I am delighted to champion this Gender Equality Scheme and will do everything in my power to see that it makes a real difference to the cause of gender equality at the University of East London.
We are an inclusive organisation which strives to create a friendly, collaborative and trusting environment, where individuals are treated with respect and where a strong sense of community prevails.
This means that we are passionate about fairness and equal access to education, jobs, services and information, and that we are proud of the diversity which results when everyone has a fair chance in life.
We are committed to promoting gender equality in all our operations and to preventing unlawful gender discrimination and harassment.
Our Gender Equality Scheme describes what we are doing to promote diversity, fairness and equality of access and opportunity, to identify barriers to progress in gender equality, to expose inequalities, and to take preventive and remedial action.
Our Scheme will be subject to constant updating as we continue to engage with our students, our staff and our wider community in the course of implementing the action plan.
Professor Patrick McGhee
Vice-Chancellor
February 2010
To update our Gender Equality Scheme we have taken the following steps:
As part of the 2010 update, the Equality and Diversity Committee believes that we should continue to work on the gender equality scheme, involving the community of staff and students in refining and implementing the scheme and action plan.
Here we describe our general and specific duties in relation to gender equality and how we intend to fulfil them.
The Equality Act 2006 amended the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and placed a statutory duty on all public authorities, when carrying out their functions, to have due regard to the need:
These two requirements form the “general duty” under the Act and came into effect on 6 April 2007.
The Code of Practice published by the Equal Opportunities Commission states that the gender equality duty applies to public authorities in respect of all their functions. This means that it applies, for example, to policy-making, service provision, employment matters, and decision-making. It also applies to services and functions which are contracted out.
Public authorities are expected to have ‘due regard’ to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment and to promote equality of opportunity between men and women in all of their functions. The Code of Practice comments that ‘due regard’ comprises two linked elements: proportionality and relevance. The weight which public authorities give to gender equality should therefore be proportionate to its relevance to a particular function. The greater the relevance of a function to gender equality, the greater the regard which should be paid to it. In the case of the University of East London, this is likely to mean focusing on functions or policies that have most effect on our students, our staff, and the wider community, including our partners and potential staff and students.
As part of the general duty, public authorities are required also to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment in employment and vocational training (including further and higher education), for people who intend to undergo, are undergoing, or have undergone gender reassignment.
The scope of legal protection against discrimination on grounds of gender reassignment was extended in December 2007 to the provision of goods and services by the implementation of the Goods and Services Directive 2004/113.
In April 2010 the Equality Act 2010 came into being, though its provisions will come into effect later in 2010 or 2011.
To support progress in delivering the general duty, there are a number of ‘specific duties’ which public authorities are additionally required to undertake.
In general the Equality Act 2010 confirms the actions above and this scheme will be updated to take full account of the 2010 Act.
The gender equality duty was introduced to address perceived widespread gender discrimination, in spite of the significant changes that had taken place over the last thirty years since the passage of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. The term ‘sex’ is used to describe biological differences between women and men. Use of the term ‘gender’ is a reference to the wider social roles which structure people’s lives and impact on the interaction between the world of work and people’s activities and responsibilities outside the workplace.
The active promotion of equality of opportunity between men and women was a new duty in 2007. The Code published by the Equal Opportunities Commission comments that in order to achieve it, there will be circumstances in which it may be appropriate for public authorities to treat women and men differently, if that action is aimed at overcoming previous disadvantage.
Our Gender Equality Scheme is where we as an organisation make public our commitment to promote equality of opportunity between men and women. The Scheme also shows what we are doing to make that commitment a reality.
The action plan which forms part of the Scheme will be regularly monitored.
Every member of our community has a moral and legal responsibility to promote equal treatment within that community, to respect its diversity, and to avoid unlawful discrimination and harassment. Overall responsibility for working with our community in support of these aims lies with the Vice-Chancellor, closely supported by the Secretary and Registrar.
The Director of HR Services is responsible for matters relating to equality of opportunity in employment, for developing policies which meet legislation and best practice, for monitoring the impact of these policies on different minority groups, and for providing relevant employment statistics. The Director of HR Services is responsible for implementing our human resources strategy, which contains a number of gender equality objectives.
