The Equality Act 2010 represents a significant change in equality legislation. The Act has harmonised and streamlined the pre-exisitng legislation. It has also strengthened it, providing more protection from discrimination to more people.

The Act has introduced the concept of 'protected characteristics'. These are the grounds on which it is unlawful to discriminate. The characteristics are:

• Disability
• Race
• Gender
• Age
• Sexual Orientation
• Religion/belief
• Gender Reassignment
• Pregnancy/maternity
• Marriage/civil partnership.

There are four forms of discrimination under the Act:

• Direct
• Indirect
• Harassment
• Victimisation.

If you have any queries please e-mail diversity@abdn.ac.uk and you will receive a response as soon as possible.

The University has a legal duty to undertake equality impact assessments. This means ensuring that our policies, practices and procedures are fair and inclusive.

• Equality Impact Assessment Strategy

The University's Equality and Diversity Impact Assessment Toolkit was agreed in April 2009:

• Equality and Diversity Impact Assessment Toolkit

Click on the links to view impact assessments completed to date:

• Achieving the Best
• Family Friendly Policies
• Discrimination, Bullying and Harassment Policy
• Promotions Process *
• Redundancy Process *
• Redundancy Support *
• Special Leave Policy *
• Staff/staff Relationships *
• Staff/student Relationships *
• Centre for Lifelong Learning *
• Careers Service
• Medical Sciences - Staff Development and Appraisal
• Medical Sciences - Student Retention
• Travel Plan
• Research Assessment Exercise Selection Procedures
• CCTV Policy

Approved 15 November 2010

• Peer Review Policy Framework
• Good Research Policy

Approved 22 March 2011

• Severe Weather Policy
• Protection of Vulnerable Groups
• Voluntary Severance Scheme
• Voluntary Severance Scheme for Academic Staff
• UASLAS Pension changes
• USS Pension changes

Approved 12 July 2011

• Student Complaints and Appeals
• Car Parking Policy

To tackle racism on our campus, we first need to learn about the experiences of our community.

In August, Ruth Taylor and Siladitya Bhattacharya spoke with medical students Jessica Eze and Karina Chopra about race equality at the University, and their experiences of racism during their studies.

If you would like to share your own experiences, you can do so confidentially using this form.

Listening period on race and racism

The University invites you to contribute to its listening period on race and racism. The purpose of this is to learn from the experiences of staff and students, to ensure that all voices are heard and therefore to normalise open conversations on race. Our work on race equality will be informed by the lived experiences of our community. We want to hear about the real issues and the barriers faced by staff and students and ideas about how best to tackle them. The responses on this form will be reviewed by the Equality and Diversity Adviser and confidentiality will be maintained - you don’t have to provide any identification or contact details if you don’t wish to. Thank you for your participation and support in promoting race equality.

8 July 2020

Dear colleagues and students,

Our stance on racism could not be clearer - this University does not tolerate racist or discriminatory behaviour and we will take action where it occurs.

Like many other institutions we have our own story to tell and we will do so openly and honestly as we pledged in our statement in relation to Black Lives Matter.

Part of that story is about our own historical connections to slavery and we are investing in a new research post investigating those links. It will shine a light on how the University and the North-east of Scotland benefited from the proceeds of the slave trade. It will also explain the role of those connected to the University who were involved in slavery or actively sought its abolition.

Examples of this legacy remain with us - such as some of our campus architecture or financial endowment funds. These too will be highlighted.

Separately, this month we will also launch a new series of listening sessions for students and staff. These will enable us to continue to learn from those prepared to share their own lived experiences, which in turn will shape and inform our anti-racism strategy.

Inclusiveness is a key theme of Aberdeen 2040, we are signatories to the Race Equality Charter  and we have also just agreed to work further on tackling racism with our campus trade unions, who have asked for more training for staff, are helping support our racial harassment work and are contributing to the portfolio of planned actions.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee has approved the creation of a new Race Equality Strategy Group and we have identified a chair of a soon-to-be launched staff and student race network.

