Working towards an anti-racist school
At Cardiff Business School, there is no place for racism. This means that we have a zero tolerance policy towards racism.
We are on a journey towards becoming an anti-racist school. Taking an anti-racist approach means proactively creating an environment where students and staff do not face barriers in their education and work due to racial prejudice, discrimination and inequality.
We understand that racial discrimination and inequalities can be experienced on an individual basis and through institutional systems. We are also aware that some forms of racism are overt, and sometimes racism can take the form of subtle and indirect microaggressions. We aim to work towards a school environment that is free from any form of racism or racial inequality.
At Cardiff Business School, we acknowledge that we have a lot of learning to do, to truly understand and develop an anti-racist approach that will make a meaningful difference to the experiences of all our students and staff.
Guided by the Welsh Government’s Anti-Racist Action plan, we are committed to the goal of ensuring everyone at Cardiff Business School can study and work with dignity, and with equality of opportunity. We expect all members of our school community to engage with opportunities and initiatives around race equality, so that together we can reach the necessary goal of creating an anti-racist culture within Cardiff Business School.
Race Equality Committee
Our Race Equality Committee is undertaking a number of initiatives to help raise the profile of race equality, and to tackle racial inequalities. The Committee has partnered with Business in the Community (BITC), through which, Cardiff Business School has signed up to the Race at Work Charter. Through this partnership, BITC have helped to facilitate multiple successful workshops, with more are planned in the future.
The committee are also working in line with the Welsh Government’s Anti-Racist Action Plan. The Action Plan advises that universities should work towards promoting an anti-racist culture, so that all students and staff can expect to have a positive experience of higher education, irrespective of their racial and ethnic background.
The Race Equality Committee is chaired by Professor Emmanuel Ogbonna, who is also a co-chair of the External Accountability Group for the implementation of the Welsh Government’s Anti-Racist Action Plan.
Our work so far
The Race Equality Committee has delivered a number of projects, including:
Confidential reporting
The email address carbs-raceequality@cardiff.ac.uk is available for any student, staff or visitor to report incidences of racism, racial inequalities or microaggressions experienced within the school.
This email account is reviewed by our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Officer, who will deal with any report in a sensitive, supportive and confidential manner, and will communicate with the reporting individual before progressing with any action.
Reports provided via this email will also enable the officer to assess any common or recurring issues and advise the Committee of this. This will allow the Committee to ensure future initiatives, training or campaigns are relevant.
Where individuals choose to remain anonymous, or do not wish to name individuals involved in the incident, they are welcome to make a report via this email so that recurring issues are identified, and consideration can be given to how further incidences can be addressed and prevented.
‘Let’s Talk About Race’ workshops
These workshops are held to create safe spaces for open conversation and learning around race and are open to all members of staff. Facilitated by BITC, they are intended to develop understanding of how people are affected by race and race equality issues.
The sessions so far have proved to be a beneficial means of breaking down barriers in talking about this topic with sensitivity and allowing people space to learn in a non-judgemental environment.
This can also help colleagues to become more effective allies in the workplace. Further similar workshops are planned to take place, as well as more in-depth workshops on the topic of allyship.
Listening Circles
Led by BITC, these workshops are a space for individuals of racial and ethnic minority backgrounds to talk about their lived experiences and an opportunity to share issues that they face.
The Committee hopes to take away themes that emerge, to help inform future initiatives and allow a more focussed response towards addressing the needs of students and staff. Separate sessions are held for students and for staff.
‘Promoting Race Equality Through Decolonising Research’ workshop
A workshop open to research staff and students was held to facilitate discussion around barriers in decolonising research and developing ideas of potential ways to address these.
Presentations were made by staff, several discussion groups took place where people spoke about their experiences in research relating to race issues. Suggested actions were taken away by staff members working in various departments around research and many participants were keen to be involved future similar events.
A bigger event is planned on a college-wide basis comprising schools from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
The Race Equality Book Club
A regular book club for staff members to participate in conversations around race, helping to raise the profile of race equality within the school, developing knowledge and engagement around race equality issues.
Titles explored include Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera and Making It by Jay Blade. Alongside each book, there are often connected articles, podcasts, and documentaries which are also recommended, to enable as many people as possible to engage with the topic of conversation.
Future sessions are intended to include discussing films or documentaries related to race and race equality issues.
Research, data and further initiatives
The Race Equality Committee are continuing to undertake research to help develop and establish further projects and initiatives. This includes collating and reviewing attainment data, and providing further opportunities for staff and students to give feedback about their experiences of race equality issues.
This will enable the Committee to focus their work towards the needs of the school community, and make progress towards improving the higher education experience for people of all backgrounds.
Contact
If you have any queries for the Race Equality Committee you can contact:
Race Equality Project Officer
Shaheda Khatun
Race equality at Cardiff University
Through our efforts in progressing race equality work, Cardiff Business School, as part of Cardiff University, supports and reinforces the University’s commitment to becoming an actively anti-racist institution.
