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THE POWER OF STAFF NETWORKS The Diversity Digest speaks to Cherron Inko-Tariah

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ISSUE 01 SUMMER 2017

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CONTENTS 04 WELCOME TO THE DIVERSITY DIGEST

THREE-QUARTERS OF RECENT GRADUATES ‘FEEL UNDEREMPLOYED’

05 FOOTBALL SUPERSTAR ANTOINE

26 DIVERSITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The Diversity Digest talks to Ben Browne, Chief Operating Officer at De Montfort University Leicester

28

DIVERSITY IN ENGINEERING The Diversity Digest speaks with Bola Fatimilehin

GRIEZMANN: ‘IF I WERE GAY, I WOULD COME OUT’

TWO FIFTHS OF UK WORKERS EXPERIENCE BIAS IN WORKPLACE

30 DIVERSITY EQUALITY AND INCLUSION

06

BLACK MALE GRADUATES IN LONDON LESS LIKELY TO GET JOBS

07 EU CRITICISED FOR LEAVING OUT ETHNIC

MINORITIES IN ‘DIVERSITY’ DRIVE

08 TOP GRADUATE JOBS AT LAW FIRMS,

BANKS AND CONSULTANCIES GO TO

PUPILS FROM JUST 10 ELITE PRIVATE SCHOOLS

BAME WORKERS MORE LIKELY TO BE IN INSECURE WORK

AT -03ESSHM LAND REGISTRY Interview with Head of Diversity Julie Dennis

32 DR. AMRIT CHANDAN NAMED WINNER

OF THE 2017 HAWLEY AWARD FOR POWER STORAGE SOLUTIONS

34 YOUNG WOMEN UNAWARE OF THEIR

WORTH IN THE WORKPLACE

SILICON DIVERSITY

36 THE LEVEL OF DEBT FOR THE POOREST

STUDENTS IS HUGELY WORRYING AND SHOULD CONCERN US ALL – SOMETHING MUST BE DONE IMMEDIATELY

12 BBA PATRON SHIRLEY ANN TATE

PATRICK VERNON OBE APPOINTED EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH MAGAZINE

14 MI6 SPEAKS TO THEDIVERSITY DIGEST

37 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE ‘STUCK’

10 MPG BACKS CAMPAIGN FOR EQUALITY

IN SHARED PARENTAL PAY LEGISLATION

INAUGURAL PROFESSORIAL LECTURE

16 ECU SUBSCRIBING INSTITUTIONS WIN

AWARDS AT THE GUARDIAN UNIVERSITY AWARDS 2017

HS2 CONTRACTS ‘NOT POSSIBLE’ TO WIN WITHOUT IMPROVING DIVERSITY

18 INTERVIEW WITH LORD HERMAN OUSELEY 20 THE POWER OF STAFF NETWORKS 22 TALKING ABOUT RACE IN HIGHER EDUCATION

38 INDUSTRY WHITE PAPER CALLS FOR

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AN INVITATION FOR POPULAR HISTORY PRESENTATIONS

ENGINEERING PROFESSORS’ COUNCIL ANNUAL CONGRESS

40 FEMALE ENGINEERS CONTINUE TO FACE

DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE

42 WHY I’M NO LONGER TALKING TO

IN THE WRONG JOB, STUDY FINDS

WHITE PEOPLE ABOUT RACE

www.diversitydashboard.co.uk www.sugarmediaandmarketing.co.uk

PUBLISHERS: Ian Thomas, Abdul Rob

DESIGNED BY: Becky Wybrow ONLINE EDITOR: David Ruiz

COMPANY ADMINISTRATION: Mike Larkin CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Josh O'Brien

SPECIAL THANKS: Cherron Inko-Tariah, ADVERTISING: Ayana Hussein

Patrick Vernon and Shirley McGreal LISTINGS EDITOR: David Ruiz

THE DIVERSITY DIGEST

03

WELCOME

We are excited to welcome you all to the first edition of The Diversity Digest.

T

his is new and fresh innovation from the Team at Sugar Media and Marketing. The new Diversity Digest magazine will compliment and support the recently launched Diversity Dashboard jobsite www.diversitydashboard.co.uk. This new Diversity Jobs and Careers website is acknowledging that progressive employers are recognising the increasing importance of equality and diversity in the workplace. The key aim of is to support organisations targeting the recruitment of staff from diverse and under-represented groups, in essence “Helping you reach out to the real Britain”.

We are pleased to work with a broad and diverse range of employers and support their efforts in community outreach and engagement to have a more diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects and positively represent the diverse community they both serve and get commercial gains from. Our partners and clients are organisations and companies that are actively seeking to recruit from minority groups; regardless of race, gender, ethnic origin, disability or sexual orientation.

The development and launch of The Diversity Digest is part of our overall aim to offer a complete and comprehensive package of services and products to help enhance our value and USP to all our clients and partner organisations. As specialists in the Diversity and Inclusion arena we work with a range of public and private sector organisations to maximize the business, moral and social responsibility to celebrate the benefits that Diversity offers.

The Diversity Digest will be a quarterly magazine and publication and will aim to offer a platform for all issues of Diversity and Inclusion to be highlighted. Our aim is to have fresh and informative content that will inform, engage and challenge our readership. We will bring together all the relevant issues of the day across UK workplaces, government policy, legislation, best practice and innovation as well as continuously highlighting the benefits that Diversity and Inclusion brings to UK plc. We will also look to you, the readership, to help inform and influence us on the narrative and future content development. You are therefore warmly invited to offer feedback, comments, articles, opinions pieces and tell us of the great work you are doing in your workplace.

In this very first edition of The Diversity Digest, we are extremely proud to have on the front cover and an interview with the wonderful and inspirational, Cherron Inko-Tariah from The Power of Staff Networks. Cherron is a leading Advocate, Champion and expert consultant to many UK organisations on the business benefits of supporting staff-led support networks. We also have interviews with MI6 and The Land Registry about the importance of Diversity to them. And we are privileged to have an article from Lord Ouseley, one of the UK’s most high profile and prominent campaigners on Equality and Social Justice.

We do hope you enjoy reading and sharing The Diversity Digest and look forward to your comments and feedback. And you are more than welcome to contact us about any content and articles, updates and news stories you would like to share in the next edition.

Many thanks and have a great Summer!

Ian Thomas and Abdul Rob Directors, Sugar Media and Marketing

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THE DIVERSITY DIGEST

Three-quarters of recent graduates ‘feel underemployed’ Almost three-quarters (71 per cent) of recent graduates believe they are underemployed, research out today has found, raising concerns that their expectations are out of touch with the realities of working life.

The 2017 UK University Graduate Employment Study by Accenture Strategy revealed that three out of five (60 per cent) recent university leavers were now working full time in their chosen field of study, up from 46 per cent last year.

The study – which surveyed 1,001 students graduating in 2017 and the same number who graduated in 2015-16 – also found that 63 per cent of graduates expected to find work in their discipline of study, 54 per cent expected their employer to provide on-the-job training and 51 per cent expected some sort of formal training.

Accenture found that graduate recruits were three times more likely to stay with their employer beyond the five-year mark if their organisation invested in learning and development.

“This highlights a need for companies to understand what motivates gen Z graduates and provide a meaningful employee experience for them,” said Payal Vasudeva, managing director at Accenture Strategy.

Lizzie Crowley, skills adviser at the CIPD, added that the findings should be a “wake-up call” to both employers and graduates, and “should really prompt HR and L&D professionals to think about the role that high-quality vocational education can play in this graduate pathway – which seems to have become a bit of a monoculture – and to really think about the skills of their workforce”.

According to the Accenture study, graduates’ salary expectations also failed to line up with reality. While 85 per cent of 2017 graduates expected to earn more than £25,000 in their first job, only 70 per cent of 2015-16 graduates achieved this.

However, graduates were willing to be flexible for a job that ticks all the boxes, with 83 per cent saying they were willing to relocate to a different city for the right role and nearly nine out of 10 taking job availability into account before selecting a degree course.

A separate survey run on behalf of the Department for Education, which was published last month, suggested that graduate employers value workplace know-how above a formal education. While almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of UK employers said relevant work experience was either critical or significant when taking on a new hire, just 46 per cent felt the same way about academic qualifications.

Meanwhile, just a fifth (19 per cent) of English employers said university or higher education leavers were ‘very well’ prepared for the world of work, although a further 60 per cent said they were ‘well’ prepared.

Two fifths of UK workers experience bias in workplace Two in five workers in the UK claim that they have experienced workplace bias in relation to their age, a disability, their social background or their sexuality.

Football superstar Antoine Griezmann: 'If I were gay, I would come out' Footballing superstar Antoine Griezmann has said that if he were gay, he would come out publicly.

But the Atletico Madrid striker, widely agreed to be one of the top five players in the world, said players may be too scared of “bad people in football” to do so.

Speaking to French publication El Pais, Griezmann was asked why football players did not come out as gay.

He responded by saying that “in football, it is not usual because we have to appear to be hard and the strong.

“And we are afraid of what they may say.

“I have nothing against it: I respect everyone,” he added, as reported by Mail Online.

The French international, whose worth has been estimated at a minimum of £85 million, was then questioned about whether he would come out if he were gay.

“There are many bad people in football,” he replied.

“And they may be afraid to go to the stadiums and get abused.

“I think I would,” he said, qualifying that by admitting: “It’s easier to say that when you do not have to go through it.”

Griezmann also said that while he had never been kissed by a teammate after scoring a goal, he would “do it in a year in which I won the World Cup or the Champions League.

“It depends on the happiness that you have.”

“I have nothing against it: I respect everyone”

The survey, conducted by Badenoch and Clark, was comprised of a sample of 2,000 workers in the public and private sector. Less than half of those questioned felt that they were able to say on the record that their employer embraced diversity at board level.

However, a third of respondents went on to claim that they had not read their firm’s diversity and inclusion policy and one in ten were not entirely sure if their company had any policy whatsoever.

A fifth of those who were questioned agreed that the commencement of diversity and inclusion training at their workplace would be a help and not a hindrance.

A further 18 percent of respondents thought that simply having more social events at work would help to improve matters when it came to inclusion.

11 percent thought that a depersonalisation of CVs would further help to improve diversity records across the business world.

Ironically, research conducted by Deloitte earlier in the year found that companies with a female CEO had twice as many female board members than those chaired by men.

In the UK just 20 percent of board seats are currently held by women.

The question of why there are no gay footballers in the Premier League has grown more pressing in recent years, with authorities, toxic masculinity, a lack of role models and fans’ reactions all presented as contributing factors.

Since Justin Fashanu came out in 1990, there has been a dearth of footballers who have come out while playing in the UK. THE DIVERSITY DIGEST

05

BLACK MALE GRADUATES IN LONDON LESS LIKELY TO GET JOBS Black male graduates in London are nearly twice as likely to be unemployed as their white counterparts, figures suggest.

In 2016 there was an unemployment rate of 18% for black male graduates aged 16 to 24 in the capital.

According to the data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the rate for their white counterparts was 10%.

A government spokesperson said the employment rate for ethnic minorities was “at a record high”.

More than 83,000 young men in London are from black and mixed black ethnic groups, making up about one in five of young men in the capital.

Research by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that along with Pakistani and Bangladeshi women, black men consistently have the lowest employment rates in the UK.

‘We need role models’

Gary Chimuzimga was initially unsuccessful getting a place on a graduate scheme at a bank after studying Financial Economics with Econometrics at the University of Kent.

He then went through Rare, a recruitment company which focuses on placing people from ethnic minorities and working-class backgrounds, and got an internship at Barclays and later got on their graduate scheme.

The 23-year-old said he faced “a lot of struggles” during his search for a job.

06

THE DIVERSITY DIGEST

He believes there are several things which hold back young black men in London but “ultimately it comes down to confidence”.

“We don’t have many role models which can give us a bit of confidence, that it is doable,” he added.

BBC London contacted 50 of London’s 500 top graduate employers last year across the banking, accounting, medical, legal and retail sectors.

Eleven were able to provide data relating to their employment of black men specifically.

Those 11 organisations recruited 1,803 graduates in 2016. Of those, 30 were black men.

The NHS leadership academy, for trainee managers, was among those which did not recruit any among its intake of 112 graduates.

National director Stephen Hart said the scheme was “hugely popular”.

“We know more work needs to be done across the system to improve the underrepresentation of black, Asian and minority ethnic background (BAME) colleagues at a senior level in the NHS,” he said.

Barclays was one of the organisations which employed the highest percentage of black men.

Of 320 recruits, nine were black men.

The figures from the Annual Population Survey cover the 12 months ending October 2016.

They do show the gap is closing with a decrease from the previous year when the unemployment rate for young black men with a degree in London was 27%.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “The employment rate for ethnic minorities is at a record high, with 80,000 more people in London finding work in the last year alone.

“We’ve set a target to increase BAME employment by 20% by 2020, and remain firmly committed to that,” they said.

EU criticised for leaving out ethnic minorities in ‘diversity’ drive European commission sets out goal to improve workplace for women and LBT, disabled and older – but not BME – people.

The EU’s executive has been accused of being blind to black and minority ethnic communities after they failed to feature in a new “diversity” initiative to make the European commission’s senior posts more representative.

Under a new Diversity and Inclusion Charter – launched by the German commissioner, Günther Oettinger, who was accused last year of racism and homophobia – the commission has set as its goal the creation of “a better workplace for all – including women, staff with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex (LGBTI) staff and older staff”. The commission announced a target of having at least 40% women in management by 2019.

In a letter to Jean-Claude Juncker, Syed Kamall, the Tory MEP who leads the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European parliament, said he welcomed attempts to ensure the EU better represented those it served.

But Kamall added that he was “very concerned” by the failure of the commission to make mention of a need to “tackle the lack of

ethnic and racial diversity within EU institutions”.

Every commissioner in Juncker’s cabinet, known as the college, is white. They are nominated by the member states but their appointments are approved by the European parliament.

Within the European parliament, of the 776 MEPs elected in 2014, fewer than 20 are thought to be from a minority ethnic background, although no official statistics are held.

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THE DIVERSITY DIGEST 07 09/03/2017

15:38

BAME workers more likely to be in insecure work A TUC report found the number of black workers on temporary contracts jumped between 2011 and 2016.

Top graduate jobs at law firms, banks and consultancies go to pupils from just 10 elite private schools Pupils from just ten private and grammar schools make up three per cent of the applicants for prestigious graduate recruitment schemes, a study has revealed.

And the same pupils are 100 times more likely to apply to the schemes than their peers who were educated in the bottom ten per cent of schools, regardless of what university the students attended.

