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Equalitylink January 2012
ECU's monthly round-up of equality and diversity news, resources and our work with the sector
Welcome January 2012
Equality Challenge Unit works to further and support equality and diversity for staff and students in higher education across all four nations of the UK. Equalitylink is a monthly round-up of equality and diversity news, resources and ECU’s work with the sector.
Number of female professors increases
4.1% rise in 2010/11
The Higher Education Statistics Agency released figures this month showing that the number of female professors in 2010/11 increased by 4.1% compared with the year before.
This welcome increase brings the proportion of professors who are female to 19.8%. Overall, women make up 44.2% of all academic staff, showing that there is still a long way to go until there is equal representation of women at senior levels in the sector.
HESA: staff at HEIs in the UK 2010/11
Mental health at work
Low numbers of employees feel comfortable disclosing mental health problems
According to recent research by Mind and the CIPD, only four in ten employees say that they would feel confident disclosing a mental health problem to their employer.
The survey of 2000 people found that 26% of employees have experienced a mental health problem while in employment, but that employers are not taking steps to manage what the report calls a ‘business-critical issue’.
Mind and CIPD have released a guide for managers to help them support the mental wellbeing and resilience of staff, and to encourage more employees to disclose any mental health issues they may be facing at an early stage.
Managing and supporting mental health at work – disclosure tools for managers
Government disability strategy
Office for Disability Issues consultation
The Office for Disability Issues is seeking contributions from disabled people and representative organisations on a cross-government disability strategy.
A discussion paper has been published on realising aspirations, individual control and changing attitudes and behaviours.
Closing date: 9 March 2012.
Transgender equality action plan
Home Office commits to overcome obstacles faced by trans people
The Home Office launched their Transgender equality action plan in December 2011, making a range of commitments to improve the lives of trans people. The plan follows a consultation with the trans community and includes harsher sentences for offences motivated by hostility to towards someone on the grounds of being transgender.
Transgender equality action plan
Equality Act deadline
Reminder: deadline for publishing information
English higher education institutions must publish information to demonstrate compliance with the public sector equality duty no later than 31 January 2012.
This must include information relating to:
- people who share a relevant protected characteristic who are employees (if the HEI has 150 employees or more)
- other people affected by policies and practices. This will include students, alumni and service users, for example.
ECU’s briefing on the implications of the specific duties for English HEIs outlines issues to consider, links to resources and examples of what HEIs could collect and publish:
Public sector equality duties for England
EHRC announces plans to monitor compliance
The Equality and Human Rights Commission will be monitoring the websites of public bodies (including HEIs) to assess how well they have complied with the requirement to publish information to meet the equality duty.
In early February 2012 the EHRC will be looking at:
- how easy it is to find equality information and whether it is easy to understand
- how comprehensive the equality information is, with regard to its potential and actual service users as well as its employees
- whether public bodies have identified what their information gaps are and whether they have clear plans to address them
- whether public bodies have published any information to demonstrate how they have used their equality data to inform decision-making
EHRC has updated its guidance on equality information:
EHRC: equality information and the equality duty
Progress on disability equality in Wales
Welsh ministers report on DED
The second Welsh ministers' report on the implementation of the disability equality duty has been published, outlining the progress made following the first report in 2008. The report looks at a number of sectors, including higher and further education.
In future, the Welsh ministers will be required to publish an equality ‘State of the Nation’ report covering all protected characteristics across all public authorities as set out in schedule 19 of the Equality Act.
Disability equality duty report
Supporting you in 2012
ECU’s programme for the year ahead
Following feedback from ECU’s first annual stakeholder survey, our work in 2012 focuses on delivering practical support for colleges and universities. From senior management to academics, international officers to equality specialists, our work will assist you to meet equality challenges and responsibilities in a changing economic, political and educational landscape.
Our work also ties into our four strategy areas:
Evolve = helping institutions to meet the challenges of an evolving economic and funding environment. Work includes continued support with the REF, access agreements and international students.
Assist = assisting institutions to meet and embed the requirements and ambitions of equality legislation. This includes events, briefings and workshops on legal requirements, good relations, mainstreaming and procurement.
Transform = developing strategies and methodologies to transform systemic or cultural practices and approaches which unfairly exclude, marginalise or disadvantage individuals or groups. We will be building on the successful impact of Athena SWAN, piloting systemic change programmes and looking at unconscious bias in recruitment and selection.
Understand = gathering and using evidence of, and data on, equality and diversity within the higher education sector at a national and local level. This includes research into international staff, atypical staff, and guidance on inclusive approaches to a range of impairment types.
