August 2021.

Thank you to everyone who contributed towards our institutional submission to the Race Equality Charter. We’ve made the application and should get results later in the year.

Your input has helped us understand the issues we need to focus on to make Warwick a place where all students and staff feel valued, safe and supported to achieve their full potential, where racial diversity and inclusion are the norm, and where racism of any kind is stamped out.

Background

We are on a journey towards a deeper understanding of the causes of racial inequality for our students and staff, and we’ve been working actively towards an anti-racist culture. Our submission outlines this progress, and the extensive work still to go. You can see some of the progress we've reported so far.

Actions

We’ve come a long way, but we know there are many areas where we are yet to make impactful change. Through the REC self-assessment process, we’ve identified a number of areas that we need to address urgently. Our priorities are to:

• Eliminate the Black attainment gap.
• Increase racial diversity in higher staff grades, particularly in senior management and leadership teams.
• Increase staff and student confidence in reporting racial harassment and discrimination.

The solutions to these issues are complex, inter-related, and require a well-planned and resourced long-term strategy, one which we’re all fully committed to deliver.

Kulbir Shergill (Director of Social Inclusion) will lead this work in partnership with our Race Equality Taskforce – a group of staff and students who advise on race equality-related issues and raise matters of concern. We’ll report progress to Council and Senate three times a year via the Social Inclusion Committee, and keep the wider community informed and consulted too. There will also be a report on Social Inclusion strategy progress in early Autumn.

Commenting on the submission, Mike Shipman (Pro-Vice-Chancellor) and Kulbir Shergill (Director of Social Inclusion) said:

“In all of our efforts, we have truly valued the dedication and inspiration of the students and staff on the self-assessment group and the Race Equality Taskforce. We would not be making the progress that we are without their guidance and expertise.

Working towards the charter makes public our priority to be an anti-racist institution and we look forward to continuing to develop an anti-racist culture at Warwick, one that values and nurtures the talent of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic students and staff, with the support of the Race Equality Charter.”