Applications from 28 graduate schemes - including Baker McKenzie, Barclays, Boston Consultancy Group, Clifford Chance and Deloitte - were analysed using a Contextual Recruitment System (CRS) to see who applied where.

Information on the study has been released by the recruitment company, Rare.

Pupils from just ten private and grammar schools, including Sevenoaks School in Kent (pictured), are 100 times more likely to apply to elite graduate recruitment schemes than their peers who were educated in the bottom ten per cent of schools Jobs at law firms, consultant agencies and banks are dominated by applicants from an elite group of schools.

Pupils were from prestigious schools including the £36,000-a-year Westminster School, which has alumni including former deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and author A A Milne, and the £34,000-a-year Sevenoaks School in Kent, attended by Daniel Day-Lewis.

‘What we were trying to do was give them a scalable way of measuring and identifying disadvantaged backgrounds.’

Nine of the top ten schools were independent, while the tenth is Queen Elizabeth’s School, a boys grammar school in north London, according to The Telegraph.

Rare Recruitment founder Raphael Mokades, developed the CRS to look at who was applying to what graduate schemes.

The program’s goal is to help companies hire applicants with more diverse backgrounds, with firms using CRS hiring 50 per cent more applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds than they have in previous years.

‘All these people have As coming out of their ears. Typically the firms would look at who has the best work experience or the best extra curricular activities on their CV,’ he told The Telegraph.

‘But the easiest way to get the best work experience if your parents have posh city jobs and it’s much easier to climb Kilimanjaro and play waterpolo if you have money.

‘What we were trying to do was give them a scalable way of measuring and identifying disadvantaged backgrounds.’

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THE DIVERSITY DIGEST

Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) workers are much more likely to be in insecure jobs such as those with zero-hours contracts, according to the TUC. One in 20 white employees are on zero-hours or temporary work contracts. But the figure for ethnic minority workers is one in 13, according to the TUC report. It used figures from the government’s Labour Force Survey and additionally surveyed 3.1 million BAME employees in the UK. The report also found that between 2011 and 2016 the number of black workers on temporary contracts jumped 58% – more than seven times the 8% increase for white workers. The number of black women on temporary contracts rose by 82% in that time, compared with a 37% increase for black men.

The TUC is calling on the government to ban mandatory zero-hours contracts so that guaranteed hours are offered to all workers. The call chimes with Labour’s pledge to ban all zero-hours contracts and unpaid internships.

The trade union group is also pushing for rules that force employers to publish ethnicity monitoring reports on recruitment, pay and employment type.

This chimes with a Conservative election pledge extending the government’s pay gap reporting requirements so that businesses larger than a certain size must give breakdowns of their pay by ethnicity, age and level of seniority.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Black, Asian and ethnic minority workers are being forced into low-paid, insecure work. And it’s getting worse.”

She said a national strategy is needed “to confront racism in the labour market”.

Omar Khan, director of the race equality think tank Runnymede Trust, confirmed to the BBC that black and Asian women are particularly affected.

“In addition to tighter regulation on insecure contracts and clamping down on discrimination, the government should ensure that its policies – notably including the Budget – reduce rather than increase income inequalities for BME people in general and BME women in particular,” he said.

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MPG BACKS CAMPAIGN FOR EQUALITY IN SHARED PARENTAL PAY LEGISLATION Recording engineer Olga FitzRoy has launched a national campaign to get Shared Parental Pay extended to self-employed parents who currently don’t benefit from this scheme.

With the backing and support of the Music Producers Guild, of which FitzRoy is both a member and MPG Award winner, the Parental Pay Equality Campaign aims to right this injustice by asking Government to change the legislation into something that works for all parents.

The campaign is now gathering survey data with a view to submitting this as evidence to the Taylor Review on Modern Employment Practices.

Under current legislation, PAYE employees can claim 39 weeks of statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP), which they can share between them in up to three separate blocks (or more if employers agree). Self-employed men can claim no parental pay whatsoever, while self-employed mothers are only entitled to Maternity Allowance (MA) which, although paid at the same rate as ShPP, cannot be shared with a partner or split into blocks. This effectively forces the mother into being the main care giver and financially penalises families that want to share childcare.

FitzRoy became aware of this issue when she had her first child in 2015, soon after ShPP legislation came into force. Keen to split care of her son with her husband, she was shocked to discover that she wasn’t eligible.

“I love my career and want to maintain it, so sharing childcare was very important to both of us,” she explains. “Maternity Allowance forces self-employed women to take all their maternity leave in one block, without the option to dip in and out of work in that first year. You can work for 10 days while claiming this allowance, but after using those days I was

Our over-arching aim is to make our schools safe and inclusive for everyone.

To do this we need: • To provide both a formal and informal support network for all people who want to raise the issue of homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and heterosexism in education.

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• To work towards unison between teacher and lecturer unions and other professional stakeholders in education.

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THE DIVERSITY DIGEST

faced with the choice of either turning down jobs that I would otherwise be happy to do, or stop my maternity allowance completely, with no option of claiming it between jobs when I was spending time at home with my baby.”

Having access to the flexibility of ShPP is especially important for the self-employed because they do not have the same legal protections or job security as employees do.

“I think it is particularly relevant to the creative industries, where many people work on a project by project basis and so could do with the flexibility of splitting their maternity leave, and sharing childcare with a partner,” FitzRoy says. “Many women want to work in the first year after having a baby, both because they enjoy their work and because of the need to maintain client relationships. The fact that Shared Parental Leave only had an uptake of 1 per cent means that more needs to change.”

Music Producers Guild executive board member Cameron Craig says: “We are very keen to support this campaign because the issue does affect all self-employed people, especially those in the music and recording business where a high percentage are self employed. The survey will provide important data to submit to the Taylor Review and we would encourage everyone affected to take part in it.”

Alongside the Music Producers Guild, a number of organisations including UK Music, the Musicians Union, BECTU, BASCA, WomenInFilmAndTV, Working Families Charity, Parents In Performing Arts (PIPA) and the maternity discrimination blog PregnantThenScrewed.com have all voiced support for the campaign.

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BBA PATRON SHIRLEY ANN TATE INAUGURAL PROFESSORIAL LECTURE Black British Academics patron Shirley Ann Tate, who recently joined Leeds Beckett University as the first Professor of Race and Education, delivered her inaugaral lecture on 21st June.

Professor Tate’s lecture focused on the topic of racism and wellbeing universities, which is also the focus of her chapter in a forthcoming book being published by Trentham which was developed through the Black Sister Network: Inside the Ivory Tower: Narratives of Women of Colour Surviving and Thriving in British Academia.

The talk focused on the negative affect of shame; because of its very unvoiceable but central place in Black women’s experience of racism within academia. The discussion looked at feelings of shame, before turning to the unvoiceability of negative feelings through institutional silencing. Italso looked at the impact of deracination on Black women academics’ ‘wellbeing’ from the standpoint of having liveable lives at work.

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THE DIVERSITY DIGEST

British Black Academic’s Founder delivers powerful keynote address at Global Education Conference in Washington DC Dr Deborah Gabriel delivered the keynote address at the Global Conference on Education, Research & Policy in Washington DC on April 11 entitled: Embedding Inclusion, Equality and Liberation in Media Higher Education.

In her speech, Dr Gabriel said that issues dominating the global agenda are centred on belonging, un-belonging, inclusion, exclusion and citizenship. “The rise in populist politics following the US Presidential Election and the EU Referendum has normalised racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, xenophobia and sexism, leading to an intolerable rise in hate crimes on both sides of the Atlantic”, Dr Gabriel said.

“These are not issues that fall outside the boundaries of higher education that we should ignore, since the dominant ideologies, values and attitudes that influence discriminatory behaviour and prejudice (both individual and institutionalised) are channelled through and within higher education.

“As academics, we have a responsibility to protect, defend and promote equality and justice, as to do so means we are making a contribution towards tackling inequality in the wider society” Dr Gabriel said.

During her presentation, she praised British students for their ongoing campaigns for a more diverse curriculum, stating that her work developing social justice pedagogy in media higher education was inspired by the 2011 NUS report: Liberation, Equality and Diversity in the Curriculum.

Dr Gabriel developed a final year undergraduate unit called Media Inequality that critically examines the processes through which social inequalities are maintained and perpetuated in and through the media, through the lens of race, ethnicity and culture, with centralised analysis around whiteness.

The unit ran for the first time in the first semester of the 2016/17 academic year and in a custom end of unit survey 92% of students said they feel more culturally competent than they did before completing the unit; 61% of students said they felt confident they could contribute to ‘significant’ changes in the communications industries and 31% ‘moderate changes’.

Students also nominated Dr Gabriel for a ‘You’re Brilliant Award’ specifically for Media Inequality and its contribution to social change.

The You’re Brilliant Award is run by the Student Union at Bournemouth University enabling students to nominate staff who go above and beyond their role to enhance the student experience.

Dr Gabriel said that media higher education has the potential to deliver far more in both in terms of tackling structural inequalities in higher education and the wider society and delivering a more inclusive learning experience for students of colour and those that do not fit the dominant cultural model.

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MI6 SPEAKS TO THE DIV For the past 5 years, MI6 has been ranked as one of the best places to work for BAME people. I took the opportunity to speak to the head of MI6, Alex Younger to ask why.

DG: Tell us about yourself, what is your role within MI6?

My name is Alex Younger and I am the head of MI6, which is also known as the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). MI6 works overseas to protect the national security of the UK, for example by countering the threats posed by international terrorism, weapons proliferation, hostile foreign states, instability overseas and cyber-attacks. We give the British Government the intelligence it needs to retain the advantage over our adversaries.

DG: With the role of security forces largely kept out of mainstream media, what can you tell us about the role of the security service in this country?

MI6 works ‘upstream’, which means as close to the source of the threat to the UK as possible.

In sporting terms, it’s about ensuring we’re always playing in the opponent’s half. We penetrate organisations that threaten our country in order to provide our government with the information or tools it needs to counter them.

Or emphasis generally, though not exclusively, is on human intelligence or ‘humint’ for short.

We get this intelligence by forming close and secret relationships of trust with brave individuals overseas who have access to the information we need. We call these people ‘agents’. To be effective in this work we have to have a deep understanding of the cultures and languages of the countries we operate in.

Intelligence is increasingly a team affair. A key part of our work is about sustaining partnerships. This of

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course means with our sister agencies MI5 and GCHQ but also with the police and Armed Forces, with whom we work incredibly closely. We also form partnerships with foreign intelligence agencies. Often that means working with partners who are very different to us. However, any action taken on the basis of our co-operation must be done in accordance with our laws and values.

DG: The public perception of MI6 is polarised.

On one hand it is this massive yet secretive organisation that we interpret as this James Bond figurehead. Yet on the other hand it receives accolades as this great place to work for BME and LGBT+ people. How would you describe the image of MI6 and how do you hope it develops or changes in the future?

While I am keen to ensure that the public understands more about who we are and what we do, the details of our operations must remain secret. That is because a key part of our job is to create relationships with brave people all over the world inside organisations that mean us harm.

Our duty of secrecy to agents is absolute; these relationships are built on deep trust which we forfeit at our peril.

However, we don’t need to be so coy about the principles that underpin all of our operations: We know that it we undermine British values, even in the name of defending them, then we have failed. Our staff are not from another planet.

They are ordinary men and women operating in the face of complex moral, ethical and physical challenges, often in the most forbidding environments on earth. In contrast to James Bond, MI6 officers are not for taking moral shortcuts. In fact, a strong ethical core is one of the first qualities we look for in our staff. It’s safe to say that James Bond wouldn’t get through our recruitment process and, whilst we share his qualities of patriotism, energy and tenacity, an intelligence officer in the real MI6 has a high degree of emotional intelligence, values teamwork and always has respect for the law… unlike Mr Bond!

On the LGBT point, I’m really proud of our Stonewall Workplace Equality Index ranking (we’re in the top 50 employers). Winning awards is not everything – but it does send a strong message that MI6 values difference and we are made stronger for it. We are only interested in a person’s skills, values and capacity to do the job, nothing else. You do have to gain security clearance to work in SIS, but that looks at honesty and integrity – it does not mean having to conform to a “one size fits all” standard. Our success will depend on getting the very best and brightest to join us from across the UK, regardless of their background. In short, there is no such thing as a standard MI6 officer. If you think you can contribute, we would love to hear from you! I want MI6 to be as diverse as the country it represents, and to attract the best from all its communities, including BAME. DG: One major criticism of security forces in general is that it is a rather invasive presence within our society, especially when you consider that the UK has more cameras on its citizens than any other nation. Do you feel that such an overwhelming presence is justified, and why?

The organisation I lead must always reflect the nation’s values and those of our population. Even if we wanted to deviate from those values, we wouldn’t be able to as there is no way our staff would allow it to happen.

Everything we do in protecting the UK’s national security must be authorised, necessary and proportionate.

This is nonnegotiable and is a principle that runs

IVERSITY DIGEST through all of our work. It is worth also pointing out that we are a tasked organisation, which means that we don’t decide on the intelligence priorities to focus on, the government of the day does. And we have a robust oversight framework, including Ministers, Parliament (in the form of the Intelligence and Security Committee) and independent Judicial Commissioners who have the power to review any of our operations. And, of course, as the foreign intelligence service, operating overseas against repressive states, any cameras are likely to be pointed at us, not the other way around!

DG: Just how have national security measures developed with time? Is it a case of making the step before the next big societal development, or are you in this almost perpetual state of catch-up, and what do you hope is your organisation’s next big step forward?

National security today is increasingly defined through two prisms: globalisation and digitisation.

Both of them require transformative steps on the part of MI6.

Globalisation has made the world more inter-connected than ever before. It is a force

for good and has broken down barriers, leaving us more prosperous as a result.

However, with all of the benefits that globalisation

has offered us, it has also brought with it threats.

We now see terrorist organisations transcend national barriers, sometimes as simply and easily as using an internet connection. We see hostile foreign states attempting to interfere covertly in the affairs of sovereign nations, ours included.

As these threats become networked in this way then so too must our response to them.

Partnership is vital. This aspect of our work can only grow.

Digitisation has seen our adversaries embrace technological advances to further their cause and protect themselves. The use of encrypted communications is an example of this. We must respond to this, but only in a way which is both proportionate and lawful. We are seeing tech used against us by our opponents without regard for law or proportionality. The key will be for us to keep our technological edge, but to do so in a way that protects our values. That is what the Investigatory Powers Bill, currently going through Parliament, is all about.

