Professor Richard Black, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, explains why it’s important for the University that staff share their equality data with us and how we are using that data and preserving staff anonymity.
A few weeks ago, we submitted our application to Advance HE for ‘Bronze’ accreditation under the Race Equality Charter (REC). It’s an important piece of work, and there are a number of colleagues who have put in a significant amount of effort to get our application finalised, particularly Karishma Asher, Race Equality Officer and all the members of our REC Self-Assessment Team, chaired by Executive Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Fiona Beveridge. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all.
Regardless of whether we achieve accreditation (I hope we will!), the application process has committed us to a further programme of activity that we believe will have a significant impact in improving equality and diversity and making the University of Liverpool a more inclusive place to work and study.
What our race data tell us
A number of things are clear from the analysis that we have done in preparation for the Race Equality Charter, not least how few people of colour we have in both our academic and Professional Services staff. That makes the University a less welcoming and inspiring place for our Black students, almost certainly contributing to an ethnic awarding gap in which Black British students are over 25% less likely to be awarded a First compared to their white peers. It also means we do not reap the benefits of having a diverse workplace, in which a plurality of backgrounds and experiences feeds innovation and creativity.
Drawing on this analysis, we are now planning a number of positive interventions that will hopefully boost ethnic diversity. These span the full staff and student lifecycles, from outreach and recruitment, through to retention and progression. Actions are targeted to the unique experiences of different staff and student communities, in particular academic, Professional Services and Early Career Researchers. They include an end-to-end review of recruitment policies and processes, and enhancing training and guidance for decision-makers on hiring and promotion panels. We have taken similar steps around gender equality based on analysis done institutionally and in most Schools for Athena Swan.
Data gaps
But what is also striking about equality, diversity and inclusion at the University is how little we know about the presence or absence of diversity in relation to many other Protected Characteristics. These include gender and ethnicity, but also gender identity, sexual orientation, nationality, religion and disability status.
Even our data for ethnicity lags behind other universities. According to our REC self-assessment document, the ‘not known’ rate for Liverpool academic staff stands at 18%; nearly triple the sector average of just under 7% in the same year. Worryingly, ‘not known’ rates are increasing year-on-year.
Working in a research-intensive institution, we know better than most organisations that action needs to be based on solid evidence, and for that you need data. Indeed, many of us have spent our careers trying to gather data about people with the intention of working out how we can make the world a better place.
Our ask
That’s why the University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team is now asking staff to provide or update your equalities monitoring data in Core HR. It is not mandatory for you to share your personal data but by doing so you will be helping us to understand our workforce better, and enable us to take action where it is needed. Without this data, it is so much harder to act.
How we use your data
Of course, some people will have concerns around sharing their personal data. What will it be used for? Could it disadvantage me if I declare my ethnic origin or a disability? In practice, there are strict rules which protect your data and only a limited number of colleagues involved in the analysis of workforce monitoring information have access to it. More information on how we protect your personal data can be found here, and work is underway to enhance these resources in the coming months.
Indeed, it is against the law to discriminate against someone based on any protected characteristic. However targeted interventions to tackle inequalities, including Positive Action initiatives, must be backed by data. It is impossible to make positive adjustments without it and quite simply action plans become harder and our reporting on gender, ethnic and other pay gaps become meaningless if for a significant number of people, their status is ‘unknown’.
So, I am asking for your support please if I may. You can complete your diversity data in the ‘My Profile’ section of Core HR, under the Diversity section, and keep it updated if anything changes. Alternatively, you can keep an eye on your inbox for an email from HR on the subject of equality and other personal data in the coming weeks and respond accordingly then. Together, we can make Liverpool a great place for everyone to work and study, a place where we all have a positive impact.