SAGE has published an independent evaluation of the Athena Swan framework, alongside a formal response to the findings.
The 2024–2025 evaluation was conducted by the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL) at the Australian National University (ANU), commissioned by SAGE, providing a timely and thorough assessment of the value, appropriateness, and future potential of the SAGE Athena Swan framework.
It draws on feedback from subscriber institutions, including universities, medical research institutes, and publicly funded research agencies, to better understand how well Athena Swan is working, where it could be strengthened, and how it might evolve to meet the sector’s changing needs.
Overall, respondents were strongly supportive of the framework, offering feedback through what the report describes as a “critical friend” lens.
The evaluation found that SAGE Athena Swan is effective at mobilising institutional resources and evidence-based approaches to gender equity, while also surfacing some inconsistency in how the “Athena Swan” and “SAGE” branding is understood across the sector, particularly among smaller or non-science-focused institutions.
The report also explores the balance between flexibility and rigour in the framework’s requirements, the practical barriers institutions face in implementation, including resourcing and administrative burden, and how the framework aligns with broader legislative and policy settings such as WGEA reporting.
From this analysis, the evaluation puts forward six recommendations:
- Retain the Athena Swan branding, while rethinking the SAGE branding to better reflect the scope of its work
- Increase flexibility across time and institutional characteristics
- Provide greater visibility of existing guidance, and develop new practical, actionable resources
- Enhance compatibility with legislative requirements and other reporting frameworks
- Strengthen collaboration and networking opportunities across the sector
- Explore a more intersectional approach
In its response, SAGE has broadly accepted all six recommendations. Guided by the evaluation’s findings, SAGE will work closely with subscribers and stakeholders to build on what’s working, scale effective practices, and address shared challenges, including refining its branding, improving guidance and support, deepening cross-sector collaboration, and moving toward an even more intersectional, evidence-informed approach to equity and inclusion.
This evaluation marks an important step in SAGE’s ongoing commitment to strengthening Athena Swan as a framework for advancing gender equity across Australia’s tertiary education and research sector.
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