Author Archives: Athene Donald

Armchair Travel

Posted on 2 January 2016 by Athene Donald

One of the best things about the Christmas break is the ability to immerse oneself in books without the endless distracting ping of arriving emails or the intervention of interminable committee meetings (and accompanying papers to wade through). This year … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Equality, Gloria Steinem, metaphor, Simon Armitage | Comments Off on Armchair Travel

The Season of Presents

Posted on 28 December 2015 by Athene Donald

I have written before of my desire to get my hands on a Pensieve, that wonderful, fantastical creation of JK Rowling characterised as the receptacle described here: One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one’s mind, pours them into the … Continue reading →

Posted in Ed Kramer, mentoring, Science Culture, support | Comments Off on The Season of Presents

The Metrics of Reaching Out

Posted on 22 December 2015 by Athene Donald

In my College we are pleased to see that we are doing well against a specific set of metrics associated with social mobility at admissions. This hasn’t happened by accident, but is down to years of hard work and careful … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge University, Churchill College, college admissions, education, Equality, widening participation | Comments Off on The Metrics of Reaching Out

What’s Changed? Anything? (#Just1action4WIS)

Posted on 15 December 2015 by Athene Donald

This was the year, amongst other things, of the #distractinglysexy hashtag, as discussed recently on BBC Radio4 here. This hashtag was itself part of the fallout of #Huntgate, the undeserved fall from grace of a Nobel prize winner on the … Continue reading →

Posted in louise mensch, Tim Hunt, twitter, Women in science | Comments Off on What’s Changed? Anything? (#Just1action4WIS)

Men Talking (and Needing to)

Posted on 12 December 2015 by Athene Donald

In the wake of the recent fracas over whether a university should celebrate International Men’s Day or not, I was struck by the following sentence in a book I was reading ‘I learned how much everyone needs to talk about … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, mental health, Richard Holmes, suicide | Comments Off on Men Talking (and Needing to)

Just Say No (but How?)

Posted on 6 December 2015 by Athene Donald

One of those persistent stereotypes-by-gender is that women are less good at saying no than men. Whether or not you believe that to be true, there is no doubt that many of us – myself included – are less than … Continue reading →

Posted in committee work, Outreach, Research, Science Culture | Comments Off on Just Say No (but How?)

Light Touch Metrics?

Posted on 30 November 2015 by Athene Donald

In the summer metrics looked like they had been substantially laid to rest for the Higher Education sector: The Metric Tide report, written at the behest of the (probably the about-to-be-late-lamented) HEFCE took many pages to point out that metrics … Continue reading →

Posted in James Wilsdon, REF, Sajiv Javid, Science Culture, TEF | Comments Off on Light Touch Metrics?

Chairing: Not as Easy as it Looks

Posted on 25 November 2015 by Athene Donald

If you are setting out on your career, how do you acquire leadership skills? If you think you’re a born leader how can you check it out or improve? As part of the commemorations around the 50th anniversary death of … Continue reading →

Posted in chairing, committees, leadership, Science Culture | Comments Off on Chairing: Not as Easy as it Looks

What Does Equality Mean?

Posted on 19 November 2015 by Athene Donald

­­As the additions to my last post indicate, the University of York has backtracked on celebrating International Men’s Day – a celebration that would have taken place today. So now one part of the university is annoyed that anyone ever … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, International Men's Day | Comments Off on What Does Equality Mean?

Supporting Men, Supporting Women: We Need to do Both

Posted on 15 November 2015 by Athene Donald

I am not infrequently challenged about why I worry so much about women in academia when young men are being disadvantaged. This is seen to be particularly true in school exam results but also if one looks at the numbers … Continue reading →

Posted in appointment, bias, Ceci and WIlliams, Equality, International Men's Day | Comments Off on Supporting Men, Supporting Women: We Need to do Both