VERSITI

Keen to help address ethnic and economic inequalities in employment? Here's something you can do. If you are from an underprivileged background, please give 30 minutes of your time to the good folks at gradvisor to share insights and advice based on your personal experience. If you know others at work or on your networks who fit the bill, please share this opportunity with them. gradvisor is a social impact initiative with a mission to improve social mobility by helping disadvantaged and underrepresented students find the right career by connecting them to inspirational and diverse professional networks they would not normally have access to. gradvisor's vision is to bridge the gap between education and the professional world by harnessing the power of collective knowledge and shared career experiences. Helping young people to find uplifting careers and employers to diversify their workforce. gradvisor is an app; a platform for career guidance offering an audio library of diverse, real-world career insights, supported by a network of peers, employers and experts. gradvisor are looking for: 1) professionals in the early stages of their career (<7 years industry experience) to participate in a short interview (max 30 mins) to answer 10 questions about their career journey so far; 2) more established professionals (8+ years industry experience) to participate in a short interview (max 30 mins) to answer a few questions about being a sector expert. If you would like to know more about gradvisor or have any questions about sharing career insights please send an email to sian@gradvisor.org.uk or alternatively please visit the gradvisor webpage: https://lnkd.in/euUSn2a5.  Tackling these issues requires systemic change. BUT change can also start with small practical acts of kindness and sharing to help others. Colour Of Research (CORe) Market Research Society (MRS) Katya Des-Etages Cynthia Amorim Hirra K. Dr. Kenny Imafidon MBE Bob Qureshi FMRS LaShanda Seaman Sania Haq Ella Fryer-Smith Shaheen Sayed Ali Kazimi Nazia Mirza Stephen Yap Steven Lacey Annabelle Phillips Sian James-Royle Thank you :)

I am at the Market Research Society (MRS)’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Summit. I am bowled over by the range and sophistication of thinking among many panellists: this is an area that has grown hugely and where there is now some genuine expertise and the impact is felt on client and community outcomes. What is most exciting is that speakers are reconnecting ‘EDI’ (which always risks being a tick box exercise) with its actual purpose: the equip organisations to serve more diverse customers, citizens, and service users better, making society itself function better and organisations for effective and robust. #inclusion #insight #expertisebyexperienceandbyprofession #intersectionality #marginalisedvoices #voiceinresearchcanbringsectoralchange

The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is working hard to address issues of inclusion in the game. Last night, they hosted a lovely event for Vaisakhi at Lord’s. This was a very positive gesture, with the great Monty Panesar in attendance, but generally done in a genuinely smart way: respectful of the faith and culture of the Sikh community. Excellent poetry, divine food, meaningful prayers, an introduction to Sikh values, and exquisite shalwar kameezes and saris, of course! Thank you and congrats to Kate Aldridge, Richard Gould and the @MCC. Wonderful to meet David Hardman CMgr MCMI and many others!

Female patients treated by female doctors are significantly less likely to die and to be readmitted to hospital 30 days after discharge than those seen by male doctors. So why are female doctors paid less than their male colleagues when they achieve better patient outcomes (and therefore also save taxpayers’ money)? https://lnkd.in/eVU8DYUK NHS England Department of Health and Social Care The Health Foundation #genderpaygap

I am at Almeida theatre to see King Lear. This is supposed to be a modern, progressive venue. Yet, they cannot get the toilets for women right. The queue takes the entire interval to get through. Men, of course, breeze through in less than a minute. When will this be rectified? So infuriating. #toilets #hygienefactor #waste #womenissue #womeninarchitecture #sortthisout #theatrevenues

Fun facts :)

Versiti received many, many long descriptions of ‘mansplaining’ that women playing, scoring, coaching and umpiring cricket experienced as part of the Call for Evidence into equity in cricket. It was cringing, enlightening and infuriating. Clearly, the experience is not restricted to cricket. This video of a PGA Pro being patronised and ‘mansplained’ by an amateur bloke who tried to ‘help’ her, and then takes credit for her excellent shot, illustrates this perfectly. https://lnkd.in/eKbSKxHv Of course, this is not just common in sport… #equality #inclusivesport #mansplaining #golf #cricket #diversityandinclusion #womeninsports #womeninsport

Today, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Parliamentary Select Committee held a session to reassure itself that cricket's governing body, the ECB, and the wider game of cricket, made sufficient progress towards implementing the 44 Recommendations of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) to improve fairness in the game. I went to Portcullis House to listen to representatives of: 1. The ICEC: the formidable Cindy Butts, Sir Brendan and Prof Michael Collins; 2. The ECB: Richard Thompson (Chair), Richard Gould (CEO) and Clare Connor CBE (Deputy CEO and MD England Women); 3. Leaders at Yorkshire CCC: Colin Graves—CBE (the highly controversial old / new man at the helm) and Harry Chathli (Chair). For a start, everyone should attend a Parliamentary Select Committee hearing. Watching democracy in action is invigorating. Proper scrutiny and search for accountability. Alex Sobel (MP) deserves special mention: his questions were consistently brilliant and, literally, 'on the money'. On the issue of whether the ECB and cricket have made sufficient progress towards EDI, I left also uplifted - admittedly from a very low point! Since the return of Colin Graves, I confess that I had lost faith that change would ever come. Despite huge political pressure, reputational threat and incontrovertible evidence, Yorkshire CCC chose a return to the status quo ante. Worse: its choice emboldened reactionary forces in cricket and in wider society. I was almost ready to hang my hat, after many years - but not without first putting that same hat in the ring to be an NED in the newly formed independent Regulatory Body to oversee governance on EDI matters in the game :) Yet, by the end of the hearing, I felt a whole lot less despondent. Yes, Yorkshire CCC had taken a massive backward step and it pains me, especially for Azeem Rafiq and other victims of racism and Islamophobia. Yes, the ECB can and should do more to advance meritocracy and curb discrimination. But significant progress was made in a short time - and more in in the pipeline. All first-class counties (with the exception of Durham) are fully behind the ICEC's Recommendations. A (more or less) independent Regulatory Board has been set up to hold the ECB to account on EDI. Twelve work streams are in flow at the ECB to get the right data, training and policies in place. More than 350 complaints of discrimination have been made in the last year, suggesting greater trust in the system. The ECB has equalised gender pay in some areas of the game and invested £25m ahead of returns to build the women's game. Overall, the ECB says it has implemented 60% of the Recommendations and hopes to have implemented nearly all of them in three years' time. You can hear more about Governance for Equity in Sport in a free webinar on Thursday (22nd): https://lnkd.in/eEiJuUQB. See you then.

Discrimination comes in different shapes and sizes. Tackling it requires leaders to remove their blindspots and put the right governance structures and processes in place to deliver fairness and equity.   Next week - just two days after a DCMS Parliamentary Select Committee is holding a session to reassure itself that the ECB is responding adequately to the Recommendations of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) - Versiti are hosting a FREE WEBINAR to shed light on what enabled discrimination to go unchecked in the world of cricket. If you are a senior leader keen to lead a modern, meritocratic organisation, there will be plenty of insights to avoid the human, reputational and financial challenges cricket is facing. The webinar is on Thursday 22nd February at 12.30pm. Register using the link on the final page of the carousel below. #equality #inequality #equity #leadership #leaders #modernleadership #cricket #sport #sportsmanagement #management #culturechange #cultureshift #racialequality #society