Launched April 2003: Meeting The Challenge: Managing Equality and
Diversity
in Higher Education

Project website: www.coventry.ac.uk/equal
Project Leader: Karen Ross - [log in to unmask]

 The Meeting the Challenge resource pack has been developed by Coventry
University and the University of Warwick,  with funding from HEFCE's
Good
Management Practice Fund. The aim of the pack, which comprises a film
and
accompanying booklet, is to raise awareness and stimulate discussion
about
staff equality and diversity issues.  Although  there are specific
duties
and responsibilities imposed on the HE sector by equality legislation,
the
effectiveness and  implementation of national legislation as well as
local
policy can be significantly undermined by an unresponsive and  uncaring
institutional or departmental culture.

The film is made in the style of a docu-drama and available in both VHS
and
CD formats and in a subtitled version. It is  approximately 35 minutes
long
and includes an introduction and seven scenes, each focusing on specific

aspects of  inequality and diversity. The approach we have used in the
film
is to show how particular behaviours and attitudes  contribute to or
challenge existing cultural assumptions about characteristics such as
gender, age, race, sexuality and  disability and explores issues of
power
and control within and between staff groups.

The film is intended to provoke discussion amongst its viewers about the

extent to which they recognise aspects of their  own institutional or
departmental culture reflected in the scenes and if not, how and why the

situation is different in their  workplace. Using a mix of discussion
themes and group activities elaborated in the booklet, we hope that
viewers/participants will develop strategies to deal more effectively
with
specific equality and diversity issues which have  relevance to their
own
particular HEI . The booklet also includes additional material such as
sources of further  information about equality and diversity issues
including current and draft legislation and guidance (section 4) and
case
studies of good and not so good practice (sections 2 and 3). There is
also
a section on useful contacts and websites  (section 5).  The good
practice
examples and the list of contacts and further reading are merely
indicative
rather than  exhaustive.

We believe that the resource pack will be most effective in a group
training context facilitated either by in-house or  external equality
trainers. The film has been made to be viewed in its entirety first, and

then re-viewed on a  scene-by-scene basis to gain a better appreciation
of
particular issues and contexts, such as recruitment, disability
awareness
or dignity at work. However, we acknowledge that viewing the whole film
at
once might not always be  possible, so we have included a brief synopsis
of
each scene, together with the key points covered, so that the film can
also work on a more segmented basis. We believe that the resource pack
will
be most effective if it is used in a mixed  group of managers and their
staff, in order to generate discussion on different experiences from
different perspectives.

As the project is being supported by HEFCE, one copy of the resource
pack
will be sent free of charge to the Director of Personnel/Human Resources
in
every HEI in England during April 2003.

HEIs in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland and elsewhere should
contact Jane Osmond for information on how to purchase their own copy.

Jane Osmond
Diversity Training Project
Coventry University
Tel: 024 7688 7462
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