Deans of Schools and Directors of Services are responsible for implementing our Equal Opportunities Policy Statement and for maintaining a local equality and diversity action plan. The action plan is reviewed by the Equality and Diversity Committee and as part of the annual planning cycle. All schools and services have equality objectives and an Equality and Diversity Leader, who sits on the school/service management team.
All staff and students are responsible for ensuring that their actions are carried out in accordance with our commitment to equality and diversity. They may be held personally to account should their actions fall short of the requirements of this policy in any way.
The development and monitoring of this Scheme is supported by the Mentor and Equalities Unit, which has responsibility for leading new initiatives that will promote respect for diversity, promote genuine equality of opportunity, and tackle any barriers to fair treatment for all members of our community.
We have a periodic staff survey in which we monitor the experience of our staff. In the 2005 survey over 69% of our staff agreed or strongly agreed that the University of East London is committed to equal opportunities for all employees. In 2009 that figure rose to 72%.
We have an annual student satisfaction survey in which respondents by gender are asked for their experience of our entire academic and support provision. In addition third year students respond to the National Student Survey (NSS). We analyse and act on these results by gender.
We regularly monitor the number of staff by gender in each school and service and the gender balance on each student programme.
We work with many partners who are themselves public authorities, including further education colleges, schools, and NHS trusts. We will work with our partners to ensure that our students and staff experience the same quality of provision whether they are working or studying on or off campus.
We enter into a wide range of contracts with third party suppliers, not all of whom are public authorities. Our action plan commits us to ensuring that gender equality is embedded in all our procurement practices. This means that the contracts awarded to all of the suppliers who provide services will state that the services will be accessible to all people and that the contractor will not discriminate by gender.
In 2007 the questions we asked ourselves were the following. In 2010 we have provided answers based on our data analysis and consultations.
Are any of our programmes more accessible to male than to female students, or vice versa? In 2010 we are not yet fully confident that the answer is Yes though some positive action has been taken to recruit female students to areas where they are underrepresented. Courses with fieldwork and foreign travel may still discourage mature women with caring responsibilities and some entry qualifications may militate against applications from females. However more systematic work needs to be done in this area. This is an area we address in our action plan.
Are men and women represented at all levels of our workforce and in all areas of work? In 2010 we consider that women are still underrepresented in grades such as Principal Lecturer and management grades such as Dean of School/ Director of Service and more senior posts. There is a minority of female readers and professors. Women are also somewhat overrepresented in more junior administrative grades. This is an area we address in our action plan.
Is the sexual harassment of staff, students and visitors dealt with promptly and appropriately, according to agreed procedures, such that there is low organisational tolerance for harassment? There have been few formal cases of sexual harassment so statistics are difficult to compile. We try to ensure that an environment is provided which discourages sexual harassment. However our action plan addresses the question of making our work and study environment as safe as possible which we hope will advantage women who may feel nervous about threats of violence or harassment, whether or not this fear is justified.
Do students and staff with caring responsibilities receive appropriate support? We are confident that, for staff, flexible working arrangements may be proposed and will be supported where possible. Several such arrangements are formally in place but there may be others which are not formally recorded. For students, the Student Parent Officer of the Students’ Union is actively engaged in negotiating and providing support. Library opening hours allow for study at all times of day and night. However, while there is a limit to what can be done, it is recognised that the academic timetable can accommodate the requirements of those with caring responsibilities, especially to offer tutorial and seminar flexibility. Our action plan addresses this.
Do we support and value transsexual people as potential students or staff? Are there any barriers to their recruitment? We require more experience and monitoring in this area and this is mentioned in our action plan.
Do male and female staff from all schools and services feel effectively engaged in decision and policy-making around issues that have a direct effect on them? The 2009 staff survey indicated that there had been an improvement in this area in comparison with 2005. There was no significant difference between the results for UEL overall and for female staff.
Have we eliminated any residual discrimination experienced by pregnant staff and staff returning from maternity leave? No formal grievances have been received though this does not mean we should not continue to be vigilant. We will extend this question to cover staff returning from paternity/spouse/partner leave and note that from next year parents will be able to choose which of them takes maternity/paternity/ spouse/partner leave during the 26 weeks of allowable parental leave.
Are you satisfied that there is no unjustifiable gap between women and men’s pay? The HERA framework includes a requirement that regular audits are undertaken to ensure equal pay for work of equal value.
