LSE’s Race Equity Framework builds on work already underway, expands our actions further and keep us focused and accountable. It is organised into three strands (or themes) aligned to LSE 2030 to maintain momentum:
- Education – to make sure an LSE education reflects the diverse world around us and empowers students to shape more equitable communities
- Research – to make sure our School’s research and knowledge engagement activities contribute to understanding race equity within and beyond LSE
- Our People – to make sure policies and practices support racial equity and cultural change across our School.
Overseen by a Race Equity Steering Group chaired by LSE’s Director, accountability for the Framework rests with the School Management Committee (SMC), who act as theme leads:
- Education lead - Vice President and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education)
- Research lead - Vice President and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research)
- Our People leads - Vice President and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Faculty Development) and Chief Operating Officer
Each theme lead is responsible for the action plan that sits behind the Framework, with concrete, actionable areas of focus such as increasing faculty and professional staff diversity, targeted support and funding for PhD students from underrepresented backgrounds and continuing to build an even more inclusive curriculum.
Activity is being embedded and connected to the work already taking place as much as possible to ensure long-term sustainability, all in collaboration with colleagues and students. This includes several expert co-leads for each area including:
- Education - the Academic Developer for Inclusive Education
- Research - Director of the PhD Academy and Head of Research Development
- Our People - the Vice Chair of the Appointments Committee
Whilst accountability rests with the School Management Committee, engagement from the whole community will be essential to get this right. That’s why the roll out of the Framework will involve ongoing collaboration and insight from across our School as we continue to interrogate the Framework and refine action and commitments as needed.
We have challenges ahead in terms of race equity, and every member of our School community needs be involved. Explore the pages to find out more about each theme and how you can contribute.
* A note on terminology. Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) are umbrella terms used by the UK government and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to refer to all non-white people. However, we recognise that these terms are problematic, in that they mask differences in lived experience and outcomes for many different ethnic groups. Improving our community’s understanding of these differences will be part of our work on race equity at LSE.