Self-assessment team
The make-up of the self-assessment team is critical to the scheme (for both universities and departments/faculties). Ideally the teams will include men and women:
- with personal experience of balancing home/caring responsibilities and work/part time/flexible working/career breaks
- from a dual career family (the partner does not have to be from a SET background)
- with recent experience of the institution/department’s recruitment and/or promotion processes
- at different stages on the career ladder and particularly from those in early and mid career
- with departmental/management responsibilities/university responsibilities for eg staff development/ equal opportunities
- with experience of similar exercises
It is recommended that a project co-ordinator be appointed to collate the submission material and provide administrative support. This work should be part of an appointed person’s day job, not in addition to their normal duties.
Universities and departments are strongly encouraged to ensure that the self-assessment team includes senior managers.
In departments it will be for the head of department to decide whether they wish be a member of the team or to ask the team to undertake the assessment and then present it for information / discussion / approval and onwards transmission to the senior university officer who approves it.
Opening the team up to include, for example, a lay member of council or someone from another department or faculty may be useful.
At departmental/faculty level a senior manager/administrator would be well positioned to access the information the team need to consider, as would a faculty/departmental personnel officer. At university level someone from human resources, with staff development or diversity responsibilities would be similarly useful.
Some Charter members have given the self-assessment team an ongoing responsibility for the organisation’s women in SET agenda. They have put in place reporting structures for the team, to ensure that their recommendations are actioned and the results monitored and evaluated.