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The EDI Committee meets formally 5 times a year. If there is anything colleagues feel should be raised or discussed, then please contact the EDI leads or raise this through your EDI rep for your department or group.​

The EDI Leads send around EDI Newsletters every few months via email. These newsletters provide updates on EDI work in the School, events and funding opportunities. ​

The EDI leads hold informal EDI Chats regularly which are open to all colleagues to drop-in. These are held online or hybrid, dates are communicated by email and are put on the School Calendar. These are an opportunity for colleagues to share any views, raise any issues or ask any questions.

The Barbara Bagilhole Memorial Award is a School-wide prize, founded by Professor Line Nyhagen in 2017 to celebrate students’ work in Equality and Diversity. It is named after Professor Barbara Bagilhole, a Professor of Social Policy and Equal Opportunities at ºÚÁÏÍø who contributed to ground-breaking EDI-related research on gender inequalities in the construction industry.

The categories are Best Student Paper and Best Other Academic Coursework. The winning entries each receive a prize to the value of £100. These prizes are open to all taught SSH students. Students can self-nominate or be nominated by a member of staff. The nominations are judged by a prize awarding panel consisting of academic staff drawn from across the School. The current awarding panel are Alena Pfoser, Fran Azpitarte, Sarah Parker, Poppy Cullen.

We’re delighted to announce this year’s winners of the Barbara Bagihole Memorial Award for coursework in Equity and Diversity. As in the previous years, awards were made in two categories: best essay, and best other academic coursework.

We had again a number of very strong submissions this year. The panel was particularly impressed by this year’s submission for the ‘best other’ category which showcased creative and often personal work covering a wide range of important topics and formats.

 In the essay category, we have two joint winners:

“Author as Critic: Explore the relationship between Viriginia Woolf’s novel Mrs Dalloway and her critical work A Room of One’s Own” by Bethany Dark - HTUB02 (Part I)

“Exposing the Windrush Scandal: A case study analysis of investigative journalism in The Guardian” by Subomi Lawal – CXUB02 (Graduated)

In the “other coursework” category, the winner is “The Hidden Issue: Barriers faced by transgender menstruators” by Eva Patterson – SSUB01 (Graduated)

We would also like to commend “Gora rang: navigating the effects of colourism in Punjabi women” by Probhjot Kaur – SSUB01 (Graduated)

Justifications:

“Author as Critic: Explore the relationship between Viriginia Woolf’s novel Mrs Dalloway and her critical work A Room of One’s Own”

The panel was impressed by this nuanced discussion of the relationship between Virginia Woolf’s critical and creative work. The essay weaves complex and convincing connections between A Room of One’s Own and Mrs Dalloway. The essay covers diverse themes - from male superiority and the gender binary, to essentialism, androgyny and homosexuality - with admirable clarity and depth. The essay honours Woolf’s work while acknowledging her privilege and the contradictions within her arguments, including her reliance on ‘patriarchal capitalism’. The author successfully shows how Woolf’s theories are applied through her fictional methods, in the process showcasing a deep understanding of both Woolf and literature more broadly.

“Exposing the Windrush Scandal: A case study analysis of investigative journalism in The Guardian”

This is an impressive case study analysis shedding light on the role of investigative journalism in exposing the Windrush scandal. The essay provides a detailed and original analysis of articles published in The Guardian and situates them in the wider political context of anti-migration rhetoric and hostile environment policies. The author persuasively shows how journalism can shape narratives on migration and how evidence can be effectively used by journalists to challenge negative depictions and expose the wrongdoings of government. The piece is thoroughly researched and timely considering the on-going treatment of migrants, a group particularly vulnerable to government failures. It also serves as a powerful reminder of how power can successfully be held to account.

“The Hidden Issue: Barriers faced by transgender menstruators”

The panel particularly enjoyed this entry which addresses the important but overlooked issue of transgender menstruators with clarity and sensitivity. The blog entry draws the reader in as it explains the challenges and barriers for transgender menstruators, discussing their specific experience, the framing of hygiene products and the serious issue of period poverty. The style is perfect for a blog, with an excellent flow and structure and a very effective combination of text and images. Moreover, the panel were impressed by the upbeat and constructive tone of the blog on a challenging subject, highlighting its significance in the wider context of trans rights and visibility.

 “Gora rang: navigating the effects of colourism in Punjabi women”

The panel was impressed by this piece on colourism which interweaves personal experiences with wider reflections on colourism in society. The author successfully dissects how hegemonic cultures create beauty standards and how skin tone discriminations are perpetuated in popular culture and race socialisation with negative consequences for women of colour. The blog both exposes and challenges colourism; its style is engaging, and images and examples are used effectively to support its message.

