School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences EDI workshop

Our equality, diversity and inclusion workshop was held on 13 June 2024

As part of a continued drive to make the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (SoGEES) as inclusive as possible, and to help explore new ways of doing so, the school ran a staff EDI workshop on 13 June 2024 with Emma Brown (Source Coaching) and the Leadership Forum Theatre. There were 32 attendees in total; 22 SoGEES staff and ten facilitators.
A previous workshop was held in 2019 which led to the development of the ‘Our Principles’ document and set us on the path towards a more inclusive workplace. The 2024 workshop raised awareness and discussion of non-inclusive and unconscious behaviours and attitudes, empowering staff to develop next steps for inclusivity in our School, leading to a refresh of the ‘Our Principles’ document.
The Leadership Forum Theatre acted out fictional scenarios which were based on real experiences of staff in the school such as lack of understanding of neurodiversity and decreased support for neurodivergent staff, micro-managing, lack of engagement, feelings of a power hierarchy, and feeling unable to speak up. Trained internal facilitators led group discussions on mixed tables to explore these scenarios further before feeding back to the room. Staff were asked what behaviours they would like to stop, keep and start within the school; these staff-generated outputs will be used to determine actions and next steps. Feedback from attendees was very positive and therefore we would like to celebrate the success of the workshop and highlight this as a stepping stone on the school’s journey to being more inclusive.

In SoGEES we celebrate the diversity of our staff members and recognise the best workplaces will always be inclusive workplaces. In 2019 we identified and signed up to a series of principles to foster inclusivity and respect in SoGEES, and in keeping these principles alive as we go about our day-to-day business staff development events are essential.

We had a really rewarding – and certainly at times challenging – session with Emma Brown and the Leadership Forum Theatre to explore issues associated with neurodiversity. The feedback I've heard from those who were there chimes exactly with my own: I think we all gained new insights that we’ll use to reflect upon – and change – our practices for the better.     
So thanks to the excellent team who pushed us out of our comfort zones. This really was an excellent, thought-provoking session and we look forward to more very soon. Please do come along to the next event!

Jon ShawProfessor Jon Shaw
Head of School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

A huge thank you to all those who attended Theatre Forum Workshop in June. The level of engagement from staff really was incredible, and we have set into motion next steps to take forward from your feedback, summarised at the end of the document. We’ll you updated on our progress on these actions as we move forward together.

Kim WardDr Kim Ward
EDI Lead

 
 

Outputs from the session

The stop, keep, start behaviours from each workshop group have been collated and grouped into themes.

Stop

  • being a passive bystander
  • unprofessional behaviour
  • supporting power dynamics
  • avoiding addressing issues.

Keep

  • EDI in committees
  • supportive PDRs
  • running workshops for staff
  • nominations for awards
  • social and collaborative environment.

Start

  • protect time for staff engagement
  • formal in-person training
  • prioritise value of EDI as professional development
  • promote ‘Our Principles’ document
  • make the incident/conduct reporting process and outcomes clearer
  • empower people to take action.
 
 

Attendee feedback

We have received fantastic verbal feedback from staff, and five SoGEES attendees and two facilitators completed the survey.
  • 100% of respondents agreed that the workshop was engaging and interesting (71% strongly agreed) and 100% agreed the workshop was worthwhile (57% strongly agreed).
  • 100% agreed the forum theatre performances helped me better understand non-inclusive behaviours and unconscious bias (43% strongly agreed).
  • 100% agreed their understanding of neurodiversity had improved following the workshop (29% strongly agreed).
  • Concerns around these discussions being forgotten if we do not follow up on actions and keep the momentum going, as well as concerns around voluntary training not reaching those who may need it most.

Staff responses

Which aspects of the workshop did you find particularly valuable?
  1. Group discussions were open, honest, lead to new ideas and hearing.
  2. Performances were immersive, stimulated conversation and highlighted things that could be overlooked.
How will the knowledge you have learnt benefit you in the workplace?
  1. Greater awareness of self and others.
  2. Confidence to speak up and challenge non-inclusive behaviours.
  3. Engage with people and situations and more thoughtfully.
Are there any aspects of the workshop which you feel require improvement?
  1. More encouragement for attendance and providing staff with adequate time to attend.
  2. More information about neurodiversity and how to support neurodivergent staff and students.

What have we already done?

  • A

    Organised a talk about Speak Up and the reporting process in an all-school meeting

Our next steps

  • Propose a neurodiversity awareness training session/webinar for all staff to increase understanding of different neurodivergent conditions and feel equipped to support neurodivergent staff and students.
  • Update the ‘Our Principles’ document according to staff feedback, print posters promoting ‘Our Principles’ to display in staff areas and distribute the document to all committees in SoGEES.
  • Organise a talk from the University Wellbeing Officer and Faculty Wellbeing Team in an all-school meeting to promote available support for staff.