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Notes of ECU Scottish HEI Liaison Group meeting, 19March2015,Abertay University
Attendance
Bass, David / Equality Challenge UnitBoyle, Denise / University of Edinburgh
Duncan, Helen / University of the Highlands and Islands
Croft, Ian / Robert Gordon University
Douglas, Freya / Equality Challenge Unit
Docherty, Edna / University of Stirling
Forbes, Caroline / Abertay University
Loke,Gary / Equality Challenge Unit
Wild, Mark / Universities Scotland
Signorini, Kate / Open University in Scotland
Fraser, Eilidh / Abertay University
Hill, Anne / University of the West of Scotland
Duncan, Ann / University of Strathclyde
Masson, Muriel / Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
Nicholson, James / Abertay University
Trivedi, Ajit / University of Dundee
Apologies: Sukhi Bains (St. Andrews), Chris Sellers (UHI), Sharan Virdee (Heriot Watt), Sheila Williams (Edinburgh), Adrian Lui (GCU), Gilll Hammond (GSA), Graeme Duff (Stirling), Gail Carin-Levy (QMU), Mhairi Taylor (Glasgow), Naseem Anwar (Strathclyde), Halena McAnulty (SFC), Roz Caplan (RCS).
1. Welcome and introductions
=ECU welcomed members and thankedAbertayUniversity for hosting the meeting.
2. Notes of last meeting
=The group agreed the draft notes of theDecembermeeting and these will be added to the ECU website.
3. ECU Briefing paper discussion
=ECU provided an update on the organisation’s funding situation.
=ECU has submitted a funding proposal to the SFC for a programme of work in Scotland for 2015-18, and the bid is being considered and we expect a decision in April.
=In England, there will be no future HEFCE funding and ECU is moving to a subscription model. A consultation on this new model, which will incorporate the charters into one holistic offer, will be open in April. There will be a graduated model of subscription rates based on the income of the institution.
Competence standards and reasonable adjustments
=Stage one of the research is complete and a draft report is available by email request.
=Stage two of the research is underway, in which guidance is being developed with QAA and the quality teaching forum (QTF), the Heads of disability services group, and for academics with the HEA. An additional event with the Heads of disability services group is being planned.
Governing bodies, equality and diversity in Scottish HEIs
=ECU updated the group thatthe research report is currently being produced, along with a handbook for governors.
=An early evening reception will be held on 30th June in Edinburgh at Our Dynamic Earth to launch the guidance.
Action: Group members to share event webpage with governing bodies and relevant staff.
=ECU has heard from Scottish Government that there is a possibility that the Scottish specific duties may be amended to include a requirement to report on board composition and develop an action plan.
=There was a recommendation that the race and Athena charters be used to drive board engagement.
Supporting the outcome agreement process
=ECU reported that it met with the head of the SFC’s access team, Fiona Burns, as well as with the wider team. Ways in which ECU could support embedding equality in access, and outcome agreements were discussed.
=ECU is supporting SFC’s gender action plan (prompted by the Minister’s letter to SFC and the Wood recommendations for developing Scotland’s Young Workforce). The SFC is planning a June conference around the gender plan.
Action: ECU to share the date of the gender conference once it is known.
Athena SWAN charter in Scotland
=ECU reported back to the group on the merger between Athena and GEM and timelines for this transition.
=There is an ongoing Athena SWAN network in Scotland, supported by James Lush and chaired by Eilidh Fraser from Abertay.
Action: Volunteers to chair the Athena network in Scotland would be welcome. Please contact Eilidh:
=The group had questions about how trans would be added to the charters; ECU informed the group that trans considerations were only being proposed in relation to institutional awards.
Attracting diversity to Scottish HEIs
=The second cross-team meeting was held in Dundee on12th February to further support the teams implement their action plans. Dissemination events are planned for April and May, including a workshop at the SFC’s Learning for All and a Social Mobility Conference at Strathclyde.
=ECU hopes to continue this project in the new funding period (from September), and interested institutions should contact ECU.
WP and equality statistical analysis
=ECU has contracted the Centre for Research on Education Inclusion and Diversity to develop a toolkit for institutions to support assessing student underrepresentationand benchmarking by protected characteristic and widening participation markers (e.g. SIMD and low SHEP schools). The toolkit will present sector trends as well as breakdowns by subject area.
