Your voice matters
Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Race Equality Charter
Our university is part of the Race Equality Charter Mark to improve the representation, progression and success of black and minority ethnic colleagues and students within higher education.
Our commitment to race equality has been an area of focus for several years, beginning with our participation in the Race Equality Charter pilot in 2015 and our subsequent commitment to the national principles in 2016.
Our Race Equality Forum, active since 2010, has been instrumental in developing our Annual Race Lecture series which takes place every October. We have welcomed a number of speakers over the years including Henry Bonsu, Khadija George, Professor David Gilborn, Clifford Harding, Rodney Hinds, Roger Kline, Joan O’Mahony and Baroness Glenys Thornton. Most recently we had the privilege to hear from Dr Shirley Thompson about our African heritage in classical music and the effort she has made to reclaim this part of our history.
These lectures are open to colleagues, students and the wider Leeds community and are an important part of who we are and our culture.
ECU Race Charter Leeds Beckett University are proud to be part of the Race Equality Charter Mark.
Diversity profile
We are also making significant progress with the diversity profile of our professoriate, both in relation to gender and ethnicity. 20.6% of our Professors identify as BAME and 3.4% of our Professors identify as Black or Black British. Advance HE (ECU) statistics report 0.6% of Professors identify as Black or Black British nationally (2017). Our own university is making progress and we recognise that we still have much to do.
Our School of Education is leading the way and in 2017 appointed a new role of Professor of Race in Education, the first of its kind nationally. In 2018 the school also offered a number of fully funded part-time doctorates, including in race and education.
20.6%
of our Professors identify as BAME.
UK Professors by ethnic group
UK professors by ethnic group, 2015-16:
- White 92.0%
- Asian 3.2%
- Chinese 1.9%
- Other 1.3%
- Mixed 1.0%
- Black 0.6%
ECU (2017) equality in higher education statistical report 2017 - weighted by full person equivalent
Academic senior managers by gender and BME/white identity
Academic senior managers by BME/white identity, 2015-16:
- White male 65.5%
- White female 29.4%
- BME male 4.1%
- BME female 1.9%
ECU (2017) equality in higher education statistical report 2017 - weighted by full person equivalent
More than 1,000 colleagues and students completed our recent Race Equality surveys and highlighted several opportunities for us to develop:
- How to encourage a greater sense of belonging among BAME students
- How to increase the diversity of colleagues at senior levels
- The experience of BAME students and colleagues in reporting race-related incidents
- How to improve recruitment processes for students and colleagues
We’d like to thank all our colleagues and students for engaging with our Race Equality Charter Survey. We are using the outcomes and insights from both surveys to inform our Race Equality Action Plan and ensure that we continue to make the progress required to eliminate racial inequality.
Next steps
- We will be communicating regularly to keep you up to date with the race equality work we are undertaking and seeking your views on future actions
