The Under-Represented Staff Groups Project Current State Analysis for SOAS

1. The Under-Represented Staff Groups Project Current State Analysis for SOAS Anjana Nathwani, Robin Schneider & Alexis Walmsley 13th February 2008 SOAS Equality & Diversity Committee February 2008 Appendix E1

2. 1. This Presentation • What do we know? • Profile – gender & ethnicity. • Recruitment & promotion. • Staff survey results. • What do people say? • What conclusions can we reach?

3. 2. Methodology • Desk research: • E&D Staff Reports. • Staff survey results. • Academic promotions policy, job descriptions etc. • HESA data for comparators. • 1:1s with policy holders in HR. • 1:1s with senior leaders. • 1:1s with staff who have experience of promotions processes. • Focus group with union representatives.

4. 3. SOAS Overall Staff Profile (69) (45) (14) (74) (326) (122) (155) (20) (50) (65) (66) (361) (70) (48) (191) (23) (14) (32) NB Data snapshot as at Oct/Nov 2006. Full comparative data for same period in 2007 is not fully available as yet

5. 4. Academic Staff Profile x Gender (42) (55) (45) (42) (5) (22) NB Data snapshot as at Oct/Nov 2006. Full comparative data for same period in 2007 is not fully available as yet

6. 5. Academic Staff Profile x Ethnicity NB Data snapshot as at Oct/Nov 2006. Full comparative data for same period in 2007 is not fully available as yet

7. 6. Student Profile v Staff Profile

8. 7. Women & BME Staff & The Transfer To Fractional Contracts • Women and BME staff most strongly represented in these traditionally less secure roles. • Research (i.e., vast majority fixed-term contracts) • Women 48.5% • BME staff 45.4% • Other-Related (teaching, again fixed-term contracts) • Women 48.4% • BME staff 33.7% • Transfer of these staff onto permanent, fractional contracts represents a considerable opportunity – for them and for SOAS.

9. 8. Academic Recruitment - Gender

10. 9. Non-Academic Recruitment – Gender

11. 10. Academic Recruitment - Ethnicity

12. 11. Non-Academic Recruitment – Ethnicity

13. 12. Academic Promotions 2001/2 – 2006/7: Gender

14. 13. Promotions 2001/2 – 2006/7: Ethnicity

15. 14. Staff Survey: Current Promotions Procedure Seems Fair x Gender

16. 15. Staff Survey: Current Promotions Procedure Seems Fair x Ethnicity

17. 16. Feedback about The Culture & Management • Strong common, re-inforcing feedback from different groups – senior leaders, HoDs, lecturers, HR and unions. • Culture is perceived to be changing, but still predominantly experienced as “old fashioned”, male, heterosexual and white. • Difficult to “lead” – not a strong sense of “collegiality”, a tendency to debate/ignore decisions that one disagrees with and a lack of accountability. • People management does not appear to be valued – the best academics try to avoid it and performance management is weak – but there are some good role models (and recognised by unions).

18. 17. Feedback About Selection Policies & Processes • Recruitment – could have a greater ‘positive’ outreach? • Promotion - legacy of inconsistent practices (from the past?) which are perceived to have been very subjective. “A small group sat around the table with totally inadequate paperwork.” “[After] I was appointed [to my role], I got asked some crazy questions…” • Everyone is not as familiar with the promotion criteria or as tightly focused on achieving them: • Lack of discussions about career, expectations and performance. • Women pick up more student-centred “good citizen” roles?

19. 18. Feedback about Equality & Diversity Issues • Gender: • perceptions from women that there’s a “boy’s club” and misogynist elements in the culture; • long working hours and lack of part-time more senior academics – causes some women not to put themselves forward. • Ethnicity – some perceptions of a “colonial”, elitist mentality and a linked concern that Middle Eastern, Asian and African academics at SOAS are not sufficiently recognised or encouraged. • E&D is not ‘mainstreamed’ – need a set of strategies which link back to the 2016 vision.

20. 19. Some Key Findings • Current overall profile: • Academic women are under-represented at more senior levels – particularly professorial level. • Academic BME staff are under-represented in more senior roles and in total in much lower numbers than the bme representation amongst students. • BME staff are under-represented in academic-related posts. • Women & BME staff are strongly represented in the staff moving over to permanent, fractional contracts. • Recruitment: • Greater proportion of academic men than women are invited to interview. • BME academics, excluding Chinese, are less likely to be invited to interview and less likely then to be successful at interview. • Promotion: • Academic women are successful but need to be encouraged to apply. • Academic bme staff are significantly less successful than their white colleagues. • There is a high proportion (63%) of all staff who disagree that the promotion procedure seems fair - and this rises to 67% of women (60% men) and 65% of bme staff (61% white).

21. 20. Some Conclusions • There are strong drivers for increasing diversity at senior levels. • There have been recent improvements in policies which represent a good foundation for reaching out more widely for talent. • There remain, however, worrying examples of poor and inconsistent practice, and some bias in outcomes. SOAS is undoubtedly vulnerable – both legally, and perhaps more significantly, reputationally. • Culture change is critical because: • It is the culture that determines how selection policies are actually implemented. • Currently, under-represented groups feel that they are excluded or at least not valued. • This influences aspiration levels and outputs as well as attrition. • At the core of this culture change needs to be real leadership – sending out an unambiguous message about the desired culture and the need to change - and a transformation in the perceived status of the task of ‘management’.

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