About the Survey

The Athena Survey of Science Engineering and Technology (ASSET), is a low cost, open access, web-based survey of career progression in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine and Mathematics) in Higher Education.

It is designed to:

• raise awareness of the differences in male and female career progression (approaches, expectations, perceptions, and outcomes)
• increase awareness of the good practice policies, and processes which support and encourage sustainable and rewarding careers for women and men
• enable universities, HE and research funders, and STEMM policy makers to benchmark progress, and the impact of changes, over time.

Previous ASSET surveys ran in 2003, 2004, and 2006, which between them covered over 7,500 male and female respondents, from more than 70 universities.

The current project will complete the development, and secure the future, of ASSET, and it will possible for universities participating in the 2010 survey to access their own data easily, and speedily, and to compare themselves against UK figures.  It will provide a framework for future surveys with the intention that they should be run every 5/6 years, in a methodologically robust and cost effective way.

Participating - Please note, the 2010 survey is now closed. The national analysis will be available here later in March 2010.

The survey is open to scientists, who work in and/or are employed by a UK university in a STEMM subject area,

• and who undertake research and/or teaching
  
  
• and/or who undertake academic administrative / management activities at all levels.
  

PhD students who are not ‘employed’ are not eligible. 

'STEMM' is used throughout the survey as shorthand for science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine, and related areas. Similarly ’scientist’ is used generically and encompasses engineers, technologists, mathematicians and clinicians.

If you fall within these eligibility criteria and would like to participate in the survey please select the university that employs you from the list on the right.

The Results and anonymity/confidentiality

Initial analyses of the results will be undertaken at departmental, university and national levels. The national analysis will be available here in March 2010. To ensure respondents’ anonymity, departmental and university analyses will be made available to participating departments and universities only if sufficient numbers of eligible staff respond to the survey. Neither departments nor universities will have access to the raw data.

A more comprehensive analysis of the national results will be available in summer 2010.