Staff
Academic research
Members of the University’s academic staff carry out research in relation to many equality areas, for example:
- The Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research (CHEER) in the School of Education and Social Work undertakes international and national research into equity in higher education. Recent research includes widening participation in higher education in Ghana and Tanzania; women and academic leadership internationally; applied research into the experience of black and minority ethnic staff working in UK higher education; the experiences of disabled students in higher education; an exploration of the career trajectories of newly qualified researchers; and an investigation into the factors which affect young peoples' decisions not to progress to higher education after following a vocational pathway in upper secondary education. CHEER has strong international links, publications and a seminar series that is also available online.
- Sussex is well known nationally and internationally for its interdisciplinary work in Gender Studies. The Centre for Gender Studies, based in the department of Sociology (School of Law, Politics and Sociology), has 16 core faculty and a large group of associates who engage in gender research and teaching and are noted in their fields. At undergraduate level, courses related to gender issues are taught in many disciplines and departments including Sociology, Anthropology, Media & Film, English Literature and International Relations. At postgraduate level, there is a portfolio of taught MA programmes as well as a Gender Studies pathway on the MSc in Social Research Methods. There are also over 100 PhD students studying gender-related topics in different disciplines across the University, who are networked via the Centre. Gender scholars at Sussex have particular research interests in the intersection of gender with themes such as sexualities, education, health, reproduction, crime and violence, development and migration, and the study of feminist movements worldwide. The core activities of the Centre for Gender Studies are as follows:
- Bringing together gender-related expertise from across the University, enabling colleagues to collaborate and build capacity;
- Attracting high-quality postgraduate students to our taught MAs and PhD programmes;
- Maintaining the University’s reputation as a leader in the field of gender teaching and research, and helping to fulfill its commitment to inter-disciplinarity;
- Feeding in to gender-related debates and collaborating with women’s organisations locally and nationally.
Appraisal
The University’s appraisal scheme is applicable to staff on substantive contracts including staff on fixed-term contracts of a year or more. The University has recently revised the appraisal scheme for academic staff, including guidance and training, and will similarly be revising the scheme for professional services staff. The University has introduced a system for monitoring the percentage of appraisals carried out by each School or Professional Services area. Responsible managers are required to account for any appraisals not undertaken, and this information is reviewed to ensure that there are no equality issues in relation to appraisals not carried out. Consistent application of an appraisal system is an effective tool for assisting employees in their performance and development in a professional, fair and consistent manner.
Athena SWAN
In November 2011, the University joined the Athena SWAN Charter, a scheme designed to promote and recognise good employment practice for universities and research institutes recruiting and promoting women to senior positions in Science, and Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) departments. In March 2012, the University established a self-assessment team chaired by the PVC (International) to work on initiatives relating to the employment and retention of women in the STEMM disciplines, and to develop the University’s application for a University Bronze award. The application was submitted to Athena SWAN at the end of November 2012 and the outcome is expected in April 2013.
Discretionary Pay Review
The procedure for pay review at Sussex is designed to reward exceptional performance; defined as “a level of performance that goes significantly beyond that which would normally be expected from a member of staff in their role”. Payments made to staff can include bonus payments to individuals or teams, accelerated increments and use of discretionary incremental points. The procedure also includes the process for reviewing grades for professional services staff in grades 1-9 (a separate academic promotions process applies to academic staff). Submissions are made by Heads of School and from Directors of professional services areas.
The University monitors the submissions for and outcomes to discretionary pay awards by gender, disability and ethnicity. This is currently a manual exercise which will be enhanced by the introduction of a new HR system in 2012/13 which will enable the University to provide more extensive information. The data for 2011/12 shows a consistent trend to that of 2010/11 in that women were more successful than men in gaining a discretionary pay award (72% of females and 35% of males whose managers applied for a discretionary pay award were successful). It also shows that more women were submitted to receive a discretionary pay award (25 women as opposed to 20 men).
A discretionary pay review process has also been designed for the Professoriate. This is also designed to reward exceptional performance.
