Equity, diversity and inclusion

In this section

We value diversity and recognise the new perspectives that this can bring to our working, learning and teaching community.

Through our diversity initiatives we are creating a culture in which everyone is able to fulfil their potential. Initiatives include:

Reviewing our recruitment and selection procedures to ensure that we attract diverse talent;
Increasing the number of women on recruitment panels;
Including a statement on diversity and flexible working on our job advertisements;
Introducing a number of career development and support initiatives for female staff, including a mentoring scheme open to all, the Step Up Women's Network, Advanced HE's Aurora Programme and our internal Women as Leaders programme;
Rolling our training and development on topics such as unconscious bias to highlight the impact of bias on key decision-making, and roles and responsibilities under the Equality Act;
Working towards becoming a Disability Confident Employer;
Moving our gender pay action plan forward.

Awards and recognitions

We are recipients of the following awards:

HR Excellence in Research,
Institutional Bronze Athena SWAN award. Find out more about our Athena SWAN action plan.

And member of:

Advanced HE,
The Women's Engineering Society,
Working Families.

Strategy

For us, diversity goes beyond simply that which is expected by law. Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and action plan, supported by a range of policies and procedures, highlight how we are going beyond these obligations to:

Eliminate unlawful discrimination/harassment and victimisations;
Promote equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not;
Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristics and those who do not.

Monitoring

Download our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion report 2022-23

Our policies

Staff networks

At Cranfield University our staff networks play an important part in the work we do to create an inclusive culture and ensuring that our staff feel supported and have a voice.

Step Up

Step Up is Cranfield’s Women’s Network which supports women across the University with developing their skills, career and confidence. Step Up was initiated by colleagues who participated on the Aurora and Women as Leaders programmes and were keen to create a supportive community for female colleagues across Cranfield.

EmbRace

The Cranfield EmbRace Network was created to raise awareness of race/ethnic diversity and identify actions to enable Cranfield to be more inclusive for staff from ethnic minority backgrounds. It was officially launched in the summer of 2022 and is going from strength to strength.

The Disability Network

Cranfield Disability Network has been set up to help identify and support actions and interventions to make Cranfield a more inclusive University for disabled staff and students. The network works towards promoting disability awareness and an inclusive, safe and supportive environment in which everybody is treated with respect and dignity, in line with our University values.

Q at Cranfield

Cranfield’s LGBTQ+ communities are supported by the newly formed Q at Cranfield. Formed last year, the group has grown organically over the last 12 months and is playing an active role in supporting our staff and raising awareness.

I respect the fact that people may have to respond to other important aspects of their lives. Being flexible allows us to employ and retain talented colleagues who, otherwise, we may have missed out on.

My team is very international. It's the consequence of always trying to find the best talent from everywhere in the world.

I like meeting and chatting to all the people of so many different nationalities that I meet at Cranfield. I provide them with a service, and it makes me happy to make them happy.