Supporting Equality and Diversity

Most employers have equality and diversity policies and are positive about recruiting and retaining a diverse work force. When researching employers, there are a few things you can do to see how open an employer might be to recruiting a diverse workforce:

• Check to see if the job advert states they are an equal opportunities employer.
• Log in to their website and look to see if they have an equal opportunities policy.
• Do they offer application forms in different formats or mention adjustments for applicants, with disabilities, on their website or in the job advert?
• Look out for employers who are signed up to certain schemes such as the Disability Confident employer scheme, the Business Disability Forum, Inclusive Employers and Mindful Employer's Charter. If employers don't appear to be signed up to these schemes, it does not necessarily mean they are not positive in supporting diversity in the workplace. 
• Look out for the disability confident symbol to show they encourage applications from disabled people.
• Some employers run insight events or work experience schemes aimed at under-represented groups in the profession.
• Relevant professional bodies may also run initiatives attempting to make access fairer across the sectors they represent.

Employers may also have their own Diversity groups within the organisation which they may advertise on their websites.

Finding an inclusive employer

• The Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (ENEI) - provides training and resources around inclusivity and can help you find a company that is committed to diversity in the workplace.
• Inclusive Companies - network of employers committed to driving inclusion and diversity forward.
• Disability Confident Scheme - A government scheme which provides a list of employers who have signed up.
• Business Disability Forum - a leading disability inclusion membership group.
• Inclusive Employers - a leading inclusion focussed membership organisation.
• Mindful Employers Charter - an organisation for employers who are positive about mental health.

Recruitment Agencies

The following links will take you to inclusive recruitment agencies for all protected characteristics:  

https://www.diversifying.io/
https://www.inclusiverecruiting.co.uk/
https://www.vercida.com/uk

It is worth being aware of the legislation that employers face when recruiting to roles and the impact on Equality & Diversity:

• Protected characteristics: There are 9 protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010:
  • Age
  • Disability
  • Gender reassignment
  • Marriage or civil partnership (in employment only)
  • Pregnancy and maternity
  • Race
  • Religion or belief
  • Sex
  • Sexual orientation

• Positive Action is defined as measures employers can take to address any imbalance of opportunity and/or reduce disadvantage that those with a protected characteristic could face. In order to demonstrate the need for positive action the employer must have at least twelve months’ worth of data indicating that particular groups of people are under-represented in a particular area of work. Positive action can be used to encourage particular groups to apply, or to help people with particular protected characteristics to perform to the best of their ability e.g. positive action statements in recruitment adverts.

• Positive discrimination is illegal. Discrimination occurs when a candidate is given preferential treatment because of a protected characteristic, or is employed specifically because of a protected characteristic, rather than because they are the most qualified or equally qualified for a role.

• Occupational requirement. There are certain instances when an employer can specify particular characteristics for a role, if the role needs to be done by a person with that particular characteristic. For example, it would be legal and appropriate to specify that only women can apply for a role in a women’s refuge. This type of occupational requirement is permitted only if the employer can demonstrate:

            1. A robust and demonstrable link between the requirement and the job

            2. A good business case or aim for holding the specific requirement

            3. That holding the requirement is proportionate (i.e. appropriate and necessary)

If you require any additional support during the recruitment process, it is important to ask for reasonable adjustments as early as possible and before any applications and assessments begin. The more notice you can give, the more time the employer will have to make adjustments to accommodate your needs. Sadly, some people leave it until after they have failed a stage of the recruitment process which is often too late. If you are unsure about how to approach this, see the Disclosure Advice section below.

• Application Forms - Employers can make a number of adjustments such as offering the form in large print, electronically or as an audio file on request. Some forms will ask if you require any specific adjustments during the recruitment process. If you are unsure how to fill in this section book an appointment with a Careers Consultant to discuss.

