Women at Surrey

The University of Surrey values and invests in all its female staff and actively encourages staff to develop in different ways to maximise their potential. We have a proud tradition of supporting women and in 1971 appointed Daphne Jackson as Professor of Physics – the first woman in the UK to hold such a post.

Welcome to this new-look webpage celebrating the inspiring and impactful contribution made by women across the Surrey community. I hope you enjoy reading the wide range of case studies and find time to reflect on the many and varied accomplishments in academia and professional services.

At Surrey, we are working hard to improve the number of staff from groups that are under-represented across our workforce. We have just offered the first roles in our Surrey Future Fellows programme, which aims to bring about a balanced and diverse uplift in our research capability. Our Diversity 200 project continues to shift the dial through a fairer and more robust selection process, complementing and enhancing our work with Athena Swan.

To achieve our mission of building a stronger global community our Surrey community must be fair, equal, diverse and celebrate the success of everyone. Professor Lu, Max, President and Vice-Chancellor

Inspiring women at Surrey

Our aim is to have a vibrant, open and transparent environment in which women can flourish and pursue satisfying and successful careers. We offer training, support and development for all staff, with a number of different teams dedicated to providing excellent specialist support for academic staff, professional staff and research staff. This includes accredited leadership and management training, academic and research leadership training, mentoring and research mentoring and one-to-one support as well as formal coaching.

We are a member of the Athena Swan Charter, a scheme that advances the representation of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine. The Charter was launched by the Royal Society in June 2005 and has grown considerably, with over half of all higher education institutions now members.

Positive reflections of successful women in science

With Professor Clare Mills

Celebrating women at Surrey

My work is so rewarding as I get to satisfy my intellectual curiosity while trying to create a positive difference. Professor Iis Tussyadiah, research focus: digital transformation in the services sector.

I love inspiring a passion for physics in others, especially by helping them realize what physics is useful for, from developing technology to tackling cancer to data mining or defense. Dr Noelia E. D. Noël, research focus: disentangling how galaxies evolve and form by studying their stellar populations.

The most rewarding thing for my career is to be able to see how it can generate value and real impact to the society. My research efforts have been devoted to the improved design and extended functionality of a range of materials for future industrial applications, such as engineering alloys for nuclear safety manner and bioinspired composites for next generation dental crown materials. I strongly believe that fundamental research can improve societal outcomes through innovative engineering. Dr Tan Sui

Celebrating women in research

Academic research is at the forefront of society’s desire to tackle global challenges, and at its heart there are inspirational and innovative individuals who thrive on a passion for their chosen field, whether through studying mini lung cultures to understand how viruses such as Covid 19 interact with our cells, disentangling how galaxies form and evolve by studying their stellar populations or studying how people make society better.

We need to enable women to fulfil their potential through very simple systems like better affordable childcare. I find it infuriating when I see amazing women struggling to fulfil their potential because they struggle to maintain a good work-life balance. Birgitta Gatersleben, research focus: people-environment interactions, particularly people's relationship with the natural environment and the link between environmental sustainability and human wellbeing.

We need women in senior leadership roles and positions of influence to be role models and we need to encourage young girls that they can have the career they choose. Dr Lindsay Broadbent , research focus: studying how respiratory viruses interact with cells that line our airways to cause disease.

To my mind what matters is not so much equality but enabling conditions that allow each human being to flourish. The conditions have historically been main male-centred; focused on male priorities, (stereo-typically) male character traits and male-advancement. We should not defer to stereo-typical expectations of either men or women but recognise that success in any career field should be available to anyone with potential in that field. Women’s potential should not have the secondary status it once had. I think Surrey does an excellent job, in addressing this challenge. Professor Bebhinn Donnelly-Lazarov

Gender equality at Surrey

At the University of Surrey, we are committed to gender equality and ensuring we provide a positive and supportive culture in which our staff and student community feel empowered and respected.

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