Opportunities to join ECU
ECU has two exciting opportunities to join our team:
- Senior policy adviser (gender and gender identity)
Maternity cover, one year fixed-term contract - Senior policy adviser (religion and belief and sexual orientation)
Further details are on our website:
ECU biennial conference 2012
Save the date
Every other year, ECU holds a two-day national conference for practitioners, academics and senior managers. We have now finalised the dates and venue for the 2012 conference:
Enhancing reputation: adding value through equality
20-21 November 2012
East Midlands Conference Centre, University of Nottingham.
Further details will follow shortly, but please save the date for what promises to be the key equality event for higher education of the year.
REF and equality: train the trainer workshops
Helping you deliver REF equality training
ECU is running five events throughout the country during March for practitioners responsible for delivering Research Excellence Framework (REF) training within their institution.
The workshops are to ensure staff within HEIs are equipped to deliver equalities training relevant to the REF. In particular, the workshops aim to equip you to train staff responsible for selecting research submissions.
Learning outcomes of the day
- Familiarity with ECU’s REF and equality training resources
- Knowledge required to deliver materials
- Understanding of how the activities work and the aims of the activities
- Understanding of where materials can be adapted to meet institutional requirements
Details of dates and venues will be circulated shortly. Check out our events page to keep up to date with developments:
Colleges in Scotland
Equality statistics
As part of our work supporting Scotland’s colleges, we are looking at the equality statistics available in the FE sector.
We will be circulating a staff equalities survey to Scottish colleges in February. The survey will include a series of questions about what staff equalities data is currently collected in colleges, who is responsible for the data collection and how it is managed and monitored. The survey findings will be used to inform a publication on data disclosure and guidance on the benefits of collecting across the protected characteristics.
Details of the survey will be emailed to our Scottish college contacts in February. We would greatly appreciate it if this could be passed on, where appropriate, to colleagues with responsibility for data monitoring within your institution.
Contact Fatima Choudhury, Engagement officer (FE) for further details.
Equality in Scotland's colleges project
Good relations on campus
Share your good practice
ECU is currently updating guidance on promoting good campus relations and dealing with hate crimes and intolerance. Good relations work seeks to promote respect, equity and trust, and embrace diversity in all its forms.
We are developing five short guides to developing, shaping and understanding good relations work in the HE context. Each guide will include examples of best practice work from HEIs, demonstrating how they have developed and maintained positive relationships on campus between those who have a protected characteristic in UK law, and those who do not.
Do you have examples of good relations work currently operating within your HEI in one or more of the following areas?
- bringing people together to explore experiences, challenge assumptions and stereotypes and develop shared goals in equality
- enabling debate and discussion in safe spaces around difference and shared experience
- sharing history of equality and human rights through events, forums and other social gathering
- tackling assumptions, stereotypes and negative behaviour with enforces inequality between characteristics
- embedding good relations into policy and strategy development
- understanding freedom of speech and the interface with equality and diversity
Please send us your examples in around 500 words, clearly outlining the theme and practical application of your work, the steps to achieve the work, and the outcome of the work including how you measured your achievements.
Please email examples of good practice to Neil Baker, Senior policy adviser, by 13 February 2012.
Promoting good relations in HE
How do you support international staff?
Seeking examples from the sector
If your institution has any specific support services or policies for international members of staff then ECU would love to hear from you.
We are looking to develop good practice case studies to share across the sector, and if you have something you think is worth sharing then please get in touch. It might be a specific induction programme, guidance documents, an international staff network, or something else that is in place to ensure your international staff feel confident and valued living and working in the UK.
Contact Claire Herbert, Senior policy adviser.
Equitable admissions – final call
Facilitating entry of underrepresented groups
The closing date for submissions to take part in our project Equitable admissions into higher education: facilitating entry of underrepresented groups is Friday 27 January.
Find out more about the project and how to apply here:
Students and the DSA
Can you circulate this survey?
Researchers from Southampton University, Cardiff Metropolitan University and the School of African and Oriental Studies have asked if colleagues can circulate a survey to disabled students. They are hoping to get 1000 respondents with a range of different impairments.
The survey is for students who have claimed disabled students’ allowance (DSA) in the last five years, and will ask them about the support they found particularly useful and what factors encouraged or discouraged them from taking up assistive technology, IT training and human support.
The survey is online:
www.isurvey.soton.ac.uk/3077
Closing date: 1 February 2012
If you have any queries, please contact Deb Viney, Diversity adviser, SOAS.
Minority ethnic staff networks
Birkbeck survey
Researchers at Birkbeck University are conducting a short survey into minority ethnic staff networks in HE.
The survey aims to document the existence of as many minority ethnic staff networks as possible, and the findings will be used to create a more in-depth study of the aims and activities of minority ethnic staff networks in the sector in the coming months.
The survey is online here: www.surveymonkey.com/s/5YNLFTQ
Closing date: 27 January 2012
If you have any queries please contact Dr Etlyn Kenny, lecturer in organisational psychology, Birkbeck.