=The group fed back that SIMD is a useful indicator for some institutions more than others and recommended ECU link with the widening access commission that will be exploring this area.
Action: ECU to explore ways to link with the widening access commission in developing this area of work.
Articulation and equality
=ECU reported on its meeting with the SFC and plans to publish both a briefing and dataset in relation to articulation. This would allow HEIs to note high level trends and also benchmark internal data against sector figures.
Equality in retention and attainment
=Booking is now open for the April 2015 joint conference between ECU and HEA ‘Developing Diversity Competence’. The programme is online.
Action: SLG members to advertise the conference to colleagues.
Race equality charter mark
=There was a question about the survey element of the charter trial and if this would continue. We don’t know at this stage; the trial will be evaluatedfollowing completion, including through feedback from participants, and the structure may change if this is thought necessary.
=The group asked about the cost of the race charter and rates for Athena SWAN and REM together. ECU informed the group that rates were in development for Scotland. It is likely these will cover both the race and Athena SWAN charters. ECU will write to Principals and E&D leads with information in May.
=An appeal process is being designed for the charters, and will be on the basis of process rather than decisions.
=The group was interested to know about updated timescales for the race charter. The charter will launch in spring 2016, subject to the evaluation.
4. Scottish Government’s Scottish National Equality Improvement Project
=ECU updated the group on this project and a sounding board meeting that ECU had attended in March. The purpose of the meeting was for the Scottish Government (SG) to test ideas and build partnership working across the public sectors.
=Key proposals included development of a central hub for sharing equality impact assessments between public authorities to reduce duplication and enhance the regional and national evidence base; Work coordinated by the public sector equality networks to share approaches; SG creating and communicating a narrative to create further buy-in to the PSED across the public sectors, potentially around social value and the role of equality in public services.
=A wider collaborative event will be held on 3rd June in Edinburgh. This will be used to further shape these proposals. ECU had been asked to find representatives from the HE and FE sectors.
=ECU asked for volunteers to email by the end of March.
5. SFC equality consultation mechanisms with HEIs
=SFC had prepared a paper, which was distributed.
The group had the following comments:
=They were happy to share their contact details with Halena (SFC).
=They questioned how useful/achievable consulting directly with staff and students would be for the SFC. Most felt the SLG members were the best conduit into their institutions in relation to equality.
=The outcome agreement process should be used to gather information on what’s effective in equality and diversity at a strategic level.
=Look at the equality outcomes and mainstreaming reports of each institution to gather information.
=Connecting/aligning the outcome agreements with the statutory requirements (specific duties) would reduce duplication and assist mainstreaming of the specific duties into institutional strategy.
=Use the outcome agreement guidance to ask institutions to align their equality outcomes, mainstreaming and outcome agreements.
=Outcome agreements are focused on gender, age and disability to the detriment of other protected characteristics. This should be broadened, especially to race.
=Equality is currently access focused in the outcome agreements and SFC policy. This misses wider equality work.
=Some E&D leads have not been involved in outcome agreements to date – can SFC make this a requirement?
=Outcome agreements are public documents that should be seen as an opportunity for institutions to show what they are doing on E&D.
6. Practitioner discussion: reporting on the specific duties
=The group held a discussion on progress, activities and challenges ahead of reporting on the specific duties in April 2015.
=The most common challenge cited was getting an accurate assessment of activity across the institutionfor mainstreaming reporting, whilst keeping the report to a manageable size. Prioritisation was felt to be important.
=Gathering information from colleagues across the institution was another common challenge due to workload pressures and the size of institutions.
=Reporting on impact as well as activity was another topic of discussion, with members reflecting that this is a challenge for two years’ activity.
6. NextSLG meeting
=The next meeting will be on 18 June 2015.
7. AOB
=There was a question about collection of equality data at student enrolment. An issue had arisen where lots of international students had been selecting ‘other’ for gender, perhaps due to misunderstanding.
=A follow-up question was asked on whether there is benchmarking data for gender identity.
=One institution had found a census data release (2A) helpful for benchmarking:
Action: ECU to look into gender identity benchmarking information.