Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

The work that universities and business schools do to ensure EDI is more important than it has ever been.

At Durham University Business School we strongly believe that all staff and students are happier, enjoy their work and studies more and perform better in an environment where everyone respects and understands the value of different people working together; where everyone is treated fairly and where negative behaviours and attitudes such as prejudice, discrimination and harassment are unacceptable. 

Athena SWAN

Advance HE’s Athena SWAN Charter recognises and celebrates good practices in higher education towards the advancement of gender equality. Institutions and also individual departments can apply for one of three levels of award – Bronze, Silver and Gold. Both Durham University and the Business School hold the Bronze Award. This means that we have done a detailed self-examination of where we are at with gender equality across the Faculty and that we have developed a detailed action plan to help us address gendered inequalities in the institution.

Three key priorities underpin our action plan. We are:

1. working towards achieving a more balanced cohort of staff and students as measured against industry and sector benchmarks;
2. encouraging more female colleagues to participate in the running of the School, and
3. working to fully embed a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion, particularly with regards to valuing the diversity of people and roles that make up the business of what we do. 

Decolonising the Curriculum

The call to decolonise universities across the globe has gained significant momentum in recent years, leading many universities to begin reviewing their curricula through a decolonising lens. This is a University-wide project at Durham, and is being undertaken in collaboration with the Durham University Student’s Union. Funding has been provided to employ student interns to work closely with academic staff in decolonising our curriculum.

Our aim is that: by 2022/23, no student will be able to complete a degree within Durham University Business School without significant exposure to the issues and debates that are directly relevant to the decolonisation agenda.

At least one module in each Department has been identified as a pilot for developing a decolonising toolkit. This work is led by the Associate Dean for Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability and the Deputy Executive Dean (Education), and overseen by the Decolonising the Curriculum Project Board.

Get Involved

Everyone has a part to play, but what part you play, is your choice. They are all important. Staff and students can get involved in EDI at the Business School. Please contact your Departmental EDI Lead, or your line manager if you are interested. 

If we all do this, then we can make Durham University Business School a place where we can all flourish.