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Equality and Diversity

March 31st, 2014

The week that was…

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Equality and Diversity

March 31st, 2014

The week that was…

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Last week saw the historic change in law to legalise same sex marriages. In addition to this big news, we came across HEFCE research on attainment gap between white and ethnic minority students, a national network for Black PhD students, report on four generation (4G) workplaces and women’s fears about career breaks.

On Sunday midnight, law changed in the UK making same sex marriages legal in the country. Prime Minister David Cameron hailed this historic change as a “powerful message” about equality in England.

Research from the Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE) has found that white students get better degrees than ethnic minority peers despite same entry grades. The report found that 72% of white students who have grades BBB at A-level went on to gain a first or upper second-class degree, compared with only 56% of Asian students and 53% of black students. HEFCE’s research also showed gaps in degree classes between students from wealthy and poorer areas.

A student blogger reiterates this sentiment as he writes on experiences of working class students in top universities: “Coming to a Russell Group university as a working-class student was as big a culture shock as coming from another country. There are pressures to adjust to radically different standards. It can be overwhelming when you’re already making a difficult transition from school to university.”

Black PhD students may feel isolated in the academy, say two students who are setting up a national network to help black scholars overcome isolation. This network will be linked with the US-based Black Doctoral Network, an established group with about 4,000 members worldwide, and will provide information on mentoring and scholarships as well as opportunities to network online.

UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) has published a report on the changing workplace. The report finds that multi-generational workplaces will become fairly common in the UK in the future as people retire later. UKCES describe the change in an interesting way – “Some of your colleagues are old enough to be your great-grandparents, your office is entirely online and your competitors are algorithms. Welcome to the future of work in the UK.”

A new survey from the London Business School reveals that 70% of women feel anxious about taking a career break, fearing that it will have a negative impact on their career. Louisa Symington-Mills, found of Citymothers, says: “No one talks enough about the hit your confidence takes when you become a mother and then attempt to reintegrate professionally…When a new mum comes back to work, the short time she was given off is often viewed as a tremendous act of generosity from her employer’s perspective.”

Came across something interesting? Write to us – Equality.and.Diversity@lse.ac.uk – or tweet to us – @lsediversity

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Equality and Diversity

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