Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Strategy

Transcription

1 Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Strategy

2 Contents 1. Introduction and our Commitment Context College Response Delivery of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion References

3 1. Introduction and our Commitment 1

4 1. Introduction and our Commitment The purpose of this document is to set out our commitment and approach to delivering our corporate and legal responsibilities for equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I), as detailed opposite. In doing so, the College will communicate what it wants to achieve through its equality outcomes and approach to embedding ED&I in all functions and activities, i.e. mainstreaming. This involves the local ownership and delivery of ED&I across the College, to make a positive difference to the lives of disadvantaged groups. The College is one of Scotland s major education providers. Approximately 50% of our students are from Glasgow, while the rest mainly originate from other areas across Scotland, as well as the rest of the UK and overseas. The College offers education and training opportunities ranging from foundation courses through to Higher National Diplomas, as well as a number of degree courses with our higher education partners. Courses are delivered across the following curriculum areas: Building, Engineering & Energy. Business. Creative Industries. Education & Society. Leisure & Lifestyle. Nautical Studies. The pedagogic model of delivery at City of Glasgow College recognises the need for both students to develop the skills required by employers, and for their learning experience to mirror the working environment as closely as possible. The College achieves this by adopting a project-based approach developed by lecturers with input from employers to ensure that the outputs are industry-relevant. The College employs 1,150 staff across 10 locations in the city centre, at Riverside Campus, and to the east of the city. Construction of the new campus buildings began in 2013, and is on schedule with the new buildings opening at Riverside in 2015, and at City Campus in 2016, with the development fully completed in Revised August

5 Definitions Equality Providing a level playing field for disadvantaged groups to ensure fairness. The approach is centred on: o Equality of opportunity (access). o Equality of process (experience and treatment). o Equality of outcome (achievement). Diversity Valuing everyone as a unique individual and celebrating this difference. Managing diversity successfully will help organisations to nurture creativity and innovation and thereby tap hidden capacity for growth and improved competitiveness. Inclusion Social exclusion is the outcome of multiple deprivation, which prevents individuals or groups from participating fully in the social, economic, and political life of the society in which they live. Inclusion in education is regarded as a process of addressing and responding to the diverse needs of all learners through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing exclusion. (See references at end of document) 3

6 Commitment College Values Equality, Diversity & Inclusiveness is one of 6 core College values: The Individual. Equality, Diversity & Inclusiveness. Integrity, Honesty and Transparency. Excellence & Achievement. Partnership. Innovation & Enterprise. College Behaviours Through student and staff engagement, behaviours were identified which support the College values and promote a positive culture. These agreed behaviours will be communicated through a variety of approaches, including the Our Behaviours booklet, communication materials and workshop awareness raising sessions. Such approaches will help promote and reinforce the behaviours to ensure they become embedded within the College culture. College Strategic Aims Equality, diversity and inclusiveness are addressed within the following strategic aims: 1.2. Work with students as co-creators of their own learning that is accessible, supportive, and representative of all Provide access and progression opportunities for all Respond to the diverse and evolving needs of all students by providing effective systems of support and guidance Embed the College s commitment to equality, diversity, inclusiveness, tolerance, and respect for the individual. 4

7 Access and Inclusion The College will encourage access and inclusion, and thus widen participation, by recognising, prioritising and meeting the needs of individuals and groups which comprise the communities the College serves. Some key enablers of access and inclusion include: Curriculum Design. Marketing and Communications. Community Engagement. Student Recruitment and Selection. Student Funding. Student Services. Student Learning Support. HR Recruitment and Selection. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy An Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy has been devised, which details the aims, scope and responsibilities for ED&I. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Statement Equality, diversity & inclusiveness for all: Fairness. Opportunity. Respect. 5

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9 2. Context 7

10 2. Context Our strategic and operational approach to delivering ED&I within the College is grounded upon the following legislative, strategic policy and best practice requirements: Scottish Government strategy to achieve sustainable economic growth and tackle youth unemployment through learning and training, as outlined in Opportunities for All and Putting Learners at the Centre. Scottish Funding Council strategy to improve the life chances of learners and support jobs, growth and sustainability. The Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act The social justice and business case for ED&I. Equality The Equality Act 2010 streamlined, strengthened, and harmonised 40 years of equality legislation. This introduced a Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), with a focus on equality of opportunity, for all UK public authorities. Devolved Specific Duties were introduced to enable authorities to better perform the PSED. In Scotland, the Specific Duties 2012 and subsequent amendment 2016 place responsibilities upon the College to: Devise equality outcomes and report progress. Report progress on mainstreaming the PSED. Assess and review the impact of policies and practices. Gather and use employment information. Publish gender pay gap information and publish statements on Equal Pay. Consider award criteria and conditions in procurement. 8