Equal Pay Review
The University first conducted an Equal Pay Review in 2007. At that time, with the introduction of the University’s single pay and grading structure (from what was formerly more than 10 separate grading structures), the review showed that there was no systematic pattern of pay differential in favour of one gender. In terms of conducting the analysis, the average pay for women as a percentage of the average pay for men in each grade, was considered. That analysis showed that, for three grades, the gender gap was more than 3%, and in each of those cases, women were paid, on average, more than men. Further investigation of those grades showed that the difference was a function of assimilation arrangements from old to new grading structures, with more women assimilating from former clerical grades (which tended to be higher) and more men assimilating from former manual grades (which tended to be lower). This gap was expected to even out after the first few years of the new grading structure having been introduced. The results of the Review were shared with the three trade unions at the time. A second Equal Pay Review was conducted in June 2011. The University’s recognised trade unions were consulted on the briefing for the Review which was carried out by an independent equal pay expert (who also conducted the Review in 2007). A workshop was held with the three unions to look at the results of the Review and to consider any actions to be taken. The review focussed on pay analyses by grade, and included separate analysis for staff on part-time and fixed-term contracts. The analysis covered the protected characteristics of gender, disability, ethnicity and age.
In terms of the detailed analysis, the Review revealed a small number of pay gaps amongst a small sample of staff within one grade (grade 9) which could be considered statistically significant (i.e. individual gaps of 5% or more or patterns of gaps of 3% or more). The University investigated these instances in line with EHRC guidance and was satisfied there was an objective justification for the gaps due to: (i) a larger number of women than men being newly appointed on part-time contracts and therefore clustering towards the bottom of the incremental scale in that grade; and (ii) a larger number of men than women amongst the fixed-term staff having been redeployed within their grade (as opposed to being a new starter) and therefore having already progressed up the incremental scale. In time, these gaps in grade 9 will even out as the female staff progress through the incremental scale. No significant pay gaps were shown in any other grade. The Review showed that the University was compliant with the Equality Act 2010 (formerly the Equal Pay Act 1970).The university has set an equality objective to conduct a further equal pay review by 2016.
Family-friendly Policies and Facilities
The University has a number of family-friendly policies and procedures, many of which go significantly beyond the statutory requirements, for example, the University’s maternity, paternity and adoption pay (both ordinary and additional) is significantly better than the statutory rates. During 2012, 67 members of staff took maternity leave and 28 took paternity leave.
The University has an on-site Nursery and Pre-School, managed by the Mid-Counties Cooperative, which are available to staff and students, and accommodate children from 4 months to 5 years of age. Both childcare facilities are rated as outstanding by Ofsted. The childcare facilities will be moving to a new, purpose built building, to be provided by the University, which will accommodate a 101 place nursery/pre-school, and is due to open in September 2013. Opening hours are currently 8.30am to 5.30pm, but are likely to be extended under the new provider. Parents are able to book whole or half days, and additional sessions can be booked where available. The facilities are open throughout the year except for a two-week period in August.
The University also offers a salary sacrifice scheme for childcare vouchers to assist working parents with the cost of childcare. Childcare vouchers can be used at the nursery/pre-school on campus or at any registered childcare provider. Where both parents work for the University, both are entitled to receive childcare vouchers. Membership of the childcare voucher scheme is normally on an annual basis, and staff are advised of this benefit via the HR webpages and in the maternity, paternity and adoption leave schemes.
The University's sports centre offers a range of courses for children aged seven to 16 years during the Easter and summer school holidays and some half-terms which helps support working parents.
The University's flexible working policy recognises that working parents need to work flexibly in order to maintain an appropriate work:life balance. The policy and procedures are detailed on the HR webpages, and a number of applications are made (and granted) each year. Managers are responsible for considering all requests for flexible working and deciding (with guidance from an HR Adviser) whether these can be accommodated on either a permanent or a temporary basis. HR Advisers are based in the Schools and provide detailed guidance to managers in relation to all requests for flexible working.
In addition to formal applications, many Heads of School allow informal flexibility in working patterns to enable staff to meet personal/family commitments. In 2012, 25% of the University's workforce is part-time (530 members of staff). 151 of these part-time members of staff are employed on academic and research contracts, and 93 out of the 151 are women (62%).
Grievances, disciplinary cases and capability cases
The University monitors any cases that reach the formal stages of the staff grievance procedure, the staff disciplinary procedure and the staff capability procedure, by gender, ethnicity, disability and age. As the number of such cases was so low in 2012, quantitative charts have not been produced. Trends have been monitored over a number of years, and have not demonstrated that staff with any of the protected characteristics monitored are more or less likely to raise a grievance or be subject to disciplinary or capability procedures than those without the protected characteristics.
