Birkbeck recognised with two Bronze Charter Awards

Birkbeck has been awarded two Bronze Awards in recognition of its work to advance race and gender equalities under the Race Equality Charter, and Athena Swan frameworks. This marks a significant milestone for the University as it builds on a longstanding commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion.

The recognition by Advance HE, who administer the schemes for both Athena Swan and the Race Equality Charter, highlighted ongoing work at Birkbeck to address structural inequalities that affect racialised staff and students; and gender equality for staff at the institution. Awards will be held for a period of five years – a period during which Birkbeck is expected to implement specific, measurable, and ambitious Actions Plans.

Following the recent announcements, Professor Sally Wheeler, Vice-Chancellor said: "Birkbeck was founded to make education and learning accessible to all and equalities, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of everything we do. Whilst we are really pleased to be recognised for our work to date to promote race and gender equality through the Race Equality Charter and Athena Swan awards, we know that there is much work ahead to achieve our equality and diversity goals."

The Race Equality Bronze Award requires universities to identify and analyse institutional culture, progression gaps for students and staff, representation of minoritised groups, and to implement an Action Plan aimed at creating an environment in which all its members can thrive.

Professor Stewart Motha, Chair of the Race Equality Self-Assessment Team said, “This Award is one step on a challenging journey. It took courage for staff and students to share difficult experiences; commitment to analyse hard data, and strong leadership to put in place ambitious plans so Birkbeck can truly reflect its progressive ideals. Compared to other London universities, we have far fewer Black staff, and they are often at the lowest grades.

“Minoritised students experience an awarding gap. Our community are not confident that race discrimination, when called out, will be adequately dealt with by managers. There is now a plan to address problems such as these and a commitment to change. The spirit of engagement makes me confident that we can achieve our goal of transforming Birkbeck.”

The Athena Swan Bronze Award recognises progress in advancing gender equality, which since 2021 has enhanced inclusivity covering all gender identities, including non-binary staff, and addresses intersectional inequalities.

Professor Joanne Leal, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chair of the Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team, said, “We are really pleased with the renewal of our Bronze Award from Advance HE which reflects our sustained commitment to gender equality initiatives. The award follows years of work by our self-assessment team to analyse institutional data and to develop the action plan to address gender inequity at Birkbeck. With the success of our recent application, I’m keen to maintain momentum, to review the recommendations and to ensure we embed measurable change across Birkbeck.”

The Race Equality Charter and Athena Swan Awards are widely used benchmarks across UK higher education, with the Bronze Award indicating that higher education institutions have identified key issues and established a credible Action Plan to respond to those challenges.

The Applications and Action Plans will be published on Birkbeck’s website once they are checked for GDPR compliance.