Paul Walton: Gender equality in academia

Abstract 
Over nearly all scientific organisations, across every country and across time one finds that the progression of women in research/academia is significantly hindered when compared to men. Such a universal truth represents an enormous loss of talent, including in our very own academic communities. Recent years have seen some progress in understanding the principal factors behind this phenomenon and there has been some progress in new schemes which are designed to address the lack of women in senior scientific positions. These schemes have also met with some resistance which, in itself, has been revealing of the reasons why there is such a difference in the progression rates of men and women in science. This presentation discusses some of the evidence behind gender inequality in academia, and—most importantly—how that can be translated into day to day practice within an academic context.

Biography 
Paul Walton obtained his PhD in 1990 (University of Nottingham, UK), followed by two years as a NATO/SERC postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. He joined the Department of Chemistry at York as a faculty member in 1993. Between 2004 and 2010 he was chair of department. His main research area is bioinorganic chemistry, in which he has made contributions to the understanding of copper oxidases, including the discovery of the histidine brace. He is the recipient of multiple national* and international** awards, including: Teaching: RSC's Higher Education Teaching Award,** Vice-Chancellor's Teaching Award.Research: Gertrude Cropper Award, RSC's Joseph Chatt Award,** IChemE's Global Energy Award,** RSC's Rita and John Cornforth Award,** University of Chalmers Jubilee professor 2020.** Equality: RSC's Inclusion and Diversity Award, 2025, Royal Society's inaugural Athena Prize* (runner-up). WISE man of the year shortlist.* He has also been Editor of Dalton Transactions (2004-2008), chair of Heads of Chemistry UK, chair of the Royal Society of Chemistry's Diversity Committee, was named as a 'Person of Influence' by the University of Toronto's Women in Chemistry Group and is one of the RSC's 175 Faces of Chemistry. Paul is an internationally-known advocate of equality in sciences and lectures widely on the subject.