Equality, diversity and inclusion in the School of Life Sciences

We work to ensure that all members of our community have equal access to opportunities, experiences and support that enables everyone to reach their full potential.

Our vision

The School of Life Sciences aims to be inclusive and embed the principles of Inclusive Sussex into our policies and culture.

We are committed to working toward equity for all in our community. We recognise that in order to be a School that enables success for all staff and students, we must directly address inequalities and continually reflect on our practices.

The University’s core values are kindness, integrity, inclusion, collaboration and courage. We seek to embody these in all that we do, so that all members of our community can make a contribution and thrive.

View the School’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy [PDF 156.33KB] and Race Equity Action Plan [PDF 180KB].

How we support our community

We have an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee, with representatives from across the School of Life Sciences. The key role of the committee is to promote and encourage our values across the School, by championing initiatives that meet the University’s goals of being equal, diverse, accessible and flexible.

We are working to support our community in the following areas:

Gender equality

We are proud to have been the first School at the University of Sussex to obtain an Athena SWAN Silver award, first given in 2015, and renewed in 2019. See our action plan [PDF 216KB].

Visit the Gender equality webpage to find out more about our work in this area.

Race equality

The School of Life Sciences is introducing measures to reduce the Sussex BAME awarding gap, which is a key priority for the School and University. We are working with the University and external consultants to increase staff knowledge in the barriers to Higher Education for people of colour and have formed a School working group to address teaching and structural inequities.

Disability equality

We recognise the need to better support disabled staff and students. We strive to make our building as accessible as possible, and ensure our estate is inclusive. Whether our community has physical, mental or hidden disabilities, a key priority will be to improve provision for disabled staff and students.

How we're striving for equality, diversity and inclusivity in science

See the initiatives we've put in place to improve equality, diversity and inclusivity in science.

LGBTQ+ in science

The School’s project ‘Out and About STEM’ was launched in 2017 as part of a Diversity in Science grant from The Biochemical Society. As part of this initiative, ‘LGBT in science’ badges were produced, along with guidance for use of inclusive language and events that promote visibility of LGBT+ in Science. Students and staff regularly attend events such as Brighton Pride, and pronoun use is encouraged throughout the School.

Fair representation of speakers

Within the School of Life Sciences, we are committed to ensuring fair speaker representation as part of our seminars, showcasing outstanding researchers from all backgrounds and experiences. As such we hope to provide an inclusive and supportive environment for our speakers through:

abiding by the School's Code of Conduct for events [PDF 120KB]
including subtitles as standard at online events
providing support for carers to enable attendance at events (e.g. childcare support)
enabling access to a multi-faith prayer room (for in-person events).