11 Diversity The need to account for diversity is implicit within the PSED of the Equality Act Indeed, having due regard to the need to advance equality of opportunity involves taking steps to meet the needs of students and staff from a range of protected characteristics. Furthermore, having due regard to the need to foster good relations involves promoting understanding. The College recognises that persons who share a protected characteristic are not a homogenous group, but instead have different experiences, needs and identities. It is important for the College to embrace the fact that diversity will exist in many ways and strive to harness the benefits of this diversity positively, rather than ignore it in decision-making. Given this, the College is committed to effectively managing, engaging with and celebrating the diversity of its student and staff communities. Access & Inclusion A key priority of the Scottish Government is to achieve sustainable economic growth, as stated in Putting Learners at the Centre. Within this context, delivering a high performing education and skills system is an essential part of building the workforce required to maintain economic competitiveness. In Opportunities for All the Scottish Government acknowledges the disproportionate impact that weak economic conditions have on young people, especially those who are furthest from the labour market. The government recognises that staying in learning or training is the best way for young people to develop the skills they need to progress towards and into employment. As such, the government is committed to offering a place in learning or training to every year old who is currently not in employment, education or training. The College is committed to tackling and minimising barriers to education and employment, particularly for the most vulnerable groups. Furthermore, the relationship between the socioeconomic status and deprivation of student groups is examined using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, SIMD. This data is presented within the Equality Mainstreaming Report. Please refer to Section 3 for more details. 9

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13 3. College Response 11

14 3. College Response This section will detail how the College has responded to the PSED and Scottish Specific Duties of the Equality Act Please refer to the College website for more details. Equality Mainstreaming The College regards mainstreaming as the local ownership and delivery of equality, diversity and inclusiveness across all College functions and activities. To enable this, the College devised a mainstreaming vision to support embedding ED&I across its strategy and operations. This vision is: To nurture an environment in which the equality, diversity and inclusion of students, staff and visitors from all backgrounds are routinely anticipated, expertly accommodated and positively celebrated. In response to the Specific Duties, the College will publish a full equality mainstreaming report every two years (next due 2017) on the progress made to make the PSED integral to its functions. In addition, the College details the steps taken to collect and use equality data, together with its approach to mainstreaming the PSED across functions, within an interim report, published every other year (next due in 2016). Together, the Equality Mainstreaming Report and Interim Equality Mainstreaming Report are designed to enable the College to better progress the PSED year on year. Equality Outcomes Where mainstreaming can provide a vision and model for delivery, equality outcomes can provide a measure of change. In this context, equality outcomes can be regarded as the strategic and operational expression of equality mainstreaming. These describe what we want to see at City of Glasgow College. The Specific Duties place a responsibility on the College to prepare and publish a set of equality outcomes every four years (next due in 2017). In addition, a published report 12

15 detailing progress in achieving these outcomes is required intermittently every two years (next due in 2019). The College spent two years devising its equality outcomes through the extensive consideration of qualitative and quantitative evidence, with the involvement of students, staff and external organisations representing protected characteristics. This exercise is now complete and the Board of Management approved the following strategic outcomes on 15 th May 2013: 1. Students actively engage in learning & teaching that is accessible, supportive, and representative of all. 2. Students and staff benefit from spaces and services which are accessible, supportive, and representative of all. 3. Where under-represented, the proportion of students across protected characteristics is increased. 4. Where under-represented, the proportion of staff across protected characteristics is increased. 5. Students successful course completion, regardless of protected characteristics, is increased. 6. Staff needs are supported to promote equity and fairness in all stages of the career journey. 7. Students and staff are encouraged and empowered to exercise their rights and fulfil their responsibilities in relation to equality and social justice. To present and deliver these outcomes, an Equality Outcome Setting Framework and an Equality Outcome Progress Plan have been developed. To ensure that outcomes are delivered as intended, the outcome progress plan will be regularly reviewed, updated and published on the College website. 13

16 Staff Information In Scotland, the Equality Act 2010 Specific Duties place a responsibility on the College to: take steps to gather information on the number and relevant protected characteristics of staff by composition, recruitment, development and retention; and use this information to better perform the PSED. The approach adopted, staff equality data collected and progress made in better performing the duty are to be presented within the equality mainstreaming report. As stated, the College publishes a full equality mainstreaming report, including steps taken to collect and use equality data, every two years (next due 2017 and 2019). In addition, the College details the steps taken to collect and use equality data, together with its approach to mainstreaming the PSED across functions, within an interim report, published every other year (next due in 2016 and 2018). Together, the Equality Mainstreaming Report and Interim Equality Mainstreaming Report allow staff (and student) equality data to be presented annually so as to enable the College to better progress the PSED year on year. Assessing Impact In meeting the Specific Duties, the College will assess the impact of applying a proposed new or revised policy or practice, make any revisions to ensure compliance with the PSED and publish results within a reasonable time period. To meet these requirements the College has devised and delivered: A policy protocol document which includes guidelines and responsibilities for conducting an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA). Local ownership for conducting assessments. Training and guidance to teams responsible for policies and procedures. An electronic procedure for undertaking an EQIA. A quality flow system to ensure EQIAs are undertaken before being published on the College s intranet site. A system to audit a random selection of EQIAs to ensure consistency in approach. A specific section on the College website for publishing completed assessments. 14

