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Welsh School of Architecture

Equality and diversity

We are committed to promoting a culture of equality and diversity in all practices and activities.

We aim to establish an inclusive, supportive and welcoming environment that respects the dignity of staff and students of all ages, ethnicities, disabilities, family structures, genders, nationalities, sexual orientations, races, religious or other beliefs, and socio-economic backgrounds.

Our values

Working alongside the University’s Strategic Equality Plan, we are committed to:

  • recognising, respecting and valuing differences in the ways we work and interact with others
  • eliminating discrimination against equality and upholding key values of dignity, courtesy and respect
  • providing access to opportunities for all students and staff.

Recent activities

We encourage all of our staff to aspire to leadership and 46% of key leadership roles are now occupied by women. We also support our early career research and teaching staff through joint grant applications and provide them with opportunities to develop leadership skills.

Our staff and students enjoy a vibrant collaborative environment and come from a range of diverse national, cultural and professional backgrounds; staff in the School currently originate from 20 different countries from all over the world.

In 2020 we celebrated the international diversity of our community with an event bringing together the School’s large cohort of international PhD students and staff. The event provided an opportunity to sample food, music and architectural masterpieces from all the world’s continents and aimed to celebrate both international diversity and the wide spectrum of high-quality original research in our School.

All of our staff undertake mandatory unconscious bias and EDI training courses and those involved in chairing recruitment panels undertake the Chairing University Appointing Panels course.

We actively support flexible working, encouraging the concentration of meetings on Wednesdays and their completion by 4.30pm. Staff are eligible to apply for career breaks of 6-36 months and the School has implemented a Returners Support Scheme for staff returning from extended leave, offering reduced teaching and additional support to re-establish research. Staff and students have also been given the opportunity to attend organised sessions addressing academic work/life balance with invited speakers.

Find out more about Cardiff University’s commitment to Equality and Diversity by reading the university’s policies.