The University’s plans to improve the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students are gaining momentum, following the submission of our Race Equality Charter application.
We signed up to Advance HE’s Race Equality Charter (REC) in 2021, with the goal of eliminating all racial disparities which exists on campus. The REC provides a framework to help us reflect on institutional and cultural barriers standing in the way of minority ethnic staff and students.
We have spent the intervening months in a period of reflection, research and understanding. We have consulted with staff and students about their perceptions and experiences of race and racial disparity, and identified the barriers which stand in the way of achieving equality for all. This work has been led by Race Equality Officer, Karishma Asher, and our REC Self-Assessment Team, chaired by Professor Fiona Beveridge, Pro-Vice Chancellor for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
The University’s application for the REC Bronze Award – submitted last Friday (17 November) – is detailed and far-reaching, supported by staff and student plans which contain meaningful and measurable actions. We look forward to sharing more on these in due course.
We expect to hear from Advance HE with news on our application in February/ March 2024 and we will share the outcome at the earliest opportunity.
A REC Bronze Award signifies a commitment to, and practical solutions for, addressing race inequalities at our University. We acknowledge that we are still in the early stages of this work and that there is a long way to go, with many hurdles to overcome. If we are successful in our application, it will be the start of the next chapter in our journey to reaching race equality.
REC webpages
To coincide with the submission of our REC application, we have launched new pages on the University’s website to tell you more about the Self-Assessment Team, share examples of the work we are already doing to address race inequality at the University and keep you up to date with REC news.
These pages will be expanded in the coming months, once we know the outcome of our application and next steps.