IEHC Equality Action Group
Equality Action Group is a dynamic team which facilitates equality, diversity and inclusion within the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care (IEHC) and beyond.
Find out about the IEHC Coaching and Mentoring Scheme
Our Vision
Our vision is a workplace in which:
- Everyone feels welcome, respected, valued and included
- All policies, procedures and processes are clear, transparent and fair
Staff in our Institute can expect:
- To be treated fairly
- To be treated with respect
- To be treated as an individual
- To feel confident of being listened to and heard
- To be supported to learn, develop and progress at work
- To be supported to balance work, life out-of-work and other responsibilities (e.g. caring roles)
- To have a clear understanding of what is expected in the role, and how ‘success’ is assessed
- To know who to approach to address difficulties (of any kind) at work, and to receive a constructive response to any complaints
About the Equality Action Group
The Equality Action Group (EAG) is working hard to integrate equality, diversity and inclusion into policy, procedure and day-to-day practice within our Institute, aiming for a fair, happy, productive workplace.
Equality Action Group members are diverse in terms of seniority, background, and role within UCL. We are advocates for parents and carers, staff and students from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, sexual minorities and trans and intersex people, either speaking from our own experience and/or as allies.
Our Athena SWAN Equality Action Plan details our plans for challenging gender inequality. The Athena SWAN award scheme only evaluates and rewards gender equality within individual departments, but we are committed to tackling all sources of inequality.
View beacon equality activities taking place across IEHC
The Teams
There are 8 teams within the Equality Action Groups:
- Data Action Group
- Wellbeing Action Group
- Career progression Action Group
- Student Action Group
- Anti-racist Action Group
- Disability Action Group
- Media and Communications Action Group
- Leadership and Management Action Group
Link Equality Action Group Staff Survey Privacy Notice
View our Equality Action Groups and representatives
Work Culture - Thriving at UCL
UCL is an exciting place to be, and most staff find their work rewarding and enjoy the teams they are in.
(Staff views of the work culture at IEHC can be seen in the image below)
Our Vision for the Institute of Epidemiology and Healthcare is a workplace in which:
· Everyone feels welcome, respected, valued and included
· All policies, procedures and processes are clear, transparent and fair
Staff in our Institute can expect:
· To be treated fairly
· To be treated with respect
· To be treated as an individual
· To feel confident of being listened to and heard
· To be supported to learn, develop and progress at work
· To be supported to balance work, life out-of-work and other responsibilities (e.g. caring roles)
· To have a clear understanding of what is expected in the role, and how ‘success’ is assessed
· To know who to approach to address difficulties (of any kind) at work, and to receive a constructive response to any complaints
Please tell someone if things are not feeling right - consider telling a colleague or your line manager, and there are a number of sources of further support:
- Staff can access the Employee Assistance Programme for practical and emotional issues (either on or off-campus) . You can contact the service is directly and there is no need to inform your manager.
- Students can seek help and advice from the UCL student support and wellbeing team for a variety of issues that may be affecting your ability to study.
- The IEHC Inclusion Leads Hitakshi Taylor and Orla O'Donnell can signpost to sources of help if wanted.
- Hitakshi and Orla (and Richard Marsh) are also IEHC Bully Busters. Any conversations will be kept completely confidential unless you give consent for an issue to be taken forward.
- The UCL Report and Support mechanism is confidential if you prefer, or you can choose to take a complaint forward with the help of a human resources expert.
- Do please speak up if you witness something you feel is not right. Support and solidarity from others is really important.
We of course hope you will never need these resources, but injustice at work is likely to reflect what's happening in the wider world .... the Equality Action Group is hopeful that we can create something of a refuge from the worst of it...
Julia Bailey, Orla O'Donnell, Sydonnie Hyman and Richard Marsh, on behalf of the Equality Action Group
IEHC Work Culture Working Group:
In response to the 2020 IEHC staff survey and anonymous reporting, we have now run two bespoke sessions on ‘Taking the Lead on Work Culture in IEHC’ which are for senior staff. The sessions covered the following:
· The value of flexibility and authenticity in leadership
· The difference between bullying and firm management
· The importance of receiving feedback as a component of a healthy work culture
· Participants' views on how to cultivate a healthy work culture at UCL
These sessions were attended by senior staff including our four Heads of Research Department and we will be running more sessions early next year.