RISE (Realise, Inspire, Support, Empower) Coaching programme

This innovative internal training programme targets 12 Black and Global Majority PSS staff members in bands 4-6 at LSE. This programme addresses the lack of representation in leadership roles among these communities by providing tailored coaching and development opportunities.

Led by Melissa Nicholson, Head of International Compliance and Adeola Akande Pierre- Noël, Centre Manager for the Phelan United States Centre, the programme offers tailored group coaching sessions, one-to-one mentorship and an interactive Away Day to help participants set and achieve professional goals.

What will the project involve?

 The programme will establish an internal coaching program specifically tailored to the needs of Black and Global Majority staff members in bands 4-6 at LSE. Each participant will have access to four group coaching sessions lasting one hour each and an Away Day providing a space for them to explore their goals, challenges, and aspirations.

This project focuses on addressing the unique challenges faced by Black and Global Majority staff, and promote their personal and professional development.

This programme aligns with the People strand of LSE’s Race Equity Framework (REF) to provide a supportive and inclusive work culture.

Participants can expect to:

• enhance their CV and interview skills;
• be provided with the confidence and skills to apply for roles at higher bands;
• be equipped with self-coaching techniques and tools
• be better prepared to proactively engage in career development discussions; and
• be more successful in applying for School projects.

As such, participants will be surveyed both before and after the program, to understand if they have taken on projects or roles outside their day-job or applied for roles above their current one, undertaken activities specifically focused on career development, and/or engaged in networking.

“Melting Pot: Stand in My Shoes”

This project leverages the power of storytelling, to authentically capture the experience of international students from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Tosin Adebisi, a Senior Programme Manager, is leading this project. His multidisciplinary PfAL team brings together individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds, reflecting the rich tapestry of the LSE community.

What will the project involve?

30 African and international students, representative of the ethnic make-up the LSE student body, will submit 60-second video narratives on topics related to their authentic experiences. These stories will be compiled into a cohesive series. The team will create a platform for open dialogue on critical topics, and facilitate a "My Voice" Melting Pot workshop that will provide a hands-on, inclusive forum for voices to be heard via Lego Serious Play methodology.

Academic research highlights the importance of amplifying marginalised voices, and their unique experiences, to foster inclusive learning environments. This programme is designed to build collective understanding among the LSE community, as per the People strand of LSE’s REF; and bring about attitudinal shifts and promote continuous improvement in LSE policy and practice. As per the Education strand, it creates opportunities for students and staff to have informed, detailed, discussions about inclusivity, identity and diversification.

What outcomes can we expect?

This project aims to:

• foster community and belonging, contributing to a more inclusive learning environment;
• foster participation in higher education and academia through shared experiences;
• deepen understanding among staff and students; and
• empower minority voices and engage divergent perspectives.

The team will analyse both quantitative and qualitative metrics in measuring the impact of the project, such as video views, engagement and submission numbers; and hold surveys and workshops to gain qualitative feedback. 

Race Equity Internship Programme

This programme offers four internship places to undergraduate, UK-domiciled students from Black, Asian and Diverse Heritage backgrounds. Led by a team from the LSE Career’s Race Equity team and Work-Based Learning teams, the programme’s key figures include:

• Ladan Mirzadeh Hong - Careers Consultant, Lead on the Race Equity team. She is Iranian.   
• Doreen Thompson-Addo - Careers Consultant. She is Black African of Ghanaian heritage.   
• James Taylor - Employer Engagement Advisor, White British  
• Kunbi Ajijedidun - Marketing and Communications Assistant. She is Black African of Nigerian heritage.  
• Martina Greeves - Work-Based Learning Manager, White British  

What will the project involve?

This programme offers work-based learning opportunities for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds who may have limited professional experience. It provides 140-hours of paid summer work with an SME or Charity, followed by support for further internships in the penultimate summer break and graduate positions in the final year (as applicable). 

