LPS Equality and Diversity Committee Aims
The UK higher education sector needs a more substantive and sustainable approach to equality and diversity. Recent reporting has revealed significant Equality Pay Gaps. In 2018 ‘ Caught at the Crossroads’ a report by UCEA found the largest pay gaps were experienced by Black men and women in comparison to other staff in the Higher Education sector. Older data we have at the University of Sussex suggests a replication of this wider pattern. No current data exists on Black staff, but the Gender Pay Gap at the University has increased over the past three years and is above the national average.
In addition, successive staff surveys at Sussex have revealed problems with bullying and harassment, a lack of access and support for disabled staff, and a failure to respect difference (CUCHL 2018). While policies at Sussex are being updated to try to reflect and address these issues, it is clear that some policies require further development and that problems also exist in relation to the interpretation and implementation of existing policies.
Aims for 2020 -2024
- To continue to construct a clear picture of the key equality and diversity issues in the school
- To support the School of Law, Politics and Sociology in its legal duties under the Equality Act 2010 in developing policies and procedures that foster and protect equality for people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
- To encourage an intersectional understanding of equality and how equality policies should be implemented
- To ensure that LPS applies best practice in these areas both within the school and in its engagement with the wider community at Sussex and beyond.
- To support academics and professional services staff in their strategies and initiatives to decolonise the curriculum.To work in developing a positive culture of respect for all within the school.