In line with the Inclusivity and Culture priority of our Strategy 2030, the university is committed to culture change for inclusion that extends to creating an environment in which the sharing of information is supported and trusted. This information includes diversity monitoring data.
Providing support
We recognise that circumstances change and we ask you to keep your Horizon personal information up to date and to share information through our other systems and surveys. We collect diversity monitoring data on our staff and students and analyse this information at key stages of the higher education life cycle. Your information enables us to improve our support and to tailor services for staff and students. Understanding the diversity of our university community – in numbers and through lived experiences – is important in empowering and celebrating all that we are.
Whilst some may not wish to share this information, the sharing of diversity monitoring data is instrumental in helping to:
- Provide a more accurate understanding of recruitment, retention and success generally and according to different equality areas.
- Make evidence-based and outcome-focused decisions and improvements that support our university community and specific parts of it, including evaluating their impact over time and as compared to others (as occurred during staff and student surveys throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, for example).
- Inform action plans for our work to overcome systemic barriers to equity that exist within our university community and society (including the Greenwich Race Action Plan and those forming part of the Athena Swan Charter for gender equality, Disability Confident, Race Equality Charter, Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, and University Mental Health Charter).
The more of us who share our diversity monitoring data, the more representative, detailed and useful the analysis will be, and the more powerful the insights and action.
Building trust
The sharing of diversity monitoring data benefits everyone when there is a trusted two-way relationship. At the University of Greenwich, we appreciate the levels of staff and student data sharing, which is the passing of personal and sensitive information from one person to another. Details can range from sharing your name to deeply personal information such as your religion or belief or sexual orientation. We aim to ensure that staff and students can, as far as possible, describe themselves in ways that reflect how they identify whilst aligning with our reporting requirements.
At the University of Greenwich, we manage all information with care, in a confidential manner, and in a way that promotes the benefits of sharing information so you can make an informed choice. We do this by following our stipulated guidelines on data collection, storage, and use including compliance with data protection legislation.
As a higher education institution, we are required to publish data as part of the public sector equality duty (PSED) of the Equality Act 2010 to:
- Show how we have complied with the PSED at least once a year.
- Prepare and publish equality objectives at least every four years.
In addition, your information held within Horizon is shared with the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as part of the HESA staff record (e.g. your date of birth). If you prefer not to share your biographical information relating to disability, ethnicity, gender reassignment, religion or belief, sexual identification and/or sexual orientation, please email equality@gre.ac.uk.
