Equality & Diversity
At UWS we are committed to equality and diversity in all we do. Not only does this have a positive impact on the communities we serve – it also makes great business sense.
Our Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity (EDI) Calendar is a useful resource and includes a mixture of religious festivals as well as EDI-related events and key dates.
Latest progress
Recently we have:
-
Become a Stonewall diversity champion, committing to LGBT+-friendly practices
-
Signed up to the Listen campaign, tackling discrimination for young people leaving the care system
-
Played an active part in the Standing Safe campaign to prevent sexual violence on campus
-
Delivered training in equality and unconscious bias to 250 staff
-
Hosted campus events to promote inclusion – from World Hijab Day to International Women’s Day.
-
Have been awarded the Athena SWAN Bronze charter, recognising our work to advance female representation in science, engineering and technology subjects.
-
Published our British Sign Language Plan 2018-2024
-
Established a BME Staff Network
Gender equality
Females make up:
-
60% of our workforce
-
50% of academic and research staff
-
46% of our senior management
We are working hard to reduce our gender pay gap, which is currently at 14.39% This represents a 2.61% reduction since 2017 and a reduction of 7.61% since 2012. This is clearly a positive trajectory and the University remains committed to further reductions through development and implementation of action plans.
Our Gender Action Plan was published in July 2017.
Our long-running series of regular events, Inspiring Women, sees prominent women discuss how they achieved their goals. The highlight is an annual conference with workshops for staff and students.
We are also accredited to the Athena SWAN charter, set up to advance female representation in science, engineering and technology subjects.
Education for all
UWS is recognised as a leader in widening access to higher education from all parts of the community.
-
27.7% of our Scottish-based undergraduate entrants were from the 20% most deprived postcodes in 2017/18
-
We are the UK’s number 1 university for accepting students from further education colleges
-
Since 2008 we’ve achieved a 43% rise in applications from young people leaving care – and enrolments have increased by 500%
-
Read about our work with schools and colleges through our Partnerships.
Our policies
We are an inclusive university. We extend our commitment to everyone – regardless of age, disability, gender identity, pregnancy and maternity, marital status, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
We respect and celebrate diversity. We do not tolerate exclusion, harassment or victimisation. We tackle discrimination and prejudice.
-
Read our full equality, diversity and human rights procedure
- Read our equality, diversity and human rights guidance notes
-
Read our equality outcomes for 2017, developed in consultation with staff and students
-
Read about the progress we have made in mainstreaming equality in our Mainstreaming and Equality Report 2019
-
Read our equality impact assessment policy
Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity Committee report: 2019-2020
This report provides a summary of the work supported by the Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Committee during 2019-20.
Download Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Committee report 2019-2020 (pdf)Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) Bi-annual Mainstreaming & Equality Report 2019
This report is an interim update on the progress of University of the West of Scotland’s Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Actions as identified in the UWS PSED Report published in April 2017.
Download PSED Bi-annual Mainstreaming & Equality Report 2019 (pdf)UWS Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) - Maintreaming & Equality Report 2017
This report sets out the measures, activities and successes that have been achieved at UWS in our commitment to embed equality and diversity across all Schools, Departments and in the way we conduct business.
Download PSED Maintreaming & Equality Report 2017 (pdf)UWS British Sign Language (BSL) Plan 2018-2024
This is the final version of the UWS British Sign Language (BSL) Plan, as required by the BSL (Scotland) Act 2015. It sets out draft actions that UWS will take over the period 2018-2024.
Download British Sign Language (BSL) Plan 2018-2024 (pdf)UWS British Sign Language (BSL) Plan 2018-2024
Videos of UWS British Sign Language (BSL) Plan 2018-2024.