DG: Perhaps saying that you are in a perpetual state of catch-up is unfair, as MI6 has been praised in the past for “forward thinking”, particularly when it comes to apprenticeship schemes and working with schools and universities to develop counter cyber-terrorism schemes. How else are you “forward thinking”?

As I’ve said publicly, in five years time there will be two sorts of intelligence service: those who

BY OMAR A LL E Y N E - L A W LE R

have embraced and understood the information revolution and have prospered; and those that haven’t and as a result wither on the vine. I’m determined that MI6 will be in the former category.

I want to professionalise our approach to technology and have the business areas of creativity and innovation within MI6 inhabited by people who are the best at what they do, regardless of background. I want to see an environment where people can have ideas and say what they think. I want to instil a culture where my officers have the confidence to challenge and innovate, regardless of their level of seniority in the organisation.

Fundementally, I want to put out a call for the ‘Best of Britain’ to join us and help make a difference regardless of where they come from.

My ultimate goal is for more people to consider a career in MI6 and to get rid of the myth that it’s all about having studied at Oxford or Cambridge or having advanced hand-to-hand combat skills.

That stereotype really couldn’t be further from the truth.

What is true is that our work at MI6 is exciting, intellectually challenging and it matters. We are Britain’s secret frontline, operating upstream in the shadows to keep our friends, families and fellow countrymen and women safe. If you think you have the skills we need, come and join us!

‘Fundementall I want to put y, o call for the ‘B ut a e Britain’ to join st of help make a d us and iffe regardless of rence wh they come fro ere m.’

THE DIVERSITY DIGEST

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ECU subscribing institutions win awards at the Guardian University Awards 2017 Congratulations to the University of East London and the University of Wolverhampton.

The fifth annual Guardian University Awards took place at the end of March to recognise outstanding achievement from universities across the UK. The awards, which are held each year to showcase best practice, achievement and innovation in higher education institutions, currently include two categories which highlight institutional advancements in equality and diversity.

Alongside other leaders from the higher education sector, ECU Chief Executive David Ruebain sat on the judging panel for the two categories, judging nominations for the Student Diversity and Widening Participation award (sponsored by Net Natives), and the award for Advancing Staff Equality.

The University of East London (UEL) were announced as the winners of the Student Diversity and Widening Participation award, due to their demonstrable commitment to increasing the number of disadvantaged and non-traditional students entering the university.

UEL won the award as the only institution to offer an accredited short course in the Calais refugee camp, which offered camp residents transferable undergraduate credits and a certificate, as well as the opportunity to build networks and friendships, and gain resources for daily life. 20 out of the 37 registered students passed the course, with plans for UEL, who subscribe to ECU, to deliver it to other refugee groups. Team members are also planning to deliver a two-year, Erasmus funded refugee education programme.

The award for Advancing Staff Equality was presented to the University of Wolverhampton, who also subscribe to ECU. Leading on a project called ‘BME steps to leadership’, the university developed a personal development programme aimed at aspiring BME academic and professional services staff who had taken on a junior management role, or those who wished to do so. The programme received 100% positive feedback from participants and is currently on its second cohort, with a third cohort in the planning stages.

The team at the University of Wolverhampton said in their entry that “the positive action approach led by the programme could easily be adopted by other universities where there is an underrepresentation of BME staff in leadership positions” David Ruebain, ECU’s Chief Executive, said: “Both of these innovative and exciting initiatives demonstrate the pool of interest and commitment in addressing issues of underrepresentation and disadvantage in higher education. Moreover, they were selected from a strong field and I am delighted at the level of commitment in the sector”.

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HS2 contracts ‘not possible’ to win without improving diversity Companies hoping to win contracts with HS2 have this week been warned that it will be impossible to do so without improving their organisation’s record for diversity and inclusion.

The message was sent by Mark Lomas, head of equality, diversity and inclusion at HS2, talking at Railtex 2017 in Birmingham about the organisation’s commitment to diversifying its workforce, as well as the workforces of the wider supply chain working on the project.

During his speech, Lomas emphasised why diversity was important to allow the industry to change and adapt going into the future.

“HS2 is a long-term programme that enables us to make long-term change and if we look critically at the rail sector it has been one of the worst at adapting to change – it’s 20 years behind and we need to hurry up and fix it,” he said.

“And HS2 is going to be one of the catalysts that moves the industry forward at a very fast pace.”

He also explained how HS2 had made efforts to improve the equality, diversity and inclusion, or EDI, of the company’s recruiting process.

By using blind auditioning, which takes

only the core competence of a candidate before looking at a their CV, HS2 was able to improve the number of women, BME and disabled applicants getting through to the next round of interviews.

Lomas also said this applied to companies in HS2’s supply chain, adding that it would be close to impossible for them to win a contract with the company without showing how they were making efforts to up EDI in their organisation.

“We expect our supply chain to remove barriers to inclusion to capacity build and widen access, and we will help anyone that is trying to change and innovate.”

“Here’s a clear message to those hard-edged business people,” he stated.

“You cannot win a contract with HS2 without improving your performance in this area. It’s just not possible.”

Improvement for companies, Lomas stated, included them showing they had websites that were accessible for visually impaired people, using blind auditioning and making sure that 100% of people in their company had training in EDI relative to their role.

“We also expect you to tell us how much money you are spending with diverse suppliers and SMEs, and tier one organisations will have to achieve an externally accredited EDI standard, which will make our supply chain a world first,” Lomas continued.

“We expect our supply chain to remove barriers to inclusion to capacity build and widen access, and we will help anyone that is trying to change and innovate.”

Welcome to your future at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust We pride ourselves on being a high quality, high performing NHS Trust which provides specialist mental health and learning disability services to people in Leeds. We also provide a specialist inpatient Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and a Low Secure Forensic Service in York which serve the regional population and some of our specialist services also have a national reach through referrals.

Our Vision To provide outstanding mental health and learning disability services as an employer of choice.

Our Ambition To support our service users and carers, our staff and the communities we serve to live healthy and fulfilling lives.

Recognising we need a diverse workforce to deliver our ambition, we seek highly motivated and innovative people to work across our services and in return you can expect development, respect and a creative working environment in which to build a strong career.

We value our staff and encourage everyone to achieve their highest potential through a range of learning and development opportunities including: vocational learning, leadership and management, professional and team development and coaching.

We welcome applications irrespective of an individual’s age, disability, gender, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances.

If you are interested and want to know more follow us on: https://www.facebook.com/LeedsandYorkNHS @LeedsandYorkPFT All our posts are advertised on NHS Jobs and if you prefer to speak to us, contact the Recruitment and Resourcing Team on Tel: 0113 8559900 (press option 1) or email: recruitmentlypft@nhs.net

THE DIVERSITY DIGEST

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LORD HERMAN OUSELEY EQUALITY AND INCLUSION CHAMPION

F

or the past four decades, Herman Ouseley has been a non-party partisan champion against racial inequality. Today, he is the Founder and Chair for the anti-racism charity; Kick It Out. Over forty year’s, Herman’s continued success in not only highlighting racial inequality, but challenging it too, has seen him go from a figure within the framework of British Politics, to a champion of the Black-British community. However, it is a title he feels has been misappropriated.

“I have never claimed I speak for Black people as no one has given me the authority to do so.”

He tells me. “I talk about my own experiences and those of people who I know and I utilise every opportunity to help empower people to be confident to speak up for themselves.”

In the past, this mantra of public empowerment has seen Herman become the first of our kind in a number of unprecedented roles. For example, Ouseley was the first Black Race Equality Adviser in Local government for Lambeth in 1978, then became the first Black Policy Advisor for Ethnic Minorities with the Greater London Council in 1981. The next title he would take would be as the first Black Chief Executive in a local authority in England with the former Inner London Education Authority in 1988, followed by the CEO of the London Borough of Lambeth in 1990, before finally becoming the first Black Executive Chairman for the former Commission for Racial Equality in 1993.

These are not the only roles that Lord

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Ouseley of Peckham Rye has taken on over the years, nor are Black people the only people he has had a hand in helping, as his influence has helped to form equality measures in Gender, Disability and Religious injustices too.

Yet to confront Herman on his achievements comes with a stern reminder. “This is not about me, it is about us.”

The words ring loudly because the point behind them is poignant.

“We have to remember that unity is our strength. Too often we think we have beaten a Racist system by putting a Black person into a role, but find that someone creates a backdoor so that the people who they want to get a role, will get it anyway.”

single room in the capital city of the Kingdom that colonised 90% of the world.

It is a living condition that gave a radicalised edge to much of the Windrush generation, as overt prejudices reminded you about how hard it was be to be seen and treated equally.

“Whilst we have worked hard to overcome the barriers of prejudice, we have failed to prepare the next generation of young, Black leaders.”

Herman tells me. It is a failure he accredits to people exercising their prejudices covertly, which has created a dichotomy in opinion between those who have seen conditions improve, and those who have not.

“Before, the simplicity of talking about race was its strength. ‘Black’ referred to the African,

The true impact of Herman Ouseley and his allies is impossible to quantify This humbleness coupled with a nononsense, almost uncompromising approach to do everything ‘we’ can is somewhat intimidating, as you find that his arguments for a collective community have a striking sharpness to them. This sharpness is one that Herman attributes to the community of his childhood, one that revolved around communal living spaces, where entire families shared a

Caribbean and Asian communities. And whilst it is great that people have formed their own identities, it has made the interests of those communities individual as well. So when we previously talked about minority communities, it included everyone who was non-white, but now, some people choose to exclude themselves from that narrative.”

The irony that some would want to exclude

We are the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics and the recognized national statistical institute.

We are responsible for collecting and publishing statistics related to the economy, population and society at national, regional and local levels. We also conduct the census in England and Wales every 10 years. We are at the leading edge of Data Science and are developing a Data Campus at our Newport site.

We know that excellent results can only be achieved by investing in and retaining the people who work for us. This is why our people count in more ways than one. Ensuring fairness and inclusivity for all is at the heart of our organization. Our role in this is twofold: firstly as an employer that values and celebrates the diversity of our people, and secondly, by helping to inform decisions that affect diverse communities.

We have a strong ethos of equality and diversity and have been listed in the top 100 employers in Stonewall. We are members of Business Disability forum and have been awarded by them as disability confident. What makes us a great place to work is that we have set up networks that represent people from all communities such as BAME Culture and diversity group.

We are committed to making sure that our people are able to meet their potential. But wider than this we believe and celebrate that everyone is unique, and all of us have something to bring to the table.

To find out more about who we are and what we do visit www.ons.gov.uk themselves from the conversation around inclusion has not been lost on myself, nor Ouseley who makes an important distinction.

“When you talk about race, you talk about every other form of discrimination too. Sexism, albinism, religious intolerance, homophobia; because you can be a Black man who is prejudice towards disabled women.”

By recognising this distinction, it very quickly becomes apparent as to why advances in eradicating racial prejudices has been slow, because whilst an employer may be happy to hire able bodied, straight, Black men, everyone else is left behind. Then, the communities which go on to fight discrimination against Women, LGBT+, disabled and different-faith groups, have a fractured foundation to make their fight.

But Herman Ouseley knows that by fighting one injustice, he can help the others and it is partly due to this realisation that Kick It Out has been so effective.

Initially founded by Herman in 1993, following the wake of Stephen Lawrence’s murder and the establishment of the Commission for Racial Equality; Kick It Out has covered every element of discrimination that has brought itself to the world of football.

Initially tacking the racial abuse of top-tier players, Kick It Out has managed to reach every blade of grass, from the Misogynistic practices that prevented women from becoming top flight Referees and coaches, to helping establish

Disabled, Multi-faith and Gay football leagues across the country.

Yet forty years, almost one hundred different roles and the ordination as a Lord later, the true impact of Herman Ouseley and his allies is impossible to quantify.

So to quantify his legacy, which is to empower us so that we may speak for ourselves, is also immeasurable; which is what the best legacies are immeasurable.

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The Power of Staff Networks Cherron Inko-Tariah is a former civil servant and has undertaken leadership roles in various policy and strategic positions across Whitehall, including working with Ministers and Permanent Secretaries.

She is passionate about staff networks and the positive impact these can have on the individual and the organisation. An accomplished Chair of a number of staff networks (one to award-winning status), Cherron has facilitated bespoke training to educate employees on the benefits of proactive development. During her career, she has achieved a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management, and a Masters

in Employment Studies and Human Resource Management. She qualified in HR with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and is also a qualified career coach with the Institute of Leadership and Management.

In 2011, Cherron received an MBE for her services to HM Government and, also for her work in the faith community with young people.

Author, Consultant, Coach MBE. How do you define Cherron Inko-Tariah?

I would define myself as an EPIC woman: I • Strive for Excellence • Give myself Permission to pioneer change and access my personal power (and help others to do the same) • Walk in Integrity in everything I do • Ensure my Character reflects my authentic self.

Your book, ‘The Incredible Power of Staff Networks’ is equal parts Post-graduate knowledge and more than 20 years’ experience in the Civil Service. In your experience, just how important are Staff Networks in the success of a business?

UK society is more diverse than ever and employers that understand and value change will be more agile, flexible and successful; both nationally and globally. Yet despite our diverse society, inequality still exists in some parts of the UK workplace - with processes, procedures, culture, systems having an adverse impact on employees from certain backgrounds.

Failure to address inequality in the organisation is costly for employers. Not only will it lead to low morale, absenteeism, poor productivity, and a reduction in turnover, there will also be loss of time and money through grievances, employment tribunals and reputational damage.

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For organisations to survive in today’s (and future) economy, it needs to live and breathe inclusion.

Therefore, staff networks are needed more now than ever. They are in a prime position to use their human capital such as education and experiences, and social capital such as resources and connections to start or support the organisation to be ‘inclusive by instinct’ in everything it does and improve the corporate health. An inclusive organisation is a more productive and successful one.

What exactly is a Staff Network and how did the necessity for them come about?

Staff networks (aka employee networks) were initially formed to offer a voice for a particular identity group, e.g. women, ethnic minorities, LGBT, disabled staff. They create a safe space for employees (and the wider organisation) to engage in discussions on issues around inequality and discrimination. Acting as a collective voice articulating the plurality of experience of their members, staff networks can provide insight into unseen barriers and devise practical, creative and commercially viable solutions to help address the systemic challenges faced by certain groups.

Can you tell us about The National Day for Staff Networks and what the day achieves?

The National Day for Staff Networks is groundbreaking. Organisations across different sectors in the UK participate in the country’s first ever day recognising the added value of staff networks.

