TeamTalk

Sweetening the Message

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As part of our blog series highlighting projects within the University which have been supported by the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Fund (EDIF), I spoke to Dr Ann Fitchett, who came up with the idea of Sweetening the Message.

Sweetening the Message aims to raise awareness of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, across our Faculty and the wider University. Packets of jellybeans displaying the message “supporting all to reach their potential”, have been distributed throughout the University.

Thanks to the EDI Fund, Sweetening the Message received £5000 to buy 5,000 packets of jellybeans!

The idea came from Stonewall, when Newcastle signed up as a Stonewall Global Champion back in 2016. When representatives from Stonewall came to Newcastle, they handed out packets of sweets with a message about their work attached, to raise awareness about what they were doing.

Dr Ann Fitchett, who is responsible for the Faculty’s engagement and outreach, alongside Dr Tom Smulders, the Chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee of the Institute of Neuroscience, embraced Stonewall’s sweet idea.

Sweetening the Message will help spread the message of support, and the ambition both FMS and Newcastle University have to support all students and staff in reaching their full potential.

Keep an eye out for students handing out jellybeans around the Faculty and campus soon!

If you’re a student or a member of staff at Newcastle University and you think you’ve got a great idea for a project to promote engagement with the EDI agenda at the University, click here to find out more about EDIF, or email us at FMS.Diversity@ncl.ac.uk Funding closes on the 23rd November, so hurry up!

TeamTalk

Creating an Equality and Diversity Calendar

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As part of our blog series focusing on projects funded by the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Fund (EDIF), I spoke to Dr Laura Delgaty about the project she got funding for: Creating an Equality and Diversity Calendar.

The aim of the calendar is to help keep staff and students up to date and informed about any upcoming EDI events they may wish to attend or participate in. It has been made easily accessible through the University Intranet (it can be found here).

The project received £1,500 from the EDIF, to cover costs such as a focus group, to determine what people wanted from the calendar, and IT support, to have the calendar professionally developed. They also employ an intern, who is responsible for ensuring relevant events are added to the calendar across the year.

Laura hopes that the calendar will “promote and celebrate equality and diversity in the region”, and encourage staff and students across the University to engage more widely with EDI issues.

Laura also highlighted the importance of the calendar for innovation within the University: “this calendar is an example of staff innovation in action, potentially generating further innovation within the staff and student body, a core academic objective outlined in the E&D strategy”.

To see the new calendar and check out upcoming EDI events, please click here.

Or, if you’re a student or a member of staff at Newcastle University and you think you’ve got a great idea for a project to promote engagement with the EDI agenda at the University, click here to find out more about EDIF, or email us at FMS.Diversity@ncl.ac.uk 

TeamTalk

The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Fund (EDIF)

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It’s that time of year again! Applications for the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Fund (EDIF) are open and will close on the 23rd of November. 

The EDIF is an internal funding scheme available to all staff who’ve got an innovative idea for a project, scheme or event that helps promote the EDI agenda at Newcastle University. Up to £5,000 is available, but applications from projects requiring less are particularly encouraged.

On the run up to the deadline (23rd November 2018) we’ve been speaking to a number of staff who’ve made successful applications to the EDIF about their projects. These projects are:

So, if you’re still not sure about applying, or need some motivation to push on with your application, keep an eye on this page over the next few weeks to read all about these projects!

For more information about what kind of projects will be considered, and to access the application form, please click here.

Or, for more information about the EDIF, email us at FMS.Diversity@ncl.ac.uk or contact Judith Rankin​.

Gender Equality

International Men’s Day Talk: Professor Ian Banks

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To celebrate International Men’s Day (Monday 19th November), the Institute of Health and Society are hosting our very first International Men’s Day event. The event will be a talk and discussion with Professor Ian Banks on men’s health, entitled “Does the Y chromosome seriously damage your health?”

Every year, on the 19th of November, International Men’s Day is celebrated by over 60 countries around the world. It gives us all an opportunity to think about men’s and boy’s health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, and highlighting positive male role models.

It encourages people of all genders to come together and celebrate men and boys in all their diversity, but also to consider how we can work to address issues facing males today, such as:

  • The high male suicide rate
  • The challenges faced by boys and men at all stages of education including attainment
  • The challenges faced by the most marginalised men and boys in society (for instance, homeless men, boys in care and the high rate of male deaths in custody)
  • Male victims of violence, including sexual violence
  • The challenges faced by men as parents, particularly new fathers and separated fathers
  • Male victims and survivors of sexual abuse, rape, sexual exploitation, domestic abuse, forced marriage, honour-based crime, stalking and slavery
  • The negative portrayal of men, boys and fathers
  • Men’s health, shorter life expectancy and workplace deaths

It is this final issue which is the focus of Professor Ian Banks’ talk on the 19th November. He will examine some of the myths surrounding men’s health, including the question of what is “avoidable” male death and ill health, and the reasons for the huge variation in morbidity and mortality between women and men, and also between men themselves.

Prof Banks is an A&E doctor and a GP. He’s also the BMA’S official spokesman on men’s health issues, president of the European Men’s Health Forum and former president of the England & Wales Men’s Health Forum. He has written numerous books, including the Haynes Workshop Manuals on men, women, babies, and sex, and he was the Medical Editor for The Men’s Health Magazine for six years.

The talk is at 12.30 – 2.00pm on Monday 19th November in L2.8 of the Medical School.

It is open to all members of staff, regardless of gender, and will appeal to anyone interested in male or female health, as well as those who wants to show their support for International Men’s Day. Tea and coffee will be provided. Please register to attend here.

Gender Equality

NU Women Professors’ Network

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NU Women Professors’ Network (NUWPN) is open to all women professors who work at the university and was set up in 2015. The network operates as a mostly online forum where they circulate events of interest, discuss aspects of university life, and input into policy development through responses to consultations and organising meetings with key staff. NUWPN is part of the NU Women’s Network.

To find out more about NU Women Professors’ Network, we chatted to Professor Karen Ross from the School of Arts and Cultures, who Chairs NUWPN.

Why did you decide to get involved?

Since I entered higher education, I have always sought out women colleagues with whom I could share experiences and establish a support network: higher education is a brilliant but also quite challenging environment in which to work for everyone, but especially women and especially when you are climbing the career ladder. Amongst academic staff in UKHE, less than 25% professors are women although women and men enter the profession in similar numbers.

When I arrived in Newcastle in 2016, I immediately joined NU Women and NUWPN as both these networks provide opportunities to share ideas, meet together and learn from each other.  When Kathryn Hollingsworth took up the chair of NU Women in 2016/17, I became chair of NUWPN.

Why is NUWPN important to its members?

The Network provides a useful means by which senior women in the university can ‘talk’ to each other online but also meet up in real time, as well as circulate information of interest.

What plans do you have for 2018/19?

Last year we ran a ‘making professor’ workshop which was attended by a wide range of women at different stages of their career, from professional services colleagues to recently graduated postdocs, all of whom were keen to hear the experiences of women professors and understand the different strategies women employ to thrive (and not simply survive) in a university environment.  We will be running a similar event in the summer term 2019.

We also have occasional brown-bag lunches to touch base on initiatives underway in the university and will continue to organise such ad hoc meetings this year.

To read more about NU Women Professional Services Network, please see this page. They also keep joint social media channels with NU Women, so you can follow them on Twitter @NU_Women or visit their blog.

Talking Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in the Faculty of Medical Sciences and at Newcastle University.