LSE has an explainer for Athena Swan too, mostly quoting Athena Swan (or Athena SWAN as they call it) but tweaking the wording a little in places.

Athena SWAN was established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employed in higher education and research.

So far so good.

In May 2015 the charter was expanded to recognise work undertaken in the arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law (AHSSBL), in professional and support roles, and for trans staff and students. The charter now recognises work undertaken to address gender equality more broadly, rather than just barriers to progression that affect women.

Ok wait.

I once was blind but now I see, eh? We used to address gender inequality by working to advance the careers of women, but now we know better. Now we do it more broadly. More broadly than what?

There are two sexes. Just the two. Historically they have been unequal. Addressing that inequality means making the subordinated half of the pair equal instead of subordinated. How can one do that more broadly?

There’s only the one disadvantaged sex. Not two, not seven, not a thousand. Just. the. one.

The passage of time since 1970 hasn’t changed that. There are still two sexes. The female sex is still disadvantaged compared to the male. It’s still that simple. So what can it mean to “address gender inequality more broadly”? There is no more “broadly.” There’s only the female sex.