All staff are invited to join a virtual roundtable on Medical Racism: Protecting Ourselves, Our Families and Our Communities on Thursday 29 April, from 17.30-19.00.

Structural racism has increased mistrust and hesitancy to engage with the medical system among Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities. Historical examples of unethical experimentation and medical mistreatment of Black people has heightened suspicion of endeavours to promote public health.

This virtual roundtable, organised by the universities of Kent and Oxford BAME/BME Staff Networks, will feature a panel of expert medical practitioners and scholars, including:

• Dr Winston Morgan, Reader in toxicology and clinical biochemistry, Medicines Research Group, University of East London.
• Dr Mohammed Sakel, Director NeuroRehabilitation, Consultant Physician, Director Research & Development, East Kent Hospital University
• Dr Roberta Babb, Chartered Psychologist, Registered Clinical Psychologist, Registered Forensic Psychodynamic Psychotherapist, Media Psychologist, Life Coach and Organisational Consultant, The Hanover Center
• Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, Emeritus Professor of Nursing, Patron of Sickle Cell UK
• Dr Aadil El-Turabi, Vaccinologist specialising in Virus-Like Particles, Jenner Institute

To sign-up for the roundtable, click on this Eventbrite link. We look forward to seeing you there.

Bridget, Dave, Barbara and Vanisha, Co-Chairs of the BAME Staff Network

In light of recent national news events, as a University we are re-enforcing our commitment to fostering a positive working environment where all staff and students are treated fairly, with dignity, courtesy, respect and consideration.

Misogyny is the hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls that manifests in numerous ways, including social exclusion, sex discrimination, hostility, belittling of women, disenfranchisement of women, violence against women, and sexual objectification. All of us have a responsibility to create an environment, which is free from harassment, bullying, unlawful discrimination and victimisation.

A new series of Active Bystander training will help ensure that staff can play their part in preventing any inappropriate behaviour.

Georgina Randsley de Moura, Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Academic Strategy, Planning and Performance, comments: ‘As part of our commitment to our staff and student community, I am pleased to support the Active Bystander initiative. We value our community, and therefore it is our responsibility to create and nurture an environment, which is safe, supportive, and free from all forms of bullying and harassment. This initiative is an important step forward.’

About the training

The Active Bystander training sessions will take place on 28 April, 19 May and 23 June, from 14.00-15.30.

Each virtual session will include:
• A video demonstrating bystander apathy
• Specific references for the HE Sector
• High-profile examples of inappropriate/unacceptable behaviour
• Decision-making techniques to help people overcome fear and self-doubt when faced with a challenging situation
• Assertiveness techniques to give them the confidence and tools to speak out, whether they are dealing with the challenge directly or calling for help from others.

The session will include group discussion and interactivity and each delegate will receive a ‘Active Bystander’ toolkit booklet. 40 places are available at each session – book your place now via Staff Connect.

Find out more

Kent has a zero tolerance approach to any behaviour that violates an individual in person or online, and encourages the reporting of such instances. You can find out more on our EDI webpages.

Article from the Challenging Racism team

Continuing with our ‘Challenging Racism’ campaign the next Live Webinar on Thursday 18 March at 12.30. We are delighted to welcome Dr Deborah Gabriel speaking on the topic of White Privilege.  The ‘Live webinar’ is a 90min online webinar facilitated by Inclusive Employers, with a guest speaker, panel discussion and Q&A session.

Dr Deborah Gabriel

Dr Deborah Gabriel is the Founder and Director of Black British Academics, a global network of scholars focused on addressing racial inequality in higher education and society, established in 2013. Key areas of focus are transformation in teaching, learning and research, with an emphasis on equity and social justice. She created and leads the Ivory Tower Project on race and gender inequality in academia and developed the 3D Pedagogy Framework to decolonise, democratise and diversify the higher education curriculum.