17 Equal Pay In meeting the Specific Duties, the College will publish gender pay gap information in relation to the difference in salaries between men and women every two years (next due in 2017 and 2019). The College will also prepare and publish an equal pay statement every four years (next due in 2017). The first statement specifies the equal pay policy in relation to sex and the second statement will also incorporate disability and race. Following completion of the job evaluation exercise, the College conducted an analysis of pay information and devised an equal pay statement in relation to sex. This analysis presented the percentage difference among staff between men s average hourly pay and women s average hourly pay. Subsequently, these data informed the equal pay statement in relation to men and women. This information is published within an Equal Pay Statement and Information 2015 report, available on the College website. Procurement The specific duties also place specific responsibilities on the College in relation to procurement. This states that, when relevant and proportionate to the subject matter of an agreement for goods, works, or services, the College should have due regard to whether the award criteria of the agreement, and the contract conditions should include considerations relevant to its performance of the PSED. The College s procurement policy and procedure has been revised to account for this requirement. 15

18 CALM (Creating Accessible Learning Materials) Initiative The CALM initiative supports the ED&I element of City Learning, formerly New Campus New Learning. City Learning is a College-wide learning pedagogy and strategic drive towards a comprehensive modernisation of Learning & Teaching materials and approaches. Through 4 inter-related training workshops, the CALM initiative aims to develop appropriate skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviours to empower staff to create and maintain accessible electronic CALM Compliant Learning & teaching materials and approaches. Subsequently Equality, diversity & inclusiveness for all are embedded into Learning & Teaching materials and delivery through: Fairness, by being non-discriminatory and making reasonable adjustments. Opportunity, by removing disadvantages, meeting needs and increasing participation. Respect, by tackling prejudice and promoting understanding. Embracing Diversity Competition Embracing Diversity is a College wide competition, asking students to creatively explore diversity, equality, and cultural differences within the range of courses offered throughout the curriculum, and to express this in a format of their choice, e.g. painting, photograph, T Shirt, poem, video, etc. The primary objective of the competition is to raise awareness/improve discussion of a complex concept, comprising social justice, legislative compliance and potential cultural change amongst both students and staff, as part of the Learning & Teaching experience, at grass roots-level in the classroom. Final outputs of the competition are judged by representatives from external equality groups, together with key support staff. The work and talents of students is celebrated with a prestigious exhibition and awards ceremony which takes place in May. Please see the Embracing Diversity Competition page on the College website for more details. 16

19 Cross-College ED&I Events A sub-group of the ED&I Working Group is responsible for organising and delivering a strategic approach to cross-college ED&I events. The overarching goal is to deliver specific ED&I themed months each academic session targeted to students and staff: Black History Month in October Inter-faith Awareness Month in November. Disability Awareness Month in December. Age Awareness Month in January. LGBT History Month in February. Gender Equality Month in March. Poverty Awareness Month in April. The components of each event vary, but common features include: Links with external agencies and established events, e.g. for Black History Month and LGBT History Month. Panel discussions with guest speakers. Related beauty treatments, including glitter tattoos. Spotlight events in the Students Association Common Room, with representation from relevant equality charities, the College Students Association and the College ED&I Team. Movie screenings of relevant films in the Students Association Common Room. Special library collections with a presence on the student VLE Classroom based activities and projects across faculties. To ensure the widest reach, the events are promoted via a range of on and offline communications, including: big screen adverts; staff and student s; a visible presence on the College website, student VLE and staff intranet; social media; posters; and menu cards distributed across campus. 17

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21 4. Delivery of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion 19

22 4. Delivery of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion The ED&I Departmental Operational Plan details objectives, with specific actions and targets, and is linked directly to the College strategy via the College s planning framework and self-evaluation process. This framework ensures the alignment of strategy and operation within the College and, together with self-evaluation, enables the assessment of progress and successes against objectives and challenges. Central to the effective mainstreaming of ED&I and delivery of equality outcomes across College functions are: Strategic management and operations. To fulfil the College s legislative, business and social justice requirements for ED&I across its strategy and operations, various structures and staff groups have been established. Data and evidence consideration. In support of meeting the PSED, the College is required to consider evidence in relation to groups who share a relevant protected characteristic when: 1. Setting equality outcomes. 2. Assessing and reviewing policies and practices. 3. Gathering and using information on the composition, recruitment, development and retention of employees. Student, staff and community engagement and involvement. The College involves individuals and groups representing a range of protected characteristics in discussions and decision making procedures across its operations and services. Strategic Management and Operations Students, Staffing and Equalities Committee of the Board of Management: provides strategic direction and a structure for the governance of ED&I. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Advisory and Engagement Group: comprised of representatives of external equality groups, key senior teaching and support staff, together with student representation. This group informs and supports College ED&I strategy and operations and provides advice on legislative compliance and best practice. 20

