Progress on Actions

In our 2023 report, we committed to several key actions to help us to advance EDI at Northumbria.  

1) Proactive and targeted work to reduce our known pay gaps

Northumbria is a progressive institution driven by our exceptional people. Being an organisation that promotes fairness in a community where all staff and students feel they belong is a key commitment underpinning our new Strategy.  Our ambition is clear, to continue our progress to reduce our median pay gaps in relation to gender, ethnicity and disability. 

Over the last year we have implemented a range of initiatives designed to improve representation and align with our ambition of closing pay gaps. We developed a pilot of a reverse mentoring scheme for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic colleagues and, following the success of the pilot, this will expand to include the equality characteristics of Gender, Disability and LGBTQ+.

A Shadow Chair initiative was developed and piloted throughout the year and will expand from September 2024. The initiative responds to lack of diversity across leadership at the University and provides an opportunity for colleagues to develop their business awareness their leadership potential, in time supporting us in our ambition to close our pay gaps.

We are actively monitoring promotions round outcomes following the introduction of the new Academic Development Review (ADR) process last year, following a pilot in the previous year. We monitor the diversity of both those who obtain feedback during the ADR process and of those who are successful. This is used to inform future iterations of the ADR scheme, including communications, information workshops and guidance documentation.

We have continued to support equality leadership development programmes for both women and minority ethnic colleagues. In November 2023 we expanded this offering to include supporting colleagues to attend a recognised LGBTQ+ specific leadership programme.

2) Implementation of our Race Equality Action Plan to advance race equality, in line with the University Race Equality Charter submission, July 2024 

We developed our Race Equality Action Plan and submitted our first institutional application to the Race Equality Charter in July 2024, the outcome of which will be confirmed in September 2024. The implementation of our Race Equality Action Plan will be supported by our Race Equality Steering Group and action owners across our University Executive.

3) Embed learnings from our progress through the Disability Confident Leader process to ensure meaningful change is made, including creating more opportunities for Disabled people to gain meaningful employment with us

Our work and commitment on advancing Disability equality continues beyond the achievement of Disability Confident Leader. Our Disability Equality Steering Group have identified a range of actions they will focus on for the new academic year. We have increased data disclosure rates following a campaign recognising the importance of understanding our Disabled colleague community.

We have made recommendations to enhance the recruitment experience for young Disabled people who may seek employment with us following participation in supported internships.

4) Demonstrate significant progress in line with our ambitions for Gender Equality aligned to our institutional Athena Swan Silver Submission, Spring 2025

We have delivered the majority of actions in our current Athena Swan Bronze action plan, and we are currently progressing our institutional Silver application for submission in March 2025.

5) Develop a proactive approach to inclusive recruitment furthering our recruitment strategy and advancing our work on positive action

We have undertaken several actions in relation to our approach to recruitment. This has included embedding EDI into our recruitment training, enhancing the transparency of the recruitment and selection procedure and the use of gender decoding software for recruitment materials.

We have diverse selection panels and use Vercida as a job board specialising in recruitment of diverse talent.

When using search agencies, we provide clear briefs in relation to our EDI commitments and expectations to ensure we obtain diverse candidate pools.

6) Expand the work of the Vice Chancellors Diversity and Inclusion Fund (VCDF) to enable embedding meaningful learning into our practice

The Vice Chancellors Diversity Fund continues to support a range of EDI related projects throughout the year. All project outcomes are fed into the University EDI Committee and recommendations are presented by the project owners to the Committee for consideration.

In 2024 we reviewed and enhanced the fund to both streamline the process and support work which is thematically linked to key EDI priorities.

7) Embed EDI into the supply chain, ensuring equality considerations are implemented into our procurement processes

Our Procurement Team understand the positive impact that the University can have on our suppliers and their supply chains. We are therefore committed to embedding EDI principles into our processes as well as our tenders. This includes: 

Having a designated member of the Procurement team act as our responsible procurement champion, which includes working with the University EDI team on various initiatives

Including relevant and proportionate EDI requirements in our tenders

Where possible, actively seeking and engaging with diverse suppliers, ensuring equal access to opportunities through our tendering processes.

Promoting fair and transparent procurement practices that seek to eliminate bias and support underrepresented businesses

This is further supported by our Financial Regulations which require all University colleagues to have due regard to the need to act in a responsible and ethical manner in all transactions.

8) Embedding of EDI into robust decision-making processes through the implementation of the redeveloped EIA process

Implementation of our new EIA process was supported via multiple training sessions throughout the year. The redeveloped process is now embedded across the organisation, enabling feedback from the EDI team to be given easily during EIA development and streamlining the approvals process for authors.

9) Amplify inclusion further through our research ensuring findings and learnings of best practice through research is implemented into our own organisational practices

We have held two standalone amplifying inclusion events during the year for colleagues and students and embedded our approach to ‘amplifying inclusion’ further in our inaugural EDI Conference in June 2024, where best practice from varied EDI themed research was shared with conference attendees to inform their own practice.

Return to main EDI Report page.