Recruitment
The following pages look in detail at the
diversity profile of candidates for job vacancies at the University
for the 2011–12 academic year.
Profile
Analysis
The University collates Equality data on all
applicants and we currently have a system in place of “blind
shortlisting”, where the personal data of the applicant is removed
prior to the shortlisting stage.
The data shows that the number of men and
women who apply for positions at the University is comparable to
the overall staff profile i.e. we receive more applications from
women and this is then translated through to the appointment stage
(58.2% of applicants are women and 62.3% of appointments are
women).
The recruitment data shows that we are
attracting applicants from Black or Minority Ethnic groups, with 4%
of applicants from an Asian background. However, these applicants
are not being translated into appointments. Work is on-going to
determine the possible reasons for this and as a result a revised
recruitment and selection training programme has been introduced
and a review of the recruitment website has taken place with the
aim of attracting a suitably qualified and diverse pool of
applicants .
In terms of religion and belief there is some
diversity amongst applicants with the largest group of applications
from people identifying themselves as Christian (45.5%) this then
translates in to 43.1% of all appointments. A significant
number of applicants (34.9%) state no religion with 11.7%
preferring not to say.
The majority of applicants identified as
heterosexual (82%) with 13.1% choosing not to disclose their sexual
orientation. 4.8% of applicants identified as lesbian, gay,
bisexual or other and this translated into 5.5% of appointments
(this compares with the workforce profile where 3.5% of current
staff have identified themselves as LGB).
The University is committed to supporting
applicants who are disabled and demonstrates this by using the Two
Ticks Disability symbol. We interview all applicants with a
disability who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy. 3.6% of
applicants declared a disability, which has translated to 6.8% of
all shortlisted candidates declaring a disability and 5.5% of
appointments. This is a significant proportion when compared with
the percentage of disabled staff working in higher education
nationally (3.2%) although still significantly lower than the
percentage of disabled people in the working population (19%).
Policies and Procedures
In order to ensure that managers are equipped
with the knowledge and skills to recruit and select staff
effectively and fairly, all managers receive recruitment and
selection training. The University’s recruitment and
selection procedure has been designed to ensure that recruitment
processes are accessible, fair and transparent.