Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The School of Arts, Languages and Cultures is committed to the promotion of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all of the School's activities and policies, advancing equality of opportunity for all and working towards a more diverse and representative campus for staff and students alike.

The EDI committee oversees all our efforts to ensure an inclusive and diverse work and study environment. Our remit includes identifying and sharing good practice, scrutinising policies and practices related to teaching and learning, research, staff recruitment and development, student profile and experiences, and environment to ensure that the School's EDI objectives are upheld.

We work with the University’s office of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and the Faculty of Humanities EDI committee.

Our EDI committee terms of reference can be found here. The committee is formed of the following roles from across the School:

1. SALC Lead for EDI (Chair)
2. Head of School
3. Head of School Operations
4. Director Social Responsibility
5. School Operations Manager (Secretary)
6. EDI representatives from all SALC departments including HCRI and UCAE
7. EDI Directorate Humanities partner       
8. P&OD (HR) partner                     
9. Professional Services (PS) representatives (incl members of PS EDI subgroup)
10. PGR reps (at least x3)
11. SALC Disability Lead
12. Voluntary members (incl School Admissions Coordinator)

Profiles and progress

All higher education institutions have a duty to gather and publish information that demonstrates their compliance with the equality duty. You can also find information in the Athena Swan applications, available online (see below).

• Equality information duty and principles page
• Equality Information Report 2018 (pdf)
• Equal Pay Audit and Gender Pay Gap Reports 2018 (6 March 2018)
• Gender Pay Gap report 2019 (14 March 2019)

Athena SWAN Charter

The Athena SWAN Charter recognises and celebrates good practice towards the advancement of gender equality: representation, progression and success for all. The School received the Athena Swan Bronze Award in 2023. The University of Manchester also holds a Bronze award. 

• Athena SWAN at the University of Manchester page
• SALC Athena SWAN Bronze Award 2023 (pdf)

 Race Equality Charter Mark

The Race Equality Charter Mark aims to improve the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students within higher education. The University of Manchester holds a Silver award.

• Race Equality Charter Mark at the University of Manchester page

Additional resources

Policies and documents

You can find information on our School’s commitment to embedding EDI in our teaching and content here.

• EDI framework for new programmes
• Inclusive language
• Inclusion and respect when evaluating teaching support materials

You can find information on the University's policies regarding maternity, paternity and shared parental leave, as well as flexible working, on Staffnet.

• Parents and Carers page
• Flexible working policy

There is information about what to do and how to get support if you have experienced or witnessed bullying, harassment, and discrimination on the EDI website.

• New EDI Directorate Announcement
• Report and Support online
• Dignity at work and study policy

As part of efforts to make our recruitment process more inclusive and accessible, we have also prepared some guidance on applying and interviewing. We hope this will encourage interest from a wide range of candidates, support early-career academics, and help us build a more diverse campus community.

• Informal guidance on applying to academic positions (pdf)

Professional development

Every year the School holds information sessions about applying for promotion, in advance of the annual deadlines for application (which fall in December).

• University of Manchester career development page
• Academic promotion procedures information
• Staff Learning and Development opportunities

How you can contribute to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in SALC

We all have a responsibility to ensure our School is an inclusive work and study environment. Here are some suggestions on what you can do:

• Add gender pronouns to your email signature (see UoM guidance on email signatures)
• Use a sans serif font (e.g. Verdana, Arial, Calibri) and avoid black text on white background (see British Dyslexia Association Dyslexia friendly style guide)
• If you find it useful to email out of regular hours, consider reminding others you don’t expect the same of them. Here’s one example from an email signature: ‘Please only reply to this email when it is necessary, convenient and during what you would consider as your working day.’
• Join a staff network group (see lists and details on the UoM EDI website)
• Become a mentor (apply here)
• When organising lectures or research seminars, allow a short break (3-5 minutes) between the speaker’s presentation and questions, which gives a chance for the audience to think through/discuss their questions and encourages wider participation
• If you teach, ask yourself: ‘To what extent does the content of my/our syllabus/programme presume a particular profile/mindset of student and their orientation to the world?’ (from the Decolonising SOAS Learning and Teaching Toolkit, Questions for Module and Programme Convenors)
• Think in advance about how you would handle an incident of inappropriate behaviour if you were witness to one
• Ask visitors and guests about access needs