Â鶹ɫÇéƬ

Â鶹ɫÇéƬ

Our commitment

Â鶹ɫÇéƬ is committed to valuing diversity and advancing equality of opportunity in all aspects of our activities. We believe that this is fundamental to the development of an inclusive working and learning environment in which all employees and learners can fulfil their potential.

Our activities are structured around our legal obligations and voluntary commitments.

Â鶹ɫÇéƬ is committed to valuing diversity and advancing equality of opportunity in all aspects of our activities. We believe that this is fundamental to the development of an inclusive working and learning environment in which all employees and learners can fulfil their potential.

We work hard to promote inclusive working and learning environments, and to deliver inclusive services which are free from discrimination and where our employees, students, and anyone associated with Â鶹ɫÇéƬ are treated fairly.

Our actions to promote, encourage, enforce, and report on equality, inclusion and diversity at Â鶹ɫÇéƬ are structured around numerous policies and commitments, action plans, and legal obligations, detailed below.

Public Sector Equality Duty

As a public authority the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements of The Equality Act 2010 require us to:

  • eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and other prohibited conduct
  • advance equality of opportunity and foster good relationships between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not

The Public Sector Equality Duty covers the following protected characteristics, with regard to eliminating unlawful discrimination in employment:

  • age
  • disability
  • sex
  • gender reassignment
  • pregnancy and maternity
  • race
  • religion or belief
  • sexual orientation
  • marriage and civil partnership

Scotland-specific duties

The specific duties in Scotland were created by secondary legislation in the Equality Act 2010. The eight components are:

  • publish equality progress and report on mainstreaming equality duty every two years
  • assess and review policies and practices, on-going
  • gather and use employee information, and publish in the mainstreaming report
  • publish gender pay gap information every two years
  • publish statements on equal pay every four years
  • consider award criteria and conditions in relation to public procurement
  • publish in a manner that is accessible

Related downloads:

Equality Outcomes Progress and Mainstreaming report 2023
Mainstreaming report 2021
Mainstreaming and equality outcomes report 2021
Mainstreaming and equality outcomes report 2017–2021
Mainstreaming and equality outcomes update 2019
Gender pay gap report
Equal pay statement 2021
Public sector equality duty reports

Copies in alternative formats and community languages can be made available on request.

Â鶹ɫÇéƬ Gender Action Plan

In August 2016 the Scottish Funding Council launched its plans to address gender imbalance in subjects offered across Scotland’s Colleges and Universities and the gender gap between male and female undergraduates.

To contribute to the sector’s achievement, Â鶹ɫÇéƬ has developed a Gender Action Plan to cover the academic years 2017–2021.

The outputs from, and impact of, the plan will be regularly reviewed and the plan updated accordingly. The plan provides greater detail to aims and actions included within the Outcome Agreement and Â鶹ɫÇéƬ's gender action plan 2017-2021.

You can also download the Horizon Europe Gender Equality Plan for Â鶹ɫÇéƬ.

Â鶹ɫÇéƬ is a Corporate Parent

Â鶹ɫÇéƬ supports students who fall under Â鶹ɫÇéƬ’s Corporate Parenting umbrella. These include care experienced students, student carers, estranged students, veterans, vulnerable adults, travellers, refugees, homeless students and survivors of abuse.

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Â鶹ɫÇéƬ has a designated member of staff at each campus who acts as an impartial enabler of internal support. You can access contact information and relevant support available on each campus.

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Â鶹ɫÇéƬ recognises its commitment to those students who are care experienced and student carers. We have made public our commitment of support. T learn more about what we are doing, read Â鶹ɫÇéƬ's Corporate Parenting Action Plan.Ìý

British Sign Language (BSL) action plan

Â鶹ɫÇéƬ is committed to embedding equality, diversity, and inclusion across our work as an employer, tertiary education and research institution, and service provider. As part of this commitment, we aim to support and empower our BSL community to engage in work, learning and collaboration at all our campuses and other premises.

Our BSL plan 2024 – 2030 sets out how Â鶹ɫÇéƬ will support the ambitions of the . We share the ambition that Scotland is the best place in the world to live, work, learn and visit for BSL users.

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Policies and commitments

Â鶹ɫÇéƬ is committed to equality, set out in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy.

To further support our efforts we have committed to the principles of several equality initiatives:

Athena Swan – a framework which is used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research. You can find more information on the . Our activity in this area is led by our Self Assessment Team (SAT) who are responsible for the development and implementation of our action plan to ensure that we meet the requirements of the framework.

Disability Confident – a scheme which supports us to make the most of the talents disabled people can bring to our workplace. More information can be found on the . Our HR and Recruitment Teams lead the activity which ensure that we meet the standards of the scheme which relate to job applicants and existing employees.

Agrespect – an initiative which promotes and supports diversity in the countryside by supporting rural organisations, colleges and businesses to be welcoming places for LGBTQ+ people. You can find out more on the .

Our Rainbow Staff Network is a key part of our support for Agrespect. The network is open to all staff who identify as LGBTQI+ as well as staff who wish to support diversity and inclusion by becoming Network Allies. More information on the network can be requested via rainbow.network@sruc.ac.uk.

Â鶹ɫÇéƬ is committed to valuing diversity among our staff and students and operating in an inclusive manner. We can provide documents in an alternative format or in alternative community languages if requested. You can find out more in our accessible documents policy statement.

Public Sector Leadership Summit – Â鶹ɫÇéƬ is making progress in our efforts to ensure that staff and students from all communities are welcomed and heard. We are signatories to the Scottish Government led Commitment to Race Equality. For more information you can download our letter of commitment.

Decolonising the catalogue

We are conscious that, as an organisation with a long history, our library, archives and special collections content may contain historical sensitive language related to the discrimination of underrepresented groups, including Black, Asian and Ethnic minorities, women and LGBTQI+ populations.

The publications in our library document a time and place, and they were created in a specific context, serving as a portrayal of the social mindsets and occurrences of their time. They do not mirror the current views of Â鶹ɫÇéƬ; our vision is to embed a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion within our organisation and create an environment where everyone can thrive, contribute and succeed.

When we discover unacceptable language in collection descriptions, we update them to remove any language that could harm researchers or that is offensive to the people being described.

Some materials in collections may contain offensive language or imagery. In the interests of historical integrity, we do not remove these images or words from archival materials, but we will provide a note about these contents in the item’s description. Sometimes we retain offensive or harmful terms in collection descriptions for historical accuracy or to document the issues and social context of a specific time and the attitudes and opinions of the people who created the material.

When creating new descriptions and updating old ones, we strive to use terms that communities and individuals use to describe themselves.

Access to Free Period Products

Â鶹ɫÇéƬ is fully committed to student care and works hard to educate and empower our students throughout their learning journey. Ending period poverty is an important strand in this work and the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021 has given us a platform to provide accessible, free products to all students who need them in a way that respects the dignity of individuals.Ìý Read Â鶹ɫÇéƬ’s Period Product Statement on Exercise of Functions under the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021.

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About Â鶹ɫÇéƬ

Strong in our heritage: Ambitious for our future.

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Find an expert

Browse our staff directory and get to know the experts working for Â鶹ɫÇéƬ. We have profiles for many of our professors, researchers, veterinary specialists, consultants and more.

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Supporting Â鶹ɫÇéƬ

Generosity from our alumni and friends community supports students facing financial difficulty, encourages students to further study, promotes research excellence, and enhances the student experience.