In June 2020 we published our 15 Black Lives Matter Commitments, designed to further strengthen our resolve with regard to anti-racist practice. Since then, much has been done to deliver the actions the Commitments entail.
As we move towards the third anniversary of the publication of the Commitments, while recognising that the impact of actions may not be felt everywhere equally, we are keen to continue to celebrate the progress we have made and to reflect on areas for further growth.
In order to report on the delivery of the Commitments, we consulted with stakeholders and share some highlights here.
We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to everyone at the University for helping to take the commitments forward.
Thank you!
The Commitments Steering Group
Black History Year
Black history has continued to be celebrated across the year at Westminster. Now in its third year, the Black History Year programme has featured an array of high-quality events spanning the breadth of experiences for Black people, and has provided workshops catering to the diverse needs of Black colleagues and students at the University, as well as the public who attend.
With the commitment of volunteers from our colleague community, students and the Student Union, further ‘spur’ initiatives have been set in train to enhance Black students’ skills development; generate conversations around identity using various media as stimuli; and address growth in research by developing competencies and creating opportunities for Black researchers to excel at Westminster. Initiatives that further expand and reinforce Black History Year (BHY) are:
- BHY CREATE
- BHY Beyond Books
- BHY Researchers Network
To find out more about Black History Year news, please visit our Black History Year blog or our Black History Year web page.
Challenging Racisms in Higher Education and Beyond Conference
This conference, held in May, was the second of its kind at Westminster and brought speakers and participants from different institutions and around the globe to explore and challenge various forms of racism present within academia and society as a whole, making a powerful contribution to the anti-racist work of the University. In addition to anti-Black racism, there was a focus on antisemitism, Islamophobia and casteism as racism. This was accompanied by the sixth annual DEN student conference, on the theme of sustainable development in a diverse and unequal world.
University of Westminster Colleague Networks
Our colleague networks continue to work intersectionally and positively impact upon the culture of the University, helping to ensure that Westminster is a place where inclusion and equity are core principles. Colleague networks and School EDI leads played a key role in our Annual EDI Open Forum, held in June, on the theme of breaking down silos and working together. Our Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) colleague network has initiated regular meetings with senior institutional leaders to facilitate dialogue and progress, including on the Commitments. In June, the network brought senior leaders and other colleagues to a workshop on ways to work together to achieve our shared goals. Three of the network Committee members published on “how to be an anti-racist ally on the campus” for Times Higher Education. The network represents the interests and aspirations of Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues at the University, supporting colleagues and driving race equality within Westminster by organising and sponsoring a variety of events. For more information, please email [email protected] .
Decolonising and Diversifying the Curriculum
The Pedagogies for Social Justice project continues to grow, making a key contribution to our work on the Commitments. Students are partners in decision making and leadership initiatives, in research and the creation of pedagogical tools. Student and colleague partnerships are key to the development of decolonial and anti-racist practices, which look different in different disciplines.
The Pedagogies for Social Justice project hosted the Festival Of Decolonial Learning in June, focused on building anti-racist and decolonial atmospheres in Higher Education learning and teaching spaces.
The decolonising toolkit is used by Schools in revisiting curriculum and teaching practice. Several Schools have developed their own toolkits.
The Students as Co-creators programme has enabled students and colleagues to work together on research projects that enhance the curriculum. Schools report this as one of the key approaches to tackling decolonising work. Recent projects include Understanding Genetics to Counter Racial Discrimination (Life Sciences); Imaginative Empathy: Towards Inclusive Pedagogies (Architecture and Cities); Creating Meaning: An Embedded Approach to EDI within Business School Curricula (Westminster Business School) and EDI and Authentic Assessments (Law).
Addressing Awarding Gaps
Work to reduce awarding gaps has included investment in internal research; the introduction of measures to remove barriers to success; and interventions targeted on particular groups. For example, research into the imposter phenomenon supports work in the Student Union to enable belonging through the establishment of academic societies in every School. And other ongoing internally funded research, alongside analysis of data from our dashboards, suggests that authentic assessment is helping to narrow awarding gaps. For those who joined Westminster with BTEC entry qualifications, the estimated effect was an increase in the likelihood of passing of nearly 2%. Our programme to introduce more authentic forms of assessment across the university means that now over 77% of Level 4-6 modules include explicitly authentic assessments.
Targeted interventions are also having an impact. A new pre-enrolment programme aims to increase continuation rates among new students from under-represented groups and from courses with high withdrawal rates. The programme targets students prior to enrolment and supports transition. In September 2022, the programme targeted students across 12 courses with high withdrawal rates: 80% of students taking part said it prepared them well for university and that they felt more confident overall.
Championing Diversity and Inclusion in Research and Doctoral Education
Westminster is committed to enabling an inclusive and diverse research culture.
