Pioneers honoured for tackling institutional racism in academia

Two of Britain’s pioneering academics were yesterday (8 February 2023) honoured with a Diversity Champion Award for tackling institutional racism. Presented by equality charity Diversity UK, leading geoscientist Chris Jackson, who exposed the barriers that scientists face in academia during the Paul Stephenson Lecture 2023, was honoured for ‘shining a light on what happens when there is inequality and when there are real barriers to progress.’ The second award was presented to Professor Marcia Wilson, Dean of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the Open University (OU) for her ‘outstanding efforts and persistence in challenging systemic bias in the higher education sector and for building a roadmap and pathways for Higher Education Institutions to become anti-racist organisations’.

*Diversity Champion Award presented to geoscientist Christopher Jackson by Claire Carroll, Partner at Eversheds Sutherland - Image by Vineet Johri (Exposure London) for Diversity UK.*

Claire Carroll, Partner at global law firm Eversheds Sutherland who presented the award to Chris Jackson said “The themes that you have drawn out today’s [Paul Stephenson] lecture are universal. As global sponsor for diversity and inclusion at Eversheds Sutherland, there are so many takeaways for us. Transparency is key. You need actual action, not just policies. You need to look at the outcomes of exclusions. We have all become married to data but we also need to understand barriers at a human level.”

“Additionally undermining people by stating they have only achieved a position or status due to a protected characteristic is itself a barrier. In your talk, you said ‘I can deal with this. But why should you have to deal with it?”

“The biggest take away for me is about being open about our failings and celebrating our successes. Openness is one of our key values at Eversheds Sutherland so I thank you for inspiring us all today.”

*Diversity Champion Award, L-R Gurpreet Manku, Lopa Patel MBE, Christopher Jackson, Claire Carroll, Ramesh Vala CBE - Image by Vineet Johri (Exposure London) for Diversity UK*

Lopa Patel MBE, Chair of Diversity UK added “like Dr Paul Stephenson OBE, the civil rights campaigner whose actions paved the way for the Race Relations Act 1965 in Britain, I think the fight that Chris is in right now is about the future. The future for underrepresented scientists everywhere. The fight for credibility. The fight to even just get onto the career ladder in the first place.

What I have taken away from your talk today is your sheer determination, resilience and grit in persevering, not just for yourself but for all those who follow behind you. For young people, your students, your researchers and your colleagues.

I know that there is much more that we can do. But we can only do that if we have individuals who have the courage to speak out; the courage to challenge and the courage to champion change.

So it is with great pleasure that Diversity UK, awards you the Diversity Champion Award 2023 for demonstrating real courage in the face of adversity in a field for which you have considerable skills and talent.”

How to build an anti-racist organisation

*Diversity Champion Award presented by Gurpreet Manku to Professor Marcia Wilson, Dean of ED&I at the Open University. Image by Vineet Johri (Exposure London) for Diversity UK.*

Gurpreet Manku, Trustee of Diversity UK lauded Professor Marcia Wilson, saying “I know it will be a surprise to her, but on behalf of Diversity UK, I am delighted to present a second Diversity Champion Award today to Professor Marcia Wilson.

Marcia gave the Paul Stephenson lecture online in November 2021 and shared her expertise on ‘How to Build an Anti-Racist Organisation’.

She outlined her own experiences of working in the higher education sector and her learnings from developing an equality, diversity & inclusion plan for the Open University, where she is the Dean of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

During the lecture, Professor Wilson said that being a non-racist organisation was no longer enough, because the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests had demonstrated that organisations had to actively become anti-racist, and this included measuring the outcomes of their anti-racism initiatives.

She shared recommendations for addressing the greatest disparities, including:

Demonstrating strong and vocal leadership, and a zero tolerance policy towards racism across all levels of the institution;
Reviewing policies and developing a data-driven anti-racism action plan; and
The importance of staff networks and an allyship forum.

This Award is in recognition:

Of Marcia’s outstanding efforts and persistence in challenging systemic bias in the higher education sector; and
For building a roadmap and pathways for Higher Education Institutions to become anti-racist organisations.

Marcia, we would be delighted if you would accept this award with our congratulations.”

*Diversity Champion Award, L-R Gurpreet Manku, Marcia Wilson, Lopa Patel MBE, Ramesh Vala CBE - Image by Vineet Johri (Exposure London) for Diversity UK*

About Diversity UK

Diversity UK is an equality and inclusion charity that researches, advocates and promotes ideas for improving diversity in Britain. It delivers its charitable objectives by undertaking research, facilitating debates, hosting roundtable meetings and publishing a regular newsletter focusing on contemporary equality issues. Diversity UK is a registered charity (No: 1155189) in England & Wales. For further information, visit https://diversityuk.org/

About the Diversity Champion Award

Diversity UK presents the Diversity Champion Award to individuals in recognition of their achievement and successes in addressing structural inequalities in Britain. It is also for those who actively campaign for progress on equality, diversity and inclusion in the UK and those who champion under-represented communities.

Previous recipients of the Diversity Champion Award include Lord Karan Bilimoria, poet and author Jaspreet Kaur (aka Behind the Netra), cyber entrepreneur and education philanthropist, Tom Ilube CBE and veteran diversity campaigner Dilip Joshi MBE.

About the Diversity UK Lifetime Achievement Award

Diversity UK also presents a Lifetime Achievement Award to those who have demonstrated outstanding and sustained campaigning on equality, diversity, inclusion and fair representation throughout their life. Previous recipients of the Diversity UK Lifetime Achievement Award include Dr Paul Stephenson OBE, Lord Simon Woolley, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE, Elaine Sihera and Sir Horace Shango Ové CBE.

Both the Diversity Champion Award and Lifetime Achievement Award are presented at the behest of the trustees of Diversity UK.

About Eversheds Sutherland

As a global top 10 law firm, Eversheds Sutherland provides legal services to a global client base. With more than 3,000 lawyers, Eversheds Sutherland operates in over 70 offices in more than 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. In addition, a network of more than 200 related law firms, including formalised alliances in Latin America, Asia Pacific and Africa, provide support around the globe.

Diversity and Inclusion is fundamental to the firm's purpose of "helping our clients, our people and our communities to thrive", and 'Inclusive' is one of our five values. Our strategy encompasses a number of diversity dimensions including ethnicity; gender; disability; sexual orientation, gender identity and expression; parenting and caring; faith and social mobility. By embracing diversity, we can better partner with our global and diverse client base, and be open and welcoming to all, across the communities we live and work in.

For further information, visit www.eversheds-sutherland.com