June DEOLO update

I find it impossible to write my monthly equality, diversity and inclusion update without using it to acknowledge the terrible events in the news that have brought mass attention to the systemic racism experienced by Black people in the US and globally.

From UCL:

“UCL is here to support […] members of our community affected by recent events in the US, or by racism. [Staff] who would like to talk to someone in confidence can contact CareFirst. We also encourage anyone who has witnessed or experienced racial harassment or abuse at UCL to report it through Report & Support including anonymously.”

UCL's Dignity Advisors are also available to provide a confidential information service.

The RaceMatters@UCL group has a mailing list and a Microsoft Teams area where discussions are currently taking place amongst staff. Particularly at the moment when many of us are working remotely you might like to use this forum as a way to connect with colleagues more widely across UCL.

A UCL Town Hall meeting is currently being planned for Black staff and Black students. Information is being circulated, about the Town Hall, in the RaceMatters@UCL group on a daily basis.

I would like to now take this opportunity to highlight just a small number of the questions that allies can ask themselves when in a work setting, myself included:

• Think about our own unconscious biases and any microaggressions or non-inclusive practices that we might have seen at work. The questions that we may wish to ask ourselves might range from; ‘is the virtual, social event I’m organising as inclusive as it can be?’ to ‘am I consulting a representative group of staff (at different grades) when creating new workplace policies?’
• We are all in lots of professional networks at work probably without even realising it. Are we being inclusive when organising meetings and, deciding who should lead on projects? A list of resources on the related topic of sponsorship is available on the UCL website.
• Words like ally, anti-racism, privilege, unconscious bias, microaggressions and microinclusions are very visible at the moment. Can we all take this opportunity to find out what it all means and to understand concrete examples of how it all manifests at work? Would it be useful to research the positive role that an active bystander can play? There are lots of articles online and resources available via the UCL library that might prove helpful in our own research.
• Do we have the role of convening a panel for a talk or an interview? Is the panel representative? For those of us who are specifically looking to recruit for an interview panel we can always request for a Fair Recruitment Specialist to join the panel. This might be less relevant right now (specifically regarding convening recruitment panels) but it is something to always be thinking about because there are lots of expert staff at UCL who are trained in fair recruitment practices.
• UCL runs a number of programmes for BME staff. Can we encourage and remove any barriers to participation if we are in a position to be able to do so?
• Last summer Wendy made a Race Equality Pledge at our divisional meeting. The specifics of the pledge are available on the UCL website.
• You may also wish to sign-up to the UCL equality, diversity and inclusion newsletter.

In the Access and Widening Participation team we have compiled a list of useful resources that have been helpful for us. Please get in contact with me via email if you have any resources that you would like to highlight. I will then share the SRS list with everyone in a future newsletter.

Lauren Sandhu

Lead DEOLO, SRS

[In the last newsletter the SRS DEOLO Network wrote an article on top tips for taking care of yourself when working from home. Since the newsletter went out we have updated the content slightly. Read the latest article.]