Tag: EDI in HE (Page 4 of 5)

Posts related to EDI in HE

King’s College London and the Challenge of Windrush

June 25, 2020 / Tyler John

Professor Richard Drayton, a Caribbean-born professor of History at King’s commemorates the 72^nd anniversary of Windrush Day, a day honoring the Windrush generation and their legacy.

Since 2018, Windrush Day has been the day in which we celebrate what Caribbean people have given to Britain. Such a celebration should be anchored in the memory of why we came. But it cannot just be retrospective. The anniversary of Windrush should challenge us each year to address the question of racial inequality, both within Britain, and in Britain’s relationship to the West Indies.

Our contributions to Britain began long before the arrival of the Empire Windrush to Tilbury docks in 1948. Here at King’s, for example, a significant part of the wealth on which King’s was founded in 1829 was based on enslaved and tortured people in the West Indies. More generally, plantation slavery created a world in which modern Britain was rich, and its Caribbean colonies poor. It was in the context of this inequality of life chances that West Indians chose to leave their homes to come to London. It is against that background, too, that King’s relationship to the Caribbean was constituted.

There has never been any formal colour bar to study at King’s, nor indeed to recruitment to its staff. King’s indeed helped form Caribbean-born figures like Harold Moody, Sir Shridath Ramphal and Pearl Connor who have made fundamental contributions to British, Caribbean and international society. But from the nineteenth century to our own time, the consequence of slavery and colonialism were and are forms of economic inequality and unequal participation, which have meant that its personnel, culture and curricula have been overwhelmingly ‘white’. It is a significant step forward that in the moment of Black Lives Matters in 2020, that the college has begun to seriously confront the legacies of racism in its culture and practices.

One important possible new initiative might be for King’s to build and deepen its relationship to the Caribbean and its diasporas. It is striking that King’s, which sits just a short walk from the climax of Caribbean-British life in Brixton, has had so little to do with it, so few Black London students and even fewer academics. And might more effort go into building partnerships with the University of the West Indies? It was once the case that King’s and the then University College of the West Indies were sister members of the federal University of London. We should seek twenty-first century version of the kind of cooperation envisioned in that late colonial institution.

Windrush Day throws out a challenge to Britain in general and, specifically, to us at King’s. How do we remake ourselves, so that the descendants of the Windrush migrants can have an equal place in our life? And how do we address the forms of international inequality to which our domestic forms of racialised injustice were and are connected?

International Women’s Day: I Believe Her!

March 6, 2020 / Tyler John

For International Women’s Day, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Director, Sarah Guerra, pens a blog about the Netflix series, Unbelievable, and the way it navigates sexual assault and related traumas.

CW: sexual violence, suicide

One of the areas of work facing me when I first arrived at King’s was to tackle sexual misconduct effectively. As a rape and multiple sexual assault victim/survivor, this issue is something I personally know the importance of and take very seriously.

A principle of our work in the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team has been to center victim/survivors and to take a trauma–informed approach to tackling sexual misconduct. This approach recognises the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved in the system; it fully integrates knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices, and, most importantly, actively seeks to resist re-traumatisation. The act of reporting shouldn’t be worse or as bad as the original experience.

Watching the recent Netflix series Unbelievable was difficult but ultimately very affirming. The series dramatises the real life story of Marie Adler and other victim-survivors of a serial rapist. Unlike many dramas examining this subject, Unbelievable doesn’t glorify or dwell on explicit scenes of violence or victims’ suffering during the crimes. Much of the misery is instead relayed in flashbacks and tiny excerpts, most clearly showing how the horror and violation that victims feel impacts on their day–to–day lives after the assault.

A major narrative arc in Unbelievable examines the way ‘the system’ works: how the (mostly male) police, press, courts, social services all interact (or not as the case may be) to meet or fail to meet women’s needs. There are many heart-breaking aspects to the story. Some made me cry and others made me scream and shout with anger and frustration: seeing a vulnerable 18-year-old woman who has been raped face suspicion from the (male) detectives who are supposed to be helping her; watching the hours after Marie’s rape where she is forced to recount the attack repeatedly in cold, harsh environments totally lacking in comfort; watching the male, and clearly untrained, police detectives find minor inconsistencies in her story, leading them to suggest that she made the whole thing up; ultimately, leading the traumatised young woman to question herself and lose faith in the idea that she is worthy of support, and to feel life would be easier if she just acquiesced and withdrew her claim.

