SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
Research
Dr Darren Sharpe of UEL’s Institute for Connected Communities (ICC), in collaboration with the School of Childhood and Social Care, contributed to the Mayor of London’s New Deal for Young People - a project aimed at ensuring disadvantaged young Londoners have access to high-quality mentoring opportunities and quality local youth activities.
The project addresses the growing sentiment among young Londoners that they have fallen behind in career planning and progression into meaningful employment due to the Covid-19 pandemic. When carried out effectively, mentoring programmes can provide empathetic, trusted support to help young people excel in their careers.
Dr Sharpe’s research involved a mix of youth focus groups, interviews with mentoring providers, and surveys with councils, funders, and mentor organisations. The 2023 report provides recommendations for mentoring best practices and for removing the barriers young Londoners often face in accessing high-quality mentoring services.
Teaching
In 2021, UEL secured funding for a four-year project aimed at addressing the inequalities that create barriers to Global Majority individuals from engaging in postgraduate research.
The Social Transformation and Advocacy through Research (STaR) project will develop a career pathway from school to postgraduate research, creating routes into research training and careers within the community, voluntary, and public sectors. STaR offers five work packages tailored to Global Majority individuals at various career stages including undergraduate students, postgraduate research students, community organisations and professional staff returning to study. Each work package combines specialist research training with opportunities to build research advocacy skills, enabling participants not only to advance their own research careers but also to advocate for research that drives positive change in their communities.
Outreach
The Rix Inclusive Research Institute (RIX) is one of UEL’s flagship Research Centres, dedicated to improving the lives of people with learning disabilities through digital technologies, research, learning partnerships, and training. RIX partners with disabled people, their families, and the professionals and organisations that support them. Together, these partnerships explore new technologies and how they can be used to help people learn, advocate for themselves, gain independence, and manage their care in the ways that work best for them. Through multimedia advocacy, RIX support aims to empower individuals to actively participate in reshaping their communities to be more inclusive.
Operations
UEL’s Office for Institutional Equity (OIE) was established in 2019 to promote equitable opportunity and outcomes within the University. The OIE provides guidance, information, consultation, and training initiatives to fulfil UEL’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion for all members of the University community. The OEI also host many outreach events aimed at promoting inclusivity in workplaces, educational institutions, and communities, such as the annual Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion conference.
UEL has established several Staff Networks to bring staff together, promote the value of diversity within the University, share ideas, provide development activities, and build both internal and external professional connections. These networks include the Disability & Neurodiversity Staff Network, the Race Equity & Inclusion Network, the Women’s Network, and the LGBTQ+ Network.