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SLightening Input on

“Why Religion and Belief Equality Matters and What HEIs Can do About It”

Higher Education Funding Council for EnglandReligious Literacy in Higher Education

Leadership Workshop

Friday 22nd OctoberCity University, London

By Paul WellerProfessor of Inter-Religious Relations

University of Derby

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SDoes Religion and Belief Equality Matter And Do Universities Do Anything About It? A Changing Scene

Sophie Gilliat-Ray:

“Issues of religion and higher education hit the headlines….very rarely: more usually the religious and spiritual lives of academic staff and students go unnoticed, even within the universities themselves.”

But Gilliat-Ray also went on to note that,

“The outbreak of disturbances between different religious groups on campuses does occasionally, however, subvert the normal lack of interest.”

[Gilliat-Ray, S. (2000), Religion in Higher Education: The Politics of the Multi-Faith Campus, Ashgate, Aldershot, p. 1]

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Inclusiveness in religion and belief is a matter of justice and equity for HEI staff and students

HEIs need legal compliance and good practice in relation to religion and belief for their own

benefit

Basic Principles for “Why Religion and Belief Equality Matters

and What HEIs Can Do About It”

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Religious Discrimination in England & Wales Research (1999-2001): Key Findings

consistently higher levels of unfair treatment were reported by Muslims than by most other groups, with such unfair treatment more often being “frequent” rather than “occasional”.

religious groups with a large proportion of visible minorities, particularly Muslims, identified problems also with the policies and practices of organisations.

numerically smaller groups often felt their existence goes unrecognised by educational institutions, policy makers and service providers even where these work hard to include “majority-minorities”.

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Religious Discrimination in England & Wales (1999-2001): Key H.E. Findings

in general, the highest reported incidence of unfair treatment in relation to universities and colleges was from the attitudes and behaviour of students.

substantial levels of unfair treatment were also reported in relation to the attitudes and behaviour of staff.

comparatively less unfair treatment was reported from the practices of universities and colleges, and even less from university and college policies.

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Religious Discrimination in England & Wales Research (1999-2001): Cited Examples

Cited examples of unfair treatment in Universities andColleges included the following:

dress (Hindus)

teaching curriculum (Muslims, Zoroastrians)

timetables (Jews, Muslims)

holidays (Jews, Muslims)

As one interviewee observed re religious holidays and festivals: “I don’t understand. These are even education institutions. The holidays are even printed on calendars now.”

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Religion and Belief, Discrimination and Equality in England & Wales Project

URL

http://www.derby.ac.uk/religion-and-society

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Religion and Belief in Higher Education Project

URL

http://www.derby.ac.uk/religion-and-belief-in-HE

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Religion and Belief in Higher Education Research Project

Thematic Area 1:

Participation and Disclosure

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Thematic Area 1: Participation and DisclosureRationales and Research Questions

People of diverse backgrounds need to feel safe in HEIsDo HEIs/SUs promote good relations between religion/belief groups?

HEIs/SUs should be zones in which respectfully robust debate is possibleCan religion and belief groups freely express their views within the law?

Organisational “tone” and leadership orientation is key to progressDo staff/students experience HEIs as seeing their religion or belief as mainly connected with problems, benefits or as a matter of indifference?

For organisational approaches and progress benchmarking data is neededAre staff/students content for religion/belief monitoring to take place?

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Religion and Belief in Higher Education

Thematic Area 2:

Accommodating Different Religious Observances

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Thematic Area 2: Accommodating Different Religious Observances

Rationales and Research Questions

The ability to manifest religious freedom is key to its practical meaningHow far do HEIs make provision for staff/student religious worship/meeting?

Staff/students need to be able to participate in HEI events with integrityHow inclusive (re religion & belief) are HEI/SU institutional events?

The use of contracted time is key to staff religious observance in HEIsHow do HEIs respond to staff time requests re religious observance?

Fair assessment lies at the heart of student experience in HEIsWhat do HEIs do re assessment taking account of student observance?

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Religion and Belief in Higher Education

Thematic Area 3:

Discrimination and Harassment Relating to Religion and Belief

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Thematic Area 3: Discrimination and Harassment Relating to Religion & Belief

Rationales and Research Questions

Inclusive institutions are better recruiters of both staff and studentsWhat barriers re religion/belief do staff/students encounter in HEIs/SUs?

Unexamined policies/practices are as big a problem as direct discriminationDo HEI/SU staff/students know how to address religion/belief discrimination?

Regular mechanisms enable good communication and engagementDo faith/belief groups contribute to HEI/SU policy/practice development?

Religion/belief related harassment should be taken as seriously as extremismFrom where do HEIs/SUs draw for expertise on how to deal with harassment?

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Issue Recognition and Pandora’s Box

“….there’s an element of a ‘Pandora’s box’ whereby even though the staff should feel empowered, there is the fear that if you recognise the diversity of the staff they will start asking for unmeetable demands…”

“….what’s missing are the practical steps, plans of actions and guidance for taking those steps; establishing a way of accommodating differences and needs they are coming to understand”

Quotations from respondents in the Religious Discrimination in England and Wales Research (1999-2001)

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What Can be Done: Laws, Policies, Codes of Practice, Data, Peer Pressure

“You need to make people aware, to have access to information, but you also need a way of making such things not optional - establishing these as key responsibilities is key; that’s possibly where the law comes in….but once you establish an obligation you need to establish a way of following up by providing resources and guidance.”

“You need reporting, bench-marking data, peer group pressure.”

Quotations from respondents in the Religious Discrimination in England and Wales Research (1999-2001)

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Thank You For Listening

Over to you!