We are grateful to those who have been in touch to share their experiences - including the signatories and supporters of an open letter from the Black Medical Society Aberdeen detailing racist incidents that medical students have experienced in a range of settings. It makes for shocking reading - demonstrating systemic racism and ongoing microaggressions.

The University acted swiftly after receiving the open letter – meeting members of the Black Medical Society and responding to other students in touch with concerns or a wish to share their own experiences.

The matter was raised immediately with health partners; the content of the medical curriculum is being reviewed to make it more inclusive reflecting the diversity of our students and a plurality of perspectives; improvements will be made to emphasise and amplify race equality within equality and diversity training in the School, and an enhanced reporting system for students is also being investigated.

A separate incident involving an image which plays to racist stereotypes that was used on an advert for a degree programme has led to an apology from the University and a commitment to review our approach to using imagery in marketing and other platforms in consultation with AUSA and other stakeholders.

We do not believe these problems are limited to health settings and are likely to be present across the University. Improvements and learning from these issues – and from experiences shared at our listening sessions – will enable us to make changes that will be embedded across our institution.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission Report: Tackling Racial Harassment: Universities Challenged provided further evidence that racism exists in universities. We have analysed its findings and its recommendations will be taken forward by our new Race Equality Strategy Group.

The Black Lives Matter movement has brought a new and much-needed focus to the endemic racism which persists in society and is under-reported.

There is much to do to tackle structural racism in our education and research but we will do whatever is necessary to eliminate it.

Best wishes

George and Cecilia

8 June 2020

Dear Colleagues and Students,

As a University which strives to be open and welcoming, diverse and inclusive, we recognise that the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has prompted sadness, grief, outrage and anxiety in America and across the world.  Over the last two weeks we have seen demonstrations across the globe against systemic racism that sadly still exists in our society. 

We know that the shock and anger were no less felt across our University community. We wanted to reach out to you all to express the University and AUSA’s solidarity on these events and to offer support.

The University of Aberdeen will not tolerate racist or discriminatory behaviour against any minority group.

We encourage open discussion on race equality, and inclusivity of all minority groups. We urge anyone who has witnessed or experienced racist behaviour to speak out, and your channels for doing so can be found below.

As a society and as a University, we have much more to do to ensure racial equality. There have been times in our history when we as a University have fallen short. We are committed to continuing to support work to tackle racism across the sector, and we wanted to let you know that our University has:

• Embedded Inclusion as a key strategic priority in Aberdeen 2040 and is developing a clear set of Key Performance Indicators in this area
• Signed up to Advance HE’s Race Equality Charter which aims to improve the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students within higher education
• Established an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee with representatives from staff and students discussing actions to promote race equality. The Committee has been analysing data in relation to the employment lifecycle of staff of all ethnicities with a view to developing recommendations
• Convened a working group on Tackling Racial Harassment - co-chaired by Professor Siladitya Bhattacharya and Professor Ruth Taylor - to address the recommendations of the report published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, entitled Tackling Racial Harassment: Universities Challenged
• Begun consultations with staff on establishing a Race Equality Network.

We know there is much to be done still and this includes ensuring our curriculum is fully inclusive and also contributing to tackling the national attainment gap linked to race and ethnicity. Let us absolutely assure you that we will do this with energy, vision and determination.

Our resolve to celebrate diversity and strengthen our approach to inclusion remains fundamental.

We want to hear from our community of staff and students, as we as a University seek to better support staff and students from all backgrounds, to develop our curriculum and reflect on our role as an educator and how we can facilitate change for future generations. 

We are also here to support you. For anyone with points to raise or actions to suggest, please do so by contacting hr@abdn.ac.uk (for staff) or student.support@abdn.ac.uk (for students).  

Alternatively, you can also seek support from the AUSA Advice team by emailing ausaadvice@abdn.ac.uk or the AUSA Black and Minority Ethnic Students Forum either at ausapresident@abdn.ac.uk or bme-forum@abdn.ac.uk.  

We will continue to take action where racism occurs.

