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Pay and progression of women of colour

Pay and progression of women of colour

The Fawcett Society are working in partnership with the Runnymede Trust to deliver a project exploring the pay and progression of women of colour.Building on the Government’s Race Disparity Unit’s work and the independent McGregor-Smith Review, we will explore in depth ways to unlock the potential of women of colour at work, by understanding the inequalities and intersecting barriers they experience, and the solutions they think would help to overcome them. The project aims to gather a clear picture of the points at which intersecting gender and ethnicity differences in pay and progression begin to set in, for different groups of women. We will be exploring what intersecting or multiple forms of discrimination and disadvantage, as well as resources, mean…
Dr Neil Thompson
August 4, 2020
Having realistic expectations could make you happier than being over-optimistic

Having realistic expectations could make you happier than being over-optimistic

There are fairly good arguments for optimism and pessimism both. Optimists, who see the best in everything, are likely to have a sunnier disposition; pessimists, on the other hand, would argue that their negative expectations never leave them disappointed when the worst actually happens.But in the end, it might be realists who win out. According to a study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, being realistic about your life outcomes is likely to make you happier than overestimating them. David de Meza from the London School of Economics and Chris Dawson from the University of Bath examined data from 1,601 individuals who took part in the British Household Panel Survey between 1991 and 2009. This longitudinal survey covers a…
Dr Neil Thompson
August 4, 2020
Neil Thompson’s Lessons for Living – Don’t try to do the impossible

Neil Thompson’s Lessons for Living – Don’t try to do the impossible

The Avenue e-learning course, Successful Time and Workload Management, is based on four rules of time and workload management. One of those rules is: too much work is too much work. That is, if you have too much to do in the time available, then you need to find different ways of doing things rather than just try to do more than is possible and quite feasibly work yourself into a vicious circle in which your work pressures become increasingly unmanageable. A key word here is ‘strategizing’. Don’t try to do the impossible by trying to do two days’ work every day. Use reflective practice to explore strategies for managing the pressures you face so that you are not overwhelmed…
Dr Neil Thompson
July 21, 2020
Developing an anti-racism strategy

Developing an anti-racism strategy

Racial injustices and ingrained inequalities are apparent in society and evident in UK workplaces. To address the root causes of racial inequality (racism), employers need to maintain a zero-tolerance approach to workplace discrimination – as is required by the Equality Act 2010 – and commit to planned action. This guide outlines six principles (which build upon our initial call for an approach based on four key principles) to help organisations develop an action strategy to help end systemic racism and address racial inequalities at work. Race discrimination is illegal in the UK as per the Equality Act 2010. As such, employers must enact their policies if allegations of racial discrimination occur, while individuals are within their rights to raise a grievance should they…
Dr Neil Thompson
July 21, 2020
The Trussell Trust – Research and advocacy

The Trussell Trust – Research and advocacy

To end poverty and hunger in the UK, we need a robust welfare safety net and secure incomes so people can afford at least basic essentials like food and heating. Our policy asks and campaigning are rooted in evidence from food banks in our network across the UK, and the people they support. We use our evidence to campaign for change for people on the lowest incomes – we do this by sharing our evidence with policymakers and the public to ensure they understand fully the state of hunger and poverty in the UK. Click here to read more
Dr Neil Thompson
July 21, 2020
Government tells sector ