A Programme for Women achieving Excellence in Research (PoWER): theoretically informed intervention design and evaluation

Academics in Higher Education are often expected both to teach and to research; this is a particular challenge for women both structurally and individually. Initiatives to address structural issues include AdvanceHE. Here, we focus on individual issues and report on the Programme for Women Achieving Excellence in Research, a theory-based intervention. Barriers to success were assessed and course content tailored accordingly. Evaluation demonstrated that barriers were reduced and that confidence increased. Although the barriers are both individual and contextual, our rigorous approach allows international application through intervention modification without loss of fidelity. This offers a new approach for academic developers to enable female researchers.