Equalities Action Plan – UCL Office of the Vice-Provost (Research) (OVPR)
Issue and area for action
identified
Actions
Timescales
Accountability
Responsibility
Success Measures
1. Linking Equalities and Research Strategy
1.1
Linking OVPR and 50:50
group
Maintain at least one OVPR staff
member on 50:50 group
Ongoing
David Price
Andrew Clark
At least one OVPR
member
1.2
Disseminating evidence
case on benefits of equalities
within HEIs
Disseminate report and suitable
commentary to UCL senior
research leaders and develop
follow-on action plan
Disseminate
by September
David Price
Andrew Clark and
Sarah Guise
Senior Management
engagement with
report, commentary
and action plan
Explore with faculties and
Equalities & Diversity team
approaches to addressing gaps in
minorities representation at
Professorial level
Discussions
concluded by
July 2014
David Price
Andrew Clark
Senior Management
engagement with
discussions
1.3
Lack of Black & Ethnic
Minority (BME)
representation within
strategic research leadership
Action plan by
end 2013
2. Support for staff at key career transition points
2.1
Greater support for female
applicants to Early Career
Fellowships
Greater focus on this within
research facilitator teams,
especially through integration of
the School of Life & Medical
Sciences facilitator and
coordinator teams
Ongoing
David Price
Andrew Clark
Number of UCL
women researchers
winning personal
research fellowships
to rise
2.2
Lack of British BME
applicants for early career
research positions
Explore UCL engagement in
schemes to encourage more
British BME students into PhD
studies and from PhD studies into
research careers
Ongoing
David Price
Andrew Clark
Sense of
effectiveness of
schemes and
building
relationships with
potential partners
3. Retain a Flexible Office Environment
3.1
Retaining an OVPR
workforce with diverse caring
responsibilities
Retain a flexible working
environment suitable for work-life
balance
Ongoing
David Price
Alexandra Iglesias
Satisfaction with
work-life balance in
staff survey and
appraisals
UCL Office of Vice-Provost (Research)
The 2011 UCL Research Strategy includes a commitment to “Redouble our efforts on diversity in Research Careers.” In this spirit
we have engaged closely with the UCL Equalities and Diversity team on several activities:
• a research project on the evidence case for equalities and diversity within Higher Education Institutions
• funding return-to-work projects as part of the EPSRC Strategic Award
• having at least one member of OVPR staff on the 50:50 group
• contributing to expansion of the Athena Swan programme
• contributing to various consultations on diversity in research careers, e.g. on flexibility for maternity cover for research staff
• actively monitoring diversity related statistics on equalities in staff selection for REF
• supporting various workshops on diversity in research careers, especially by providing presentations on personal fellowship
funding.
More generally, we have placed an emphasis on equalities and diversity within our wider work, supporting research funding
applications and the like. We were especially pleased with managing to support a successful application for an EPSRC
Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration, now one of UCL’s largest research grants at c.£12 million, led by a female reader working
part-time with substantial family responsibilities. We believe this is an example for how high-quality professional support can enable
equalities in areas of the academic system where it has conventionally been problematic – in this case the view that only full-time
extended-hours ‘Alpha’ staff can lead the largest research activities. We intend to continue targeting our support for research
funding application in ways that support our equalities and diversity objectives; in particular, we are looking to strengthen our
support for early career fellowship applications in part because we perceive that to be a key stage for loss of women in some
research career paths.
For the future, the key priority is to keep equalities and diversity central within strategic thinking, despite many requirements to be
balanced. A focus on equalities and diversity as essential in the search for research leadership talent, rather than an unwelcome
requirement, will be central to that.
In terms of functioning of the OVPR itself, our primary emphasis is on maintaining a flexible working environment suitable for worklife balance. In particular, between August 2012 and October 2013, roughly one in eight of our staff will have begun a period of
maternity or carer-related responsibilities leave, and we have endeavoured, successfully so far, to accommodate both that and
appropriate return-to-work arrangements whilst being fair to other staff.