Staff Networks have existed in the UK workplace for at least 25 years and play a significant role in supporting colleagues from minority groups as they endeavour to navigate the processes, systems and culture that prevent them from progressing and being their authentic self in the workplace. Put simply, effective staff networks are making work better.

Therefore, I hope it achieves three things: Celebrate: To encourage employers across the UK to acknowledge and celebrate how staff networks, through their insight, innovation and intelligence, add value and help make constructive use of difference thus improving the corporate health of the organisation.

Inspire: To call for all staff networks to collaborate in their celebration and, given the ‘intersectionality’ of employees, identify ways how they can work together in the future to

inspire and continue to raise awareness and foster inclusion in the workplace.

Transform: Influence the conversation about staff networks so that they are seen as business critical and effective mechanisms of voice, innovation and inclusion It’s not about a day; it’s a social movement of change. With the right leadership and investment, staff networks can expand their role and be valuable asset to the organisation. However, they can no longer be seen as a ‘nice to have’ or a box to tick or operating at the periphery of the organisation. Instead, staff networks need to be seen as critical contributors to shaping the business and achieving its bottom line.

Effective staff networks can bridge the gap between the aesthetics/demographics of diversity and help to remove obstacles to full participation and contribution of employees which leads to inclusion.

Just how wrong do people get their staff networks and in what areas can your book help them fix those problems?

Things go awry for staff networks for all sorts of reasons but perhaps the biggest issue is that organisations fail to invest adequately in the leadership and development of their staff networks because they don’t perceive them as business critical.

If staff networks are set up by management as a ‘silver bullet’ that will magically solve the problems facing certain groups, then they are being set up to fail. The problem here is that when organisations view certain groups as employees that need ‘fixing’, they deploy a deficit model in their initiatives which simply does not work.

Another reason is that organisations fall into the trap of believing that diversity and inclusion are the same i.e. we have diversity therefore we are inclusive (what I call the Inclusion Illusion).

They are very different. Effective staff networks can bridge the gap between the aesthetics / demographics of diversity and help to remove obstacles to full participation and contribution of employees which leads to inclusion.

Organisations that treat all minority groups

in the same way is missing the point. On the face of it, this appears to be fair and equal but the reality is that it fails to recognise the differing challenges of different groups. For example a middle class female white senior executive trying to break the glass ceiling will no doubt be able to share about the challenges, discrimination and pay parity that she faces as a woman. In the same organisation, there could be a junior working class female ethnic minority with a disability. The latter will face multiple challenges on her intersectional journey. One is not more important than the other but the interventions needed for the junior member of staff will be more pressing. Staff networks are in a unique position to support both types of women. They can hear first-hand about the experiences and coalesce to offer support and, equally importantly, identify solutions to improve outcomes so that both can progress.

My book provides practical insight in building the right foundation and adopting the mindset required to lead a staff network in the

21st century workplace. I also encourage those leading staff networks to study for their role. If this was about any other topic impacting the business e.g. procurement or financial management, we would expect people to understand (or be prepared to study for) their field. The same applies to staff networks. Gather your evidence (anecdotal and empirical), understand the currency that operates in your organisation, and be clear about the purpose (and position) of the staff network.

What is your hopeful legacy for the future of Staff Networks?

My legacy for the future of staff networks three-fold - They: • Understand their P.O.W.E.R and influence organisations to truly understand how to harness the talent of their diverse workforce and become inclusive by design in their systems and processes.

• Make work better for all • No longer need to exist!

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21

People find it difficult to talk about race equality.

We find it easier to discuss gender and gender inequalities, and even label things as sexist, but find it much harder to do so with issues of race.

There are probably many reasons for this, for example, people worrying about saying the wrong thing, or about exposing their own limited knowledge of racial inequalities, or even people understanding the issues but not knowing where to begin in finding solutions. But if we don’t talk about it, we can’t change it.

To help instigate conversations within the higher education sector, and to help universities navigate those conversations and analyse what’s wrong and what they need to do, ECU developed a Race Equality Charter.

The Charter helps universities to improve the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students in higher education.

Our Race Equality Charter provides a framework through which universities work to assess what race equality problems they have on campus, to understand the lived experiences of their minority ethnic staff and students, and to develop specific actions to tackle the issues identified. And then, crucially, they have to implement the actions in order to keep their award.

It’s not easy. Even with the best intentions institutions can be unsuccessful. And one of the main areas universities fall down in the process is in developing solutions to racial inequalities.

UNDERSTANDING BIAS

We know that solutions are complex: there is no magic bullet or ‘top three’ things universities should implement.

But we do know that when people have honest conversations and understand their own biases, and the impact these can have on the lives of minority ethnic students and colleagues, change can begin to happen.

ECU has been providing training on unconscious bias to universities, colleges and organisations outside of higher education for several years.

THE UNIVERSITY OF WOLVERHAMPTON IS A

SUPPORTIVE, INCLUSIVE AND WELCOMING WORKPLACE TO JOIN. • We pride ourselves on the achievements of our staff and students.

• We are one of the West Midlands’ biggest employers.

With the wellbeing and welfare of our staff members in mind, we support all of our staff by offering a package of attractive terms, conditions and benefits.

• We have an active LGBT&Q dedicated staff network.

• We’re actively working towards becoming a Stonewall Top 100 Employer.

Interested in joining us? Find out more at: wlv.ac.uk/work-here

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We’ve worked directly with university staff, and also trained people on the ground to share what they’ve learned back on campus.

While this is a good place to start, challenging ingrained biases and then helping people change their behaviour takes more than a one-off training session. In order to make a real and lasting difference, universities need to build on this work, ensuring they have long-term strategies in place in. We hope that joining the Race Equality Charter will help universities to do this very thing.

START THE CONVERSATION

Talking about race and racism is difficult, but if we don’t start the conversations, we will never progress.

This Black History Month, help ECU to get the conversation started across the higher education sector by joining us for a live online Q&A session on 20 October 2016.

We’ll be joined by Race Equality Charter patrons and award holders to answer your questions about how to get conversations started, about race in higher education, and about the Charter as a process and a tool.

Full details will be available on the ECU website (www.ecu.ac.uk) and through the Race Equality Charter twitter account @ECURaceCharter.

CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION

Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) helps universities and colleges to advance equality, promote diversity in their staff and student bodies and build inclusion into the heart of higher education. We believe in equality in representation, progression and success for all staff and students.

ECU has over 15 years’ experience of supporting universities and colleges to advance equality, diversity and inclusion. Over this time, we’ve seen, and been part of, a great deal of progress within higher education, and in wider society. However, the pace of change in removing systemic discrimination and enhancing equality has been slow, and we believe it is ECU’s role to lead and accelerate change.

Universities can sign up to ECU’s Equality Charters – these are awards schemes that measure the commitment to and action on equality for race and gender within the university, and in different departments. Our gender equality charter, the Athena SWAN Charter, has been running for over ten years and 138 universities hold 570 awards between them.

Last year we launched ECU’s Race Equality Charter. Currently 25 universities have signed up to show their commitment to race equality, and 8 have successfully received awards.

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You can look out for the ECU Equality Charter logos to tell you if a university or department holds an award. You can also find information on which universities are members on our website: www.ecu.ac.uk/ equality-charters.

ECU provides bespoke training and consultancy for members and the universities and colleges we are funded to support, as well as for organisations outside the education sector. Evidence-based and firmly solution focused, our training is designed to motivate and support systemic change. For further information, and to explore how ECU might work with your organisation.

Contact training@ecu.ac.uk.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is the lead regulator for higher education (HE) in England. It distributes funding on behalf of students and the public to promote widening participation, excellence WE CREATE and innovation in research, teaching and knowledge exchange.

AND SUSTAIN THE CONDITIONS FOR A WORLD-LEADING 2017 begins a period of significant change for HEFCE and HE, We are also working hard with with the approach of the reforms laid out in the Higher our partners to increase the HIGHER EDUCATION Education and Research Bill. Nevertheless, we are continuing diversity of university governing SYSTEM. with our work to create and sustain the conditions for a world-leading system of HE which transforms lives, strengthens the economy and enriches society.

bodies, with a target of 40% female membership of university boards by 2020 (the current figure is 36%).

We believe in diversity and inclusion among students and staff, so that everyone feels valued and can learn and work to their full potential. This applies both within HEFCE and in the HE sector at large. The term ‘equality and diversity’ (E&D) describes an approach that values difference and treats each individual fairly, with dignity and respect, free from harassment, bullying and discrimination.

Safeguarding

HEFCE promotes E&D by: • gathering the views, experiences and ideas of those who are or will be affected by our decisions, through consultation activities • providing information and data • funding research projects and publications • aiming as an employer to provide a supportive and inspiring environment, encouraging self-awareness and authenticity.

Our Equality and Diversity Statement and Objectives set out in more detail how we approach E&D within HEFCE and across the sector.

Supporting equality for HE staff

Ensuring that students at English HE providers are safe is one of our key priorities, and we recently launched a new funding call for projects to safeguard students from gender-based violence, harassment and hate crime.

Watch this space for information about the projects we are funding across the sector later in the spring.

Tackling inequality for students

We’re not complacent about the barriers to access and success faced by some students, and we continue to shine a spotlight on inequalities in the degree and employment outcomes of black and minority ethnic students.

We are funding and supporting institutions to meet the needs of their disabled students effectively, encouraging them to adopt the social model of disability and develop inclusive learning and teaching environments where their needs can be met.

See HEFCE’s webpages for more information on how we are tackling inequality for students.

While recognising that HE institutions have their own responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010, we work in partnership with other agencies to provide support, resources and information to help them share good practice and E&D challenges.

For example, we fund the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education to run programmes for under-represented groups in HE leadership, management and governance; over 2500 women from across the UK and Ireland have benefitted from their participation in the women-only Aurora programme since 2015; and three full cohorts of black and minority ethnic academics have piloted the new Diversifying Leadership programme in 2016.

www.hefce.ac.uk

@HEFCE

Diversity in Higher Education There are 18,500 professors in the UK, only 85 (0.4%) of those are from African and Caribbean background whereas people from African and Caribbean backgrounds form 3.3% of UK population and 5.9% of UK student population.

The Diversity Digest talks to Ben Browne, Chief Operating Officer at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) about Diversity in Education and what our universities are doing to improve these numbers.

Do you think the HE sector has a problem when it comes to equality and diversity?

Yes, I think there has certainly been a delay in recognising and reflecting the changing demographics of British society across a wide variety of professions, and this includes HE. Although our students come from a wide variety of backgrounds, this is still not properly reflected in the make-up of the academic body or those in professional services in the sector. It is certainly improving, but there is still more we can do to ensure our talented BME staff can develop their potential and encourage talented students to aspire to a career in academia.

One in five of DMU’s professional services staff is from a BME background, which is far higher than the sector average of 9.9%. Some 14.4% of the university’s academics are BME compared to 12.2% in the HE sector, which is encouraging but we know there is room for improvement.

Why do you think there are so few black academics, professors and lecturers within the HE sector?

Partly, this gap is created by the timescale of career progression as it takes time to work your way up the ranks of academia. This means that there is a lack of role models and wrongly gives aspiring, talented students from BME communities the perception that a university career is not for them.

Unconscious bias – which says that we tend to prefer people similar to us - also plays a role. My career has always been in human resources, developing and managing people. I believe the more diverse a workforce is, the more diverse it will continue to become as people from different social backgrounds, faiths, ethnicities and so on are empowered to make hiring and career development decisions.

We are aiming to tackle the unconscious bias challenge by providing Positive Action training for future leaders, helping to build more representative interview panels and by developing academic mentoring networks.

What difference has the emphasis on equality and diversity within HE with schemes like the Race Equality Charter and Athena SWAN Charter made?

Great strides have been made in equality and diversity and these schemes have contributed to this by focusing attention of universities on their performance and working culture.

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“See the best and worst in leaders and take forward the best”

They provide a framework for genuine reflection on our progress and make us ask tough questions of ourselves. By measuring and interrogating the data we now know, for example,that we have slightly fewer job applicants from BME backgrounds so now we need to discover why that is and how we can change that. We know there are fewer women in senior roles, particularly in the sciences, and research can help inform how we attract and develop opportunities for them to reach their full potential.

We are extremely proud of our Bronze award from Athena SWAN and inclusion within the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index Top 100 Employers. DMU was delighted to be one of just eight UK universities to be awarded a Bronze Race Equality Charter mark.

Achieving this benchmark also sends a signal to potential applicants that we are an organisation which is serious about equality and diversity, and determined to create equality of opportunity for all. We let people know that we want to develop and progress their careers.

Could you tell us a bit about DMU’s REC journey which culminated in the Bronze award?

The application process was challenging and exacting. We formed a steering group with representatives from each faculty, the students’ union, cultural and religious societies, DMU’s Black and Ethnic Minority Staff Group, plus colleagues

from HR, student welfare and strategic planning to ensure we had as many viewpoints as possible.

We analysed data on the ethnic diversity of our staff and how it mapped across the roles, as well as student retention and achievement.

Based on the data and research in the area, we came up with a four-year strategy to tackle under-representation and I’ve personally pledged to take action at all levels to ensure that we meet our commitments.

What else do you think needs to be done?

I think society has a very long way to go before equality and diversity becomes business as usual.

Everyone needs to realise that their business or sector ought to properly reflect the make-up of society - although I will say that everything I have read about the latest research and reports in the sector media leads me to believe that this collective recognition is happening within higher education.

Aside from the numerous other reasons for promoting equality and diversity, the business case for championing it within any organisation is undeniable and that should drive improvements.

Who has been the most inspirational figure in your life so far?

My father. He has been an inspiration in his own career as a senior officer in local government.

Throughout his life he championed equality and

At the University of Gloucestershire our focus is on transformation and we have set ourselves high ambitions.

To achieve these ambitions we are seeking to recruit, retain and motivate excellent staff, creating an environment in which all can achieve their full potential.

diversity in the community and even after retirement continues to work tirelessly to break down barriers, particularly in respect of race equality.

Do you have any advice for anybody looking to get into HE? I would encourage anyone wanting to work in higher education to acquire as much knowledge of the sector as they possibly can – talk to people who work in professional services about their roles, and read the trade press to get an idea of the issues you will face. I think it is the best sector to work in. The payback is immense in terms of the opportunities you have to engage with so many talented people and the joy and pride in seeing students progress. It is a challenge but a very rewarding one.

Do you have any advice for anybody with aspirations to progress in leadership?

Learn from what you observe. See the best and worst in leaders and take forward the best practices. Know your own strengths and weaknesses and play to your strengths, but challenge yourself to improve in areas where you perform less well.