Unbelievable clearly contrasts Marie’s experience with the trained, empathetic approach used by the women detectives. These detectives sensitively, patiently and carefully engage with the victim/survivors, weigh each interaction for necessity and at every juncture seek to prioritise sensitivity over speed. It was a stark demonstration of how important it is to understand the issues facing victim/survivors and their potential reactions. It reinforced to me why a trauma–informed approach is so important: the victim/survivor’s welfare must always be a paramount consideration.

“You don’t sound crazy to me. You sound like someone who’s been through a trauma and is looking for a way to feel safe again and in control. And there is nothing crazy about that.”

The series puts the impact on Marie of being disbelieved and, as a result, recanting her statement into crushing focus. She loses friends, risks losing her sheltered housing, is vilified in news reports and can no longer count on the few adults she trusts. She attempts suicide. She is even charged and convicted of filing a false report and has to borrow money to pay the fine. Meanwhile, the rapist is shown to be free and raping other women, ruining more lives.

As the story unfolds, we find Marie’s initial account had been devastatingly true. I found myself furious that she couldn’t receive the due care and attention every human being in distress and pain deserves, and incensed that more women were raped because of the inherent sexism and incompetence of the first police team and the overall system. I hope that other viewers felt the same.

The producers of Unbelievable have performed a public service: vividly bringing to life what is expected of victim/survivors of sexual assault and the long term impact it has on their lives.

One rape victim-survivor says “They say that routine makes you vulnerable, so anything routine, I just stopped doing.”

The portrayal is unflinching in its examination of how badly things can go, how poor criminal justice systems and processes are and how easy it is to be unsympathetic to victim/survivors. The original police officer’s devastation and personal questioning when he realises his mistakes is palpable.

Detective Parker : I mean, I’ve been trying to figure out how I could have been so off. I wish I had an answer. I don’t. I’d do anything to go back and redo the whole thing. To just start all over and do right by you. I really would.

I take heart in this production relating this awful story in a sensitive and informed way and really showing the difference that can be made when people understand the core issues related to a subject, choose to empathise and are willing to put in the effort to work something out properly. The two lead female investigators, Detective Stacy Galbraith and Sergeant Edna Hendershot, have gone firmly into my hero bank. Every so often when my own resilience is low, I will bring them to mind and re-energise myself.

Diversity at TwinsUK: Jonathan Bogale-Demissie speaks to Andrew “Andy” Anastasiou

January 7, 2020 / Sarah Mander

Jonathan Bogale-Demissie is a medical graduate working at TwinsUK (Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology) as a Clinical Research Assistant and a child of hard-working Ethiopian immigrants.

“At a recent King’s panel discussion and talk about the life of the late great Dr Harold Moody that I began to understand the importance and value of shining a light on what makes us different. This is because I believe that our differences are where the beauty of the kaleidoscope of humanity shines through the most. I’ll be attempting to capture that and present it to you (in small readable doses, of course) by contributing to this blog on a monthly basis. This will consist of the same questions answered by gloriously different, lovely people working here at TwinsUK. I hope that it catches on and expands to the rest of the universe outside of this office.”

Our second interview is here! Just before that I wanted to briefly talk about how important it is that we appreciate and value the diversity in others in these changing times especially. I can’t emphasize that enough. Going with what we’re told is right in regard to who or what we should love and embrace and finding out for ourselves are vastly different things, the more of the latter we do, the better.

This brings us to one of the stars of Twins UK, the most generous soul in the office and this month’s interviewee, Andrew “Andy” Anastasiou who had thoughtful insight into diversity and what it meant to him…

My role at the Department of Twin Research

I’ve been working at the Department of Twin Research at KCL for about 11 years. For the first ten years my role was providing general IT support for my colleagues in the department, but over the last twelve months, I transitioned to the data team, where I work as an operations assistant, I now mainly deal with the collection, storage and distribution of the department’s data.

