Race Equality Charter
Improving the representation, progression and success of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff and students within Higher Education. Advance HE
Race Equality Charter
Building on the experience, methodology and framework of the Athena SWAN Charter, Advance HE (formerly the Equality Challenge Unit) launched the Race Equality Charter (REC) in January 2016. The history of the Charter can be found here. REC provides Universities with the framework to identify and critically reflect on institutional and cultural barriers standing in the way of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff and students.
Queen’s University Belfast signed up to the Advance HE Race Equality Charter (REC) in 2020 and we are proud to be one of more than eighty members of REC.
The Charter covers: academic staff; professional services staff; student progression and attainment; diversity in the curriculum.
By signing up to the Race Equality Charter, and following its framework, we will ensure that the work we are doing on racial equity right across the University is focused, relevant and impactful. We will also benefit from being able to share experiences and key learnings with other Universities who are REC members, as well as being held to account externally on our progress.
Signing up to REC will support us in the work we are doing as a University to identify and critically reflect on institutional and cultural barriers standing in the way of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff and students. REC provides a clear framework for this as well as giving us the opportunity to collaborate and learn from other HE institutions who are making progress in this space. It is also a way of demonstrating publicly the commitment we’ve made to addressing racial inequalities at Queen’s, and therefore holding ourselves to account for the progress we make. Lauren Gallagher
Project Manager for REC
- Racial inequalities are a significant issue within higher education. Racial inequalities are not necessarily overt, isolated incidents. Racism is an everyday facet of UK society and racial inequalities manifest themselves in everyday situations, processes and behaviours.
- UK higher education cannot reach its full potential unless it can benefit from the talents of the whole population and until individuals from all ethnic backgrounds can benefit equally from the opportunities it affords.
- In developing solutions to racial inequalities, it is important that they are aimed at achieving long-term institutional culture change, avoiding a deficit model where solutions are aimed at changing the individual.
- Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff and students are not a homogenous group. People from different ethnic backgrounds have different experiences of and outcomes from/within higher education, and that complexity needs to be considered in analysing data and developing actions.
- All individuals have multiple identities, and the intersection of those different identities should be considered wherever possible.
Further information on REC can be found here on the Advance HE website.
For queries, contact: rec@qub.ac.uk