Gender – Page 17 – Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

Shared Parental Leave

On 5 April 2016 By In Equality, Gender, Uncategorised

Fathers are not taking advantage of rules that allow them to share leave with their partners, according to research published a year after the rights came into force.

Shared parental leave (SPL) was introduced on 5 April 2015 to give parents more choice and flexibility in caring for their children during the first 12 months after their birth. Parents can split 52 weeks’ leave, receiving some payment for 39 of those weeks. That is on top of the two weeks’ statutory paternity leave available to fathers. More

Gender pay gap: women earn £300,000 less than men over working life

On 7 March 2016 By In Equality, Gender, Uncategorised

Women are likely to earn £300,000 less than men over their working lives, according to a new analysis that has sparked fresh calls for more shared parental leave to close the UK’s stubborn gender pay gap.

Before International Women’s Day on Tuesday, figures show a gap of £5,732, or 24%, in average full-time annual salaries between women and men – more than four decades after the Equal Pay Act of 1970 was introduced.

Over a career of 52 years, that gap translates into a lifetime earnings shortfall of £298,064 for female employees, according to the analysis by the recruitment company Robert Half. More

Women ‘feature on only 13% of London’s blue plaques’

On 1 March 2016 By In Gender, Uncategorised

Only 13% of blue plaques in London are dedicated to women, English Heritage has revealed.

The organisation (EH) is appealing for people to nominate more notable women for the plaques, of which there are currently 902 around the capital.

The appeal comes as Women’s History Month gets under way, and in the blue plaque scheme’s 150th year. More

Diversity Week 2016

On 29 February 2016 By In Age, Celebrate Difference and Diversity, Disability, Diversity, Equality, Gender, LGBT, Mental Health, Race, Religion, Transgender, Uncategorised

This year Diversity Week takes place during the week beginning 14 March 2016 in collaboration with the Students’ Union, GK Unions and Health and Wellbeing. The week will include activities and exhibitions with a theme of ‘In Someone Else’s Shoes’. Everyone is welcome to come along and we look forward to seeing you.

14th March Greenwich, The Undercroft Stalls and Activities (including Wellbeing Week) 10.30am – 2.30pm

14th March Queen Anne 165 ‘Football: Tackling discrimination’ workshop with Kick It Out 4.00pm – onwards

14th March Queen Anne 080 LGBT+ Rights in the Commonwealth 5.30pm – 7.30pm

16th March Medway Campus, Pilkington Hall/Atrium Diversity Fair/World Café/Stalls (including Wellbeing Week) 10.30am – 2.00pm

18th March Avery Hill Campus, The Dome Stalls and Activities (including Wellbeing Week) 10.30am – 2.00pm

19th March David Fussy Sports Hall Kick It Out – FREE Five-a-Side Football 12.00pm – 2.00pm

14th – 20th March #takeastand week is part of BUCS’ Take a Stand campaign #teamgreenwich

14th – 18th March Equality Facebook Campaign #Equality

14th – 18th March Rainbow Laces Campaigns

World Book Day: Heroines fight off heroes in poll

On 22 February 2016 By In Gender, Uncategorised

Heroines and female villains outnumber heroes and male baddies in a literary poll of memorable children’s novel characters, to mark World Book Day.

Six of the top 10 heroes/heroines voted for were female, including Harry Potter’s Hermione Granger and Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games series.

Seven out of 10 villains were female, including Matilda’s Miss Trunchbull. More

Watching the heavens: The female pioneers of science

On 15 February 2016 By In Equality, Gender, Uncategorised

As the bombs fell on London during the Great War, two women kept a vigil of the night sky.

Fiammetta Wilson and Grace Cook observed shooting stars – the chunks of space rock that light up the sky as they plummet to Earth.

They kept up records of meteors in what was then very much a man’s world.

In 1916, the pair were among the first four women to be awarded fellowship of The Royal Astronomical Society – a milestone in the acceptance of women in science. More

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

On 11 February 2016 By In Equality, Gender, Uncategorised

11 February 2016 is the first International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

UNESCO’s message is clear – the new Agenda will not meet its promise without investing in women’s and girls’ empowerment through and in science.

More than ever today, the world needs science and science needs women. More

Scientist Mary Somerville to appear on Scottish £10 note

On 11 February 2016 By In Gender, Uncategorised

The scientist Mary Somerville will be the first woman other than a royal to appear on a Royal Bank of Scotland banknote – but only after a steward’s inquiry over an apparent attempt to rig the vote.

Some 4,100 people voted via Facebook for Somerville, whose academic writing played a pivotal role in the discovery of the planet Neptune, to appear on a new £10 note. More

Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month – February 2016

On 1 February 2016 By In Diversity, Gender, Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month, Transgender

February is LGBT History Month and with this in mind we have chosen Paris Lees as our Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month.

Paris is a British journalist, presenter and transgender rights activist. Paris was brought up as a boy, and self-identified as gay in early adulthood. At the age of 18 she committed a robbery, for which she served eight months in prison. While in prison she decided to change: “I just thought, ‘I’m this silly teenage boy in a prison cell who has made a huge mistake and I want to be this happy person’.” She moved to Brighton to study English at university, where she started to identify as female: “In the space of six weeks I went from living in Nottingham as a boy with my grandma still alive, to living in Brighton as a girl”. She was referred to Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic where she received hormone treatment to begin gender transition.

Paris founded the first British magazine aimed at the trans community, META and was the acting assistant editor of Gay Times. She also has columns in both Gay Times and Diva and was the first trans cover girl for Diva. She has also written for many mainstream newspapers and magazines, as well as for Channel 4 News.

She has presented on both television and radio, being the first trans woman presenter on both BBC Radio 1 and Channel 4. On Radio 1, she produced a documentary entitled “The Hate Debate” which covered the attitudes people have to minority groups and covered issues related to racism, homophobia, transphobia and Islamophobia. The Hate Debate was followed up with a second documentary in the same slot, “My Transgender Punk Rock Story”, interviewing transgender rock star Laura Jane Grace and introducing the teenage audience to trans concepts of identity both within and outside of the binary. She also presented the episode “Trans” of Channel 4’s The Shooting Gallery.

On 25 October 2013 Paris took part as a panelist in the BBC’s 100 Women event and in October 2013 she became the first openly transgender panelist to appear on the BBC’s Question Time programme.

Paris has worked with Trans Media Watch which challenged Channel 4 to remove transphobic material from its broadcasts, and consulted with the channel for its documentary My Transsexual Summer.

She currently works with All About Trans, a project that tries to bring together journalists and other media professionals with transgender people.

In 2013, she topped The Independent on Sunday’s Pink List, naming her as the most influential lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender figure in the UK; and was awarded the Positive Role Model Award for LGBT in the 2012.

EDI Strategy Launch – 27 January 2016

On 29 January 2016 By In Age, Disability, Diversity, Equality, Ethnicity, Gender, LGBT, Mental Health, Race, Religion, Transgender

The first EDI Strategy launch was held on 27 January 2016. The event was a huge success attracting nearly 90 participants throughout the day, including colleagues, not only from university faculties and directorates but also from Cambridge University, Goldsmiths and Business in the Community.

We welcomed many speakers who had come to us from Stonewall, King’s College London, Kingston University, the Students Union, and many other from the university. The speakers on the day talked on a wide range of topics including, Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter, Student Parents, Disability, religion and belief, mental health, BME.

Our participants really enjoyed the day and we thank them for attending and our speakers for taking part.