Paul Glynn | Senior Staff Writer
The Physics Department at Trinity College has been awarded Juno Practitioner status by the Institute of Physics for its work in addressing gender inequities in both the staff workplace and in the student body. The department has been recognised in its efforts to improve and promote the participation of women in the field of Physics by taking such measures as creating more flexible work arrangements and transparent organisational structures, as well as arranging for childcare provisions.
The department is one of only twelve Physics departments in the UK and Ireland that have achieved the level of the award, and Trinity College is one of 44 universities whose departments have expressed their commitment to the Juno project. Having received this status, Trinity’s Physics department can now work towards ‘Champion status’, becoming the first university department in the country to do so.
Eithne McCabe, the Juno coordinator in Physics, as well as a professor of Physics in Trinity, views the increased participation of women in the discipline both in Trinity College and across the country as “a key priority and recognises the importance of improving the numbers, retention rate and experience of female physicists within College.” She added that encouraging more women to participate in the field was a “key priority” for the college, and that continuing to do so “will impact positively on the Irish economy as a whole.”
Professor Peter Main, the Director of Education and Science for the Institute of Physics, said that: “The Institute is here to support all physics departments to achieve Juno awards by providing positive and constructive feedback on their progress against the Juno principles”, and added that the program creates “an inclusive working environment that supports the development and progression of all staff, regardless of gender.”