Information
The University collects and analyses equality information by gender, ethnicity, disability and age. The University is investing in a new HR system, to go live in 2012/13, which will enhance the University’s capability to collect and analyse a wider range of equality data on its staff and their employment.
Job Evaluation
The University has a formal, proprietary job evaluation system for the evaluation of all posts. A number of staff have been specifically trained as job evaluators. Job evaluation systematically determines the size and weight of one job relative to others in an organisation in order to ensure a fair pay and grading structure to equal pay.
There are job descriptions and employee specifications for all posts within the University, these being a pre-requisite for job evaluation. The University has developed a set of core academic job descriptions to ensure consistency in the different levels of academic posts across the University’s schools.
Occupational Health
The University has an occupational health service which provides a range of services, including advice to management and staff in relation to individual health and disability matters, e.g. to support staff returning to work after illness or to support staff in the identification and implementation of reasonable adjustments.
Employment Policies and Procedures
Key employment policies were reviewed and revised in consultation with the recognised trade unions in 2011/12, to include the development of a revised Procedure for Sickness Absence and Medical Incapacity which includes provision for staff who are not off sick but who are nevertheless unable to fulfil the requirements of their role for medical reasons.
Promotion
The University has started to monitor its applicants for academic promotion by gender. This is currently a manual exercise which will be enhanced by the implementation of the new HR system which will also provide the facility to extend this monitoring to other protected characteristics. The data for 2011/12 shows that 64% of the applicants for promotion to Senior Lecturer, 50% of the applicants for promotion to Reader, and 40% of the applicants for promotion to Professor, were female. These figures show significant increases in applications from women in comparison with the previous two years.
Training
The University provides a range of equality and diversity training and development programmes for academic and professional services staff in both management and non-management positions. Wherever appropriate, equality and diversity matters are embedded into the University’s training programmes. The University also provides specific equality and diversity programmes for managers, all staff, and specific groups of staff.
In 2011 – 12, we continued work begun in the previous year aimed at ensuring all staff in a management role were aware of the provisions of the Equality Act 2010, offering a briefing session as part of our management development programme. This session was delivered by the University’s employment lawyers, Pinsent Masons LLP, as were courses in Recruitment & Selection, Performance Management and Fixed-Term Contracts, all of which were aimed at ensuring that managers were briefed on the University’s employment policies and procedures and the relevant legal implications related to each topic, and that they were aware of and followed best practice in their roles as senior managers. The courses in Recruitment & Selection and Performance Management included a practical element, delivered through the ‘forum theatre’ technique. The University introduced a new appraisal system for members of staff in academic roles and provided training to ensure understanding of its operation.
Independent expert trainers facilitated team events focused around equalities issues for front line staff in Residential Services, Security and Estates and Facilities Management, aimed at ensuring that the University maintains excellence in its service to students. We also embarked on a project, led by a leading external consultant, to investigate issues of gender equality in the University and identify resulting staff development interventions.
The University’s Teaching and Learning Development Unit runs courses on inclusive teaching for academic staff, which cover inclusivity in relation to all of the protected characteristics.
In addition, the Teaching and Learning Development Unit has developed a Study Direct site on inclusive teaching which has an open forum group for discussion.
The University runs a Leadership Programme for academic and professional services staff which is facilitated by an external leadership consulting firm; the programme has run for four years and each cohort is selected to ensure a gender balance.
The Equality and Diversity Forum
The University’s staff and student Equality and Diversity Form meets three times during the academic year and covers a wide number of agenda items, recent topics include student violence and harassment issues; attainment levels of black, asian and minority ethnic students; the University’s equality objectives and the terms of reference/composition of the Forum. The Forum is an important consultative group for the University on equality issues. The Forum is chaired by Professor Clare Mackie, Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
Black History Month
The University hosts a series of events to celebrate “Black History Month” in October each year.
LGBT History Month
The University’s Students’ Union LGBTQ society organises four weeks of events in February each year to celebrate the lives and achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people.
Campus Access
A contract has been agreed between the University and Disabled Go to provide disability access information on the University’s website during the 2012/13 academic year.