What kind of culture did you grow up with? / What do you know about your family history?

My ethnic background for as far back as we know and remember, is Greek Cypriot. My father came to the UK to find work back when Cyprus was still a British Colony, in the early 1950s. He went back to Cyprus several years later to get married, and returned to London shortly after, with my mother in tow, in the early 60s. My siblings and I were all born in London and brought up as Greek Orthodox Christians. We spoke a mixture of Greek and English at home and were sent to Greek school on Saturday mornings, so we could learn to read and write Greek, too.

What customs and values has your family instilled in you?

The customs that we continue to observe are the main religious celebrations, such as Easter and Christmas. We also acknowledge some of the major national holidays, but don’t really celebrate these in any way.

My parents have always been relatively open minded and they’ve instilled these values in us through example. We’ve often been told the old parables from the bible, as examples of how to be decent and were generally taught to always be honest, fair and kind and to try to empathise with people when figuring out how we should behave. “If you were in their shoes, how would you want to be treated?” and to that end, probably the most important value I’ve learnt, was the maxim of Doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.

What do you understand of diversity and what do you feel we should do to understand and embrace it?

We all have characteristics that define us as individuals, like our ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, abilities etc. Some of these we are born with and might not be able to change, while others might develop or change during the course of our lives. I think diversity in a group, comes from including people with as broad a range of these defining attributes as possible.

I believe education is key to embracing diversity. Since we aren’t born with prejudices, I think this needs to happen at as young an age as possible – initially at home and then possibly, through formal education at school. It’s easy to fear, dislike or mistrust things that are different to what we know or don’t understand, so being taught from an early age that being different is fine (and normal!), is critical in dispelling ignorance and distrust.

Embracing diversity doesn’t mean that we have to change ourselves, or compromise our individuality in any way, to fit in – just the acceptance of other peoples’ individualities and differences (if that makes sense).

Do you have any role models from a similar background as you?

I can’t think of any particular role models that stand out for me, but many of my close friends and colleagues have similar backgrounds to myself (albeit with different ethnicities and religions) and I’m frequently inspired by their good deeds and examples.

I also think that apart from having a solid group of openminded friends and family, growing up in London has also played a major role in embracing diversity, as you’re constantly surrounded by it.

Diversity at TwinsUK: Jonathan Bogale-Demissie speaks to Taha Bhatti

November 27, 2019 / Sarah Mander

The first interviewee is Taha Bhatti who has been a devoted member of the King’s Community, not only doing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees here but quickly becoming one of the most valued members of TwinsUK staff through her role as Project Coordinator. She was more than happy to contribute to this initiative, and I hope you, the reader, come out of this learning and understanding just a bit more about the wonderfully varied lives we come from to now inhabit this diverse city.

What kind of culture did you grow up with?

My parents are both Muslims originally from South Asia.

What do you know about your family history? My maternal grandparents were Anglo-Indians of mixed South Asian and English descent – a product of the British Raj ruling of India in 1900s. However, they sadly passed away in a car accident so my mum accompanied her older brother (my uncle) for further education in Saudi Arabia and then came to the UK in the late 80s. My paternal grandparents came to the UK from Pakistan in the 70s for economic reasons. After getting married in 1988 my parents settled in the UK but the rest of their extended family relocated to America (I’m guessing the currency exchange rate was better under Ronald Reagan). So unfortunately due to attenuated ties with my parents’ native homes, my siblings and I – being first-generation British Asians – have never visited their respective birthplaces.

What customs and values has your family instilled in you?

In terms of values, we were taught to be kind, helpful, God-fearing and to treat others how you would want to be treated yourself. Although being Asian in ethnicity, due to the diaspora and lack of extended family, my siblings and I were brought up with a religious stance rather than an ethnic one. i.e. neither of us speaks the language as instead of Urdu classes we were sent to an Islamic school on the weekends. There was no emphasis on either culture, ethnicity or race as they taught us religion is universal and sees past that so no need to hold onto ancestral traditions. And while there is a slight disconnection from our cultural heritage we understand why our parents sifted through what they passed onto us and I’m grateful they allowed us to enjoy the fun bits from the periphery like the food, music and colourful traditional Asian clothes we get to wear at big family events.