The EDI Research Fund was introduced in 2020-2021 and two awards were made to support Research in this area:

The following colleagues were awarded EDI awards in 2020-2021:

Award winners for Championing EDI 

Yvonne Cornejo nominated by Cristina Hidalgo-Orihuela and Andrea Pastor-Torres 

“constant efforts to make us aware of the differences of learning among our students and the need to adapt our teaching to make it accessible to all.  

“shared good practice and suggested ad hoc bibliography to all members of the team…consistently highlighted webinars and workshops about Neurodiversity and teaching, assessment or related matters taking place online. “ 

James Esson nominated by Heike Jons and Sarah Mills 

“Founding and running the BAME staff network as a co-leader has not only raised the profile of BAME staff in the School and across the university…supported both colleagues and students with diverse cultural backgrounds and contributed in very important ways to their empowerment in research, teaching and academic as well as professional service and management.” 

“his work on the Race Equality Charter, and a recent collaborative project and report on the attainment gap and student experience. His external leadership in this area has been recognised by a Royal Geographical Society award for his contributions to teaching and learning in higher education, exemplified in his excellent work with the RACE working group of the RGS-IBG.” 

Emma Nadin nominated by Gillian Collard  

“Chair of The Staff Inclusivity Group... for any member of staff who identifies as having or being affected by physical or invisible disabilities.  The Group meets regularly throughout the year and provides a forum for members of staff affected by physical or invisible disabilities, allowing them to raise issues and seek support.”   

“plays a fundamental role in increasing the profile of the group and ensuring its commitment to raising awareness of both physical and mental disabilities as well as making positive suggestions to improve current practices and policies at ºÚÁÏÍø. Emma has also recently volunteered to join the EDI committee representing the Inclusivity Group and Professional services.” 

Elizabeth Peel nominated by Steve Rothberg   

“her leadership in creating LEADING (ºÚÁÏÍø Equality Diversity and Inclusion Networked research Group) initiative. LEADING aims to foster collaboration on EDI research across disciplines and Schools, and raise the profile of ºÚÁÏÍø’s EDI research nationally and internationally.”  

“LEADING’s origins are in the University People Strategy and the possibility of a research network was raised towards the end of 2019. Since then we have seen the differential effects on the careers of women in lockdown and, of course, the powerful emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement. What was an important initiative back in 2019 now incorporates some of the defining matters of our times.” 

Team award for EDI Support for Students category goes to the Language Centre 

Some of the many personal citations for Language Centre staff received are shared below. The EDI Committee decided that, because of the many staff from this team nominated, and because of the collaborative way in which they have approached supporting students, that a Team Award is most appropriate. 

Birthe Richter-Wilson “always been very aware of the needs of neurodiverse students and has adapted her teaching in a consistent and constant fashion over the past few years. She has attended a number of courses including a four-week course on teaching students with dyslexia and has been applying and sharing the outcomes, for example developing a multi-sensory approach to support students with special learning differences.”  

Cristina Hidalgo-Orihuela “for the huge efforts to develop all her materials in line with best practice across the board”. 

Andrea Pastor-Torres “reflects a diverse range of cultures in her teaching and is extremely creative in designing multisensory, playful materials – to suit all learners.”  

Michel Cornette  “his commitment with students' effective learning goes above and beyond… Michel worked closely with one of his students who was hard of hearing to meet his needs… it has been impressive to see how Michel managed to adapt the aural comprehension test effectively.” 

Elizabeth Mavroudi and Iris Wigger gave 2 presentations on ‘Enhancing the student experience through building a diverse community’.

• Elizabeth Mavroudi focused on ‘Inclusive teaching and teaching for neurodiversities’ and
• Iris Wigger talked about ‘Reflections and discussion on Broadening, Diversifying and Decolonising the Curriculum’

If any colleagues have any ideas for training they would like to see then please contact the EDI Leads who would like to encourage all colleagues to undertake any relevant EDI training. Relevant University-wide EDI training can be found on the Organisational Development Hub.

All EDI SSH training events were held in a hybrid form (i.e. online and in person) and will continue to be. PPTs of these talks are available on the SSH intranet under people and culture.

The second such event happened virtually in January 2021.Colleagues from ºÚÁÏÍø shared their expertise in incorporating EDI matters in the classroom. David Roberts (SBE) shared tips on making our teaching as accessible as possible to neurodiverse students. James Esson (Geog) and Catherine Armstrong (POLIS) reflected on racial inclusivity, and Sarah Williamson (CAP) shared some practical tips on making our online learning as inclusive as possible to all.

At a separate event in September 2020, David Wilson (pronouns they/them) ran a virtual training session for all staff and PhD students in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities. We discussed the following questions:

• What do the terms ‘trans’ and ‘nonbinary’ mean?
• What are the challenges that LGBTQ students and colleagues face in our workplace?
• How do I support LGBTQ students and colleagues?
• As a cis gendered person, what can I do to be an ally?
• How can I talk about gender and sexuality without causing offence?
• How do I identify and challenge transphobic language and behaviour?