Our Diversity

We will increase staff and student diversity and representation

our diversity icon - a person icon stands at the bottom of an a flight of steps next or an arrow pointing upwards inside a blue hexagon

We believe it is important our community reflects our local populations and British society, and is enriched by international perspectives.

We are committed to increasing the diversity of our staff and students by removing barriers to access and progression, ensuring equitable and accessible development opportunities, and celebrating the diversity of staff and students in its various forms.

Actions to deliver this objective: 

Below is a list of actions for cross-institutional priorities, requiring coordination and alignment across departments, faculties, divisions and in some cases colleges. They don’t represent a full list of EDI actions being pursued at Oxford, but provide a sense of the work taking place to deliver this objective.

 

Improve undergraduate access

Understand and remove the barriers to graduate access 

Understand and remove barriers to promotion and retention

Diversify decision-making bodies

Guarantee recruitment practices are accessible and inclusive 

Ensure consistent and compliant data collection methods to improve the quality of our demographic data

Update our diversity targets relating to Professional Service Staff
Our main targets for this area:
  • To achieve a yearly increase in the proportion of BME Statutory Professors, with 9% representation by 2029 (8% in 2023)
  • To achieve a yearly increase in the proportion of female Statutory Professors, with 26% by 2027 (22% in 2023)
  • Increase the proportion of entrants from Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Q1 and Q2 to 23% by 2028

 

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Select initiatives from the collegiate University

Oxford’s Access and Participation Plan seeks to improve access and reduce attainment gaps for under-represented  students. On the graduate front, Oxford is developing a Graduate Recruitment and Access Strategy to help overcome barriers to graduate students thriving at Oxford. 

The Associate Professor Inclusive Recruitment Guidelines have been implemented as part of the Race Equality Strategy and Athena Swan plan. More work will be carried out to ensure our recruitment practices and processes for all roles are inclusive and accessible.

A number of programmes are designed to support undergraduate and graduate students from under-represented backgrounds to thrive at Oxford, including Oxford’s Astrophoria Foundation Year, Opportunity Oxford and Academic Futures.

Lady Margaret Hall, with the Department of Economics, is launching a new Centre for Research on Outreach and Access. The Centre will conduct analysis on Oxford’s admissions and student outcomes, evaluate the effectiveness of access initiatives in UK universities, and promote collaboration in research on access to higher education. 

As a ‘University of Sanctuary’, Oxford is delivering an integrated programme of scholarships and support for students from displacement backgrounds. This includes providing such students with pre-arrival and on-course support, a regular programme of social and cultural events, and a dedicated point of contact. Mansfield and Somerville Colleges were both awarded College of Sanctuary status in 2021, having established Sanctuary Scholarships offering fully funded places for postgraduate study.

If you have an idea for a project that can help us strengthen a culture of inclusion, get in touch with your local EDI Lead (divisional pages), or the EDU at equality@admin.ox.ac.uk. 

Access the EDI Strategic Plan

Ideas, questions or feedback? 

If you have an idea, a question or feedback about the EDI Strategic Plan please get in touch

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