Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are a vibrant and diverse community, with students and staff from many nations and ethnic backgrounds and our School’s leadership reflects this diversity.

Race, religion, disability, gender and sexuality are all core components of our teaching and active areas of research for many members of our staff.

Governance

We have an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee which considers equality matters across all protected characteristics relating to staff, students and curriculum. The Committee also has several active working groups:

Race equality

We have an active Race Equality Action Group. The group’s activities include staff training, inviting inspiring external speakers, organising a photography exhibition and auditing the curriculum.

Gender and sexuality equality

The Athena SWAN Charter was established in 2005 to address gender inequalities such as the underrepresentation of women in the sciences. It’s since expanded to cover the arts, humanities and social sciences.

Cardiff University has held a Bronze institutional award since 2009, and the School of Social Sciences has held a Bronze departmental award since 2014, renewed in 2023.

The School has an active Gender and Sexualities Equality Sub-Committee, enabling us to carry out our responsibilities in Gender and Sexualities Equality, making recommendations and leading in developing, implementing and monitoring the School’s Gender Equality Plan. The Sub-Committee reports to the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Disability equality

We are committed to improving equality for those who have physical disabilities, physical or mental health conditions or who are neurodivergent. This includes students, staff and all those involved in research and other activities.

We have a Disability Equality Sub-Committee to ensure we carry out our responsibilities in disability equality and anti-ableism. Disabled students in our School, like all students at Cardiff University, can receive support through the Student Disability Service Student Disability Service.

Welsh Champions Group

This group arranges Welsh medium teaching, organises Welsh-speaking tutors and supervisors for students, and promotes our bilingual development through social gatherings and meetings of Welsh-speaking staff and students.

Contact us

The Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is Professor Sally Holland. She sits on the Senior Management Team and chairs our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.