The programme aims to improve outcomes for students facing structural barriers, aligning with the Education strand of LSE’s REF. Data from 2020/2021 Access and Participation Plan shows that Black minority ethnic students are least likely to have experience from a paid internship experience, and the Institute of Student Employers Black Careers Matter report recommended improving access to internships.

To date, 130 students have benefited from LSE Careers’ Summer Internship Programme. The grant expands best practices and offer specialised internship opportunities to undergraduate UK domiciled students from Black, Asian and Diverse Heritage backgrounds. LSE Careers has provided match-funding, increasing the total number of internships to four.

The programme aims to develop professional skills, boost confidence in career readiness and enhance post-graduation outcomes. Progress will be assessed through pre- and post-evaluation internship surveys, with a full evaluation involving both students and employers conducted after the programme to facilitate learning, measure performance and improve programme effectiveness.

It’s more than money:
telling the story of racial wealth divides in the UK and South Africa

This project will create a digital storytelling tool, making accessible powerful narratives and providing a nuanced understanding of racial wealth disparities in the UK and South Africa. Adele Oliver, a Black British woman who works across the International Inequalities Institute and the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity, is leading this project with support from a diverse team of Black, Coloured, and South Asian LSE colleagues, activists, community stakeholders and researchers from the University of Cape Town.

What will the project involve?

The team will extract research findings, experiential data and life narratives from existing LSE research, and intertwine these to highlight stories from LSE, the UK and Cape Town that show the enduring impact of British imperialism across, for example, the education, housing, and legal systems. These stories will be presented in an immersive digital multimedia storytelling tool that will aid exploration of the scale of the racial wealth divide and strategies to address this.

Aligning with all strands of LSE’s REF, this project enables the School’s research contributes to understanding race equity by hearing lived realities and perspectives of minority groups within the broader research landscape. The interactive content also encourages critical thinking about racial equity; and could be used in various learning environments.

What outcomes can we expect?

• To inspire students to think about incorporating storytelling into their studies.
• To contribute to cultural change by valuing and amplifying diverse perspectives.
• To bring the experiential aspect of racialised wealth inequality into dialogue with economic and distributional analysis
• To foster a collective commitment to racial equity within and beyond the LSE community

The impact of the tool will be measured by tracking website traffic, page views and user interactions to analyse the extent of online engagement with the content. Surveys/questionnaires will also be used to collect user feedback.

Alignment to LSE’s Race Equity Framework

Any projects funded by the race equity innovation fund needed to be linked to the Race Equity Framework (REF).

The Framework is organised into three themes:

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.

Consideration of different ethnic groups

We welcomed projects which did not homogenise people from minoritised ethnic groups. As a School, we do sometimes use the term BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic), but recognise the limitations of the term and the different lived experiences and trajectories of, for example, staff and students from Black British backgrounds, compared with those from Chinese or Asian Indian backgrounds.

When applying for the innovation fund, applicants set out how this was considered in their approach.

Intersectionality

We know that everyone has their own unique identity, which comprises many different factors. We welcomed projects which considered this - for example, the different lived experiences and trajectories of a Black woman, compared to a Black man.

Intersectionality can cover a wide range of considerations, but the project itself must still have had a primary lens and focus on race and ethnicity.

Action-oriented projects

We prioritised projects which were action-oriented or action-research based; as this specific fund is about implementing actions, trying something new and are instigating change. The projects should have had tangible outputs and outcomes.

Evaluation

As part of their application, applicants were required to provide an overview of how they would measure impact and success, and how would they make their project sustainable in the longer-term. 

Avoiding a deficit approach

LSE is committed to the guiding principles of the Advance HE Race Equality Charter one of which is to ensure we do not take a ‘deficit’ approach to race equity.

This means that we must ensure our actions are not aimed at changing the individual, but rather acknowledge that LSE’s (and society’s) cultures and structures are the barriers to racial justice, and that’s where our actions should be targeted.

We were unable to fund projects which are framed within a deficit approach.