What do you understand of diversity and what do you feel we should do to understand and embrace it?

I see diversity as a mishmash of identities and backgrounds with ethnic, racial, religious, gender and age differences (not only cultural). Although there is plenty of diversity around us, to help in understanding and aid integration there needs to be a sincere curiosity in understanding everyone’s unique differences and making an effort to learn and experience these differences with a positive mindset, leaving preconceived notions or perceptions at the door.

Disability History Month: King’s Award

November 25, 2019 / Sarah Mander

Erk Gunce, our D&I Projects Intern is pleased to inform all fellow D&I enthusiasts that Abbie Russell from IoPPN has won the Inclusive Workplace award during King’s Awards.

Abbie has been a leading champion for diversity and inclusion at King’s and has well deserved this recognition. On top of her main role as Administrative Support Officer at IoPPN, Abbie has volunteered to take on many additional responsibilities. She is a safety representative, a sustainability champion and disability equality champion. Abbie is also the co-chair of ACCESS King’s – our very own staff disability network at King’s. She has played a pivotal role in advancing the network by organising drop-in sessions, arranging assistive software training and promoting panel and discussion events on neurodiversity.

Abbie has developed a Disability Inclusion Working Group, supported the establishment of an IoPPN Neurodiversity Peer Network and ensures disability features prominently in IoPPN communications such as newsletters, events, and social media. To us, Abbie is a living example of how valuable our staff volunteers are in advancing our networks & communities. It is colleagues like Abbie who, with their enthusiasm and selflessness, enable our staff networks to flourish and make a real difference to diversity and inclusion.

Please join us in celebrating Abbie for winning a King’s Award on Inclusive Workplace – way to go, Abbie!

Glass ceilings and Glass Escalators: The Paradox of Gender Equality in Nursing & Midwifery

November 15, 2019 / Sarah Mander

Dr Emma Briggs is the Diversity & Inclusion Committee co-chair and Athena SWAN lead for Nursing & Midwifery in the Florence Nightingale Faculty if Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative care. Here she reflects on the paradox of gender equality in nursing and midwifery and the launch of a national network to promote change.

The Nursing and midwifery sector suffers greatly from gender stereotyping – just search Google Images for a nurse or midwife. Or ask a school-aged child what a nurse does or wears. Even the Guinness Book of Records struggled with accepting that Jessica Anderson was wearing a nurse’s uniform when she ran the London Marathon in the fastest time (it should have been a dress, pinafore and cap, tights were optional, she was advised initially).

We need to be more diverse

Just 0.3% of midwives and 11.4% of nurses identify as male
6% identify as a different gender than their sex registered at birth (NMC 2019)

We need to be more gender diverse. Attracting men into the professions is an important challenge to address and has included the We are the NHS campaign, a BBC articles and Higher Education England campaign (featuring a King’s midwifery student), and university level projects such as #MenDoCare (Dundee) and Men in Nursing Together – MINT (Sheffield Hallam). But is seems we need to tackle those gender stereotypes much, much earlier. In research involving over 700 7-11year olds, 7 out of 10 children picked an image of a woman when asked to identify the children’s nurse. Most of the girls (80%) and boys (72%) in this cohort chose the image of a man when asked to identify the surgeon. A gender neutral uniform for children is just one of the ways we are trying to change the deep rooted stereotypes around midwifery and nursing.

Glass Ceilings and Glass Escalators

A double whammy – women may experience the glass ceiling while male colleagues get to ride the glass escalator. A recent international report into nursing leadership highlights how these two experiences co-exist. The glass ceiling is a familiar metaphor for invisible barriers to career progression but the glass escalator is associated with feminised professions. Here, men experience advantages and are elevated to leadership positions. UK research has also shown a higher percentage of men in senior nursing positions and it takes fewer years to get there.

