Dr Victoria Brownlee

Victoria joined Advance HE in 2018 to lead the strategic development and delivery of Advance HE’s Athena SWAN Charter in Ireland. Victoria is experienced in national policy development and implementation, and in supporting sector-wide progress on gender equality. She also has expertise in the development of organisational strategy and practice relating to EDI and in the delivery of training for a range of stakeholders. Prior to joining Advance HE Victoria worked as a lecturer and researcher in universities in Ireland and the UK.

As Head of Athena SWAN in Ireland Victoria oversees the engagement and participation of all of Ireland’s universities and institutes of technology, as well as several colleges, in the charter framework.  Victoria has responsibility for the associated peer-review assessment processes and continuing development of charter to meet the needs of higher education in Ireland. As Athena SWAN is part of a national strategy to progress gender equality, Victoria works closely with government and sector agencies, research funders and institutional bodies on charter implementation and progress.

When working as an academic, Victoria led funded research projects focusing on the intersection of gender and religion in literature and women’s writing. She has published books with Oxford University Press and Manchester University Press focusing on these research areas as well as articles and book chapters. Having taught widely across undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes, Victoria also has expertise in embedding equality and diversity in the curriculum.