Part of the application form often includes an equality and diversity section which will ask you about personal information such as your ethnicity, gender, faith and/ or sexuality. This form is separate to the rest of your application so it is not seen by those making the hiring decisions. Therefore, this does not have an impact on the rest of your application.  The information collected is then used to analyse how diverse the applicant pool was and review any potential changes that could be made to improve the recruitment process. If you are hired by the company, this is also kept on file to record information about the diversity of the workforce.

• Psychometric tests – You may be asked to undertake these as part of the recruitment process. They are often undertaken online or sometimes in paper based format during an assessment centre. Employers should be able to make any reasonable adjustments such as extra time, accessible print options, providing a scribe or testing individually rather in a large group.

• Assessment centres - these include a number of tasks such as interviews, psychometric tests, presentations and group exercises, that assess the skills required for the job. It is worth speaking to a member of the graduate recruitment team in person to discuss your needs as soon as you receive an invitation to an assessment centre.

Disclosing a Disability

Many people worry about disclosing personal information to potential employers for fear of how this will be perceived.

It is your choice whether you should tell an employer that you have a disability, mental health condition, dyslexia, dyspraxia or another neurological or longer term health condition. You must use your own judgement as the Equality Act 2010 doesn’t explicitly say that you have to disclose a disability.

What an employer can ask:

You may be asked whether you have a health condition or disability early on in the recruitment process.

The Equality Act 2010 supports the rights of people with disabilities by giving greater legal protection against discrimination. It emphasises the legal duty on education providers and employers to make reasonable adjustments.

Benefits of disclosing:

• Disclosing can ensure you receive appropriate “reasonable adjustments” in the selection process
• It gives you the opportunity to highlight additional strengths
• You may be able to access additional funding to support you with equipment
• Allows you to explain any possible gaps in academic study
• Enables you to put academic results achieved into context if required

Potential consequences of not disclosing: 

• You could lack the adjustments / support you need to ensure there is equity in the selection process and might mean you miss out on their dream job.
• Making a late request for adjustments could delay the recruitment process.
• If you need adjustments to fulfil the role you have been recruited to do and not asked for these in advance, you may not be able to perform the role you were recruited to do.

Please watch the below video where Kate Foster (Employability & Careers Consultant), Hannah Abrehart (AccessAbility Advisor) and Jo Blackely (Mental Health Advisor) discuss how to disclose a disability to a future employer.

The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.

Find out more about who is protected from discrimination, the types of discrimination under the law and what action you can take if you feel you’ve been unfairly discriminated against by visiting the UK government's Equality Act 2010 website.

To find out more on how the University supports Equality, Discrimination and Inclusivity please visit the University's main EDI page, as well as the FAQ section on our Student Wellbeing site.

You may wish to book an appointment with one of our Career Zone team members. The appointments can be either face to face or online and designed to offer personalised one to one advice and guidance and give you time to discuss your career questions and concerns. They normally last about 30 minutes, but please let us know if you think you will require extra time and we will do what we can to accommodate this.

To book, you can contact us via the Live Chat icon at the bottom of this page or phone us on +44(0)1392 724493 (both campuses).

For more information about how to get the most out of your appointment visit Maximise Your Appointment. 

Access to Internships (A2I) is a scheme to help Exeter UG students from underrepresented groups arrange a UK paid internship with the support of funding. All funding is issued on a first-come-first-serve basis.

A2I, together with the Career Zone, can help you:

• Identify potential internship employers
• Make an effective approach to request a paid internship
• Provide generous funding to offset the cost of an internship

For further information and to see if you are eligible click here. 

Find more resources relating to Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity by visiting My Career Zone Digital.

Explore more about women in leadership with the TedTalks below.

• Sheryl Sandberg, So we leaned in...now what? Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg explores the ways that women still struggle with success.
• Sheryl Sandberg, Why we have too few women leaders. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg looks at why a smaller percentage of women than men reach the top of their professions, and offers 3 powerful pieces of advice to women aiming for the C-suite.
• Robin Hauser, The Likability Dilemma for Women Leaders. Robin talks about implicit biases forcing an honest look at how both genders often perceive successful women and their “likability.”