Do we take full account of gender equality in setting budgets? This has not specifically been monitored but equality and diversity training initiatives have been given priority within budgets.
In the course of recent years we carried out impact analyses of our extant policies and procedures, using a standard template. Our method was to divide our Equality and Diversity Committee into smaller groups and to ask each group to carry out an impact assessment of a number of policies, with report back to the full Committee.
Our University Management Team (UMT) has also started to embed equality impact assessments into its standard ways of working. All papers which are considered by the UMT include an equality impact assessment, though the Equality and Diversity Committee is not satisfied with the approach taken by all authors and will take steps to encourage a more rigorous approach.
Some of the policies and procedures we are reviewing include:
We continue to ensure that all major decisions have an equality impact assessment by including a paragraph on this in Board of Governors, Academic Board and other committee papers. However, further encouragement to authors is needed to make this more meaningful and soundly based on a more detailed analysis.
We recognise International Women’s Day and intend in future to do more to promote this.
We hope over the next year to bring together academics working in the equality and diversity field, or with an equality perspective to their research. Gender issues will be one of many relevant themes.
This action plan sets out the actions we will take to meet our general and specific duties under the Equality Acts 2006 and 2010.
Overall responsibility for delivering the plan rests with the Secretary and Registrar, supported by the Mentoring and Equality Unit and HR Services. The Equality and Diversity Committee will monitor progress. Reports will be made to the University Management Team, the Academic Board and the Board of Governors.
| Action | Gender equality objective | Persons responsible | Target date |
|---|---|---|---|
Employment issues |
|||
Implement a positive action programme to encourage female staff to apply for more senior positions such as Reader, Professor, PL, Dean of School, Director of Service and above |
To give female staff the confidence to apply for more senior positions and to achieve an increased percentage of females in senior roles. |
Secretary and Registrar, Director of HR Services, Learning and Development Manager |
Report to E&D Committee and UMT in Spring 2012 |
In association with the above, choose a School and a Service as case studies in the extent to which females progress to more senior grades |
To encourage discussion of cultural and behavioural issues and positive action in a School and a Service where there is a noticeable minority of women in senior grades and to disseminate the methods and results more widely |
Director of HR Services |
Report to E&D Committee and UMT in Spring 2011 |
Hold informed discussions of issues which continue to affect transsexuals’ career progression |
To ensure that barriers to a good staff experience and progression of transsexuals are eliminated |
Mentoring and Equalities Unit and equality and diversity leaders, possibly with outside facilitator |
Report to E&D Committee and UMT by Spring 2011 |
Support managers in understanding and applying fair and consistent approaches to our flexible employment policy and in monitoring staff treatment during pregnancy and return after maternity/paternity /spouse/partner leave |
To enable us to have a fair institutional approach to supporting staff with caring responsibilities, for example by promoting greater use of job share and recognising the needs of prospective and new parents of both sexes. |
Director of HR Services |
Report to E&D Committee and UMT by Spring 2011 |
Encourage academic researchers in equality and diversity fields to share ideas where appropriate |
To use academic knowledge of equality and diversity issues with special reference to gender |
Chair of Equality and Diversity Committee and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) |
Report to Academic Board by 2012 |
Staff and Student Issues |
|||
Provide safe, positive learning, working and social environment for all students and staff, free from threats of aggression and harassment |
To enhance the quality of the student and staff experience |
Secretary and Registrar |
Introduce new disciplinary code by October 2010
Report on upgraded security by summer 2011 |
Give increasing prominence to International Women’s Day |
To act as a focus for gender issues and our promotion of women |
Mentoring and Equality Unit |
Hold high profile activities in 2011, 2012, 2013 |
Student Issues |
|||
Investigate the academic timetable to ensure flexibility can be afforded to students with parental or caring responsibilities |
To ensure that students have some choice about their times of study, especially tutorials and seminars, to enable them to undertake parental or caring tasks |
Timetabling manager, but to be undertaken in conjunction with issues arising from the Disability Scheme Action Plan |
Report to E&D Committee, UMT and Academic Board by Spring 2011 |
Establish, monitor and review access policies for white males from lower socio-economic groups |
To address the fact that this is the lowest participating group in UK higher education and to increase the percentage of students from this group |
