"In this session:
• Highlight accessible resources you can find and use
• Explore practical ways to support neurodivergent and disabled colleagues and students
• Discuss the importance of speaking out safely and effectively"
17 March 13:00-14:00 GMT online, free.
Neurodiversity and Disability: Designing Inclusion That Works for Everyone.
from U of East London and Office for Institutional Equity.
events.teams.microsoft.com/event/65a588...
"Can the 4-day week work in higher education?"
U of Sunderland in London shares what they've learned on Thursday 12 March 11:45 online.
events.teams.microsoft.com/event/ed05b0...
Screenshot of a one page cartoon on disabling interview practices. A brown skinned woman gets an interview invitation then faces the panel which is bigger than promised. Her mind keeps focusing on distractions around her. The question is hypothetical and she panics but then someone else rephrases it. Discussion after she leaves is on her social behaviour not qualifications. She gets an email about the internet and leaves you hanging about if she got it.
A one page comic screenshot on living with a hidden condition. A Young white man in informal suit is exhausted, talking to friend on phone as walks in the door thinking back to his tiring day. Had to take train to work as car is in shop. Heads straight to toilet. Recuperates a bit midway thru the day in a quiet space with tea and armchair tipped back. Then work pressures build up. There’s no bin in his toilet for his pad so he has to secretly take it out with him and put in the bin outside the office building. Colleagues go out for drinks but he can’t. Collapses at home. All this time a battery indicator over his head shows how little energy he has and how he drains through the day.
A side project of EDICA’s on disability inclusive careers in engineering and sciences. (DICE)
Our two DICE comics feature in this training which you can also see at this link.
edicaucus.ac.uk/improving-wo...
From U of Liverpool, a report on academics with energy limiting conditions. Eg cancer treatment, motor neurone conditions, long Covid.
edicaucus.ac.uk/academics-wi...
Royal Society of Chemistry’s report on making chemistry labs more inclusive.
edicaucus.ac.uk/making-chemi...
A useful library of reasonable adjustments for particular challenges an individual faces. Eg easily distracted or procrastinating; hyperactivity; social interaction / communication; arithmetic; spelling; organisation / planning.
edicaucus.ac.uk/reasonable-a...
This training packs a lot into 90 minutes online, focusing on the underlying principles of co-design, evidence-based interventions, and the social model of disability. There’s a lot of signposting to resources out there for people to tailor to their organisations.
Including… 👇
A conference room with two screens on the wall showing a slide asking questions of what you already know and what you’re hoping to learn. A white woman with dark brown hair wearing jeans and blue button up over white shirt stands listening.
A table covered in leaflets and freebies. Including a cup full of EDICa labelled tampons, anti bacterial gel bottles, and period pads with EDICa logo.
Screenshot of dates of upcoming workshops. 20 March 10-12 with BSL available. 24 March 10-11:30; 20 April 14-15:30; 30 April 10-11:30; 1 May 10-12 BSL only.
Today our first Train the Trainer workshop on improving employment experiences in the research & innovation sector.
Still spots available for our online workshops coming up. Two dates available with #BSL
edicaucus.ac.uk/impact#Train...
Impacts on diversity of the workforce which impacts on quality of workforce.
Folks, on #IWD2026, please be aware that the #GiveToGain slogan and hashtag arise from a private limited company who may have been set up to profit from International Women's Day. The UN set the real theme for IWD, the more ambitious and challenging #RightsJusticeAction. 1/2
An infographic titled “How To Write Alt Text” featuring a photo of a capybara. Parts of alt text are divided by color, including identify who, expression, description, colour, and interesting features. The finished description reads “A capybara looking relaxed in a hot spa. Yellow yuzu fruits are floating in the water, and one is balanced on the top of the capybara’s head.” Credit to Puzzle agency, original information from Veronica With Four Eyes and veroniiiica dot com
I’m glad so many people have found my “capybara method” for how to write alt text and image descriptions helpful! However, I know conflicting access needs exist and not everyone can write their own #AltText, so here’s an ongoing thread of tools that can help. Inclusion in thread ≠ endorsement
Entrance to red brick Victorian building with a metal ramp over the threshold.
