Disability Confident Report 2024

The University of Exeter monitors colleague experience via Our Culture Conversations, which are regular short surveys that ask staff to provide feedback on a range of topics, including how they feel about working at the University and their experiences in their roles. Our Culture conversations include questions on Wellbeing, Inclusion, Culture and Engagement.

In the past year, we have been developing inclusive recruitment guidance to support the recruitment team and hiring managers to ensure that the recruitment process is inclusive to all applicants including those with protected characteristics and support  colleagues with career progression. According to our data, disabled colleagues have reported issues with developing their careers and our goal is to meet this problem by providing better support for colleagues through various  Developmental Programmes  as well as continuing successful interventions such as the Disability Confident Guaranteed Interview Scheme.

The University of Exeter monitors colleague experience via Our Culture Conversations, which are regular short surveys that ask staff to provide feedback on a range of topics, including how they feel about working at the University and their experiences in their roles. Our Culture conversations include questions on Wellbeing, Inclusion, Culture and Engagement.

In the past year, we have been developing inclusive recruitment guidance to support the recruitment team and hiring managers to ensure that the recruitment process is inclusive to all applicants including those with protected characteristics and support  colleagues with career progression. According to our data, disabled colleagues have reported issues with developing their careers and our goal is to meet this problem by providing better support for colleagues through various  Developmental Programmes  as well as continuing successful interventions such as the Disability Confident Guaranteed Interview Scheme.

The University offers a range of support for line managers and disabled staff via Occupational Health. However, data demonstrates that issues relating to physical disabilities need to be an area of focus, along with line manager feedback and support. This indicates scope for improvement with provision of reasonable adjustments and the University has already committed to reviewing this process holistically as part of the implementation of Tailored Adjustment Plans (often referred to as Disability Passports) for staff.

Disabled staff are, according to our colleague experience data, less likely to feel that they belong in the institution. We are working on changing that via our support for networking and co-working events for Disabled staff, as well as events such as Neurodiversity Celebration Week The University supports two Disability Networks, across our Cornwall and Devon campuses who run monthly meetings. We also have a Neurodiversity Café which runs two focus work sessions a week as well as monthly socials. 

Colleague Wellbeing remains a priority, and the University offers a range of Colleague Wellbeing resources. A Wellbeing Network has been established which offers a range of socialising, mindfulness, and craft events every week. The University has also embarked on its journey to achieve the Universities Mental Health Charter which includes a detailed, evidence informed action plan. We have published a summary of actions being taken.