University of Wolverhampton
Gender Equality Scheme Annual Report 2008
This review should be read in conjunction with the University of Wolverhampton Gender Equality Scheme (GES), published in April 2007. The original GES and this review document are both available from the University's equality and diversity web pages at www.wlv.ac.uk/edu.
Action Plan Review
Fifteen actions were scheduled for completion prior to October 2008. Seven actions have been completed fully, six actions are ongoing with revised timescales and one action has been revised. Significant progress has also been made with some actions with completion dates in the future. The fully revised action plan is included at Appendix A.
Eight actions have been completed as follows.
· (task 1) The Gender Equality Scheme Advisory Group was established to inform the original GES and support its monitoring and review processes.
· (task 2) The final GES, approved by the University Executive and Board of Governors, was published by the statutory deadline.
· (task 5) The new University pay structure has been completed and introduced following ballots of the staff. This is underpinned by Job Evaluation of all jobs covered by the structure. Equality and Diversity impact assessment was carried out on the structure prior to implementation.
· (task 6) A review of procedures and practices has been undertaken within the new department of the Office of the Dean of Students and future plans outlined in the departmental plan for 2008-2009.
· (task 8) The GES implementation at school and service level continues to be monitored via a detailed review of the gender equality dimensions of the equality and diversity plans submitted by schools and central services and the provision of feedback.
· (task 8) Key staff within the University have received training on equality impact assessment.
· (task 9) Work is ongoing to ensure compliance with the gender equality duty by University contractors.
· (task 17) Processes to recruit new staff to the Student Office Division within the new Registry structure included information on busy periods when annual leave cannot be taken.
The following actions are ongoing and therefore have updated timescales in the revised plan.
· (task 7) The timescale for impact assessing the restructure of the Registry has been revised to take into account the new timescale for completion of the restructure itself.
· (task 9) Work is ongoing to put in place procedures and practices to ensure compliance with the relevant equality legislation, including the gender equality duty.
· (task 10) The timescale for completion has been updated to take account of changes in staffing within the Facilities department.
· (task 18) New systems have been introduced within the Student Office Division to enable work to be shared between offices, thus alleviating some of the constraints on family-friendly leave arrangements. Student Office Managers are reviewing the key business process dates for 2008/9 to help staff plan holiday arrangements and to meet key business requirements. This will then become an annual update.
· (task 11) The proposed Family Friendly and Flexible Working Policy has been approved by the University Executive in principle and is currently being updated to take into account feedback received.
· (task 20) Work to produce a Single Equality Scheme at university level is being progressed following the establishment of the new Equality and Diversity Unit in October 2008. However, we will await the outcome of the Single Equality Bill before completing this work to ensure that we comply with any new legislative requirements.
Task 3 has been revised in the light of institutional developments. Work has commenced on a revision of the University’s Sickness Absence policy to incorporate a new section on the management of stress. This will replace the existing stand-alone Stress Policy. Additionally, we have commenced the revision of the Harassment and Bullying policy. However, the issue of whether we need a comprehensive Dignity at Work Policy will be incorporated in the 'Working Better Together' project due for completion by 2012.
We have made significant progress towards a number of actions scheduled for completion in the future.
· (task 4) The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Network has been recognised formally as a representative group within the University and a subgroup of the University’s Equality and Diversity Committee. Detailed research into best practice policies relating to transsexual people will be undertaken within specified timescales.
· (task 12) Statistical evidence demonstrates that we are meeting the targets to improve the gender balance in the University Executive and the Strategic Management Group.
· (task 14) The University was required by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to monitor its submission to the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008 by a variety of equality strands, including gender. The outcomes of this monitoring have been collected and will be presented to the University Research Committee in June 2008. Discussions will take place following consideration of this report to determine an appropriate way forward.
Additional work to support the promotion of gender equality should also be recognised.
· The University’s Biennial Equal Opportunities Conference, held on 29 April 2009, considered the report of Phase 2 of our project on embedding equality and diversity in the curriculum. Gender equality issues were incorporated in the project and the conference proceedings.
· The University has joined the Stonewall Equality Champions Scheme and is preparing to submit an application to join the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index.
· The Collaborative Quality Forum, which brings together University staff and representatives from our partner institutions, has introduced a standing item on equality and diversity issues.
· The Head of Education Partnerships has been able to confirm through discussions about marketing with representatives from partner colleges that they are very aware of the need to break down gender stereotypes and make every effort to provide positive messages to this effect.
· Measures will be taken to ensure that gender equality issues are addressed in the development of an integrated approach with collaborative partners to marketing Foundation Degrees.
· Whilst our partner colleges retain considerable autonomy in developing their marketing strategies we recognise their significant experience in tackling gender stereotypes through initiatives such as Women into Engineering. The Collaborative Quality Forum will monitor the impact of such strategies to promote gender equality by scrutinising Annual Monitoring Reports.
Data gathering and analysis
In order to comply with its duty to promote gender equality the University gathers and analyses a variety of data from a wide range of sources.
We have designed and developed our data gathering systems to enable data to be broken down by a variety of categories, including gender. A dedicated post of Equal Opportunities Monitoring Officer assists with this work.
A range of reports have been developed to enable specified staff within the University to access up-to-date data on a variety of subjects, including;
· application rates, offers made and acceptance rates for male and female applicants;
· Participation rates for males and females by school, subject and module;
· student retention rates;
· degree classification results.
The University has a variety of mechanisms for gathering qualitative feedback from students in general, including thematic surveys, for example, on students’ experiences during Welcome Week and module evaluation questionnaires. We are taking steps to ensure that all questionnaires gather data on respondents’ gender to enable appropriate analysis.
Our job application forms currently gather data on gender to enable analysis by gender at various stages of the recruitment and selection process.
Statistics showing the percentage of males and females who are short-listed and appointed have been presented to the Equality and Diversity Committee on a six monthly basis for several years, together with any analysis possible.
A number of years ago the University introduced a set of ‘desired staffing profiles’, which established staffing targets for schools and central services in relation to gender, ethnicity and disability. These targets are considered as part of the appraisal of Deans and Heads of Services.
Updates to our key statistics are available online via www.wlv.ac.uk/edu.
Impact Assessment Update
The University is continuing its work on this complex issue. A working group has been established, which is chaired by the Deputy Vice Chancellor and includes the Clerk to the Board of Governors, the Equality and Diversity Manager and membership from key central services such as Personnel, Registry and Risk, Safety and Health.
The group has made significant progress on identifying a methodology appropriate to the University. An online impact assessment tool has recently been purchased and will be trialled by group members.
In the interim, impact assessments are being undertaken at school and service level in response to school or service priorities using the methodology as covered in the training provided by Challenge Consultancy.
The Future – A Single Equality Scheme
The next review of this document will be incorporated into our Single Equality Scheme. We are awaiting confirmation of anticipated changes in our legislative duties before producing our scheme in order to ensure that we meet the new requirements.
GES report version 3 CWF Oct 08 Page 4 of 4