Supporting the EDI vision

In this strategy, we set out seven pillars of activity, each with a short descriptor, designed to support the EDI vision.

It is our intention to work alongside academic, teaching, professional, technical and operational (PTO) staff and the student bodies who are mandated to make change to deliver these actions over the next two years. The Associate Provost (EDI) will advocate for this change and progress will be monitored through the EDI Advisory Group. Success will be measured by achieving the performance ambitions detailed on the following pages.

Pillars of activity

³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ staff training and monitoring

Tools to deliver shared goals

³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ inclusive recruitment

The people we appoint define our culture

³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ staff research and teaching culture

Enhancing collaboration, innovation, respect and integrity 

³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ student experience, community and culture

Improving support, equity and understanding

³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ community cohesion

Creating a sense of belonging

Support, empower and celebrate

Integration and recognition

Visibility beyond ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ

Communication

Pillars

1. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ staff training and monitoring
  • Explore the purpose and impact of training beyond our legal requirements.
  • Identify gaps in training that could help facilitate inclusive recruitment.
  • Examine barriers to engagement with training for different staff groups and set out mechanisms to improve engagement. 
2. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ inclusive recruitment
  • Identify academic and professional, technical and operational (PTO) departments where inclusive recruitment efforts have shown positive results.
  • Better understand the mechanisms that produce results inclusive recruitment outcomes for STEMB disciplines.
  • Hold an annual recruitment workshop highlighting beacon activities.
  • Identify the bottlenecks (such as Know Your Pool) and develop an inclusive recruitment toolkit that synthesizes these.
3. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ staff research and teaching culture
  • Contribute to the wider university initiative of enriching our research culture.
  • Support the development of the new Early Career Researcher Institute (ECRI), and the four cross-cutting Schools of Convergence Science.
  • Ensure that under-represented groups, as well as ensuring that the Learning and Teaching community, are fully supported.
  • Address issues raised in recent targeted reports from the Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre (now part of ECRI) such as 'What do women need to progress in academia?' and 'The Role of Teaching Fellows and Learning Technologists'.
4. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ student experience, community and culture
  • Work with Strategic Planning and the Education Office, student-facing committees and the to deliver an improved student experience of teaching and the wider environment.
  • Support actions that widen undergraduate and postgraduate admissions, reduce degree awarding gaps present in under-represented groups.
  • Set out support structures that do not intimidate or alienate those they seek to engage, with a view to improving retention.
  • Extend the ‘diversification of the curriculum’ project activities and identify ways to roll these out across ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. Review student EDI training and support packages to better ensure awareness overall and engagement with ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Values. 
5. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ community cohesion
  • Establish the ‘³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Cohesion’ online seminar series as a regular EDI calendar event with a view to unite the wider EDI community. Use it to showcase our beacon activities and learn about best practice elsewhere nationally and internationally.
  • Bring the work of staff networks and departmental activities closer and align with the annual events organised at university level detailed in the EDI calendar discussed at the EDI Forum.
6. Support, empower and celebrate
  • Review staff workload allocation associated with the delivery of metrics-based actions (Athena Swan, Race Equality Charter, Disability Confidence Leader, Stonewall Workplace Equality Index) across ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ, and improve uniformity.
  • Associate Provost (EDI) to initiate annual road show events into all departments and work closely with departments to support and empower the people-facing and EDI activities taking place within their communities.
  • Recognize and value EDI contributions and collate and improve uniformity of effort and level of recognition for those working on people and culture, EDI committees and staff networks.
7. Visibility beyond ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ
  • Communicate our efforts and views externally through media articles, social media and in-person and on-line presentations to other universities within the UK and elsewhere. Increase the recognition of the impactful efforts made by so many at ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ as beacon activities in this field.