This is a call to action for all members of our university community to help us ensure that the University of Bristol is an anti-racist institution.
We acknowledge the structural, systemic and everyday racism that exists in our wider society, and that the higher education sector is not immune from this problem. Together we remain determined to tackle racial discrimination in all its forms to ensure that our university experience is positive and welcoming for everyone of all ethnic and racial backgrounds. We expect all members of our university community – students, staff, visitors, and stakeholders – to support us in this endeavour.
The University of Bristol – working in partnership with Bristol SU – publicly commits to intensify our efforts to:
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Develop ways to improve representation, particularly in leadership roles, removing barriers and bias from all stages of the employee lifecycle and embedding racial equity in all people management practices, including hiring, development, promotion, pay, progression, and retention.
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Improve the representation of our minority ethnic students.
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Eliminate the awards gaps between our minority ethnic and white students.
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Embed anti-racism in our structures, programmes, cultures, and processes to remove any potential for racial inequity and racial bias.
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Build trust, confidence and psychological safety in reporting mechanisms for raising issues around racism, providing increased transparency about how we respond and demonstrating a willingness to listen and act.
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Work in partnership with stakeholders across our city to tackle racial inequity locally, nationally and internationally.
Our institution and the higher education sector as a whole, with its critical role in education and shaping social policy, must be at the forefront of the continuing struggle against prejudice and inequity based on race.
Being anti-racist requires each of us to be more than simply, ‘not racist’. It requires intentional and deliberate action to improve our own understanding of racism and to actively work against it to achieve race equity. Together we can support the transformative systemic and cultural change that is required to ensure that the University of Bristol is an actively anti-racist organisation.
Published 20 March 2020
Revised September 2023