In September 2023 the University received the Race Equality Charter Institutional Bronze award, which acknowledges our commitment to eliminating racial inequalities and developing a more inclusive culture at Sussex. The award is valid until the end of September 2028 and you can now view our application and the four-year action plan we have developed to support our work towards race equality at Sussex.
The Race Equality Charter (REC) aims to improve the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students within higher education, and Sussex has been a member since 2018. Creating a systemic, University-wide approach to our race equality work is a priority, and in our Inclusive Sussex strategy we set ourselves the objective to attain a REC award by 2025.
As of December 2023, there are 101 institutions signed up to the REC framework, with 42 of these holding a bronze award and two holding a silver.
Leadership support for race equality
Feedback from Advance HE commended various aspects of the application, specifically noting the letters of support from senior leaders at the University, which they felt explored race equality challenges with some candour. View full copies of these letters. They also commended current University initiatives, including the Dignity and Respect Champions programme which they felt was ‘a strong example of a targeting an issue, resourcing it, allocating time to it, and then evaluating its effectiveness’.
View the REC award application and four-year action plan
Institutions that receive the award are encouraged by Advance HE to publish their submissions on their websites. This is not mandatory, but the University recognises that doing so enables the sharing of good practice and race equality approaches. We have chosen to publish ours for that reason, and because also helps aid transparency and accountability here at Sussex.
However, it is important that any personal or confidential information about individuals is removed from the submission prior to doing this, in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). Therefore, our four-year action plan and a redacted version of the application are now available on our webpages. View the action plan and application.
David Ruebain, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Culture, Equality, and Inclusion) said: "Our application does not flinch from reflecting some harsh realities. However, the REC Bronze award indicates recognition by an independent panel that we have analysed institutional patterns of racialised inequality at Sussex - including aspects of the racially minoritised staff and student experience, the awarding gap, and staff pay gaps - and that we have a compelling action plan to address this which forms the basis of our work. We have built a strong foundation for positive change, and we must now move forward to deliver on our action plan. I would like to thank the REC SAT and members of our wider University community who have helped us reach this point in our journey."