23 Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Working Group: comprised of teaching and support staff, across the majority of College functions, together with student representation. This group supports the development of the College s ED&I strategy, operations, mainstreaming efforts and equality outcomes. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Department: comprised of the ED&I Manager and ED&I Officer. This department provides leadership, support and advice for the College s ED&I strategy and operations. Internally, the team produces a Balanced Scorecard to set priorities and an annual Operational Plan and self-evaluation, addressing these priorities, with periodic progress reports on actions, measures of success and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Externally, the team produces statutory reports which detail the College s progress in meeting its legislative duties. People and Culture Directorate: Comprised of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Human Resources and Organisational Development. College and Departmental Strategy and Operation: at a College level, a strategic and operational approach has been adopted to mainstreaming ED&I. The College s new strategic plan is now in place, which includes a planning framework for outlining strategic aims and related operational objectives. At a local level, managers devise Operational Plans to deliver on ED&I mainstreaming initiatives and progressing equality outcomes. Data and Evidence Consideration Staff Surveys and Focus Groups, are undertaken with specific questions on ED&I. In the staff engagement survey 2012, 89.7% of staff agreed or strongly agreed that As an employer, the College is committed to advancing diversity and equalities. 86.8% of staff agreed or strongly agreed that I am treated fairly by my line manager and my colleagues. Course Action and Development Meetings (CADMs) and Student Surveys are conducted. These examine fairness and equality in admission, services, learning, support and guidance. CADMs incorporate student class representative participation to examine how ED&I has been embedded within learning and teaching. During 21

24 , 85% of students agreed or strongly agreed that Lecturers treat us fairly, sensitively and equally. The Staff Recruitment & HR Software System was updated in late 2011 to revise and extend data collection across all protected characteristics in relation to the composition, recruitment, development and retention of staff. The Student Application and Enrolment System, in accordance with Scottish Funding Council (SFC) requirements, collects and examines data across: age; disability; race (ethnicity and nationality); religion; sex; and sexual orientation. In addition, the College also monitors gender identity/reassignment. The College is committed to working with the SFC to agree revised and extended data fields for all protected characteristics and it is likely that belief and gender reassignment will be included in SFC monitoring in future. Formal Student Complaint Investigations are conducted, some of which have a particular equality focus in relation to specific protected characteristics. Quality standard accreditations are conducted, including Investors in People (IIP), European Foundation Quality Management (EFQM) and Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, which include specific reference to ED&I. Student, Staffing and Community Involvement and Engagement The College involves individuals and groups representing a range of protected characteristics during discussions and decision making procedures across its operations and services. These include the following internal and external sources: Students, Staffing and Equalities Committee of the Board of Management: provides strategic direction and a structure for the governance of ED&I. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Advisory and Engagement Group: comprised of representatives of external equality groups, key senior teaching and support staff, together with student representation. This group informs and supports College ED&I strategy and operations and provides advice on legislative compliance and best practice. 22

25 Staff with Responsibilities for ED&I, particularly those from the ED&I Working Group, attend various committees, working groups, Senior Management Team and support staff meetings to share good practice. The Student Executive, Equalities Officers and Class Representatives are elected by students to serve and meet the diverse needs of students. Staff Surveys and Focus Groups are undertaken including specific questions on ED&I. Student Surveys and Course Action and Development Meetings (CADMs) are undertaken, examining fairness and equality in admission, services, learning, support and guidance. Class representatives actively participate in and inform the CADM process. Involvement from Groups Representing Protected Characteristics, and reference to equality data, are central to conducting Equality Impact Assessments (EQIA) by teams responsible for devising policy and procedures, as well as making key decisions. Student Needs Assessments are Conducted by Student Development Staff in conjunction with students who have an additional support need (ASN) to determine reasonable adjustments and identify support required. Personal Leaning Support plans (PLSPs) are then created to record these adjustments. 23

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27 References 25

28 References CIPD (2005) Managing Diversity: People Make the Difference at Work- But Everyone is Different ; available online via: ERHC (2011) The First Triennial Review ; available on line via: s_britain_-_complete_report.pdf UNESCO (2005) Guidelines for Inclusion: Ensuring Access to Education for All ; available online via: 26

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