Rebecca Farrington and Enam Haque delivered this session on inclusivity in academia, with a particular focus on anti-racism. The session covered how academic institutions have a duty to be more inclusive and anti-racist, but often fall short of this, some studies were highlighted that suggested the issue was most prevalent in medical subjects due to the presence of a strong hierarchical structure. To tackle the issue, the University were putting together a number of active bystander sessions that would be available later in the year.

Participants of the masterclass discussed experiences of discrimination and feeling unable to challenge behaviour due to the hierarchical structures in place. Issues ranged from sexism to racism to ableism. The participants discussed the importance of names, and how ensuring that we ask people their preferred names, and how to pronounce them, is important, especially in the context of graduation. There were further discussions surrounding why representation in higher education and the workplace is important with stories of shared minority status making a strong positive impression. The Masterclass also unpacked terms such as unconscious bias (stereotypes that are held about people without their knowledge or conscious decision), cultural sensitivity (the knowledge, awareness and acceptance of other’s cultures and their importance) and microaggressions (commonplace daily discrimination, whether conscious or not, which is often (wrongly) seen as ‘small and insignificant but is a symptom of wider systemic discrimination).

For more information, please look at the PowerPoint presentation below:

Check yourself before you wreck yourself_04-Nov-2021