The Vice-Chancellor’s Diversity Fund
The Vice-Chancellor's Diversity Fund is a £1m fund for the advancement of diversity among academic and research staff at Oxford. The fund will be made up from both divisional and central contributions.
Professor Andrew Hamilton, Vice-ChancellorI would like to offer my full support to this important initiative. It is only by having a fully diverse workforce, where people are appointed and promoted solely according to their merits, that the University can achieve the very best in teaching and research. Furthering diversity and equality is a matter that deserves our highest priority.
Background
The University of Oxford has long been committed to increasing diversity among its academic and research staff. The University currently holds an Athena SWAN institutional Bronze Award, indicating serious commitment to addressing the under-representation of women, while the University's published equality objectives and the new Strategic Plan include specific commitments to increase the proportion of women and minority groups in areas where they are currently significantly under-represented.
Considerable progress has already been made across the University in supporting the appointment and promotion of women and a better work-life balance for all. Seven departments in MPLS and Medical Sciences have been awarded Athena SWAN Bronze Awards and a further four departments have received Silver Awards.
With the Athena SWAN initiative now being extended beyond the sciences to include all disciplines, our aim is to deliver a lasting change in culture across the collegiate University along with the clearly measurable benefits that are the expectation for an institutional Silver Award.
Use of the fund
A major use for the fund will be to address the under-representation of women in senior research and academic posts.
The fund will be used both to support new initiatives and to take ahead on a larger scale approaches that have already been found valuable in pilots, for example providing specific and widespread training in the avoidance of unconscious bias in recruitment; providing bridging funds to help staff between research grants when their family responsibilities have intervened; or helping staff return to work after a period of maternity leave or time out caring for relatives.
Further information about the fund, and the process for applying, will be published on this website in Michaelmas term.
Oversight of the fund
A small group with cross-divisional and central representation, including expertise from the Equality and Diversity Unit, will be set up to oversee the use of the fund, to look for innovative ways ahead, and to exchange ideas and good practice.
The ways in which the fund can best be used will likely vary between divisions, and care will be taken to ensure that there is fairness in the arrangements that are made for staff in different divisions, and achievable targets will be developed against which we can monitor our progress.
Related links
Athena SWAN at Oxford: www.admin.ox.ac.uk/eop/gender/athenaswan
This announcement was made on 15 July 2013.