In academia, our pipeline is still leaky, and the glass escalator may exist – 64% of professors are women. This is not as dramatic as other STEM subjects (contrast chemistry where 10% of professors are women) but it needs addressing.

So, therein lies the paradox; a predominantly female profession that needs to attract more men but needs to deconstruct its glass structures so there is equity in career progression. We need to work together on this.

Collaborating for Change

On 4^th November, we excitedly launched the Athena SWAN Network for Nursing and Midwifery (@SwanNursing) at King’s. The idea emerged from a collaboration between nursing faculties at King’s College London and Queen’s University, Belfast. We realised that we faced the same challenges. The new committee with five national leads, worked on the launch for a year. On the day, 32 delegates attended from 22 universities from the UK and Ireland and what a day we had.

L to R: Dr Angela Flynn, Dr Rosie Stenhouse, Dr Emma Briggs, Dr Susan Clarke, Dr Maurice O’Brien

ASNNaM committee: (L-R) Dr Rosie Stenhouse, Dr Maurice O’Brien, Dr Susan Clarke, Dr Emma Briggs

Prof Dame Athene Donald (@AtheneDonald; Professor of Physics, Cambridge University & Gender Equality Champion) provided an inspirational keynote address entitled ‘Thinking Positively, Acting Concretely.’ We also got to explore issues such as Men in Nursing & Midwifery (with Dr Maurice O’brien, Cardiff University), Gender Fluidity & Trans Matters (with Dr Rosie Stenhouse, University of Edinburgh), Barriers to Women in Academia (with Dr Susan Clarke, Queen’s University Belfast) and I presented on the Gender Pay Gap. Dr Angela Flynn (University College, Cork) facilitated our discussions on the aims of the network as well as tweeting furiously some of the key points and photos from the day (@SwanNursing for some absolute gems).

Where do we go from here? Sharing practices, comparing and collecting data and identifying solutions are important if we are going to address our gender equality issues. We are established on Knowledge Hub – a public service platform for collaboration so we can continue to build our community and make progress together. We will hold an annual networking and learning event for members and are excited about what can be achieved. We also are acutely aware that while gender equality is a significant issue, it is just one characteristic and as a network, we too call for research and data on the intersect of other axes of diversity. We need to address all stereotypes and barriers where they occur. We need to work beyond our university walls to challenge stereotypes early on. We need to collaborate for change.

Decluttering

October 30, 2019 / Sarah Mander

I love holidays. Who doesn’t?

One of my last holidays was what has been popularised as ‘a staycation’. Following a huge holiday at Easter exploring Ghana, energy, finances, and my daughters’ ‘need’ to see their friends, meant we decided to stay at home.

With daughters of 12 and 15, holiday ‘childcare’ is easier now that they don’t need looking after all day, every day. On the other hand, it’s also harder as we don’t really want them left entirely to their own devices during our working week. So, we juggle the 7-week holiday by alternating leave between my partner and I, stints at my mum’s, and this year, an orchestra tour and a trip to stay with a friend’s grandmother in Marseille. (Yes, I was extremely jealous.)

In the 10 days I had off, I enjoyed a glorious mixture of sleeping in, days out and decluttering. We went room by room, through cupboards and piles of stuff that seemed to magically accumulate over the course of the year. It was cathartic and emotional, identifying items we no longer needed like toys, puzzles, and games. It played to my inner organiser, letting me find homes for all the bits and pieces that just hang around or are dumped in haste. I loved seeing clear work surfaces, tables and carpets.

A real joy was the treasure trove of photos and a pile of CDs with videos recording our lives, snippets of family parties, Christmases and holidays spanning 2000-2010. Engrossing myself in these slowed my decluttering but also made me smile and weep in fairly equal measure; not everyone in the videos is still with us. One video featured me, 8 months pregnant, at a Center Parcs yoga class, lounging on a mat, with Kaela (then 2) sitting listening attentively during the introduction, then zipping round the classroom, paying no attention for the entire class. Meanwhile Jon (who hates yoga), just in frame, can be seen diligently doing all the poses. It was hilarious.