Best wishes,

George and Cecilia

Race Equality Strategy Group - Terms of Reference

Meeting minutes

• 16 November 2020
• 09 September 2020

Two modules are available. 'Diversity in the Workplace' provides basic training on the legislative framework and its practical implications. All staff are required to complete this module.

The second module, 'Diversity in Teaching and Learning', focuses on the specific issues for teaching staff. It allows colleagues to reflect on their teaching practice and provides guidance regarding developing an inclusive learning environment. Staff with teaching responsibilities should complete this module in addition to the 'Diversity in the Workplace' training.

Each module will take approximately 60-90 minutes to complete. They can be started, saved and returned to at your convenience. The modules work best on a PC. For the 'Diversity in the Workplace' module we recommend using Internet Explorer as your web browser, and enabling flash.

• Access the training
• Further information on how to access and navigate the training

Note that your username is your @abdn.ac.uk email address and the default password is password. Please change your password when you first log in.

If you are having any difficulties with registering or accessing the training modules, please contact Human Resources - email: hr@abdn.ac.uk

Launched in November 2013, the Leadership Foundation's women-only development programme was created to help combat the underrepresentation of women in senior leadership positions, as evidenced in their research.

Aurora is a leadership development initiative that combines education, mentoring and on-line resources to provide learning with a more enduring impact. Aurora provides an additional opportunity for women to influence their institutions and to develop leadership skills. The core areas Aurora will address are:

• Understanding organisations and the sector
• Developing leadership behaviours, skills and knowledge
• Identifying and overcoming barriers and obstacles
• Growing confidence and a leadership identity
• Building networks, coalitions and support processes

These are addressed through a combination of development days, self-directed learning from on-line resources, cross-institutional action learning sets and in-house mentoring.

Aurora is for women up to senior lecturer and professional services equivalent, and participants will be asked to:

• attend each of the four development days, and the action learning set day organised by participants in their assigned groups
• undertake self-directed learning throughout the programme, aligned with developing interests and where time allows
• commit to working with a mentor which is provided by their institution
• and be prepared to participate in a longitudinal study to measure the impact of Aurora over time.

To find out more, please download the Aurora Brochure  or visit their programme website.

• Aberdeen University Student Association operates an Equality Committee. To find out more about this Committee please contact:

Vice President Welfare & Equal Opportunities

Aberdeen University Student's Association
www.ausa.org.uk
f: 01224 27 2977
e: welfare@abdn.ac.uk

• To find how disabled students can be supported during their time at the University please click here
• The University is fully committed to supporting disabled job applicants, disabled employees and employees who become disabled in the course of their employment.
• Our legal responsibilities are important to us, however, the moral and business case for creating an inclusive work and study environment form the basis of the strategic and operational priorities.
• Disabled applicants and employees are supported in a number of ways:
  • Guaranteed Interview Scheme
    Disabled applicants can opt into the Guaranteed Interview Scheme if they wish. The Scheme is voluntary and offers an interview to applicants who meet the "Essential Criteria" in the Person Specification.
    For further information on the Guaranteed Interview Scheme email Janine Chalmers, Equality and Diversity Adviser or telephone 01224 273883
  • Adjustments
    The University will make reasonable adjustments to allow a disabled employee to undertake their duties. This could, for example, be a change to the employee's workstation, working hours, working methods or duties.
  • Source of Support
    Disabled employees can seek advice and support from:
    • HR Adviser
    • Equality and Diversity Adviser
    • University Safety Adviser
    • Trade Union
    • Occupational Health Service
    • University Counselling Service

You may also find these external links to equality organisations of interest:

• Aberdeen City Council
• Equality and Human Rights Commission
• EHRC Gender Segregation at Events and Meetings guidance
• Equality Challenge Unit
• Ethnic Minority Forum (EMF)
• Grampian Racial Equality Council (GREC)
• Multi Ethnic Aberdeen (MEAL)
• Stonewall Scotland
• Scottish Interfaith Council
• Terrence Higgins Trust

You can find details of religious holidays and festivals from the BBC website.