Race Equality Charter

What is the Race Equality Charter?

AdvanceHE’s Race Equality Charter is a national scheme aimed at improving the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students in higher education. 

The REC provides a framework that guides us in identifying and evaluating institutional and cultural barriers standing in the way of racially minoritised staff and students. It covers academic staff, professional services staff, student progression and awarding, and diversity of curriculum. 

The University’s engagement with the REC demonstrates our determination to tackle racism and racial inequalities in our institution and to create an environment where individuals of all ethnicities and races can thrive. There is still considerable work to be done to achieve that, but we believe we have the right processes in place.  

Race Equality Charter Principles

By becoming a member of the Race Equality Charter, the University has committed to the following guiding principles:

• Racism is an everyday facet of UK society and racial inequalities may manifest themselves in everyday situations, processes, and behaviours.Racial disparities are a critical issue in outcomes for staff and students, recognising that racial inequalities are not necessarily overt, isolated incidents.  

• The UK higher education sector will not reach its full potential unless it can benefit from the talents of the whole population and until individuals from all ethnic backgrounds can benefit equally from the opportunities it affords.   

• In tackling racial inequalities, it is important that actions are aimed at achieving transformational and long-term institutional culture change, avoiding a deficit model where actions are aimed at changing the individual. 

• Staff and students from racially minoritised ethnic backgrounds are not a homogeneous group. People from different ethnic backgrounds have different experiences of, and outcomes from and within, higher education, and that complexity needs to be considered in analysing data, developing solutions, and implementing actions.  

• Embracing intersectionality, from analysing data to developing actions, can better support institutions to tackle racism within the higher education sector.  The UK higher education sector will not reach its full potential unless it can benefit from the talents of the whole population and until individuals from all ethnic backgrounds can benefit equally from the opportunities it affords.   

Awards

We obtained an institutional Bronze Race Equality Charter award in October 2024. A Bronze award recognises that the university has a solid foundation for eliminating racial inequalities and developing an inclusive culture that values all staff and students. Read more on our news pages. An ‘Executive Summary of our Bronze submission’ and our ‘2024-2029 Race Equality Action Plan’ are available on the links below. Please note, our action plan remains a live document and will be updated in collaboration with our Race Equality Steering Group.

Executive Summary of our 2024 Bronze award submission

2024-2029 Race Equality Action Plan (please contact us if you require an accessible version)

Self-Assessment Team (SAT)

The role of the University Race Equality Steering Group (encompassing our Race Equality Charter Self-Assessment Team) is to track the University’s work towards race equality and oversee our institutional Race Equality Charter applications.

The University asked for colleagues to express an interest in joining the Race Equality Steering Group and members include staff from across the University as well as representatives from Northumbria Students' Union; the membership is also a mix of volunteers and relevant post holders. The Race Equality Steering Group is chaired by Prof. Tom Lawson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost.

For more information on the charter, please visit the Advance HE website.

Current staff at Northumbria University can find out more by visiting the Race Equality Charter pages on the Intranet, and students can find more information on the Student Portal.