Her current areas of focus are community empowerment and collaborative social justice. Her intellectual work is interdisciplinary and broadly focused on the dynamics of race, gender and culture in media, communication, and higher education. These areas of inquiry are approached from a critical race and Black feminist standpoint to analyse the relationships between race, power, privilege, and inequality. As a consultant, she specializes in strategic approaches to equity, diversity and inclusion centred on social justice and transformation in higher education and society.

Book Your Place Today: Eventbrite Registration Link. 

The aim of the ‘Challenging Racism’ campaign is to promote unity, not division and to help understand and develop more inclusive behaviours. To do that we all need to increase our awareness and understanding of racism and how it can be tackled within Kent, to ensure all staff and students feel safe and empowered.  

Please share this and encourage your contacts and teams to sign up so that we can all work together and take the first steps to address racism at Kent and beyond.

#EDI #challengingracismtogether #choosetochallenge 

If you have any questions, contact us via challengingracism@kent.ac.uk

All University of Kent Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff are invited to join our first Inclusion Circle session on 10 March 2021, focusing on BAME wellbeing, as part of our ‘Challenging Racism’ campaign.

The aim of the Inclusion Circles is to create a safe environment to listen to staff concerns, share experiences, discuss a variety of topics, and show solidarity. Facilitated by Inclusive Employers, the programme will take place over three 90-minute sessions. The first two sessions will focus on a different topic, with the third session culminating in an action plan based on feedback and shared experiences from earlier sessions.

Session 1 Inclusion Circle 1: Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) wellbeing (10 March, 10.00) 

• • A BAME* only discussion about current Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and the disproportionate effect of Coronavirus on BAME people.
  • A place to feel comfortable, share experiences and to find out how to get support
  • This is a safe space to express concerns and show solidarity

Sign up now, spaces are limited!

Further information and a full list of additional dates corresponding to Inclusion Circle sessions, can be found on Staff Connect. [Logon to your to Staff Connect account, click on ‘My Training Details’, then click on ‘Training Request’, enter search term ‘Inclusion Circles’ and click on ‘Search’ button.]

*Please note: the acronym BAME does not represent a homogenous group but is used here in a similar manner to its use in higher education research and by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for statistical purposes, to represent people who are racialised as belonging to a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background.

Continuing with our ‘Challenging Racism’ campaign, 23 February 2021 sees the start of our Inclusive Allyship Programme as a four part series looking at the values, behaviours and actions of Allies within Kent.

Allies will play a key role in supporting the University to advance its Equality agenda by linking with the staff networks, to support them with events and activities; be driven by staff lived experience and expertise; and support various stakeholders across the University to drive a culture of inclusion.

We continue our partnering with Liverpool John Moores University and City, University of London, and Inclusive Employers in delivering the Allyship programme with a cohort of 40 people across all 3 institutions.

Inclusive Allyship Programme (Part A)

Delivered by Inclusive Employers, the programme will take place over several weeks to allow for reflection and action between sessions. Each session will be one hour long.

Aim of the programme:

• Understand what makes an Inclusion Ally and how it relates to three key areas: values, behaviours and actions.
• Explore privilege, circles of influence, and the boundaries of the role.
• Explore frameworks and techniques to challenge exclusion and have challenging conversations.
• Create an individual plan of action.

Session 1 (Introductory Session) – “Welcome to Allies” webinar (23 February 2021 – 11.00)

• Values: why are Allies important? – We’ll take a look at the purpose of Allies at the University and the wider context, including anti-racism and structural discrimination.
• Behaviours: how do Allies make a difference? – We’ll discuss privilege and power and how this can be utilised to make the workplace more inclusive, identifying the boundaries of the Ally role.
• Actions: what do Allies do? – We’ll look at specific projects and initiatives Allies can support, and the actions they will be taking over the next 4 weeks

Further information and a full list of additional dates corresponding to the Allyship programme, can be found on Staff Connect. There are places still available so don’t forget to book your spot!