Equality, Diversity and inclusion
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
One of the great strengths of Warwick Law School is the diversity of our Community. We have almost 1000 students across eight Undergraduate (UG) programmes, five Postgraduate Taught (PGT) programmes and PhD/Research degrees.
70% Female
70% of our students identify as female, 13% greater than the sector average of 57% (HESR 2019).
64% BAME
64% of our undergraduate students identify as BAME. At postgraduate level, 68% of our taught postgraduate students and 57% of our PhD students identify as BAME.
38% International
38% of our undergraduate students are international from 55 different countries. We actively participate in overseas exchange programmes with partner universities.
Diverse Student Body
The globally diverse nature of our student body is even more pronounced at postgraduate level, where more than half of our Masters and PhD students are international students.
Widening Participation
Warwick Law School values widening participation. In 2021, 31% of our first-year undergraduate students came to us with a contextual offer. We are proud to be a leading department in the University in this area.
Warwick Law School
Our talented staff come from many different countries and backgrounds. We are committed to imbedding principles of equality, diversity and inclusion in everyday practices at Warwick Law School.
Athena Swan Bronze Award 2019
In June 2019 Warwick Law School was awarded a Bronze Athena SWAN award. This award reflects Warwick Law School's commitment to inclusivity and equality and the hard work of our drafting team; Jane Bryan, Becca Kirk, Rebecca Limb, Vanessa Munro, Sharifah Sekalala and Maria Ovens, plus the collaboration and support of colleagues and students across the school.
The Athena SWAN Charter was established by the Equality Challenge Unit in 2005. Initially focused on the careers of women in science, in 2015 it was expanded to recognise work undertaken in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law. Its remit also expanded to include those in professional and support roles, and work done to support trans staff and students.
View a copy of our November 2018 Bronze submission.
The Athena Swan Working Group meet monthly to track our progress in implementing our Athena Swan Action Plan.
This working group is also open to comments from across the WLS staff and student body. Anyone who wishes to raise an issue with the working group relating to the implementation of the Athena Swan Action Plan should contact the Director of Equality and Diversity.
Athena Swan at Warwick: University Policy
Decolonising the University
Since its start, WLS has been dedicated to the pursuit of progressive thinking and social justice. WLS remains committed to dismantling racism within higher education and promoting these ideals among our students and staff. We encourage our students to engage with the production and study of law as a contested practice. As part of the School's commitment to Decolonising the University we commit to renewing our curriculum and practices, targeting different forms of coloniality that pervade the curriculum.
WLS Decolonise Project
As part of our efforts to Decolonise the Curriculum we launched the WLS Decolonise Project in 2019. In 2020, we embarked on a yearlong project, with our undergraduate students who held several focus groups in order to craft their vision of what a decolonised law school would look like. Find out more.
Encouraging Diversity in Student Careers Support
Warwick Law School's Career Consultant Valerie Matthews-Lane has put together helpful advice for students of all backgrounds on how to build networks and navigate the employment market.
Accommodation of Caring Responsibilities
Warwick Academic Returners Fellowship
This enables academic colleagues to be freed from teaching and administrative responsibilities upon their return from maternity leave and shared parental leave in order to have space to focus on their research.
Warwick Conference Support Awards
Awards of up to £200 are available from the University to help support the extra care costs associated with attendance at conferences.
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee
The committee meet once per term. Any member of the Warwick Law School Community may raise an issue for discussion by the EDI committee by contacting the Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
Combatting Unconscious Bias in Staff Appointments
Warwick Law School acknowleges and challenges unconscious bias at all stages of its appointment processes.
With thanks to our colleagues in the Department of Physics, we ask external referees to consider the following when providing external references.
How to Limit Unconscious Bias in references:
In order to limit the influence of unconscious bias within your letter, consider the following:
- Focus on comparing the nominee with the specific requirements of the position.
- Avoid using stereotypical adjectives when describing character and skills, especially when providing a letter for a woman (e.g., avoid words like nice, kind, agreeable, sympathetic, compassionate, selfless, giving, caring, warm, nurturing, maternal etc.).
- Consider using ‘stand-out’ adjectives for both men and women, where appropriate (e.g., superb, excellent, outstanding, confident, successful, ambitious, knowledgeable, intellectual etc).
- Use the nominee’s formal title and surname instead of their first name.
- Consider whether your letter unintentionally includes gaps, or doubt-raising, negative or unexplained statements (e.g., ‘might make an excellent leader’ versus ‘is an established leader’).