Staff Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Report 2021

The University signed up as a member of the Race Equality Charter in 2018 and since then has worked hard to draw up a race equality action plan. In summer 2021, a submission was made for a Bronze award.

In December 2021, the University published its first race pay gap data. Whilst this is not yet a statutory requirement, this publication demonstrates the University’s commitment to race equity.

The University has enrolled two members of staff on the 100 Black Professors Now programme which is being run by Women in Higher Education Network (WHEN). This requires senior leaders to engage with the programme as well as the staff members themselves.

All members of the Academic Leadership Team and the Professional Services Leadership Team, as well as members of the Human Resources department and Organisational Development and Change department have attended training on race, racism and white privilege.

A development programme for female academics, entitled TORCH Academy, has been developed and a pilot cohort of 44 is currently underway and now entering into the final phase. Feedback so far has been positive. TORCH engaged academic women who were selected for the programme via an application process and was made up of three cohorts – two women academic groups and one leadership cohort consisting of Deans and Professors. The programme’s original aim was to present a unique opportunity for development in the context of the institution’s critical work on gender equity.

All cohorts explored the personal and organisational aspects of inclusion and what their experiences were at Loughborough as either a woman working at the institution or as someone leading women. Cohorts defined the things that both enabled and blocked inclusion, and against this context a ‘Systemic Model’ was used to identify where action could take place and possible recommendations. Consideration was also given to the excellent work already undertaken by the Gender project management board and Gender Task and Finish Group.

A final set of recommendations will be taken forward to ALT on 7 March2022 by a trio of TORCH Academy delegates. The Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor are also attending a listening session with members of TORCH Academy on 27th Jan 2022, facilitated by Professor Lisanne Gibson, Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities who is also a programme sponsor.

We have continued our Athena SWAN activity which has included:

• Re-establishing the University Special Assessment team to progress work towards a university submission in 2023.
• Action plan review meetings with Schools holding awards.
• The annual review of progress against the University’s action plan.
• Running an Athena SWAN forum to allow School leads and other relevant parties to share good practice.
• Responding to the transformation of the Athena SWAN charter ensuring our processes and data align with the new criteria which has included making recommendations to ALT regarding governance, distribution of work and recognition.
• Working with SDCA, London and ABCE who are all due to make submissions in 2022.

The University is proud to be the first university in the UK to adopt the Halo Code.

In October 2021, a Race Equity Town Hall was held. A large number of people either attended in person or via Teams to understand more about the University’s work on race equity, including the development of a Race Equity Strategy.

A survey was sent out over the summer to all staff and students in order to find out more about the experiences of trans and non-binary staff and students on campus. The feedback indicated a number of ways in which experiences could be improved, including increasing awareness and understanding of staff members and improving data systems so preferred names are used rather than legal names. This work is being taken forward by the trans and non-binary working group.

As a consequence of the changes to the workplace resulting from the pandemic, new arrangements for Dynamic Working have been introduced. Feedback from staff indicated that working in a hybrid way is felt to be more inclusive for many, enabling those with health issues and disabilities to manage work alongside their disability more effectively. In addition, many have indicated that Teams meetings are more inclusive in many ways.

As part of the Race Equality Charter action plan, a review of the grievance procedure has taken place and although the primary focus was on race, the review ensured that all protected characteristics were considered. Extensive consultation has taken place with staff from across the campus, including the staff networks and a set of recommendations is now being developed.

The University’s sexual harassment, misconduct and violence policy has been revised in the past year and has been extended to cover staff as well as students. First Responders have been identified and trained so that they are available to support staff who are experiencing any forms of sexual harassment, misconduct or violence. It is expected that this service will become available during spring 2022.

A comprehensive review of RTE (research, teaching, enterprise) academic promotion criteria and processes was initiated in autumn 2021. A wide ranging consultation exercise has taken place which has sought feedback from colleagues in schools as well as various groups and staff networks. An action plan is being developed to draw up new criteria and processes and it is hoped that these will be finalised in time for academic year 2022/23. 

The University appointed Emma Dresser to the role of EDI Manager in the latter part of 2021, following an extensive and comprehensive selection process. This is a new role which is designed to bring together the various EDI activities on campus.

The University has recently created a new role of Pro Vice-Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and an appointment is expected to be during the spring. This is a key appointment that will ensure that equity, diversity and inclusion is embedded in thinking and practices across the campus.

The new University strategy is being presented to Council in March 2022 and places much greater focus on improving and embedding equity and inclusion practices in all University operations, activities and aspirations.

The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Sub-Committee, which meets on a monthly basis, is currently discussing the development of an intersectional framework which will intersect all protected characteristics and marginalised groups identified in the Loughborough University community and will be bespoke to Loughborough’s needs at this stage in its development in relation to EDI.

Alongside responding to the transformation of Athena SWAN, there are also three Schools due to make an Athena SWAN submission in 2022. Additionally, significant work will take place to review, discussion and agree actions in response to University level data ahead of a submission in March 2023. 

Progress towards our commitments under the Race Equality Charter action plan and LURES will increase with colleagues across campus working to progress actions to eradicate harm and progress the university towards becoming antiracist.

The LGBT+ staff network is current working with colleagues on campus to create some visible signs of support for the LGBT+ community in the following formats:

• An intersex inclusive flag to be painted as a ‘crossing’ on campus.
• Intersex inclusive flags to be added to existing flagpoles across campus.
• Tabletop flags to be provided for all university department offices to display.

The Institution has partnered with Santander University to offer all staff and students access to their online anti-racism training programme - Union Black: Britain’s Black Cultures and Steps to Anti-Racism. The programme was launched to drive cultural change across the higher education sector and is in response to Universities UK’s Tackling racism harassment in higher education report. The training aims to provide learners with an understanding of the origins and experience of Black British history, as well as to dispel myths that do not support the anti-racism agenda.

The programme modules explore Black British cultures, microaggressions, why it’s important to be anti-racist, and how to be an ally and bring positive change within an institution. 

Equality Impact Assessments are becoming an increasingly regular feature of University activities. Guidance has been developed to assist managers with this important work and training and knowledge sharing opportunities are also being explored.

A training module to complement the guidance is currently at the design stage, with the intention of it being recommended for new starters who may be required to undertake an EIA as part of their new role, and for existing staff looking to develop their understanding of the process.