Equalitylink December 2008

Welcome

Equality Challenge Unit supports the higher education sector to promote equality and diversity for all staff and students. Equalitylink is a monthly bulletin keeping you up to date with current equality and diversity issues and with the work of ECU.

Equality Bill announced in Queen’s Speech

The Equality Bill was formally announced in the Queen’s Speech on 3 December 2008. The bill was included as one of only 14 pieces of legislation announced in the speech, signalling that the government is still committed to promoting equality despite the current economic climate.

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Admissions and native language qualifications

Exclusion of native language qualifications may unlawfully discriminate

Admissions procedures for higher education courses and programmes may breach equality legislation if they exclude native language qualifications (i.e. mother tongue qualifications) from eligibility in entry criteria. ECU, together with SPA (Supporting Professionalism in Admissions), has produced guidance for higher education institutions (HEIs) warning of the risks.

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Points-based immigration

Equality impact on international students and staff

The new points-based immigration system will have a limited impact on equality for HEIs. However, a duty to monitor the attendance of international staff and the progression of students may have equality implications.

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Student carers

Coleman vs. Attridge Law case raises wider implications for HEIs

A European Courts of Justice decision, recently endorsed by the Employment Tribunal, confirms that protection from direct disability discrimination and disability related harassment can be claimed by those caring for disabled people, is likely to extend to student carers as well as HEI employees.

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Evidence for equality: the changing nature of the equality challenge

Keynote speakers at ECU’s Evidence for Equality conference, held in November, discussed the changing nature of the equality agenda in higher education and warned that institutions must look at the evidence in planning their policies.

Trevor Phillips, chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said ‘The dimensions of equality are more complicated than our current law has scope for’. He went on to say that ‘Our relatively recent preoccupation with the seven preset strands may no longer be enough to identify the right focus for action.’ This theme was taken up by Simon Fanshawe, chair of Sussex University who called for ‘a level of sophistication in the interrogation of issues’.

Chief executive of HEFCE, David Eastwood, reasserted the funding council’s commitment to furthering equality, but warned that the challenges remained substantial. He called for institutions to ‘fully embed’ equality in everything they do across the whole of the institution. Professor Eastwood also outlined two responsibilities for the sector: to ‘harness the rigour of research’ to the equality process, and present a model to wider society. ‘Our campuses should be places where people find themselves, find their identities in ways which are empowering and ways which enrich not only their own lives but the lives of those around them. If our campuses are not those kinds of places, then I think we are selling the vision of higher education short and we are diminishing our civic and social value.’

Presentations and speeches from the two-day conference are available to download.

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ECU welcomes new board members

ECU is delighted to announce the appointment of four new board members; Professor Janet Beer, Vice-chancellor, Oxford Brookes University (Universities UK nominee); Professor Chris Brink, Vice-chancellor, University of Newcastle (Universities UK nominee); Professor Tariq S Durrani OBE, Senior Adviser to the Principal, University of Strathclyde and Professor Paul Olomolaiye, Dean, School of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Wolverhampton. The new board members bring a wealth of experience and expertise in national and international higher education and equality issues.

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Over 4000 staff and students respond to LGB&T survey

An online survey asking for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff and students to share their experiences of higher education has received a huge response. Over 4000 members of staff and students completed the survey, part of an ECU project researching specific issues facing LGB and T people in higher education. The research findings, due to be published in spring 2009, will inform what steps, if any, the sector needs to take to support these groups.

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HEIs chosen to further involvement of disabled students

ECU and partner organisation the Higher Education Academy are working with seven higher education institutions across England and Wales in a project to further the strategic involvement of disabled students in HEIs within institutional policy and practice.

ECU and The Academy will be supporting these institutions to develop initiatives that will increase and embed the engagement of disabled students across a broad range of institutional functional areas. A guidance document will be produced in summer 2009.

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Read more about ECU work and ongoing projects on our website www.ecu.ac.uk/projects.

Potential conflicts between religious observance and academic requirements

Have students and staff approached your institutions with issues relating to clashes between religious observance and academic requirements? We are currently calling for examples of conflicts and the steps institutions have taken to resolve them. These examples will inform practical guidance for dealing with, and avoiding, potential clashes.

Please email your examples, with details of the actions taken to resolve the issues to Chris Brill by Friday 19 December 2008.

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Relaunch of www.ecu.ac.uk

The new ECU website was launched at the end of October, providing news, resources and guidance on equality in higher education. Developed by the Institute for Learning and Research Technology at Bristol University the site is clear and easy to navigate. The site includes a Welsh language section.

We will be developing the website further in the new year to make it a fully accessible and an even more useful resource for the sector.

Take a look at our site www.ecu.ac.uk

We welcome any feedback on the site or ideas for areas of development.

Email your comments to web@ecu.ac.uk, Communications Manager.

Events calendar

Do you have an upcoming event or conference on equality in higher education? ECU would like to support the sector by building a calendar of events of interest to equality and diversity practitioners in higher education.

If you would like your event to be featured on our website and the next issue of EqualityLink, please email details to Anna Roberts, Communications Manager.