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Equality and Diversity

June 17th, 2013

The week that was…

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Equality and Diversity

June 17th, 2013

The week that was…

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Highlights from equality and diversity news last week: new report claims UK’s top universities becoming socially exclusive, TUC study finds less than 1% of working fathers took additional paternity leave last year, EHRC publishes a follow up report ‘Stop and Think Again’, and a very interesting article on why the case for diversity shouldn’t be made on business/economic grounds.

A new report by the Social Mobility Commission claims that UK’s top universities have become less socially representative in the past decade. Though the overall university sector has become more socially diverse since 2002-03, the most selective universities have become “socially exclusive”. The report calls for universities to set clear statistical targets for progress on widening participation as a top priority.

A study by the Trade Union Congress found that less than 1% of working fathers took advantage of additional paternity leave in 2011/12. The system which allows men to take up to 26 weeks additional paternity leave and receive additional statutory paternity pay was introduced in April 2011. The TUC said the statutory pay of £136 per week was poor level of financial suppport and was contributing to the low take-up of additional paternity leave. From April 2015, a new system of shared parental leave will be introduced.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published a report ‘Stop and Think Again’ on the use of ‘stop and search’ by police forces. The report reveals that unfair use of ‘stop and search’, especially its disproportionate use against ethnic minorities, has reduced. The project was initiated by EHRC following the publication in 2010 of its comprehensive review into the use of stop and search which showed that at that time, nationally, black and Asian people were respectively six and two times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people.

Finally, we came across an interesting article which argues against resting the case for diversity on business grounds. More specifically, the article is a response to the Royal Society’s call for research to articulate the business case for diversity in the scientific workforce. The writer says: “When these discrimination laws came in, we didn’t need a business case – it was a social argument. It still is a social argument. When the Royal Society commissions research of this type it endorses the idea that diversity should be argued on economic grounds. It helps move the goalposts from one where diversity is the ‘usual business’ that we all expect to one where diversity is the exception, where it has to be justified in terms of increased output.”

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