Equality and Diversity at the University of York

The EO Annual Report 2008-9

Yvie HolderDirector Equal Opportunities Office

November 2009

Promoting inclusivity

Today - focus on 2 areas:

1. EQIA2. Race Equality Consultation:• following up Staff Opinion Survey

(harassment)• issues re International students

Equality Impact Assessment: EQIA

A process for checking that we’re

treating everyone fairly

and

promoting equality for all

EQIA: Progress

• 120 + policies screened for equality relevance

• 9 high priority policies fully assessed

• ‘live’ issues: redundancy, redeployment

• briefings & training for key staff incl. SMG, JNCC, HoDs Forum.

EQIA – next steps

• 70+ medium priority policies to assess

• Practices? Criteria? • Awareness-raising• Communication of results – NB. legal

case• System in place• Web page

Consulting on Race Equality and Inclusivity

• One of the ‘positive duties’ • good response rate• followed up previous consultations

Previously: Staff Opinion Survey 2008

Higher rates of harassment reported by Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) Staff:

• 13% of BME staff as opposed to • 5% of all respondents

Staff comments on harassment

1. Inappropriate treatment …by managers and others in authority

2. Colleagues showing lack of patience and understanding; intolerance where English is not the first language

3. Inappropriate comments by staff about students – particularly about Chinese

4. Reference to off-campus incidents

5. Expression of anti-American sentiments

Student concerns

1. Off campus incidentsjourneys to and from the University in night clubs and pubs in the city

2. On campus incidents - often evening + alcohol? experienced by Asian and, in particular, Chinese students

3. Jewish students “feeling victimised and stigmatized” & anxious

What do we do well? Examples

There’s a lot of support for those

from different religions

There’s a lot of support for those

from different religions

International Orientation at the beginning of the

year was excellent

International Orientation at the beginning of the

year was excellent

I’ve seen tutors and staff go out of their way to make sure students struggling with English

feel more prepared

I’ve seen tutors and staff go out of their way to make sure students struggling with English

feel more prepared

When I needed help the University listened to

my situation and moved quickly and ably to help

me resolve it

When I needed help the University listened to

my situation and moved quickly and ably to help

me resolve it

Some proposed actions

1. Training for staff in a customer service role

2. Encouraging members of the local community to engage with international students

3. Liaise with Higher York project

4. Follow up ideas from Staff Race Equality Forum

Any questions?