In the grand tidy up, I happened across a box of work papers, including past 360˚ reports and artefacts from my professional and personal development journey, such as my Chartered Member of CIPD coursework and various development scheme exercises. It was rewarding flicking through these and considering them alongside my most recent 360˚ report. There was feedback that was repeated, but mostly there were comments that allowed me to reflect on how my behaviours have changed over the course of my professional journey.

I also rediscovered a piece of research on Tempered Radicals. I remember how life-changing it was when I first read this and realised, I was a Tempered Radical. ‘Tempered radicals find themselves in the tricky situation of trying to be a part of the dominant culture while at the same time trying to change the system.’

It had helped me explain why I was a bit like Marmite for some. Why, despite really caring about people and always striving to create improvement, I had always been a bit of a misfit, seeming regularly to rub many people up the wrong way. This, combined with my slightly perfectionist tendencies and (though I hate to admit it) really wanting to be liked and approved of, had often led me to question myself or be unsure. Recognising that I served a purpose and that some of the cost of that was not always being liked or appreciated provided real solace, as recognising the value I add despite sometimes rocking the boat was important.

So, all in all, a relaxing and productive bit of annual leave (now a long distant memory). I would highly commend a bit of life- and mind-decluttering to all and I give a big shout out to all the fellow Tempered Radicals out there.

Geography’s Athena SWAN Bronze Reflections

October 17, 2019 / Sarah Mander

The Athena SWAN charter recognises commitment to advancing the careers of women in higher education across teaching, research and professional services, and supporting trans staff and students. The charter recognises work undertaken to address gender equality broadly and takes an intersectional approach to inclusion.

Geography have been awarded a Bronze award at the first attempt, and SAT co-chairs Professor Cathy McIlwaine and Sabrina Fernandez reflect on the self-assessment process.

Halfway through our submission process, a colleague sent us the wonderful report authored by Alana Harris and Abigail Woods from King’s History Department with the link to the Athena SWAN Gender Equality Snakes and Ladders. It mirrored almost directly our own experiences of working as a Self Assessment Team. We had started with an optimistic view that it would not be that difficult, especially if we organised ourselves carefully into working groups who would be responsible for each section. It would write itself! Or so we thought. Not surprisingly, this was not the case. It took far longer and was much more challenging than we anticipated. Yet, there were also rewards and surprises along the way.

One of the key factors in our successful submission was to make Athena SWAN a specific project within the department with a budget, a project manager from professional services (Anna Laverty) and two SAT co-chairs – one an academic (Cathy McIlwaine) and another from professional services (Sabrina Fernandez), both of us senior. As has been widely reported elsewhere, this process should not be passed to a female (or male) junior member of staff to carry out as part of what is often deemed to be a small administrative job. In addition, a strong relationship between academic staff and professional services is also crucial. Without regular meetings as a small group of professional services and academic staff who ended-up writing the document, we would never have submitted!

The challenges we faced were also common in terms of gathering data. Some of the local level data required broken down by gender, was ultimately impossible to find in some cases; but we managed to use what we did have as illustrative. The gathering and analysis of the major quantitative data sets would have been impossible without the data lead (Bruce Malamud) and our other data people on the SAT (Daniel Schillereff on the academic side and Georgina Lonergan from professional services). These roles are crucial and unless there is data expertise on the SAT, submission would be extremely difficult. Despite real frustrations around the data when at times we thought we would never be able to present a quantitative picture of the department in terms of staff and students, in the end, it was a revelation to see the data plotted in really accessible ways. It was so satisfying to identify where we had a positive story to tell but also where we needed to focus our attention.

Another issue was that we under-estimated was the buy-in required among the SAT team. We had a whole-hearted commitment in theory to working on diversity and inclusion and on the importance of Athena SWAN, but less concrete contributions. Of course, this is understandable in light of multiple demands on people’s time, but we were surprised by those who ended-up giving more or less to the process. Yet we had full support from our Head of Department (Mark Mulligan) who was open to proposals in theory and practice; he also found the budget to be able to commit to several initiatives.