Follow ECU on Twitter
You can now access our updates and equality news by following us on Twitter. We flag up interesting news and announcements about equality in the higher education sector, as well as letting you know what the ECU team is up to.
Evidencing equality: approaches to increasing disclosure and take-up of disabled students' allowance
Disabled students who receive disabled students' allowance (DSA) are more likely to be awarded a first class degree than disabled students that don't take up the benefit.
This guidance outlines the many approaches higher education institutions can take to increase the level of disability disclosure and take-up of DSA.
Equality in HE: statistical report 2011
This report presents an equality-focused analysis of information on staff and students during the 2009/10 academic year, plus a year-on-year comparison showing the progress of equality across the sector over the last five years. For the first time the report looks at the interplay of multiple identities (for example female black staff, male disabled students).
Covering England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the report provides a useful benchmark for institutions to compare their local statistics. New legal requirements across England, Scotland and Wales mean that higher education institutions need to set equality objectives or outcomes. The figures in this report, alongside information gathered at a local level, will provide an evidence base that will inform these objectives.
This is ECU's most detailed report so far, and has been split into two parts – staff statistics and student statistics. Both parts cover the following equality areas:
- gender
- ethnicity
- disability
- age
- multiple identities
In December ECU distributed the 2011 statistical report to equality and diversity, human resources and senior management contacts. If you would like additional hardcopies of the report, please email ECU publications.
The report is also available to download from our website.
Equality in HE: statistical report 2011
The report does not cover sexual orientation, trans status, or religion and belief, as these statistics are not currently required by HESA. ECU has produced a number of publications covering these areas that may be helpful to you:
Religion and belief in HE: researching the experiences of staff and students
Experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans staff and students in higher education
Trans staff and students in higher education: revised 2010
Managing flexible retirement and extended working lives
This is a new guide produced by the Oxford Brookes Centre for Diversity and Policy Research with support from ECU following the removal of the default retirement age in October 2011.
It is aimed at human resource management practitioners and equality specialists, presenting a range of information and resources to help HEIs develop their own best practice in managing flexible retirement and extended working lives.
No place for hate
Disability related hate crimes in FE and HE
The National Union of Students has published a report into hate crimes and incidents against disabled students in further and higher education.
They found that 24% of students with a physical impairment and 15% with a sensory impairment have experienced antisocial behaviour or crime motivated by a prejudice against their disability.
The report has recommendations for universities and colleges to help reduce hate crimes and encourage reporting of incidents.
Leading culturally diverse communities
Self-assessment and improvement tool
The Leadership Foundation for Higher Education has published a self-assessment and improvement tool to support equality and diversity strategies. The tool allows HEIs to analyse their level of engagement with diverse communities both internally and externally.
Leading culturally diverse communities
EHRC guides
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has updated the following guidance to reflect the final versions of the English specific duty regulations:
Equality information and the equality duty
Equality objectives and the equality duty
Engagement and the equality duty
Advancing sexual orientation and gender identity equality in post-school education
8 February 2012, Manchester
1 March 2012, London
2 March 2012, Coventry
Events organised by the Forum for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Equality in Post-school Education to advance sexual orientation and gender identity equality in the sector.
The events are free for staff and students from colleges, work-based learning, adult and community learning and universities. Each event will include a launch of the Forum’s new trans guidance, a presentation of the Skills Funding Agency’s research on the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans adult learners and a number of practical workshops.
8 February 2012: Manchester details and booking
1 March 2012: London details and booking
2 March 2012: Coventry details and booking
Mental health and wellbeing day
22 February 2012, nationwide
University Mental Health and Wellbeing Day is organised by the University Mental Health Advisors Network (UMHAN) to promote the mental health of people who live and work in HE settings.
Institutions and organisations on campus are encouraged to contribute to the day by holding their own events on what is planned to become an annual awareness raising day.
More information, including posters and materials to download for your event are on the UMHAN website:
Fitness to practice – disability equality into the professions
23 March 2012, Birmingham
The National Association of Disability Practitioners spring conference aims to give participants an overview of the current developments in employment discrimination law, an opportunity to hear from representatives of the General Medical Council, Law Society and other professional bodies relating to teaching and health.
Discourses of inclusion in higher education
24-25 April 2012, Northamptonshire
This Open University widening participation conference will examine and debate scholarly issues associated with inclusion and widening participation in higher education. It will map international perspectives on educational inclusion, report on important research findings, and develop new collaboration and joint working for the future.
If you would like your event to be featured on our website and the next issue of Equalitylink, please email details to Anna Roberts Allison, Communications Manager.
Contacts
ECU Press Office
Anna Roberts Allison
Communications Manager
Telephone: 020 7438 1018
Email: anna.robertsallison@ecu.ac.uk
Out of Office enquiries
For urgent media enquiries outside of ECU office hours
Mobile: 07810 556 724