Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Annual Report 2023/24
Increasing representation, enhancing a sense of belonging, creating an inclusive culture.
We are putting into action the University's Strategy 2030, which has equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at its heart.
2023/24 highlights include...
Increasing representation
Equality Pay Gaps
In comparison with 2022/23:
- The overall mean Gender Pay Gap fell from 19.1% to 14.9% (13% excluding casual workers)
- For people identifying as Black, the mean pay gap compared to people identifying as White fell from 23.7% to 19.7%
York Graduate Research School (YGRS)
Preliminary analyses show increased applications from researchers with a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background. Comparing the figures from 2020/21 to those for 2024/25:
- Applications from these groups have risen from 13% of total applications to 15% of the total
- Offers made have risen from 12% of total offers to 15%
- Unconditional firm acceptances have risen from 9% to 17%
Aspire Together
The Aspire Together programme has developed partnerships with one high school and two colleges in Bradford, and has delivered sessions for parents and guardians around the UCAS application process, student finance and campus experience.
Black Access
17 students who took part in the Black Access programme and were offered a place to study here have put York as their firm or insurance choice. Nine (52%) of them have enrolled.
Enhancing a sense of belonging
Decolonising and Diversifying the Curriculum
We delivered a DecolonisING the University event with York Anti-Racist Collective as well as three faculty-focused workshops. The project is a part of the Student Success (Academic) intervention strategy in the University’s new Access and Participation Plan and is overseen by a Coordination Group.
Disabled student support
We have developed International undergraduate and postgraduate disabled student journeys to complement the suite of information available to our disabled students.
Report and Support
We've seen an increase in students reporting misconduct with contact details (76.5% in 2021/22 to 81.7% in 2022/23) suggesting more trust in the University’s processes.
EDI Training
We continue to engage staff in our EDI training.
- 95% have completed the new EDI module
- 84% desk-based and 98% non-desk based staff completed the Disability Awareness module
- 92% of staff required to complete the Unconscious Bias module as part of their annual training cycle have done so
- A further 146 staff have attended Trans Awareness training sessions this year, meaning that we have reached approximately 13% of our staff over three years
EDI Campaigns
This year we participated in 16 equality awareness campaigns which, between them, generated over 8,650 web page views. Our York Talks and Festival of Ideas engaged the public with 18 race-equality related events this year. We also hosted an Athena Swan sponsored talk and Soapbox Science event in the City of York.
International Women's Day 2024
We held nine online and face-to-face events across the University to mark International Women's Day 2024, and the Centre for Women’s Studies once again supported the city-wide York International Women’s Week programme.
Women in Research Network
The network's membership now exceeds 200, and it won the Gender Equality award at the Inclusive Impact Awards 2023.
Creating an Inclusive Culture
The York Campus Nursery
The new Campus Nursery offers 94 spaces, a significant increase from the previous capacity of 39. This includes increasing the number of places for babies from nine to 30. Capacity to accommodate school age children (up to 5 years) during school holidays has also been increased.
Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave
From 1 August 2024, paternity/partner leave was increased from two to six weeks of leave paid at full pay. The six weeks can be taken in separate weekly blocks. Maternity Pay, Adoption Pay and Shared Parental Pay have been increased from 18 to 26 weeks of leave paid at full pay.
Carer’s fund
The Carer's Fund was first introduced in August 2023 to support employees to maintain a balance between their caring commitments and work. £2,405.80 was accessed from the fund by nine staff members during 2023/24.
Supporting our trans community
We published Information for trans staff including:
- Action plans for colleagues supporting trans staff
- Guidance on changing formal and informal names, using pronouns, being an active bystander
Celebrating diverse cultures
The Student Hub continues to deliver creative sessions, well-being workshops and cultural festivals with students. A second ‘Soul Vibes’ mural was created in 2024 and a third one is in planning.
Launch of the EDI Research Centre
The EDI Research Centre works to support staff and students to embed EDI principles in all aspects of the research process.
Inclusive Impact Awards
An Inclusive Impact Awards ceremony was held on 21 November 2023, presenting nine awards to teams and individuals.
Other Achievements
Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE)
YCEDE developed two mentoring programmes, one network, and one ‘train the trainer’ package to improve on-course experience. It recruited 42 research internships across five partner universities. The project is working with 10 pilot departments, including three at York, to change PGR recruitment and admission processes to make them more equitable and transparent.
Equity in Leadership programme
Our participation in the White Rose Consortium Equity in Leadership Programme continued, supporting the career development of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff aiming to advance into senior leadership positions.
York Sanctuary Fund
The York Sanctuary Fund supports displaced students and academics at their time of need. In February 2024, York Honorary Graduate Dr Magid Magid hosted an event at the Royal Society of Arts to support the Fund. One of our Equal Access scholars explained that without this support “my PhD would not have been possible, and my children would not have been able to return to school."
awards
Athena Swan
We now hold 22 Departmental Athena Swan awards (three Gold, six Silver, 13 Bronze). These include the following awards received in 2023/24:
- New Silver awards for Archaeology and English and Related Literature)
- New Bronze award for Sociology
- Renewed Gold awards for Biology and Chemistry.
Our York Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team (YASSAT) has begun self-assessment for our next institutional application (Silver award) in 2025.
The Black Access Student Team
The Student team supporting the Black Access programme was shortlisted for the 'Liberation in Leadership' and 'Student Team of the Year' awards at the SU's Love York awards. They were also finalists at the HEIST awards, along with the University's Marketing, Recruitment, Access and Outreach team, for the ‘Best Widening Participation campaign initiative’.
Our challenges
Academic promotion
Figures for academic promotion applications and successes in 2023/24, compared to 2022/23:
- Black, Asian and minority ethnic application rates increased from 10% to 12.1%, but the success rate dropped from 96% to 76%
- Female application rates have decreased from 11.4% to 10.6%, and the success rate dropped from 91% to 87%
Reversing this decline* will be a key consideration for improving the promotion process. We will also reflect on this work as a commitment in our institutional Athena Swan action plan 2025 to 2030.
* For comparison, the success rates have also dropped for male staff (from 90% to 81%) and for White staff (from 90% to 87%)
Tackling pay gaps
Whilst the ethnic pay gap has reduced for people identifying as Black, for people identifying as Asian the mean pay gap increased again from 12.4% (2021), 14.4% (2022) to 14.8% in 2023.
Much work still needs to be done to ensure we hit our 2030 target of eliminating our gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps completely.
OUR PRIORITIES
Equality, diversity and inclusion strategic objectives 2024-30
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion are at the heart of the University’s 2030 vision and our strategic objectives for EDI are based on the University's four strategic aims. Our priorities are:
- Developing inclusive systems and infrastructure
- Tackling gaps across the student lifecycle
- Embedding EDI in research planning and culture
- Diversifying our staff and student community at all levels
- Fostering understanding, belonging, and respect in our University community and beyond
The work of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (EDIC) is underpinned by the continued strength of the Athena Swan Steering Group, Race Equality Coordination Group and Disability Inclusion Framework.
Built with Shorthand