While I think you can learn from others, your leadership style should be authentic; it should represent who you are as an individual and reflect your beliefs.

A Diverse Employer & Place of Study The University of St Andrews is committed to equality for all, demonstrated through working on ECU’s Athena SWAN award and Race Charter; LGBT Youth Scotland’s LGBT Charter; Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index; and being a Carer Positive Employer.

Job vacancies: www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk Study: www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study Email: diversity@st-andrews.ac.uk Web: www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi Twitter: @equalityuni

www.glos.ac.uk/jobs THE DIVERSITY DIGEST

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DIVERSITY IN ENGINEERING There are 5.4 million engineers employed in the UK across 576, 440 organisations, generating £455.6 billion GDP for the UK. However, there is an engineering skills crisis and engineering companies are projected to need 182,000 people with engineering skills each year to 2022.

The Diversity Digest speaks with Bola Fatimilehin, Head of Diversity at Royal Academy of Engineering who is heading up a Programme to increase diversity and inclusion both inside the Royal Academy of Engineering itself, and across the engineering profession.

What is your role at Royal Academy of Engineering?

I am Head of Diversity, heading up a Programme to increase diversity and inclusion both inside the Royal Academy of Engineering itself, and across the engineering profession. My role is fairly challenging in that the engineering profession is huge! I hope the Diversity and Inclusion programme will help attract recruit and retain more people in engineering and contribute to addressing this skills shortage.

The lack of diversity in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professions is a long standing and well-documented problem for many years, why do you think this is?

There are a number of reasons why lack of diversity in STEM professions persists. In general, STEM workforces tend to be male-dominated – although some areas have large proportions of women e.g. biomedical sciences. To most people, the image of an engineer is most likely a white male, and whilst this is not always true, this perception persists. This leads to a lack of visible female and ethnic minority role models. Over recent years, more action has been taken by a number of organisations, including the Academy, to bring more diverse role models to the attention of young women and ethnic minorities, illustrating

y Hobson IBM inventor Stac 22 HISTORY MONTHDIGEST 2016 THE DIVERSITY 28BLACK

that engineering is for ‘people like me’. Another factor is the perception of engineering as dirty, greasy and manual which often puts people off.

However, many engineers work in office and other environments with tools and equipment that don’t reflect this image – for instance engineers working on robotics, software, developing instrumentation, surgical equipment and prosthesis. In addition, maths and physics, the typical gateway subjects to a qualification in engineering, are often perceived as difficult by many young people, although lots of women and ethnic minority people achieve these qualifications.

Do you think this is down to unconscious bias within the industry?

Unconscious bias is what happens when our brains make incredibly quick judgments and assessments of people and situations without us realising. Our biases are influenced by our background, cultural environment and personal experiences. It is likely that everyone has some level of unconscious bias and/or pre-judges people and situations based on own their particular experience and background. Organisations are a subset of society and it is highly likely that all work places have some level unconscious bias.

It is likely that unconscious bias impacts crucial decision-making which is why many employers deliver training to staff to minimise its impact.

What would you say, to the young graduate, who has followed all the advice, worked hard to get good GCSE’s and A levels; excelled at university; got his or her degree in engineering and can’t find a training placement?

First of all, I would say well done, you are well on your way to securing a job in engineering. If you have not yet begun your university degree, I would say look for an engineering degree that offers the option of a Year in Industry or industrial placement as this will put you in a good position to secure a job in future. High Fliers, an organisation that provides analyses of the graduate employment market reports that this year, 32% of entry-level positions are expected to be filled by graduates who have already worked for the same organisation, either through paid internships, industrial placements or vacation work. Finding a work placement is really important to improving employment chances. If you are finding it difficult securing a placement, speak to lecturers, teachers, fellow students, networks friends and family to find out if anyone knows someone who works in engineering. If you do, this person could be your mentor and help you put together a plan of action. I would encourage all students to be persistent because the rewards of working in engineering are excellent. On average, the graduate starting salary for engineering and technology is £27,079 – over a fifth more than for all graduates.

Do you think that the problem is; that many recruiters only recruit from the top universities, and not from the newer inner city universities, where black students are more likely to study engineering?

There is definitely an issue with many recruiters focusing much of their attention on Russell Group universities. I would like to think that this view is being challenged as organisations and recruiters realise talent exists in newer universities (former polytechnics). It takes years to change tradition and behaviour; and whilst the more prestigious universities are perceived to turn out more highly qualified graduates, there are plenty of talented graduates coming out of the newer universities.

The engineering skills crisis suggests a need to double the number of graduates going into engineering employment which will not be possible through a focus on top universities alone.

What is the Royal Academy of Engineering doing to ensure that Equality and Diversity and the recruitment of a more diverse workforce is at the top of the agenda within Engineering?

We currently collaborate with around 55 engineering employer and employer-led organisations under the umbrella of the Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Group (DILG). Board level representatives have been working with us for the past 3 years to increase diversity and inclusion across the sector, and within their companies. This year, the Group will be working to promote best inclusive recruitment practice. It will consider areas such as levels of data

collection necessary to successfully monitor the progress of minority ethnic, female and other diverse groups through recruitment processes; the impact of typical recruitment and assessment approaches and cultural preparation necessary within companies to ensure diverse graduates have an inclusive experience once in their organisation.

What schemes do you have in place to get more young black students into Engineering careers?

The engineering skills gap and the realisation that only 6% of engineering professionals are from ethnic minority backgrounds (despite 25% completing engineering degrees) has been a trigger for two initiatives to get more Black students into engineering. The first project, called Designed to Inspire brought ethnic minority students together with a number of ethnic minority engineering role models at different points in their careers to give insight into what engineers do and the range of people working in the sector. A number of videos, booklet and posters were developed to support the events. The second initiative, the Engineering Engagement Programme (EEP), built on the first by bringing 13 engineering companies together with SEO London to deliver events targeted at minority ethnic, female and socially disadvantaged engineering students. The events aim to increase the chance of students successfully applying for graduate opportunities in engineering.

Employers from all organisations are actively involved in delivering the events by giving insight into engineering careers, recruitment practices,

CVs and different types of interviews. Each event finishes with a speed networking event where all students get to discuss opportunities available at all companies with engineering and human resource managers.

You are a respected and experienced HR and Diversity specialist and of course you see not only the ethical case but always the business case for more diversity, what would your advice be to HR managers and graduate recruiters when recruiting new talent.

To HR managers and graduate recruiters, I would say, widen the net as much as possible to attract and reach diverse talent. Use your networks both inside and outside your organisation and make sure your managers recognise the impact unconscious bias can have on recruitment decisions. Make potential candidates aware that your company positively welcomes applications from people from all backgrounds and if possible, make them aware of the diverse people working in your organisation – show them your organisation employs ‘people like me’. If you use recruitment agencies, alert them to the need to put forward diverse candidates and challenge them if they don’t. Steer clear of homogenous recruitment panels and do all you can to make all diverse candidates feel welcome. Most importantly, monitor the outcome of your recruitment activity e.g. proportions of ethnic minority candidates who apply, are shortlisted and appointed.

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Diversity Equality and Inclu An interview with Head of Diversity Julie Dennis My role is to provide strategic leadership across the organisation in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion, which not only looks at employment and recruitment but also at the service HM Land Registry delivers as a Civil Service department.

What is the role of HM Land Registry?

We register the ownership of property in England and Wales. What that means is that we safeguard land and property ownership worth more than £4 trillion! And that includes £1 trillion of mortgages.

The Land Register itself contains more than 24 million titles which show evidence of ownership covering over more than 84% of England and Wales. Anyone who buys or sells land or property or takes out a mortgage in England and Wales must apply to HM Land Registry to register it and that will include unregistered land and property and new ownership of property and land and so on. We do some international work as well.

We currently employ about 4,850 people and the roles that we have range from technical to casework, people who update the register to IT support. Eighty per cent of our workforce work in the casework area.

We have a whole IT section in Plymouth. As you can imagine there’s a lot of infrastructure that sits behind that. We also have people who are commercial-focused experts, policy advisers and also specialists working in a range of support functions such as HR and finance.

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You’re responsible for equality and diversity at HM Land Registry.

What exactly does your role entail?

My role is to provide strategic leadership across the organisation in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion, not only looking at employment and recruitment but also at the service HM Land Registry delivers as a Civil Service department. I initiate and coordinate the development of

usion at HM Land Registry our strategic equality and diversity processes and objectives.

Some of my work includes working closely with our Executive Board and giving them strategic guidance on what they should be looking at in terms of diversity. I’ve also got four board diversity champions, for ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and religion and we’ve just appointed a new gender champion as well. So I work very closely with them and we keep everyone up to speed with the key issues within their area. I also look after local diversity champions. Each local office has one in place.

My role is to make sure they are cascading diversity messages across the organisation throughout the year.

So, for example, during LGBT History Month our diversity champions will be putting information up at local offices. They’ll also hold local events such as dementia training and transgender awareness.

Alongside our diversity champions, we have four staff diversity networks. They are a network for LGBT staff and allies, a disability network, a black, Asian and minority ethnic network and a newly formed women’s network. All the networks are open to all staff. The main reason we did this is because diversity touches all of us. You don’t necessarily need to identify as part of a particular group to feel passionate about creating an inclusive workplace.

What skills do you look for in a candidate?

Our recruitment is based on the Civil Service recruitment principles, which means selection is based on merit, fairness and open competition. Candidates are assessed against the essential criteria for the role. We also have a competence framework that will differ depending on the level of the role, then we have our value and leadership behaviours, where relevant.

Do you have an apprenticeship scheme?

We’ve had a scheme since 2014 and we’ve currently got 331 apprentices.

The majority of them are working as caseworkers and study BTEC Business Administration, but we do have a few that work in HR and other areas such as finance. We aim to give them all a good grounding in working life.

Our youngest apprentices are 16 but there’s no upper age limit. If we put a limit on that it would be age discrimination. We do see that some people want a change in careers.

What opportunities are there for career progression?

Like most organisations really. We have an ongoing commitment to make sure we develop our people to enable them to fulfil their role but they have to want to progress with the organisation.

We have a variety of ways that we develop our people, from face-toface training to reading, guides, trainee manuals and those kind of things.

Staff have regular conversations with their line manager about their development, aspirations and where they see themselves. Some of our senior leaders started out as caseworkers. Our Director of Operations, for example, started as a caseworker. There is potential to progress and potential to grow into another Civil Service department.

So if you come to work with HM Land Registry, yes you’re working for us but you are a civil servant. That could open so many doors and lots of people do change departments so they can move up the ladder rather than stay in one place.

Recruiting a diverse workforce HM Land Registry is very serious when it comes to diversity. We need to make sure we truly reflect this. One of our strategic equality objectives is primarily focused on workforce demographics and we have set very stretching targets for ethnicity. Like other Civil Service departments we were subject to a recruitment freeze a number of years ago. Now we are recruiting again our board wanted to make sure we attract more diverse talent. Our diversity targets for recruitment are based on the economic activity rate so, for example, when we’re recruiting apprentices they’ll mostly travel from a wider local area to an office, so our targets reflect the ethnicity of that area.

We’ve worked with our recruitment team to ensure we target the relevant communities, for example by ensuring recruitment literature is aimed at BAME communities so potential candidates can see we have jobs. Our blog also features stories from our diverse staff.

We’re looking to remove any unconsciously biased views so all our recruiters have mandatory non-bias training. You’re not allowed to sit on the interview panel if you’ve not completed the training.

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Dr. Amrit Chandan named winner of the 2017 Hawley Award for power storage solutions The Engineers Trust has announced the winner of its 2017 Hawley Award for Engineering Innovation that benefits the Environment. Dr. Amrit Chandan has been awarded the £5,000 cash prize for the work undertaken in ACELERON on Project NuCYCLE.

Bizzinn incubation space, being mentored by Dr. James Wilkie, Director of Enterprise & Innovation at the University of Birmingham and taking advantage of the mentoring other business support on offer. ACELERON’s work will be wide ranging - the company is already supplying an e-bike manufacturing company with batteries for their e-bikes, which are currently being ridden by end-users in London.

Amrit’s work with ACELERON is to produce low cost lithium ion energy storage in developing countries by repurposing perceived end-of-life lithium batteries. The NuCYCLE is the quick testing process which makes testing economically viable and helps to solve the problem of energy storage in developing countries through recycling used lithium ion batteries found in electric cars and laptops, enabling them to be reused. In countries where energy storage is problematic, power is mainly generated from oil or solar panels, but appliances are often run using lead acid batteries that are inefficient and expensive to import. As well as providing a reliable source of power for schools and hospitals, reusing lithium ion batteries will also benefit the environment. Currently, these batteries are not widely recycled and are classed as hazardous materials, meaning companies often store used batteries because they have no safe way to dispose of them. Proof of concept was achieved earlier this year in a trial with over 1,000 recycled batteries.

Amrit was inspired to start his business ACELERON with Co-Founder Carlton Cummins whilst working from the University of Birmingham’s

Change Your World

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From a shortlist of innovative submissions for this year’s award, the panel of experienced senior engineer Liverymen were impressed by Amrit’s innovation and his work’s potential for significant environmental impact.

He was presented with his award at the Worshipful Company of Engineers’ Annual Awards Dinner by Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, held at the Royal College of Surgeons in London, on 18 July 2017.

Amrit said: “The potential impact this could have on the world is really big. That’s what excites me about this idea - I want to make a positive change to the planet and to people’s lives. I am delighted that my work has been recognised by such a prestigious engineering institution.”

David Cooper, Co-ordinator of the Hawley Award for the Engineers Trust (the charitable arm of the Worshipful Company of Engineers), said “we were particularly impressed by the positive potential that this product has towards the environment as well as community with its ability in remote and third world environments. We were also impressed with the outcome of the concept testing.”

Dr James Wilkie, Director of Enterprise & Innovation at the University of Birmingham said: “Amrit is one of the outstanding entrepreneurs who have emerged from the University of Birmingham recently. Like many serial innovators, he engaged at an early stage with entrepreneurship training, and also made the most of the mentoring available at the University and our business incubator. We are grateful to the Hawley Award, the Engineers Livery Company and the Engineers Trust for making this award.”

The campaign to find the 2018 Hawley Award winner will launch in September 2017.

Northumbria Healthcare named among country’s top employers for lesbian, gay and bisexual staff.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is an accessible and inclusive organisation that welcomes and respects the diversity of all our patients, carers, visitors and staff.

Equality and diversity is embedded into everything we do, from policy and practice, staff training, communication, data collection and specific initiatives improving health of our LGBT staff.

