For our first ‘People Talk’ post, I thought a quick round-up of some of our work on Equality and Diversity might be of interest. There has been lots going on, but here is a flavour.

We still await the results of the University’s application for a silver Athena SWAN award, which recognises progress in promoting gender equality across all subject areas, not just science and technology.  The School of English Language, Literature and Linguistics is busy preparing its submission – it will be the first unit from HaSS to apply for this award, and the Institute of Cellular Medicine will be applying for a renewal of their Silver award.

Many units who have applied for Athena SWAN awards have committed to more awareness training, including sessions on ‘Unconscious Bias’. Having attended a session with HR colleagues recently, I can recommend it as a useful reminder of how our personal background and experiences can influence what we might think of as our rational decision-making, usually to the detriment of minority groups.

Fancy testing your own biases? Take a look at these online tests run by Harvard.

Training delivery is being prioritised according to Athena SWAN action plans initially.  Any queries about arranging training should be via your Unit manager.

Another set of online resources you might find of use is our own Enable guidance designed to support staff with disabilities. Following discussions with disabled staff, we’ve updated the website and hopefully made it easier to find what you might need. We’ll keep working on it, so let us know if there’s something you’d like to see added.

And finally, just to let you know a few of the key people now working to champion equality and diversity across the University. Prof. Judith Rankin is our Dean of Diversity, the three Faculties are also making Director of Diversity appointments, Prof. Candy Rowe has taken up this role in FMS, Prof. Kate Chedgzoy takes up the role in HaSS on 1 June, and SAgE will be recruiting in the near future. Jan Halliburton is moving into the SAgE HR team, so we are currently advertising for a new HR Adviser on Diversity.

Richard Boggie – Acting Assistant Director (HR Strategy)