It's essential that we continue to engage and listen to our community. Through multiple surveys and events, such as the Anti-Racism Listen and Learn sessions and Insight sessions, we have developed an inclusive and ambitious strategy that empowers our people's voices and drives positive change. 

Thanks to the close links we have fostered with our student, staff, and wider community, we have created a strategy that gives power to them, especially those from marginalised groups. 

Our new Equity and Inclusion Strategy has been designed to deliver our commitment to our people, our culture, and our community as laid out in Vision 2030. We aim to:

• eliminate discrimination
• promote equity, diversity, and inclusion
• embed a strong sense of belonging in all that we do.

The strategy proactively seeks to deal with issues, both on a societal and University level. It will achieve this through continuous engagement, and ensuring our students' and staff's voices are heard and supported by effective policies.

Training and procedures will be put in place to equip and empower our leaders to create an inclusive and thriving learning environment at all levels within the University.

It's crucial that we establish collaborative networks to ensure that we, as a University, work together to drive the Equity and Inclusion Strategy forward. 

Here is an example of what we've achieved so far: 

• established the Staff Networks Collaboration and Development Group
• started a community-driven equality impact assessment project in partnership with Advance HE
• established equity action plan groups in race and disability
• appointed strategic leads and committees for equity and inclusion in each faculty
• renewed our institutional Athena Swan Bronze Award
• developed a new Equity and Inclusion Hub for staff.

We also held our first ever Equity and Inclusion conference, CCCBeU, in April, which brought staff and students together to hear their stories and experiences. There will be many more conferences to come, so keep an eye out for future events. 

It's an exciting time for CCCU, and through Vision 2030 and our Equity and Inclusion Strategy 2024-2027, there's a lot happening to ensure that our goals come to life.

For the 1st time our student and staff demographic data will be presented together in the Equity and Inclusion Annual Report 2024, highlighting our achievements and next steps for 2025.

We have partnered with Advance HE to develop a new Institutional Equality Impact Assessment Process to ensure we proactively identify discrimination, against our underrepresented communities, increasing accountability and impactful change.

Lastly, we are starting the process of applying for the Race Equality Charter, which aims to help universities to support in the progress and success of our Black, Asian, and minority ethnic students and staff. 

Stay posted for what else is to come through our Equity and Inclusion Strategy. 

Race equity

We are fully committed to short and long-term actions to improve our race equity and culture for all.

Through our Closing Our Gap strategic initiative, we continue to reduce the attainment gap for our Black, Asian, and ethnic minority students.

Through Black History 365, we also recognise, appreciate, and celebrate Black History throughout the year, not just in October.

What’s more, the CCCU BAME Student Network provides a space for our Black, Asian, and minority ethnic students to support each other and to promote race equity and diversity.

Sex and gender equity 

We are proud members for the Athena SWAN Charter and have an overall Bronze Award, recognising our commitment to promoting gender equality throughout the University.

We are also a founder member of the South East Action Learning (SEAL) group. Here, the programme brings aspiring women leaders together, building a strong network of women who support each other in their career aspirations.

What’s more, we continue to support women by:

• Representing women in engineering – nearly 50% of our academic staff in the School of Psychology and Life Sciences is female, and nearly 40% is female in the School of Engineering, Technology and Design.
• Creating and building networks for women around the University – The Women’s Staff Network continues to thrive since 2024 as it actively works to address gender equality issues. In 2021, we became an institutional member of Women’s Higher Education Network (WHEN) who amplifies the voices of all to champion and support women in the HE sector.
• Advocating for our staff through family-friendly policies – We are an institution who supports all members of staff through offering flexible working arrangements, family-friendly facilities and support services, and occupational pay on our maternity, paternity/partner, adoption, and shared parental leave. We continue to strive for healthy work-life balances for our employees.

Disability equity 

We are committed to hiring and retaining staff with disabilities and are part of the Disability Confident Scheme. We ensure reasonable adjustments are made so that job applicants with disabilities can fully and fairly participate in the recruitment process.

Our disabled students remain at the forefront of our priorities and are continually supported through our Student Disability Service and Mental Wellbeing Team. The team also helps with Disabled Student Allowances (DSA), learning and placement support plans, dyslexia support, and reasonable adjustments for assessments.

Other support to ensure disability equality include:

• Digital accessibility to ensure that all staff and students have access to digital platforms.
• Offering Makaton workshops for all staff and students to ensure that we are a Makaton-friendly institution.
• Building disability networks to give staff and students a space to support one another, raise awareness, and promote culture change around the University. Networks include the Disabled Staff Network and the CCCU Disabled Students Community.

LGBTQIA+ equity 

We strongly advocate for all our LGBTQIA+ staff and students. We have been a Stonewall Diversity Champion for over a decade, and we continue to work hard to promote an LGBTQIA+ inclusive workplace for all staff.

We also sponsor Pride Canterbury and work with them each year in preparation for the wonderful celebration of LGBTQIA+ identity in our vibrant and inclusive city. Our sponsorship of Pride Canterbury grows stronger every year and we are proud to be a part of the Pride community.

What’s more, we ensure that our LGBTQIA+ staff and allies feel support through the CCCq LGBTQIA+ network. CCCq has actively shaped the University’s policy and practice in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity.

Our student LGBTQIA+ society also plays an active part in our University community and provides a safe space for all students to express themselves, have fun, and connect.

Religion and belief

Whilst we are an institution with a Christian foundation, we welcome and celebrate all religions and beliefs.

There are prayer rooms available for all staff and students on our main campus, and our Chaplaincy provides support, help, and encouragement to our CCCU community.

Regardless of someone’s religion or belief, the Chaplaincy provides an open-door policy for everyone within the University, providing support for students and staff. They also offer information about, and contact details for, local churches and other faith groups, highlighting their inclusive and welcoming community on campus.