We are recognised nationally for providing some of the very best health services in the country, ensuring our patients across North Tyneside and Northumberland experience the highest quality of care both in hospital, in the community and in their homes. In 2015 we were ranked second in the country for our services to LGBT patients in the Stonewall Healthcare Champion Index.

Without doubt, our people are at the heart of our success and we are proud of the work of our trust’s lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender staff network in raising awareness of LGBT issues and promoting workplace equality. This includes taking part in NHS Equality and Diversity Human Rights Week and Northern Pride Week, and supporting community groups in Northumberland access funding.

We are among the Britain’s best employers for lesbian, gay and bisexual staff.

The Trust was placed in Stonewall’s 2017 Workplace Equality Index which lists the top 100 employers in the country for the fourth year running and we remain one of highest ranking healthcare services taking part in the index.

www.northumbria.nhs.uk

Here at Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service... we pride ourselves on inclusive culture of honesty and openness. We are proud to be nationally recognised for our staff maternity provision and our achievement of Excellent against the Fire and Rescue Service Equality Framework for Local Government. In order for us to fulfil our purpose and remain true to our values it is vital that the people who work with us and for us are as diverse as the community we serve and we welcome applications from people who reflect the community including roles for operational women and people living with disabilities, LGBT people and people from ethnic and religious minorities.

Visit Our Website For More Information!

An inclusive culture of openness and honesty

#YouCanToo!

www.staffordshirefire.gov.uk THE DIVERSITY DIGEST

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'Nearly 85% of female graduates do not know thei r own value, which may have a knock effect in their futuon re earnings'

Young women unaware of their worth in the workplace ‘Lead floor’ adds to glass ceiling woes as 35 per cent of female graduates undervalue themselves entering jobs market.

OVER a third of female graduates expect a starting graduate salary of £20,000, which falls £10,000 short of the median UK graduate wage of £30,000 per year.

In fact, just 17 per cent of females would expect to earn between £25,000 - £35,000 in their first job, according to new research from Milkround.

This alarming statistic has prompted Milkround, the UK's leading student and graduate career resource, to look at a possible 'lead floor’ phenomenon that is prevalent amongst graduating females in the UK. In opposition to the glass ceiling that remains an issue for women in the workplace, as they progress in their jobs, women may be weighing themselves down on a ‘lead floor’ before they even set foot on the career ladder by vastly undervaluing themselves.

The Department Of Education's Longitudinal Education Outcomes has revealed that five years into their careers, women earn on average £6,500 less than their male equivalents.* In comparison to women, just 18 per cent of male graduates are prepared to accept a starting graduate salary of £20,000, indicating that men place more value on their skills and knowledge than their female counterparts. This awareness of their value gives them a head start when it comes to their income from the very start of their careers.

The inclination for women to accept a

SILICON DIVERSITY Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business is looking to help Silicon Valley tackle its well-documented gender and racial discrimination problems with the launch of new course, Building Diverse and Inclusive Organisations.

The programme is aimed at helping start-up types develop more conscientious companies.

The 10-week course will be offered by the university’s Graduate School of Business which pumps out the Valley’s budding entrepreneurs.

“We will discuss effective strategies for building diverse and inclusive companies, and will address the barriers that can often exist,” Stanfod says. “We’ll study approaches to organisational design that limit unconscious bias

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and produce more objective decisions across the employee experience – from attracting and hiring candidates to developing and retaining employees.

The class will be taught by Fern Mandelbaum, managing partner at Vista Venture Partners, whose investments include kids’ play outfit Tinkergarten and employee coaching outfit BetterUp, and Joelle Emerson, CEO of Paradigm, a diversity and inclusion strategy developer.

lower salary was recently highlighted in Hollywood with blockbuster Wonder Woman, when actress Gal Gadot’s pay cheque of $300,000 for her leading role in the latest DC Comics franchise sparked outrage in the Twitter-sphere with comparisons made to the wage packets that male leads receive in similar superhero movies. Despite this, Gadot expressed that she was ‘grateful and happy’ with the amount she received for the film that grossed $1 million in its first weekend alone.

In fact, the movie has caused as much of a stir for the gender of the cast and crew as it has for its artistic contribution to filmmaking, which in itself is a huge comment on gender roles in the industry. The fact that Patty Jenkins, the female director on the film, has been talked about as much as the film shows just how rare it is for women to be in high paying positions.

Francesca Parkinson from Milkround said: “Although we’re very aware of the existing gender pay gap, it was a surprise for us to see that so many female graduates do not realise their worth when starting their careers, a fact that may contribute to a difference in pay.

“Nearly 85 per cent of female graduates do not know their own value, which may have a knock on effect in their future earnings. As the UK's largest graduate advice website, we feel a responsibility to empower women in the workplace, helping them to realise their worth and build career confidence”.

Life in the Royal Air Force

T

he Royal Air Force is one of the world’s most advanced military forces, offering exciting opportunities to the right people.

Whether in the skies above Britain, or airspace around the world, it is the RAF’s job to protect the UK and its interests 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

We require highly-trained personnel throughout our organisation and there are currently more than 50 careers to choose from in a range of different trades. From pilot to engineer or chef to aircraft mechanic, our job roles guarantee a multitude of exciting opportunities.

Our Role at Home The RAF’s primary role at home is to defend UK airspace. We do this through reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, surveillance, and cuttingedge technology which enable rapid responses.

Equally important is the work we do in communities across the UK and beyond. We’re actively involved in raising money for a range of charities, hosting youth leadership courses, protecting environments and taking part in community projects. This is in addition to the world-famous aerobatics displays and ceremonial events which form an integral part of life in the RAF. If you are looking for a responsible job that is challenging and rewarding, the RAF has a career for you.

Our Personnel RAF personnel form the foundation of the Service and are based all over the UK or wherever in the world they are called upon. They live an exciting life while developing vital skills that will serve them throughout their careers.

Our personnel come from a range of

different backgrounds; have varying educational qualifications, interests and abilities. This is the perfect mix for an organisation which has more than 50 different job roles to choose from.

Our Facilities The RAF has many bases across the UK, each with its own role to play. From front-line operations to training establishments, most bases are like small, self-contained villages with shops, gyms, playing fields, childcare facilities and in some cases even cinemas and bowling alleys! Some are close to large cities while others are in more remote locations because things like night flying need to be conducted in less populated areas.

Support In the RAF you will be part of a large community.

Advice and support services will be available to help with everything from settling in, to planning a foreign posting for you and your family.

We do everything we can to cater to the individual requirements of our personnel, including religion. Chaplains are on hand, along with other religious counsellors. Prayer facilities are also usually available and we will adapt your uniform, catering and duty roster to meet your religious requirements, where possible.

Friends & Family Most RAF personnel work normal hours and have evenings and weekends free to spend with family and friends. If you’re not on duty, and your family isn’t already living with you on base, you can leave to visit them whenever you wish after your basic training is complete.

Benefits The benefits of joining the RAF are vast and the accompanying lifestyle isn’t too bad either!

Joining the RAF entitles you to: • Competitive pay and pension • Training and life-long learning • Free medical and dental care • Subsidised food and accommodation • Sports and adventurous training • 6 weeks’ paid leave

To find out more about a career in the Royal Air Force and the various roles on offer, please visit www.raf.mod.uk/recruitment or feel free to come and ask us any questions you may have on www.facebook.com/rafrecruitment or @RAF_Recruitment on Twitter.

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The level of debt for the poorest students is hugely worrying and should concern us all - something must be done immediately A new report issued by the Institute For Fiscal Studies has offered some worrying analysis around social mobility in the UK and within universities. A survey conducted by Educating All, a programme focused on the barriers faced by working class young people in higher education, showed that 86.7% of state school educated students faced financial difficulty at university.

Replacing grants with loans means that students from low-income families are graduating with the highest debt levels, in excess of £57,000. The report also shows that the scrapping of the grant under David Cameron in 2015 disproportionately affects the poorest, while students from the richest 30% of households leave with lower average borrowings of £43,000.

Terry Manyeh, Researcher at Educating All, said “When conducting our research for the Educating All report, we spoke to working class students from universities across the country.

The students interviewed overwhelmingly felt that university was not a place for them.”

“Combined with the findings of the report today, the scrapping of maintenance grants and the fact that working class students who are often the first of their families to go to university are leaving with the highest ever levels of debt, higher than their wealthier peers which will burden them for most of their lives. Back up those feelings and show that universities are less accessible to those with already significant barriers. The pressures of increased debt is also having negative consequences on the mental health of working class students.”

“Once I got the letter saying that we got into university, that's when I thought that educational inequality ended. When I got into university, it became apparent within the first three weeks that this wasn't the case.”

Research participant “Personally I had a lot of mental health issues whilst at university.

The support is just not fit for purpose. Our counselling service always have a couple of months waiting list. That is a huge issue.”

Research participant

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Patrick Vernon OBE appointed Editor-inChief of Black History Month Magazine Patrick Vernon OBE is credited as a filmmaker, cultural historian and founder of the 100 Great Black Britons.

As Black History Month celebrates its 30th anniversary, Patrick has been appointed as Editor-in-Chief for Black History Month Magazine.

Patrick’s career over the past twenty years has provided genuine insight in working with often marginalised communities in health and social care sectors. In 2012, he was awarded an OBE for his work nationally for tackling health inequalities and his long term support for Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.

In joining Black History Month Magazine as Editor-in-Chief, Patrick Vernon OBE enthused: "It is a great honour to be approached to be the editor of this year’s Black History Month Magazine. It is a major landmark as we approach the 30th anniversary of the creation of Black History Month in the UK. This edition of the magazine will provide an opportunity to have a retrospective look at the development and impact of Black History Month. The magazine will further explore and challenge what more can be done in the recognition and celebration of the historical and contemporary achievements of people of African descent in the UK." Black History Magazine and www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk will be the central focus for #BHM30 and lead the nationwide celebration of black history. This year the magazine will interview key individuals and organisations that established Black History Month in 1987. The coverage this year will also include grassroots activism, LGBTI, arts, education, housing, the NHS, science, technology and many more.

Ian Thomas founder of Sugar Media and Marketing and who has been involved with Black History Month since 1990. Commented "It is a privilege to be able to welcome Patrick Vernon OBE as Editor-in-Chief of Black History Month Magazine. Over the past two decades, Patrick has worked with often marginalised communities within both health and social sectors. Patrick’s expertise will be invaluable as we look to create content that will both educate and inspire.

Patrick’s involvement reinforces our work and his unparalleled experience will be crucial in delivering something worthy of the 30 year celebrations of Black History Month."

MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE 'STUCK' IN THE WRONG JOB, STUDY FINDS A rise in “over-educated” workers could lead to another “lost decade” of stalled productivity and falling wages, a study says.

Almost a third of employers admit they do not fully utilise the skills of their workers.

Millions of workers are “stuck” in jobs where their talents are not being used, a study has found.

The number of “over-educated” workers has risen by almost a third from 3.9 million in 2006 to 5.1 million, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

It warned the mismatch of skills and jobs could contribute to another “lost decade” of stalled productivity and falling wages.

Almost a third of employers admit they do not fully utilise the skills of their workers, while a similar number do not have a training budget, it found.

Its research also showed that the “overeducated” are not just graduates, but those who have invested in apprenticeships and NVQs, as well as specialist training.

“The UK economy is set to undergo significant change in the coming years,” the report said.

“The impact of rapidly advancing technology, an ageing population and exiting the EU will

leave our economy looking very different by 2030.”

“Having an effectively functioning adult skills system will be crucial if we are to manage the impact of these trends, to shape them and to turn them to our advantage.

“However, there is serious cause for concern that our adult skills system is not fit for purpose today, let alone fit to face the challenges ahead.”

Its recommendations include replacing the current apprenticeship levy with one covering skills

and productivity and introducing a personal learning credit worth up to £700 a year for low-paid, low-skill workers to help people invest in their future careers.

It also suggests introducing a personal retraining allowance of £2,000 to support lowskilled workers who have been made redundant, and appointing a minister to tackle the issue.

“Simply investing in skills and training is no longer enough,” the IPPR said.

“Government needs to incentivise employers to use employee skills in the workplace to turn around flat-lining productivity rates and weak growth.”

Britains Brexit deal following its departure from the bloc is expected to include restrictions on free movement rules, although the precise arrangements are yet to be decided.

Ministers have publicly referred to attracting “the brightest and the best” of highly skilled workers in future.

But privately, some have argued that tens of thousands of low-skilled jobs currently filled by migrants cannot easily be replaced with British labour, if they face shortages.

Career development: from vision to reality We are proud to be different in the way we help individuals to move ahead in their career development. We help inspire and build confidence in people to take personal ownership of their career paths. We also recognise that Stakeholder relationships are key to success and we help provide enhanced skills and knowledge that our clients can apply effectively.

We offer a number of high quality and unique services to both individuals and organisations.

WHO ARE WE? -We help people successfully navigate their personal career opportunities -We strengthen people’s skills in presentation, public speaking, networking, career strategy and confidence building -We support corporate and public sector organisations across the UK

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INDUSTRY WHITE PAPER CALLS FOR MAJOR RECRUITMENT CHANGE, TO BOOST UK LABOUR FORCE The UK’s leading human resource and employment stakeholders have submitted an industry white paper to the Department for Work and Pensions today, requesting a major change to the way employers recruit, to benefit individuals and the economy.

The white paper calls for government to encourage all employers to share quality feedback with candidates after a face-to-face interview, to motivate job seekers and speed up the recruitment process, in a bid to give the labour market a boost.

As part of the ‘Fight for Feedback’ campaign launched by student and graduate careers app, Debut, the white paper outlines the issues caused by a lack of feedback, and includes a list of seven guiding principles for employers to consider when inviting candidates to a face-to-face interview. The white paper also recommends the launch of a ‘feedback friendly’ accreditation scheme, for employers to sign up to, in a bid to promote recruitment best practice and to help employers attract the best candidates.

All industry stakeholders backing the white paper attended the recent roundtable which informed recommendations – supporting stakeholders include Investors in People (IIP), the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Business in the Community (BITC), Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR). Global employers O2, Fujitsu, Network Rail, Capgemini, FDM Group and EY are all backing the campaign, to promote best practice and instigate positive change as they strongly believe this will positively impact the UK labour force.

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An invitation for Popular History Presentations Schools OUT UK is delighted to announce the Invitation for History & Archival Presentations for the 4th National Festival of LGBT History to be celebrated at Regional Hubs throughout the country during LGBT History Month (February) 2018.