DVC (Academic) |
Report to E&D Committee, UMT and Academic Board by Spring 2012 |
Investigate further the question of accessibility of females and males to our courses including those of our collaborative partners |
To ensure that all courses are accessible to men and women |
DVC (Academic) Head of Quality Enhancement |
Report to E&D Committee, UMT and Academic Board by Spring 2012 |
At student induction, and subsequently, emphasise our zero tolerance of discrimination towards transsexual students |
To enable us to discharge our legal obligation to prevent discrimination against transsexual people, including those who intend to undergo gender reassignment in the future. |
Deans of Schools |
Ongoing |
Investigate further the NSS results over past years which show female students as less satisfied overall than males |
To ensure that the student experience is of equal quality for men and women |
Head of Planning |
Report to E&D Committee, UMT and Academic Board by Spring 2012 |
Other |
|||
Ensure that all contract staff are bound by our policies on equality and diversity |
To ensure compliance with equality legislation by including in award criteria |
Head of Procurement |
Ongoing |
|
Ongoing actions considered to be mainstreamed between 2007 and 2010. Action will continue to be taken on a regular basis using standard systems |
|||
Employment |
|||
| Review advertising of vacancies |
To remove any gender barriers to recruitment |
Director of HR Services |
Ongoing |
| Review recruitment and selection policy |
To remove any gender barriers to recruitment and promotion |
Director of HR Services |
Ongoing |
| Ensure that all staff involved in recruitment and selection are trained and understand our policy |
To ensure appropriate actions and behaviours during shortlisting, interviewing and follow-up |
Training and Development Manager |
Ongoing |
| Assess the impact of current recruitment and progression practices on gender equality |
To establish whether there are any hidden gender barriers to recruitment and progression |
Director of HR Services |
Annually |
| Maintain robust monitoring data on our employment practices |
To provide material for our annual report on gender equality – for example to show whether staff of a particular gender are more likely to undergo disciplinary, grievance and capability procedures |
Director of HR Services |
Ongoing |
| Ensure that managers have access to gender monitoring data for their teams |
To enable managers to assess the impact of our employment practices on their teams |
Director of HR Services |
Ongoing |
| Maintain a robust job evaluation scheme |
To support a fair system of equal pay for work of equal value |
Director of HR Services |
Ongoing |
| Implement equal pay audits |
To support a fair system of equal pay for work of equal value |
Director of HR Services |
Ongoing |
| Review and develop exit interviews |
To assess if there is any correlation between staff leaving and gender issues |
Director of HR Services |
Ongoing |
| Review staff development policy |
To assess if there are any gender related issues when accessing staff development and CPD |
Training and Development Manager |
Ongoing |
| Review SDR procedure |
To confirm that it establishes a safe space in which to discuss gender issues |
Organisational Development Manager |
Ongoing |
| Review our handling of sexual harassment cases |
To establish that we deal quickly and effectively with allegations of sexual harassment |
Director of HR Services |
Ongoing |
| Offer staff development in gender equality |
To ensure that staff are aware of their duties under equalities legislation
To ensure that managers are able to deal effectively with complaints of gender discrimination |
Training and Development Manager |
Ongoing |
| Screen all our employment policies for evidence of discrimination on the grounds of gender reassignment |
To enable us to discharge our legal obligation to prevent discrimination against transsexual people, including those who intend to undergo gender reassignment in the future. |
Director of HR Services |
Ongoing |
Students |
|||
Monitor student satisfaction and NSS survey results by gender (but see also action plan) |
To identify variations in the quality of the student experience by gender and advise on appropriate action |
Equality and Diversity Officer |
Ongoing |
Monitor use of disciplinary, complaints, appeals, breach of assessment, and suitability procedures by gender |
To ensure that students of one gender are not disproportionately represented |
Secretary and Registrar |
Ongoing |
| Review student admission by gender |
To establish if there is a gender bias on certain programmes caused by stereotyping of female and male roles |
Deans of Schools |
Ongoing |
| Review student achievement by gender |
To ensure that students have an equal chance of success |
Head of Planning |
Ongoing |
| Screen the extenuation policy |
To establish that there is no gender inequality around the operation of the policy |
Director of Learning and Teaching |
Ongoing |
| Other | |||
| Continue to undertake equality impact assessments while also improving colleagues’ understanding of what is required |
To ensure our policies do not inadvertently discriminate and are able to take positive action where possible |
Secretary and Registrar |
Ongoing |
© 2010
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