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 Boyne                                                        Cecilia Wallback

Professor George Boyne                                       Student President

Principal and Vice Chancellor                               AUSA

The University is delighted to be publishing its British Sign Language (BSL) Action Plan. The Plan has been developed to enhance and develop further accessibility to the University for BSL users. The Plan has four main aims:

• Improving access to information and services on campus for BSL users
• Engaging with local and national partners to increase training and support for BSL interpreters
• Engaging with school pupils and their families to ascertain support required
• Ensuring the views of BSL users inform the development and review of the Plan

Working in partnership with staff, students and external contacts will be key to the success of the Plan, particularly as BSL interpretation services are limited in the north-east of Scotland.

If you would like to contribute to the BSL Working Group or provide comments, please contact Janine Chalmers, Equality and Diversity Adviser.

The University is delighted to be accredited as Disability Confident Committed and strives to ensure that disabled staff and students have the opportunity to work and study in an inclusive, accessible and supportive environment.

The Diversity Calendar shows the key UK and international dates for diversity and inclusion throughout the year. The calendar may help you when planning events or engaging with the University’s diverse staff and student population.

Diversity Calendar

• 2020
• 2019

The University Equal Pay statement 2020 has now been published – copy can be found below:

• Equal Pay Statement 2020

The University is fully committed to equality for all of its staff and students.  The Gender Action Plan is an extension of the intensive work the University has been undertaking to embed and mainstream the principles of equality and diversity across the University.

The Plan focuses on those factors within the University’s sphere of influence in order that we can work towards ensuring that gender stereotypes and other societal barriers are challenged.

The University’s Gender Action Plan can be found here: Gender Action Plan.pdf

Further information may be obtained from Janine Chalmers

The University’s latest Gender Pay Gap report can be accessed here 

The report provides a summary of the Gender Pay Gap, the factors affecting the gap within University of Aberdeen and our actions and commitment to eradicating the gap.

To view previous years click below

• 2017
• 2018

From 4-8 March 2019, the University held an exciting week of activities and events to celebrate the diverse staff and student communities on all its campuses, exchange ideas and promote the University’s commitment to inclusion.

The events were held in partnership with the Campus Trades Unions, the staff equality networks and the Aberdeen University Student Association. In total around 500 members of our community participated, either by attending events, watching them through the live stream option or by contributing to discussion.

• Full programme

Whilst we welcome breastfeeding in the University’s public areas, we also have a number of first aid rooms throughout campus for nursing mothers who would prefer a quiet, private area to feed or express.

The University of Aberdeen submitted to the funding councils' Research Excellence Framework in November 2013.

The selection of staff for the submission was governed by the institutional Research Code of Practice, which sets out the processes and structures for selection.

Access The Research Code of Practice.

The institutional Code of Practice was subject to equality impact assessments when it was drawn up, during the selection period and when selection was completed.

Access the final Equality Impact Assessment for the institutional submission process and the proportion of members of staff with protected characteristics under the Equalities Act 2010 in the submission.

If you have any questions about the REF or the selection process, please contact Marlis Barraclough

Disability Network Group

The University is fully committed to equality for all of its staff and students. The University has a Disabled Staff Network Group, open to both disabled staff and those with an interest in disability issues. The group aims to provide support for disabled staff and those with an interest in disability in the workplace, to share information and consider good practice, and to provide recommendations to enhance University policy where appropriate.

The Disabled Staff Network Group meets regularly with meetings advertised via StaffNet and our internal Disabled Staff Network Group mailing list. Meetings are generally held on campus at lunchtime. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, in complete confidence, please contact Janine Chalmers.

Chairs of the network are David Hutchison and Mark Paterson.

LGBT Staff Network Group

The University is fully committed to equality for all of its staff and students. The University has an LGBT+ Staff Network Group, open to both LGBT+ staff, LGBT+ Postgraduate Students, and those with an interest in LGBT issues.

• LGBT+ Staff and Postgraduate Student Network Group

The LGBT Staff Network Group first met in November 2013, and is now run by a small committee:

• Ian Robotham - Co-Chair
• Vacant - Co-Chair
• Teodor Nikolov - Secretary
• Zee Allison - Communications and Publicity Lead
• Nick Edwards - Policy and Procedure Lead
• Kathleen Cronie - Postgraduate Rep

All members of the committee are happy to be contacted to discuss the activities of the group and issues affecting LGBT+ staff and research postgraduates. All discussions will be treated in confidence.

The Network Group meets regularly with meetings advertised via Facebook, StaffNet and our internal LGBT mailing list. Some meetings are held on campus at lunchtimes, while other events take place outwith working hours in other venues. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, in complete confidence, please contact i.robotham@abdn.ac.uk.

• LGBT+ Staff contacts

Some members of the network group act as volunteer contacts who are happy to talk to both staff and students. If you would like to talk to someone from the network group, to make contact before an event or as a new member of staff or student, details are listed below. They would be delighted to hear from you.

• Ian Robotham, Head of Applications Management, ITS - Tel: x3361, email: i.robotham@abdn.ac.uk

Menopause Network

The Menopause Network aims to raise awareness of the potential impact of the menopause at work and provide a support mechanism for staff who are experiencing the menopause.

Please contact Janine Chalmers for more information.

Parent's Network

A network designed to support staff and students who are parents or carers.

Further information can be gained from Dr Clémence O’Connor

Women's Network

As part of International Women’s Day 2020, the University are excited to launch a new Women’s Development Network. This inclusive network is designed to connect female staff, including those who identify as female, from all grades and areas of the University and support their career development through an exciting agenda of inspirational talks, training, mentoring and networking events.

Members of existing networks such as the new Aurora Alumni Network are more than welcome to join us, share experiences and ideas of how we can support our female staff. If you’re interested in finding out more and helping shape this network, please email Dr Rhiannon Thompson

Senior Women's Network

The Senior Women’s Network has a remit to:

• further equality of opportunity for women across the University
• share ideas, experiences, knowledge and opportunities to support women in their careers
• raise issues, concerns or ideas with University Senior Management to facilitate positive change
• support the creation and development of other networks across the University.

Further information may be obtained from Janine Chalmers.

Race Network for staff

As a part of our commitment to create an inclusive environment for all our employees, we have established a new ‘Race Network’ for staff.

The Network is co-convened by Vimal Subramanian (International Strategy Officer, Professional Services, click here for more information) and Ritu Vij (Senior Lecturer, Politics and International Relations, click here for more information) and aims to provide an informal social space to share experiences in a confidential and supported environment, and to promote and contribute to the advancement of race equality in our institution.

Membership of the network is open to all members of staff interested in celebrating and promoting progress and good practice in race equality matters.

If you are interested in the theme of Race or simply wish to be informed on progress, please email racenetwork@abdn.ac.uk.

The University has launched an Equality and Diversity e-training facility for all staff. The e-training is an easy way to ensure your knowledge on Equality and Diversity matters is up-to-date.  This will help to ensure that the University creates a learning and working environment which is accessible and inclusive.