Our survey and focus group work were also really revealing but also a challenge; with hindsight, we would organise a more streamlined staff and PhD survey and conduct it at the beginning and at the end of the process. One of the most interesting data gathering exercises we carried out was around departmental descriptors – asking staff (and separately, PhD students) to assess how they felt about the department (welcoming, friendly, competitive, collegiate, hostile, supportive, ambitious, challenging) with largely positive results .

It was a huge relief to discover that we had been awarded a Bronze award, as we felt that our hard work and trials and tribulations along the way had been worth it. We are now looking forward to implementing our Action Plan and to working beyond just gender with other axes of diversity in a more intersectional way as well as with other important issues related to diversity and inclusion that are not included within the Athena SWAN process.

Diversity Matters

October 17, 2019 / Sarah Mander

As Director of Diversity and Inclusion at King’s, I am constantly advocating for the benefits of diversity, the value-added of attracting a demographic mix of staff and students, and how important it is to create a welcoming and supportive environment where everyone can contribute.

But I’ll let you into a little industry secret…. managing diverse teams and organisations is HARD.

Yes, diversity is an asset. There is a lot of evidence that diverse teams tend to outperform homogenous teams and fuel creative thinking and problem-solving. Yes, there is also a strong business case for diversity and inclusion. Yes, there is a huge benefit for innovation. Research has consistently shown that the more diverse your teams are, the more innovative you are. Diversity is important for an organisation to be able to relate to the service users– the diversity (in our case) of students needs to be reflected in the diversity of our employees.

Diversity produces its own set of challenges. It is hard work for the exact reason that makes it an asset – it is the bringing together of multiple, diverse perspectives. It helps us consider issues from different angles, but can also be a trigger for debate, argument, and disagreement.

I have been thinking about this a lot as we have been developing the D&I function at King’s. We have recruited a broad cross-section of talented individuals. To develop the function, we have been engaging across the university to understand the various needs, priorities and ways of working. To build a truly effective function, my colleagues and I have spent a significant amount of time looking at, and understanding, what is currently going on across King’s and then evaluating that against what we as a university would like to. I knew it was important to understand what the challenge is and then intervene strategically. We have recently launched our newly devised function.

This, in practice, has really tested all my professional skills. How on earth do we make progress while listening to so many different points of view? How do we reach one decision when there are what seem like infinite conflicting viewpoints? How do we address individual feelings, hopes and fears versus an organisational imperative? How do we do all that whilst ensuring that individuals feel valued and listened to?

IT’S HARD! And it takes continual effort and conscientiousness. Some days I feel like it would just be so much easier if everyone would just agree with me – but then I remind myself that if we all agreed, we would not see all the perspectives that come from diverse life experiences and the world we live in requires us to be far more agile than that.

These last few months I have been taking my own medicine – and no doubt haven’t always got it right. I have a genuine desire and goal to try hard and always self-examine and enable others to tell me what they think. One of the ways I did this recently was via seeking 360. It was tremendously eye-opening to read how others perceive and receive me and I’ll be honest, it took me a while to reconcile myself with the feedback. It was great to hear about some of my strengths and the positive impact I’ve had. It gave me pause for thought to realise how much I need to improve in some areas. In fact, some of the words made me want to cry, but that’s what you get when you ask people to tell you the truth and they trust you enough to listen to it.

I can say with confidence and experience that diversity brings with it the prospect of conflict. In an organisation like King’s, an inclusive mindset and embracing diversity go far beyond recruitment practices. We need to change the norms in our everyday practices and culture to welcome and include individuals with different backgrounds, expectations, and working styles. To get that inclusive mindset we need to step up our individual and organisational leadership and management capability. What do I mean by that? Well, for me it means giving myself space to prepare and plan, but also think and reflect and creating that space for others to do so too. Being able to admit when I am unsure, or don’t know, have been wrong or when things haven’t gone as I expected. These are all practices that contribute towards an inclusive work environment, and require careful thought and consideration each and every day.

