The award recognises the advancement of gender equality and overcoming barriers to inclusivity for their staff and students.

The University earned an institutional Athena SWAN Bronze award in 2017. Its School of Psychology received the recognition in 2018 and its School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering were awarded the Athena SWAN Bronze earlier this year.

In rankings released by the Times Higher Education, the University was second in a field of 760 worldwide reducing inequalities - ranking top in the UK. It was also second in the UK in two other categories entered, gender equality and quality education, ranking eighth and 57th in the world in these categories respectively.

Professor Marcia Wilson, dean of the Office for Institutional Equity, said, "It is fantastic to see the school of Business and Law champion equality. Diversity is one of our strongest assets at the University of East London and we all have a responsibility to create an inclusive and equal institution."

Athena SWAN is a charter, established in 2005 and managed by Advance HE's Equality Challenge Unit, which supports and encourages universities to work towards gender equality. Higher education institutions which join Athena SWAN commit to adopting the charter's principles within their policies, practices, action plans and culture.