A conference room with Lego and handouts on the table and four people with Vr headsets on. An Indian man stands beside a tv screen showing slides.
EDICa team members are in the Royal Geographical Society’s headquarters across from Hyde Park today, running the second workshop on enabling workspaces. Great discussions and shared learning.
Last chance to sign up to our workshop in Kensington, London Thursday 5 March. The EDICa team catch the train to Kings Cross 🚂 tomorrow morning.
Calling wheelchair users who work in wet labs (including in NHS settings) to user-test a new lab coat. Contact UCLEast.labcoats@ucl.ac.uk. Split photo shows a woman in a powered wheelchair with a long royal blue buttoned-up labcoat which stretches down the tops of her feet. It totally covers her lap and her hands are tucked into the pockets.
UCL are looking for UK-based wheelchair-using lab users to test out their design.
Is it easy to take on/off? Comfortable? How're those pockets & fastenings? Any safety concerns? etc.
Contact ucleast.labcoats@ucl.ac.uk for more info.
#AccessForAll #DEI #EDI #AcademicSky
Plus, in bringing all our Lego and VR headsets and handouts up to the meeting room, I also needed the doors to magically open for me. Accessibility rising tide lifting all boats, etc.
While we certainly would hope the graduates of our workshop noted the inaccessible building entrance, in this case that was 3 of the EDICa team members, including your BlueSky correspondent. 😊
Wheelchair users are too often hypothetical. So it’s striking to meet one living the challenge. 1/2
Today is our first VR workshop where we discuss enabling workspaces for the research and innovation sector. In addition to the VR experience we used Lego play to explore enabling workspaces.
Still time to sign up to our London sessions 5 March! Edicaucus.ac.uk/vr
Call for survey participants
- Current & past part-time PhD students - AND their supervisors.
Looking at experiences of PT PGRs.
Run by U of Salford.
If your institution gets >30 responses, you get a findings report specific to your institution.
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/salford/st...
And affects the diversity of that pipeline.
A photo of an incredibly standard square tiled low ceiling with strip lighting and spot lighting. Despite the bank of windows with natural light, the lights are on full.
We hope you tip into a black hole or better, spend the eternity looking at our ceiling. 😉
"We hope that this brief evidence-based Guide will enable educators to make practical changes to their teaching and learning practices to support Muslim students who are fasting during Ramadan."
Have a skim of this 10-page, readable guide:
figshare.edgehill.ac.uk/articles/edu...
4/4
#DEI #EDI
Ramadan this year in further north hemisphere can mean breaking fast during working hours/class hours. Consider scheduling of meetings or offer flexibility around timings.
It's also not just about fasting, but also other cultural practices like prayer and community.
3/4
#AcademicSky
Never assume someone fasts or ask if they are. Reasons they might not are quite private - e.g. not practicing Islam, illness, pregnancy.
Muslims fast by choice, not a punishment. Don't feel sorry for them. Many speak of the intense spirituality and look forward to it.
2/4
This #Ramadan we're sharing a useful resource for supporting colleagues and students in higher ed - also applicable for work.
Key = "the importance of listening to the perspectives of Muslim[s], not making assumptions, and learning from what they say."
1/4
figshare.edgehill.ac.uk/articles/edu...
Updated to include the image flyer. Feel free to share.
Supporting black staff and PGRs to attend this kind of conference could be a good idea for organisations who don't have a critical mass of black scholars, helping to provide a support network for them.
#EDI #DEI #AcademicSky
Conference 16 April @cetiwestminster.bsky.social in Oxford Circus, London.
Holding the Space: Shining a Light on Black Academics.
Appears to be free?
westminster.cventevents.com/event/websit...
"Will spotlight, amplify, & invest in research scholarship of Black scholars/students/prof services."
If you need ammunition for your defense, we saw this shared on LinkedIn yesterday: (have not verified its underlying research yet)
theconversation.com/why-your-bra...
If you need ammunition, we saw shared this on LinkedIn yesterday. We have not yet checked the research behind it.
theconversation.com/why-your-bra...
"Mind the motherhood gap: what the motherhood penalty costs all of us, and how we should change course."
An in-person Oxford day of action and insight.
Thurs 19 March 9-4 - FREE
www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/events/mind-...