#BHM2019: History in the Making

October 3, 2019 / Sarah Mander

As part of our Black History Month blog series, Ph.D. student, Michael Bankole writes for us about the often-overlooked Black British political history.

1987 was a momentous year in black British history. Black History Month was first celebrated in the UK in 1987, with its main purpose to recognise the contributions made by black people in Britain and counter misrepresentations of black history. Since then, Black History Month has successfully brought to the fore some overlooked aspects of black British history.

1987 was also seminal year for the political representation of black people in the UK. Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant became the first three black Members of Parliament.

All three of the black MPs elected to Parliament in 1987 played an active role in challenging racism. Bernie Grant, who sadly passed away in 2000, established the Parliamentary Black Caucus, which sought to advance the interests of ethnic minorities. Grant sought to redress racism both in Britain and Europe, as he also founded the Standing Conference on Racism in Europe. Paul Boateng played an active role in challenging racism within the police service. Remarkably, Diane Abbott still serves as an MP today. She remains a vocal champion of the rights and interests of black and minority ethnic citizens in the UK.

Progress in the elections immediately following 1987 was incremental, however the 2010, 2015, and 2017 General Elections saw more substantial increases in the number of ethnic minority MPs. Following the 2017 General Election, ethnic minorities now constitute 8 per cent of the MPs in the House of Commons. According to the most recent British Census in 2011, ethnic minorities account for 13 per cent of the British population, therefore there is still room for improvement in order to achieve perfect representation. Nevertheless, my research focuses on the post-2017 period because Parliament now more closely resembles the general population than ever before.

My doctoral research focuses on what ethnic minority MPs do once they are elected. While ethnic minority MPs currently hold two of the four Great Offices of State, most of the current cohort are backbenchers. This means that they have limited direct oversight or influence on public policy. I therefore examine the parliamentary questions asked by ethnic minority MPs – both written and oral – in order to ascertain whether or not they use these questions to challenge racism. I will also conduct interviews with a range of ethnic minority MPs in order to gain direct insights from them about their roles.

It is important that ethnic minority MPs use the platform they are given to challenge racism because racism affects the lives of ethnic minorities in Britain, regardless of their class or status. Britain’s imperial and colonial history led to the entrenchment of racial hierarchies; this means that society is structured to promote racial inequalities.

Central to the British approach to racism is the desire to root out the extremists or ‘bad apples‘ that are framed as the main perpetrators of racism. However, focusing on flagrant, individual manifestations of racism overlooks the fact that racism is systematic and pervasive across institutions in Britain. The Race Disparity Audit commissioned by the government in 2017 highlights some of the problems faced by minorities across various areas of British life. Some of their key findings include:

16% of Black households were in found to be living in persistent poverty.
Black ethnic groups were found to be disproportionately likely to live in the most deprived neighbourhoods.
Approximately 1 in 10 adults from a Black, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Mixed background were found to be unemployed.

Remedying institutional racism starts with the recognition that it is a big problem. There is limited discussion or engagement with institutional racism in the UK. MPs can play a role in reshaping our understanding of racism by challenging its institutional nature.

By undertaking a PhD, I hope to forge a career in academia. Academia, much like Parliament, is overwhelmingly white. A delve into some of the statistics makes for harrowing reading. Leading Routes, an initiative aimed at increasing the number of black academics, report that of the 19,000 professors in the UK, fewer than 150 are black. The Equality in Higher Education 2018 Report found that only 6.7% of academic staff identified as black or minority ethnic.

These statistics are disheartening for black students attempting to scale the rungs of academia, however we can take some inspiration from trialblazers like Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng, and Bernie Grant who broke down barriers to make history. Their journeys to Parliament were far from straightforward, but provide real hope for other black people attempting to break barriers across various sectors of society.

We can also take courage and inspiration from the succinct, yet powerful words of Professor Marcia Wilson, one of the few black female professors in Britain: Academia needs you. Higher Education needs more people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds in order to ensure a diversity of perspectives and opinions. The legitimacy of academia is undermined by its lack of diversity. There is a real need to remove the barriers to academia for black and minority ethnic citizens. Academia will be a better place for it.

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