
WISE@QMUL’s ongoing mission is to:
 Establish informal links with women
working within STEMM sectors that that
can act as role models;
 Discuss a wide range of career paths;
and
 Provide encouragement for female
students and early career researchers at
QMUL
You can contact WISE via their website
And to end on a
humorous note…
The Times Higher Education ran a trio of very
amusing appointments suggesting Tomas De
Torquemada as Deputy Head of Human
Resources (he would bring his own thumb
screws) and Dr Sigmund Freud as Student
Welfare Officer (he felt the culture of
depression in the students was because they
were not at a proper University - at least we
don’t have that problem!)
However the best featured in issue 2218 (27
August – 2 Sept 2015) and had Simone De
Beauvoir interviewed for the chair in
Philosophy! And failing to be appointed! It’s
L-R: Vishal Barot, Dr. Mangala Patel, Ankur Patel
It is with regret that my role on this
committee is nearing an end but
undergraduate representation has been left
in great hands. Our incoming Student Dental
President, Vishal Barot will be taking this
position for the forthcoming meetings and I
have every confidence that he will be an
asset to this group. I wish the Athena SWAN
team all the best in this and future
applications, and I am sure myself and the
other students will be watching this space!
really very funny, and worth looking at –
here's the link Younger staff and students
may not be aware that the names of the
professors’ on the interviewing panel are in
themselves quite funny. Freeman, Hardy and
Willis were a high street shoe shop, while
Timpson is still on the high street as a shoe
repair shop. I am quite surprised that they did
not take the time to complement Simone on
her shoes! As women like Stella Creasy MP,
Serena Williams and Charlotte Proudman
(the lawyer mentioned on page 1) know, a
woman's achievements may still be judged
on her appearance, sartorial choices, and
other limiting stereotypes…
Athena SWAN
Newsletter
On behalf of the Institute of Dentistry’s
Self-Assessment Team
Want to contribute to the next edition?
Please email Dr Lesley Bergmeier:
[email protected]
Deadline: 01 December 2015