The University ring-fenced ten fully funded QHT studentships for PhD researchers from under-represented Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. It also made a commitment to support studentships ring-fenced for BME researchers in its application for Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships under the theme of ‘Diasporic Britain’. The Graduate School held a workshop on challenges faced by BME PhD researchers and its support for the Commitments is also evidenced through the choice of keynote speakers at the Graduate School Festivals. The Graduate School has also introduced a bespoke online programme for ‘Researchers of Colour’ for the summer term (April to July 2023). Our Research and Knowledge Exchange Office is in the process of recruiting for three Westminster fellowships targeting early postdoctoral scholars from under-represented backgrounds. These Fellowships will be crucial tools in supporting the Commitments.
Various research projects are taking place that are connected with lives of BME people in the UK and with those in the Global South. For example, we have received external research funding for a health innovation and wellbeing project focusing on long Covid in the BME population. Working with long Covid patients, this project will explore the experiences, support and treatment needs of Black and minority ethnic people to better understand how to create services that match need. Innovative colleague-led partnerships are taking place that are directly connected with challenges faced by minoritised people, with the aim of increasing public engagement. Our Black Music Research unit held an important event on Prostate Cancer in Black Musicians and opened a new series of talks with Afrobeat to Afrobeats. There has been a review of EDI matters in light of the Research and Excellence Framework (REF) results. A co-chair of our BME Network was part of the working group for the review, which engaged with EDI more generally but was mindful of specific challenges faced by BME researchers and the importance of positive action. The review report has been approved by the University Research Committee. There are schemes in some Schools to mentor colleagues from BME backgrounds to develop research and assist with planning for promotion. More consistency and more sharing of good positive action practice will be key.
Employability and Enterprise
We are proud to include a diverse group of role models for students within our employability and enterprise programmes, and to prioritise inclusion. Our Business Engagement and Careers teams colleagues seek to ensure that all members of our Westminster student community are fully supported by and are able to fully engage with our employability and enterprise activities. These include our What it Takes alumni event series; our Inclusive Futures: Insights programme; our Westminster Working Cultures programme; and Future Ready Mentoring.
Student enterprise is a key area of inclusion work. In November 2022, our WeNetwork delivered the Westminster Inclusion and Diversity Festival. The WeNetwork has also updated its Pioneer support for underrepresented founders. Further, it helped fulfil the University’s commitment to the work of the Diversity and Inclusion Research Community by collaborating with Innovate UK on an Inclusive Innovation event, where the CEO and experts from IUK provided support to researchers from communities currently under-represented in their grant programme. And the WeNetwork conducted outreach to bring employers and organisations into the classroom to highlight issues of discrimination and racism in business and broader culture, through the Live Briefs programme.
Report and Support
This platform launched in February 2022 and supports our commitment to further develop safe ways for colleagues and students to disclose and/or report microaggressions, harassment and unwanted behaviour. We continue to promote the platform through internal communication channels, articles, events and colleague networks and unions to ensure and enhance engagement.
Visit our Report and Support pages.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Training
Work continues to enhance our EDI colleague development programme and train colleagues on key areas. These include addressing and challenging microaggressions; developing true allyship; becoming an active bystander; and recognising how to confidently challenge and address inappropriate and unwanted behaviours. In addition, work has also begun this year on developing inclusive leadership practice and providing a focused programme of development for our BME colleagues to develop their leadership capability and potential.
We recognise that we must continue to build on and broaden the focus of EDI training offered to all colleagues to develop understanding and competence in cultural sensitivity, anti-racism and inclusive behaviours, with a particular focus on embedding EDI as a core element in all leadership and management training across the board.
EDI Action Policy and Planning
We continue to regularly monitor EDI-related principles and actions, and to ensure that they reflect and support the implementation of the Commitments. The annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action plan is a key vehicle for this and is reviewed twice yearly by the EDI Committee to monitor progress.
Key areas of policy related work this year have included the review and update of our Diversity and Dignity at Work and Study Policy which sets out the University’s position on bullying, harassment, sexual misconduct, unlawful discrimination and victimisation, providing a framework for students and colleagues to report concerns or complaints, and the review of the Professional Development Review (PDR) process. PDR recognises and supports colleagues’ sense of belonging at the university and ensures that EDI continues to be a key focus of priority within objectives. We have, likewise, reviewed our recruitment and selection practices to embed an inclusive approach to our advertising and ensure that our interview and selection practices incorporate diverse selection panels as well as EDI focused interview questions.
Embedding the Black Lives Matter Commitments at Westminster
We are committed to sharing insights from our work on our Commitments with other HE partners in the UK and internationally. Challenges certainly remain within our University and will continue to be addressed. We continue to work with the Students’ Union; the Trades Unions; our Colleague Networks; our UEB; our EDI Committee; our EDI School leads and colleagues and students across the University to address issues of inequality and discrimination and to drive forward our equity-driven endeavours. Externally, we benefit from relationships with London Higher, Universities UK and Advance HE, to name but a few. Allyship is a critical part of our will to address and achieve structural transformation and provoke lasting change. We are confident that this is increasingly recognised across Westminster.
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