Birmingham City University is celebrating after winning an award for its continued effort to break down barriers and widen participation.
Posted 07 February 2022
Contributing excellence
The University won the Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion accolade at the 2022 Signature Awards, which took place at Birmingham’s ICC on Friday 4 February.
The annual awards ceremony celebrates the best in British business and those that are contributing excellence across all sectors in the UK.
Widening participation across multiple sectors
BCU was awarded the Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion award for our continued determination to widen participation and break down barriers, both within the University, the region and the wider world.
The University was recognised for its significant contribution to research, including:
- The Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, which helps to expose inequalities, as well as examine and increase diversity across the UK’s media.
- The We Gather Exhibition by Dr Karen Patel, a celebration of diverse craftswomen and the issues they face in a typically white field.
- Investigating disparities in British cricket, research undertaken by postgraduate researcher Tom Brown that has been cited in Parliament.
- The Open Schools Doors project, which provided a set of recommendations for teachers to support newly arrived refugee families in the UK.
Alongside this, the University was also recognised for its continued support and enlightenment on LGBTQ+ challenges, how its ATHENA Swan activity advances the careers of women in higher education and the IntoUniversity Kingstanding project.
BCU was also recognised for the other work it does in widening participation, including its disability steering group, race equality charter and more.
Advancing equality across the University and wider region
The Signature Awards proved to be a night of multiple celebrations for the University.
Nonsensical, a social media company and partner of the University’s Higher Level Skills Match programme, picked up the award for Innovative Business of the Year.
Meanwhile, STEAMhouse Incubator client Simon Caulton was nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year, for his charitable and sustainable footwear brand Ones Trainers.
On receiving the award for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion, Imogeen Denton – Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion - is pleased that the University’s continued efforts to advance equality has been recognised in such a way.
“The University’s mission statement is to be the University for Birmingham, enabling personal transformation and ensuring that equality is advanced in everything we do,” Imogeen says.
“We are committed to ensuring a level playing field, where staff and students can succeed without any limitations or barriers.
“We are thrilled to have been awarded this accolade, which reflects the hard work conducted by our staff and students, as well as the impact of our research.”
Find out more about the University’s approach to diversity and inclusion by visiting our webpage.
