At Essex we recognise the importance of a diverse community and having a welcoming and inclusive environment in which to work and study, whilst at the same time upholding academic freedom and freedom of speech within the law.

I am delighted and proud to share highlights from our 2023-24 Equality Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report recently approved by Council.

The report provides updates on our five equality objectives which are to:

• continue to monitor, analyse, and publish gender and ethnicity pay gaps as a basis for adjustments to policy and practice to close any gaps;
• ensure equality and diversity in relation to student outcomes and measures of student success;
• benchmark our inclusive environment against internal and external recognition frameworks, including Vitae, AdvanceHE, Stonewall Workplace Equality Index (WEI), University of Sanctuary, Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Mental Health Charter;
• increase diversity of representation at all levels of the organisation so that the University better reflects the community it serves and encourages these communities to reach their full potential; and
• promote our institutional commitment to fostering an inclusive working environment for every member of our community, so that we can create a workplace which enables our people to succeed.

We have continued to make progress in reducing our gender pay gaps and our engagement with equality charters has helped us formulate actions to achieve impactful change. We were pleased to renew our Institutional Athena SWAN in April 2024 as well as being awarded a Silver award following our submission to the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index. It was also pleasing to be reaccredited as a University of Sanctuary in recognition of the work we are doing in making the university welcoming and safe for refugees and asylum seekers.

We were delighted to launch Tackling Misogyny, Sexism and Sexual Violence Against Women training, which is now in its second year of delivery and is part of our regular training offer to staff, with guidance available for students.

Taking a top-down approach to tackling antisemitism, the Union of Jewish Students delivered Antisemitism Awareness training to our senior staff in February 2024, building on our work to combat antisemitism and foster an inclusive and welcoming place for Jewish staff and students.

Following a consultation process to understand the lived experiences of our Muslim staff and students we were pleased to learn that incidents of Islamophobia were rare. However, we recognised that more should be done to enhance our inclusive culture and actions included the creation of an Inclusion Champion for Muslim Staff and Students and adopting an institutional definition of Islamophobia. We were also named runner up for the Aziz Foundation Inclusion Award in September 2024 recognising our commitment to improving the campus experience for British Muslim students.

Our Education Strategy to 2028 outlines our commitment to continuing our aims for a curriculum and assessment approach that enables all our students to achieve excellent outcomes regardless of their background. As part of this commitment we were pleased to refresh our Access and Participation Plan (APP), setting out our analysis and approach to closing any gaps identified in our measures of students’ success by student characteristics, and we remain committed to considering ways to enhance the student experience at Essex.

The Transitions and Transformations (T&T): Black Researchers Journey (now in its fourth and final year) has become a key part of the Universities activities and processes. Things achieved in 2023-24 included holding the first Black Research Hub Symposium featuring students research presentations, career panels and networking opportunities. We also partnered with external organisations to deliver a range of impactful activities. Notably two paid internships were offered in collaboration with Vitea and Colchester and Ipswich Museums providing valuable experience for students. Our aim is that our T&T work continues as part of business-as-usual activities and work embedded in both our Race Equality and APP actions.

In collaboration with Essex Police, we hosted a workshop to raise awareness about Forced Marriage and Honour-Based Abuse, particularly for international students. The workshop equipped 40 participants with information and tools to access support services. Additionally, we developed a comprehensive guide for first-generation students with input from various departments, organising mixers and peer-support events that attracted over 120 students, fostering a supportive community. More examples of student inclusivity work, conducted by our Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service is in the full report.

Further highlights

As part of our work to enhance neurodiversity support, we have developed guidelines for employees and managers, raising awareness to empower managers to engage in supportive discussions and ensure appropriate reasonable adjustments are made for those who need them.

Essex ranked in the top 100 universities in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings for the third consecutive year recognising our work on gender equality, reduced inequalities, our commitment to social justice and equity and our family friendly policies were also commended.

There were various events to celebrate equality diversity and inclusion organised by our Events Team and our Students’ Union.

As the lead institution for the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) we have continued to deliver critical EDI training as well as updating the YUFE EDI Strategy and action plan (developed the year before) and priorities include creating a YUFE Anti-harassment and bullying Policy and launching a pilot for YUFE EDI Ambassadors Programme as well as developing content for the next phase of inclusive leadership workshops.

Since signing the Age Friendly Employer Pledge in September 2023 we have developed a mid-life review, piloting group career coaching sessions, conducted health checks and are working with Payroll to improve pension support.

We have updated both our ethnicity and sexual orientation categories (supporting commitments made in our REC and WEI action plans) which have helped to increase disclosure rates, but we recognise that work in this area is ongoing especially around disability disclosures.

There is so much to celebrate on the work we have done and are doing to enhance EDI at Essex and I invite you to read the full EDI Annual report.