Equality and Diversity – enhance your employability March 5, 2013
Posted by Louise Honey in : Job applications, The Careers Group Blogs, disability, employability and skills, inclusion, skills development , add a commentIt is likely that many of you will be familiar with the ‘employability’ skills that are looked for by recruiters. Coming up with examples of your team work, leadership and strong communication skills is relatively normal for most roles within most industries.
But what about an understanding of equality and diversity issues?
I came across an interesting blog post from Sheffield Hallam University for their social science students and feel it has some really relevant stuff for anyone about to leave student life behind and enter the world of work. Protected characteristics under the 2010 Equality Act which defines ground in which discrimination is unlawful are noted as; age, disability, gender re-assignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Whether you consider yourself as potentially facing barriers to employment under one of these characteristics or not, it is argued that an understanding of equality and diversity issues is an attractive skill for potential candidates to hold.
The post comments on three main themes in relation to how your knowledge can be of benefit;
- Managing your own work life – this details the importance of understanding whether you are being discriminated against or harassed and what you can do about it. It’s important to be able to judge when to challenge things and when to assert rights to equal treatment.
- Relating to diverse groups of co-workers and clients – being aware of the basics of equality law and being able to relate to a diverse group of people is presented as highly attractive to employers and an employability skill in itself. In certain industries this knowledge of cultural diversity and disability rights is an essential criteria for potential candidates.
- Managing a diverse workforce- whether management is part of your position immediately or something you move on into later in your career, the processes involved will require equality and diversity awareness as you recruit, train and appraise staff.
This post signifies that employability skills can go beyond teamwork and communication and your learning and understanding of equality and diversity will show you as an attractive employee.
Read the full post here http://employability4socialsciences.wordpress.com/employability-skills/equality-and-diversity/
Equality Act 2010 – What do I Need to Know and What Does it Mean for Me? September 3, 2012
Posted by Tina Lannin in : Events , add a commentEvent date: Wednesday 5 September 2012 (11:00 – 12:00)
Target Audience
This session is open to all college staff that have an interest in equality and diversity but the following people will find it particularly useful: Senior managers and administrators HR departments Curriculum leaders Student Services Equality practitioners Quality improvement.
- Venue: Webinar
- Address: Virtual Event
Cost: This is a free event.
Summary
Please note: A member of our Webinar team will be in touch before the date of the webinar with joining instructions.
For some guidelines on Webinars, please use the following link: http://www.scotlandscolleges.ac.uk/webinars
Whatever your role within a college, equality issues are all around. This webinar by the Equality Challenge Unit will assist with achieving an understanding of how the Equality Act 2010 and the Scottish specific equality duties affects every day life within the college as it applies to both students and staff. It will examine the context of the legislation, the specific relevance for colleges and real life application.
Aims
- Programme: Download Programme
- Lead: Suzanne Marshall Phone: 01786892000
- Event co-ordinator: Dawn Brooks Phone: 01786892007
Closing date: 4 September 2012. Book online
Reach Roundup 1 August 2012 August 1, 2012
Posted by Rosalind Kemp in : Skills and Competencies, declaration, job hunting, research , add a commentReach Roundup is a summary of the news, blog posts and careers information we’ve come across in the last fortnight that we thought may be of interest to you.
- First off – why aren’t women pursuing academic careers after their PhDs? Curt Rice in The Guardian looks at Why women leave academia and why universities should be worried.
- Some really helpful advice from University of Salford Careers Information Blog which looks at how to identify and deal with discrimination at interview and once you are in a new job.
- Great tips for graduate job seekers from Manchester Graduate Careers blog which highlights five “reasons why having a disability or health concern means you’ll have already developed a range of transferable skills employers are looking for”.
Remember to use your careers service if you are facing any of these issues or have questions about job seeking in general. You can find a list of contact information for University of London colleges on The Careers Group website.
