Gender equality has been important to Churchill College since early in the College’s history. Churchill College was in the vanguard of dramatically expanding female participation in Cambridge University: it was the first of the formerly all-male Cambridge colleges to vote to admit women, with the initial cohort of female students arriving in 1972. It is an area of particular interest for our current Master, Professor Dame Athene Donald, who has been actively involved in promoting gender equality for many years, both at a national and University level, acting as the University Gender Equality Champion between 2010 and 2014.

As a College 70% of our students are by statute drawn from the STEM subjects, which are traditionally male dominated. This poses particular challenges in terms of gender equality and the College has been working hard to attract more female applicants. This has resulted in the intake of female undergraduates increasing to 50% in 2020 . The College recognises that there is still more work to do and gender equality will remain a key priority moving forward.