This year we are delighted to invite individuals and groups to showcase either: 1. A historical reading of the past, or 2. An archival source and personal oral testimonies, sets of photos, or significant documents and the stories behind them 3. A researched presentation on a piece of unknown LGBT history Your historical presentation/reading/ interpretation might be a presentation/ explanation of a past – local, regional or national: • event or related events of direct relevance to the Human/LGBT Rights agenda & experience • history of a group or a specific campaign • an account of a personal journey that includes a number of view-points The theme for LGBT History Month 2018 is Geography: Mapping the world. This is to enable us to reach out to a more international perspective and link with the concept of Mapping ideas, experiences and concepts with a LGBT focus.

While we would love presentations on the theme we are not exclusive of other ideas and themes such as 2018 is the 30th anniversary of section 28!

Each festival presentation will be no more than twenty minutes long, followed by a ten-minute Q&A session. We are particularly keen to showcase past experiences and history presentations from those sections of our community whom we too rarely hear from, such as; black and ethnic minority, disabled and bisexual people, and their history.

OUTing the Past 2017 (aka National Festival of LGBT History) presentations included: Mark Hignett, “Soldiers in Love, Park Hall Camp, Oswestry in WW2”; Kate Hutchinson, “Blurring the Lines: Trans representation & gender expression in rock music”; Hilary McCollum, “Sapphic Suffragettes: The key role of lesbians in the fight for Votes for Women”; Jane Hoy & Helen Sandler, “The oldest New Woman and her incorrigible Welsh friend”; Peter Purton, “Trade unions championing LGBT equality“; Gwen Farrar and Norah Blaney: Our love is a thing apart”; Caroline Paige, “True Colours, Trailblazing Transgender Service in the British Military”.

Your presentations source might be: • A testimony about a personal or collective experience • A set of campaigning leaflets/publicity and the story behind them • Personal or other photo-images and the stories behind them • A letter or document that again provides a reading of that past commonly ignored or denied.

What all categories of presentations have in common is that they help educate the general public about the neglected understanding of past attitudes towards sex and gender.

Closing Date for invitation of Presentations: 1st September 2017

Engineering Professors’ Council Annual Congress The Engineering Professors’ Council (EPC) Annual Congress 2017 is being held between 11 and 13 September at Coventry University. The theme of this year’s event is ‘Beyond Borders’ and will explore how universities and engineers need to prepare themselves for internationalisation in the context of Brexit and the need to continue attracting talented students and leading global innovation and research.

The Congress will feature a range of expert speakers and is an opportunity to network and keep in touch with developments in policy and practice in teaching, research and innovation. It is aimed at all academic staff in any engineering discipline, from early career staff, lecturers and researchers to department heads and deans of faculties. The event is also open to non-academics working in engineering or in professional bodies, who have an interest in the graduate talent pipeline in research and in innovation.

Please visit epc.ac.uk/events for more information.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is nationally recognised for its commitment to equality and diversity, and for its success in creating an inclusive workplace. We are accredited as Excellent under the Fire and Rescue Service Equality Framework; we are currently ranked 8th in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index; and we are a Disability Confident Employer.

Our vision is a Cheshire where there are no deaths, injuries or damage from fires and other emergencies. To achieve this, we actively promote equality and diversity; we embrace inclusion and find ways to improve our services and the safety and prospects for individuals and communities.

We are committed to supporting Cheshire’s local communities and we recognise that having a diverse workforce will mean we can better serve the community we represent. There are many different paths to success in the Service, from operational roles through to roles in prevention and protection.

The Service is currently recruiting for on-call firefighters and all vacancies for operational roles are detailed on our website. We also regularly recruit for support roles.

We aim to guarantee support and development throughout your career, to make sure you can be the best you can possibly be.

To join an innovative and exciting Fire and Rescue Service, visit www.cheshirefire.gov.uk or follow us on social media. We look forward to you starting your journey with us.

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Female engineers contin discrimination in the wo Unacceptable behaviour and unequal treatment still prevalent in engineering

Female engineers in the UK are still facing unacceptable behaviour and unequal treatment in the workplace, according to a new report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

The study, ‘Stay or go? The experience of female engineers in early career’ found that 63% of the women in engineering surveyed experienced unacceptable behaviour or comments, which is as much as three times more than women in financial or medical professions. According to the findings, 40% of female engineers said they were not treated equally and 60% said it was easier for men to progress in their careers.

The report reveals that the problem of unequal treatment is an issue even early on in training, with almost half of female engineers experiencing differential treatment at some stage before graduation either as a student or while on work experience and 75% being aware of being treated differently by the end of the first year at work.

Peter Finegold, Head of Education and Skills at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and one of the Lead Authors of the report, said: “The findings of this report show that there is an urgent need for a culture change in engineering companies as well as in academia

“The UK is facing an engineering skills shortfall and we need to find ways to attract and retain women in this sector. It is unacceptable that after completing an engineering degree just under half of women decide to leave the profession. There is also the need to make the sector more attractive for parents, as currently two thirds of women leave their engineering careers after taking maternity leave.

‘As part of our study, we heard of incidents of male colleagues saying things, such as, ‘what would you know about this, you’re a woman,’ or ‘I can’t criticise her work because she’ll just cry.’

“The Institution’s recommendations include that engineering employers, institutions and the academic community work together to create quality marks and sign up to charters to address all aspects of equality and diversity. Employers and education providers have a duty of care to provide an atmosphere where women are able to thrive.”

Silvia Boschetto, Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and one of the contributors to the report, said: “It isn’t good enough that two thirds of female engineers working in industry feel the need to adapt their personalities and ‘toughen up’ in order to get by.

“As part of our study, we heard of incidents of male colleagues saying things, such as, ‘what would you know about this, you’re a woman,’ or ‘I can’t criticise her work because she’ll just cry.’ The study also revealed numerous incidents at meetings where male colleagues would assume that a woman must have an administrative role rather than being a professional with technical expertise.

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“Women are often placed in an impossible position of either being accused of lacking a sense of humour or pretending they were not offended.

It is time for employers and education providers to ensure this stops.”

The report makes five key recommendations:

1 2 3 4 5

The engineering community should devise and promote the adoption of agreed quality benchmarks for retaining female engineers in early-to-mid career — building on existing best practice, such as the RICS Inclusive Employer Quality Mark. Employers must promote a message that no employee should feel a need to ‘toughen up’ to be successful in their career.

The engineering community needs to identify and emulate how the most-effective companies address career ‘flashpoints’, such as return to work after maternity leave, through implementing strategies that work both for female employees and the employer.

Employers should consult all employees annually, and in confidence, on their views about the fairness of staff recognition, reward, professional support and work social activity – and, where necessary, implement changes to bring about improvement.

The academic engineering community should carry out a UK-wide study to characterise the experience of being a university engineering undergraduate. All Higher Education institutions should be encouraged to participate in the Athena SWAN charter which addresses all aspects of equality and diversity.

Careers education should be properly resourced to reflect its vital role in contributing to a successful Industrial Strategy. A quality national careers programme in schools would both encourage more women to pursue engineering and contribute to the reduction of attrition in early career.

The study is based on a survey of 500 women in the first ten years of their career in engineering, medicine and finance. The research was commissioned by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and carried out by ICM Unlimited in 2016.

nue to face orkplace industry and academia

HM Land Registry We recognise the benefits of a diverse workforce and treat all employees with dignity and respect. We aim to provide equal opportunities in employment and advancement for everyone.

We are a Disability Confident employer and there is a guaranteed interview scheme (GIS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Staff networks The following staff networks contribute towards our diversity goals: • lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allies (LGBT&Allies) • disability (DEN) • ethnic minority (BAME) • gender (Women’s Network) Our staff networks come together as the Diversity Working Group, which works on diversity issues affecting HM Land Registry employees and customers.

All networks are supported by the Diversity team and have the backing of our Diversity Panel and Board Diversity Champions.

Our LGBT&Allies network was recognised as Star Performers by Stonewall in 2016 and also gained the ENEI Network of the Year Award in 2016.

DIVERSITY TEAM HR Service Centre, PO Box 10452 Castle Wharf House, 2 Canal Street Nottingham NG1 9JR Email: cms.hrsupportdesk@landregistry.gov.uk

THE DIVERSITY DIGEST

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B Y R E N I E D D O - LO DGE

Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race For years, racism has been defined by the violence of far-right extremists, but a more insidious kind of prejudice can be found where many least expect it – at the heart of respectable society.

On 22 February 2014, I published a post on my blog. I titled it “Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race”. It read: “I’m no longer engaging with white people on the topic of race. Not all white people, just the vast majority who refuse to accept the existence of structural racism and its symptoms. I can no longer engage with the gulf of an emotional disconnect that white people display when a person of colour articulates their experience.

You can see their eyes shut down and harden. It’s like treacle is poured into their ears, blocking up their ear canals. It’s like they can no longer hear us.

“This emotional disconnect is the conclusion of living a life oblivious to the fact that their skin colour is the norm and all others deviate from it.

“At best, white people have been taught not to mention that people of colour are “different” in case it offends us. They truly believe that the experiences of their life as a result of their skin colour can and should be universal. I just can’t engage with the bewilderment and the defensiveness as they try to grapple with the fact that not everyone experiences the world in the way that they do.

“They’ve never had to think about what it means, in power terms, to be white, so any time they’re vaguely reminded of this fact, they interpret it as an affront. Their eyes glaze over in boredom or widen in indignation.

Their mouths start twitching as they get defensive. Their throats open up as they try to interrupt, itching to talk over you but not to really listen, because they need to let you know that you’ve got it wrong.

“The journey towards understanding structural racism still requires people of colour to prioritise white feelings. Even if they can hear you, they’re not really listening. It’s like something happens to the words as they leave our mouths and reach their ears. The words hit a barrier of denial and they don’t get any further.

“That’s the emotional disconnect. It’s not really surprising, because they’ve never known what it means to embrace a person of colour as a true equal, with thoughts and feelings that are as valid as their own. Watching [the documentary] The Color of Fear by Lee Mun Wah, I saw people of colour break down in tears as they struggled to convince a defiant white man that his words were enforcing and perpetuating a white racist standard on them. All the while he stared obliviously, completely confused by this pain, at best trivialising it, at worst ridiculing it.

'I can’t have a conversation with them about the details of a problem if they don’t even recognise that the problem exists.'

“I’ve written before about this white denial being the ubiquitous politics of race that operates on its inherent invisibility. So I can’t talk to white people about race any more because of the consequent denials, awkward cartwheels and mental acrobatics that they display when this is brought to their attention. Who really wants to be alerted to a structural system that benefits them at the expense of others?

“I can no longer have this conversation, because we’re often coming at it from completely different places. I can’t have a conversation with them about the details of a problem if they don’t even recognise that the problem exists. Worse still is the white person who might be willing to entertain the possibility of said racism, but who thinks we enter this

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conversation as equals. We don’t.

“Not to mention that entering into conversation with defiant white people is a frankly dangerous task for me. As the hackles rise and the defiance grows, I have to tread incredibly carefully, because if I express frustration, anger or exasperation at their refusal to understand, they will tap into their presubscribed racist tropes about angry black people who are a threat to them and their safety. It’s very likely that they’ll then paint me as a bully or an abuser. It’s also likely that their white friends will rally round them, rewrite history and make lies the truth. Trying to engage with them and navigate their racism is not worth that.

“Amid every conversation about Nice White People feeling silenced by conversations about race, there is a sort of ironic and glaring lack of understanding or empathy for those of us who have been visibly marked out as different for our entire lives, and live the consequences. It’s truly a lifetime of self-censorship that people of colour have to live. The options are: speak your truth and face the reprisals, or bite your tongue and get ahead in life. It must be a strange life, always having permission to speak and feeling indignant when you’re finally asked to listen. It stems from white people’s never-questioned entitlement, I suppose.

“I cannot continue to emotionally exhaust myself trying to get this message across, while also toeing a very precarious line that tries not to implicate any one white person in their role of perpetuating structural racism, lest they character-assassinate me.

“So I’m no longer talking to white people about race. I don’t have a huge amount of power to change the way the world works, but I can set boundaries. I can halt the entitlement they feel towards me and I’ll start that by stopping the conversation. The balance is too far swung in their favour. Their intent is often not to listen or learn, but to exert their power, to prove me wrong, to emotionally drain me, and to rebalance the status quo. I’m not talking to white people about race unless I absolutely have to. If there’s something like a media or conference appearance that means that someone might hear what I’m saying and feel less alone, then I’ll participate. But I’m no longer dealing with people who don’t want to hear it, wish to ridicule it and, frankly, don’t deserve it.”

After I pressed publish, the blogpost took on a life of its own. Years later, I still meet new people, in different countries and different situations, who tell me that they have read it. In 2014, as the post was being linked to all over the internet, I braced myself for the usual slew of racist comments.

But the response was so markedly different that it surprised me.

I was three years old when the black student Stephen Lawrence was murdered, and I was 22 when two of his killers were convicted and jailed. Stephen’s mother Doreen Lawrence’s struggle for justice stretched out alongside the timeline of my childhood. Reports of the case were some of the only TV news bulletins I remember absorbing as a child.

A vicious racist attack, a black boy stabbed and bleeding to death, a mother desperate for justice. His death haunted me. I began to lose faith in the system.

I used to have a feeling, a vague sense of security in the back of my mind, that if I returned home one day to find my belongings ransacked and my valuables gone, I could call the police and they would help me. But if this case taught me anything, it was that there are occasions when the police cannot be trusted to act fairly.

On the evening of 22 April 1993, 18-year-old Stephen

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Lawrence left his uncle’s house in Plumstead, south-east London, with his friend Duwayne Brooks. As the two friends waited at a bus stop, Lawrence started crossing the road to see if the bus was coming. He didn’t make it to the other side. He was confronted by a gang of young white men around his age, who surrounded him as they approached.

Lawrence was set upon, and stabbed repeatedly. Brooks fled, and Lawrence followed, running more than 100 metres before collapsing.

He bled to death on the road.

A day after Lawrence’s death, a letter listing the names of the people who turned out to be the top suspects in the case was left in a telephone box near the bus stop. In the following months, that letter led to surveillance and arrests. Two people were charged. But by the end of July 1993, all the charges against them had been dropped. The Metropolitan police had concluded that evidence from Brooks, the only witness to the crime, was not reliable.

Four years later, an inquest delivered a verdict of unlawful killing in an “unprovoked racist attack”. After an official representation to the Police Complaints Authority from Lawrence’s parents, the Kent police force was tasked with launching an investigation into the Met’s conduct, in March 1997. The result, nine months later, would find “significant weaknesses, omissions and lost opportunities” in the way the Met dealt with the investigation of Stephen Lawrence’s death.

In July 1997, Jack Straw, who was then home secretary, announced that there would be a judicial inquiry into Lawrence’s death and the subsequent Met investigation. It was to be chaired by the high court judge Sir William Macpherson.

The Macpherson report was published in February 1999. It concluded that the investigation into the death of Stephen Lawrence “was marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership by senior officers”. This institutional racism, the report explained, is “the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist

stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people.”

Most importantly, the report described institutional racism as a form of collective behaviour, a workplace culture supported by a structural status quo, and a consensus often excused and ignored by authorities.

Among its many recommendations, the report suggested that the police force boost its black representation, and that all officers be trained in racism awareness and cultural diversity.

Kent police’s deputy chief constable Bob Ayling spoke to the BBC’s Newsnight programme that month, calling the Met’s original investigation into Lawrence’s death “seriously flawed”. Another key witness had come forward, Ayling revealed, but his testimony had been dismissed.

Three phone calls had been made to the police by a woman who was believed to be close to one of the suspects, but her statements were not adequately followed up.

A review of forensic evidence eventually led to a new trial of those suspected of murdering Stephen Lawrence. On 4 January 2012, 19 years after Lawrence’s death, two out of the five suspected men were finally found guilty and sentenced for his murder. When Gary Dobson and David Norris killed Lawrence, they were teenagers. By the time they were jailed, they were adult men, in their mid- to late 30s. While Stephen Lawrence’s life ended at 18, theirs had continued, unhindered, in part aided by the police.

Both men received life sentences. When passing the sentence, Mr Justice Treacy described the crime as a “murder which scarred the conscience of the nation”. It was a monumental day for Britain, and long overdue. Many were left wondering how the police had failed so catastrophically, and why justice took so long to come.

For so long, the bar of racism has been set by the activity of white nationalists. Extremists are always roundly condemned by the big three political parties. The reactionary white pride sentiment, so often positioned in opposition to social progress, has never really gone away. It manifests in groups such as the National Front, the British National party and the English Defence League. Their political activity, whether it is storming down busy city streets in hoodies and balaclavas, or suited up and feigning respectability at their political conferences, has real-life consequences for people who are not white.

When passing the sentence, Mr Justice Treacy described the crime as a “murder which scarred the conscience of the nation”.

The Equality Trust works to improve the quality of life in the UK by reducing economic inequality UK income inequality is among the highest in the developed world and evidence shows that this is bad for almost everyone. The Equality Trust works to improve the quality of life in the UK by reducing economic inequality.

People in more equal societies live longer, have better mental health and have better chances for a good education regardless of their background. Community life is stronger where the income gap is narrower, children do better at school and they are less likely to become teenage parents. When inequality is reduced people trust each other more, there is less violence and rates of imprisonment are lower.

If we want to build a better society, it is essential we take action.

The Equality Trust is working with others to build a social movement for change. We analyse and disseminate the latest research, promote robust evidence-based arguments and support a dynamic network of campaign groups across the country.

THE EQUALITY TRUST | RESOURCE FOR LONDON | 356 HOLLOWAY ROAD | LONDON | N7 6PA Tel: 020 3637 032 www.equalitytrust.org.uk

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‘The Department for Education found that a black schoolboy in England was three times more likely to be permanently excluded from school, compared to the whole school population’

If all racism was as easy to spot and denounce as white extremism is, the task of the anti-racist would be simple. People feel that if a racist attack has not occurred, or the word “nigger” has not been uttered, an action can’t be racist. If a black person hasn’t been abused or spat at in the street, it’s not racist. But racism thrives in places where those in charge do not align themselves with white extremist politics. The problem must run deeper.

We tell ourselves that good people can’t be racist. We seem to think that true racism only exists in the hearts of evil people. We tell ourselves that racism is about moral values, when instead it is about the survival strategy of systemic power. When a large proportion of the population votes for politicians and political efforts that explicitly use racism as a campaigning tool, we tell ourselves that such huge sections of the electorate simply cannot be racist, as that would render them heartless monsters. But this isn’t about good and bad people.

The covert nature of structural racism is difficult to hold to account.

It slips out of your hands. You can’t spot it as easily as a St George’s flag and a bare belly at an English Defence League march. It’s much more respectable than that.

I choose to use the word “structural” rather than “institutional” because I think it is built into spaces much broader than our more traditional institutions. Thinking of the big picture helps you see the structures. Structural racism is dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of people with the same biases joining together to make up one organisation,

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and acting accordingly. Structural racism is an impenetrably white workplace culture set by those people, where anyone who falls outside the culture must conform or face failure. “Structural” is often the only way to describe what goes unnoticed – the silently raised eyebrows, the implicit biases, snap judgments made on assumptions of competency.

In the same year I decided to no longer talk to white people about race, the British social attitudes survey recorded a significant increase in the number of people who were happy to admit their own racism.

The sharpest rise, according to a Guardian report, was among “white, professional men between the ages of 35 and 64, highly educated and earning a lot of money”.

This is what structural racism looks like. It is not just about personal prejudice, but the collective effects of bias. It is the kind of racism that has the power to drastically affect people’s life chances. These highly educated, high-earning white men are very likely to be in positions that influence others’ lives – teaching, prosecuting, examining college applicants and hiring staff. They are almost certainly the kind of people who set workplace cultures.

They are unlikely to boast about their politics with colleagues or acquaintances because of the social stigma attached to holding racist views. Their racism is covert. It doesn’t reveal itself in spitting at strangers in the street. Instead, it lies in an apologetic smile while telling a non-white employee that they didn’t get the promotion. It manifests itself in a CV tossed in the bin because the applicant has a foreign-sounding name.

Racism is woven into the fabric of our world. This demands a collective redefinition of what it means to be racist and what we must do to end it.

There is much evidence to show that your life chances are impeded if you are black in Britain. Between 2010-11, the Department for Education found that a black schoolboy in England was three times more likely to be permanently excluded from school, compared to the whole school population. Black school leavers were less likely to be accepted into a high-ranking Russell Group university than their white counterparts.

In 2009, a study by the Department for Work and Pensions found that applications for jobs to a number of prospective employers were not treated equally: applicants with white-sounding names were called to interview far more often than those with African- or Asian-sounding names. Despite this, many insist that any attempt to level the playing field is special treatment.

Instead of being seen as a solution to a systemic problem, positive discrimination is frequently singled out as one of the signs of “political correctness gone mad”.

Quotas introduced to balance unequal representation are usually bitterly contested. The method works a little bit like this: senior people in an organisation realise their workplace doesn’t reflect the reality of the world they live in (either because of internal or external pressure), so they implement recruitment strategies to redress the balance. Quotas have been suggested in many sectors, from politics to sport and theatre, and they are always followed by a backlash.

In 2002, the National Football League introduced measures to address the lack of black managers in American football. Named after the NFL’s diversity committee chair Dan Rooney – who died in April this year – the Rooney rule worked through a rather mild method of opening up opportunities for people of colour. When a senior coaching or operations position became available, teams were required to interview at least one black or minority ethnic person for the job. This was a shortlist requirement only. Teams were under no obligation to hire that person.

The rule wasn’t a quota. Neither was it enforcing an all-black shortlist, or a rigid percentage target. Instead, it was a “softly-softly” attempt to rebalance the scales. The Rooney rule was implemented a year after it was introduced. A decade after the rule’s implementation, evidence showed that it was working. In those years, 12 new black coaches had been hired across the US, and 17 teams had been led by either a black or Latino coach, some even in quick succession. The general consensus was that the sport’s bosses had begun to see candidates that they wouldn’t have previously considered.

Dan Rooney

Around the time of the rule’s 10th birthday, its success in the US led to the idea being floated in British football. For some football bosses, it was a good way to finally leave the sport’s racist past behind, a way to heal the wounds caused by monkey noises and bananas thrown at black players. Greg Dyke, then chairman of the Football Association, confirmed to the BBC in 2014 that the FA’s inclusion advisory board was considering instituting some version of the rule. In British football, as of 2015, the statistics were pitiful. Despite black and minority ethnic players accounting for 25% of those in both divisions, there was only one black manager in the Premier League, and just six black managers in the English Football League. There were no black managers in Scotland’s top four divisions, and just one in the Premier League in Wales.

Still, the thought of implementing the Rooney rule in British football sent the nation into a spin. Karl Oyston, the chairman of Blackpool FC, called it “tokenism” and “an absolute insult”. Richard Scudamore, chief executive of the Premier League, introduced plans to develop a pool of black top-flight coaches instead, and called the Rooney rule unnecessary.

‘Research in 2014 by an executive recruitment company found that more than half of FTSE 100 companies didn't have a single person of colour at board level’ The way it was spoken about, you would have thought that the FA was asking club owners to walk into their local supermarket and offer their highest-level jobs to the first black person they saw in the vegetable aisle. In 2016, the English Football League put forward proposals to make implementation of the Rooney rule mandatory. The Premier League chose not to entertain the idea – even on a voluntary basis.

Around the same time as Britain was debating the Rooney rule, a similar debate was taking place in the country’s boardrooms. Research in 2014 by an executive recruitment company found that more than half of FTSE 100 companies didn’t have a single person of colour at board level.

In response, the then business secretary, Vince Cable, announced an optimistic plan to ensure that in just five years 20% of FTSE 100 directors would be from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

In 2015, a London School of Economics report called for gender quotas in all senior public and private positions. When a survey in the same year showed that less than 20% of senior managers in the City of London were female, women in the financial sector began calling for quotas to tackle the problem. Similarly, in a 2013 survey, more than half of women working in construction – many of whom were employed by companies in which women accounted for just 10% of the workforce – supported the idea of quotas.

But when it comes to race, the language is much less definitive.

Instead of quotas – the progress of which can be easily statistically measured – the solutions posed are vague. In 2015, the head of Ofsted suggested that a programme of positive discrimination be applied to teaching recruitment, stressing that the ethnic mix of teachers in a given school should reflect that of its pupils. When he was head of the Greater Manchester police, Sir Peter Fahy called for a change in equality legislation so that police constabularies could use positive discrimination

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‘The reality is that, in material terms, we are nowhere near equal.

This state of play is violently unjust.’

when hiring black police officers – he was sure to let it be known that it wasn’t about “targets”. The problem is that when there are no hard targets for programmes of positive discrimination, they will always run the risk of looking like they’re doing something without achieving much at all.

Positive discrimination initiatives are often vehemently opposed.

Whenever I am invited to speak in panel discussions about race and representation, issues of meritocracy and quotas tend to be high on the audiences’ agenda. The main questions asked are: do quotas mean that women and people of colour are receiving special treatment denied to others, and shouldn’t we just judge candidates on merit alone? The prevailing view is that majority-white leaders in any industry have got there through sheer hard work alone.

At the core of such opposition is the belief that positive discrimination just isn’t fair – that whiteness isn’t, in and of itself, a leg-up in the world.

But, if it isn’t, how do you explain the glut of middle-aged white men clogging the upper echelons of most professions? We do not live in a meritocracy, and to pretend that simple hard work is enough to elevate everyone to success is an exercise in wilful ignorance.

Opposing positive discrimination based on the fear of not getting the right people for the right jobs inadvertently reveals what you think talent looks like, the kind of person you think it resides within. If the current system worked correctly and hiring practices were genuinely successful, our workplaces would appear very different from how they do now.

There was once a time when even I thought that efforts to increase black representation were suspicious. I didn’t understand why there was a need for them. I could never understand why, when I was growing up, my mum told me to work twice as hard as my white counterparts. As far as I was concerned, we were all the same. When she forwarded me an application form for a diversity scheme at a national newspaper while I was at university, I felt angry, indignant and ashamed. At first I resisted applying for it at all. I felt that if I was going to compete with my white peers, I wanted to do it on a level playing field. After some cajoling on her part, though, I applied, got through to the interview stage, and eventually landed the internship.

At the time, internship schemes looking for black and minority ethnic participants seemed unfair to me, but once I got through the door, I realised why they were necessary: any black people I saw were far more likely to be doing the catering or cleaning than setting the news agenda.

Structural racism is about how Britain’s relationship with race infects and distorts equal opportunity. I think that we, as a nation, placate ourselves with the concept of meritocracy, and by insisting that we just don’t see race.

This makes us feel progressive. But to claim not to see race is to demand compulsory assimilation. Colour-blindness does not accept the existence of structural racism or a history of white racial dominance. Indulging the

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myth that we are all equal denies the economic, political and social legacy of a British society that has historically been organised by race.

My blackness has been politicised against my will, because racism has given it meaning. This is a situation I didn’t choose, but I don’t want it wilfully ignored in an effort to instil some sort of precarious, false harmony.

And, though many are happy to console themselves with a doctrine of colour-blindness, the huge differences in life chances between white and non-white people prove that while it may be preached by our institutions, it is not being practised.

Colour-blindness is used to silence talk about structural racism while we continue to fool ourselves with the lie of meritocracy. In 2014, I interviewed the black feminist academic Dr Kimberlé Crenshaw, who elaborated on the politics of colourblindness. “It’s this idea that, to eliminate race, you have to eliminate all discourse, including efforts to acknowledge racial structures and hierarchies and address them,” she said. “It’s those cosmopolitan-thinking, 21st-century, ‘not trying to carry the burdens of the past and you shouldn’t either’ [people].

“There are people who consider themselves left, progressive and very critical, who have convinced themselves that the only way to get beyond race is to stop talking about race. By taking this stance, they align themselves with the post-racial liberals and self-styled colour-blind conservatives.”

Colour-blindness is a childish, stunted analysis of racism. It starts and ends at “discriminating against a person because of the colour of their skin is bad”, without any accounting for the ways structural power works in these exchanges. This definition of racism is often used to silence people of colour when we attempt to articulate the racism we face.

When we point this out, we are accused of being racist against white people, and the avoidance of accountability continues.

The reality is that, in material terms, we are nowhere near equal.

This state of play is violently unjust. The difference that people of colour are all vaguely aware of from childhood is not benign. It is fraught with racism, racist stereotyping and, for women, racialised misogyny.

It is nigh-on impossible for children of colour to educate ourselves out of racist stereotyping, though if we accumulate enough individual wealth, we can pretend that we are no longer affected by it.

Not seeing race does little to dismantle racist structures or improve the lives of people of colour. In order to do so, we must see race. We must see who benefits from their race, who is affected by negative stereotyping of theirs, and on whom power and privilege is bestowed – not just because of their race, but also their class and gender. Seeing race is essential to changing the system.

This is an edited extract from Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge, published by Bloomsbury Circus on 1 June.

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