Advance HE hosted its inaugural conference in Ireland on 10 June examining equality, diversity and inclusion in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The Next Steps for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion considered the challenges and opportunities for leading a strategic approach to EDI and showcased good practice from across Ireland and the UK, sharing how Advance HE is supporting the sector in this change agenda.
Opening the conference with a keynote speech, Professor Sally Mapstone, Principal and Vice Chancellor, University of St Andrews, thanked Advance HE for organising the first EDI conference in Ireland.
She said, “The strategic leadership on diversity that Advance HE brings to the higher education sector is responsible for pioneering many of the national culture shifts underway at UK universities and more broadly. And I am really grateful for that, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the conversation today.
“It is the influence and the scope of Advance HE's activities which make this inaugural conference in Ireland so significant.”
Prof Mapstone spoke of her personal experience of diversity initiatives and how the University of St Andrew’s integrates EDI throughout the University's culture and activities.
She said, “Change is about collaboration and connectivity. Drawing upon both institutional and external networks…the richness and integrity of conversations about diversity increases in direct proportion to the number of people who have a place within them.”
An informal discussion on leading a strategic approach to EDI and driving the change was chaired by David Bass, Assistant Director of Membership at Advance HE.
He was joined by Dr Orla Flynn, President of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology; Professor Sally Mapstone; Nicola Doherty, Head of Education Sales EMEA & LATAM and out@in Dublin Lead, LinkedIn Learning and Mpho Mokotso, Gender-based violence activist, MASI member and freelance columnist.
A very thought-provoking lunchtime session as part of @AdvanceHE conference on race equality in higher education. Brilliant insights & personal experiences shared by @EbunJoseph1 @desondy @NUIG_OwenWard & @saharisright on how to approach challenges on race. #AHEIreland21 #EDI https://t.co/KK4Gg4OIhL
— DCU Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (@EDIatDCU) June 10, 2021
Delegates were able to explore perspectives on how to approach the challenges around race equality in a panel discussion chaired by Dr Arun Verma, Head of the Race Equality Charter at Advance HE.
He was joined by Dr Amanullah De Sondy, Head of the Study of Religions Department, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Islam and Chair of Race Equality at University College Cork and Director, Nasc – the Migrant and Refugee Rights Centre; Owen Ward, Programme Coordinator, Access Centre, NUI Galway; Sahar Ahmed, PhD Candidate, School of Law, Trinity College Dublin and Dr Ebun Joseph, Director, Institute of Antiracism and Black Studies.
Incredibly passionate and important panel discussion happening now on the @AdvanceHE EDI Ireland Conference with @desondy, Owen Ward, Sahar Ahmed, Dr Ebun Joseph and chaired by @drarunverma Thank you for such honest and critical conversations.
— Dr Nighet Riaz (@nnriaz) June 10, 2021
Dr Nighet Riaz from Advance HE and Khadija Mohammed, Senior Lecturer, University of the West of Scotland shared their work on tackling racism on campus from a Scottish perspective. They spoke of the important role of a steering group to co-lead, co-create and co-produce evidence based resources for Scottish universities and colleges in response to the findings highlighted in the EHRC inquiry report.
The impact of Covid-19 on combining work and managing caring responsibilities was also explored with Ellen Pugh, Senior Adviser at Advance HE and Dr Ross Woods from the HEA Centre of Excellence for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
Great to attend & hear the stimulating discussion at today’s @AdvanceHE event & look forward to delivering the keynote closing speech this afternoon #EDI #Equality https://t.co/a6iEpNDkro
— Ivana Bacik (@ivanabacik) June 10, 2021
Finally, Professor Ivana Bacik, Associate Professor, Law, Trinity College Dublin, delivered the closing keynote. She thanked Advance HE for promoting equality and for creating the conference “because it is really valuable to hear and learn about different institutions and different jurisdictions”.
Prof Bacik spoke of the history of women in Irish HE and highlighted some of the key figures pushing for gender equality in the third level, such as former TD and Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor. She also covered the importance of why we must be conscious of intersectionality in equality and her experience of leading and achieving an Athena Swan Bronze award at her institution.
Passionate and informative keynote addresses at today’s inaugural @AdvanceHE All-Ireland #EDI Conference with Principal & Vice-Chancellor @univofstandrews Prof Sally Mapstone and @tcddublin Prof @ivanabacik #nextsteps #inclusion #leadership #actions #GrowInHE #learning pic.twitter.com/sSgL9MIsBh
— Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (@UlsterEquality) June 10, 2021
The Island of Ireland Symposium: Partnership for Student Success: Developing graduates for the 21st century on 23 June will aim to provide a forum for discussing how different forms of partnership within higher education contribute to student success and improved student outcomes across the island of Ireland. Find out more.
Join us at our new EDI workshop 'Inclusive and Equitable Assessment and Feedback' starting on 14 July which will introduce the latest literature, practitioner learning and sector insights to support participants to develop their reflective and innovative practice. Book your place.