| Change can be hard and it takes a long time. For every step forward, it can feel as though there are three steps backwards. Especially in 2019. Doing D&I work can at times be disheartening. In this newsletter we’d like to take a moment to recognise the small indicators of change we see as progress and remind us all of why we do the work we do. Please email us with the progress you are seeing in the world and in your company and we will share it. 1. The women's world cup. England are through to the last 16! We play Japan tonight at 2000. It's attracting more viewers than the men's cricket and is kickstarting conversations about our double standards in sport. COME ON ENGLAND! 2. ITV have banned all male writing teams on new comedy shows. The channel’s head of comedy Saskia Schuster is launching a new initiative called Comedy 50:50, which aims to make comedy writers’ rooms more diverse. Read more here. 3. Harmful gender stereotypes in advertising are banned. Ads that belittle men for for carrying out so-called female roles, and ads that show men or women failing tasks because of their gender are likely to be impacted. It will be interesting to see how this one pans out as I can't think of many stereotypes that aren't harmful and it's difficult to see how advertising can completely avoid the use of stereotypes. Watch this space... 4. The Office for Students (OfS) is open to doing some more research in to the impact of blind CVs. People belonging to minority ethnic groups would like to see names removed from university applications to help remove bias from the recruitment process. This has created some further impetus on a project that seemed to have stalled with the OfS, the University and College Union and the Association of School and College leaders all seemed to agree that further research was required. Read more here. 5. Pride is coming! London's Pride parade is on the 6th July. Not only that, but the whole month of June is now recognised as Pride Month, with this year’s theme being Jubilee, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Rightly, given global events, the focus is not just on the party but on history and systemic exclusion that continues around the world. Pride is still one of the most evocative events in the calendar for me where we see diversity and inclusion at its best, and aligned behind a common purpose. 6. The inaugural neurodiversity awards are happening on the 27th and 28th June! THC are sponsoring Genius Within's Neurodiversity awards which seek to shine a light on the amazing work being done around the country to support neurodiverse workplaces. Rox had the privilege of chairing the judging panel which was such an amazing experience, and a great reminder of all the individual amazing work that is happening in the country. Steve Silberman and Judy Singer will both be at the event - tickets here. Have a great week. Roxanne |
Reasons to be cheerful this soggy June.
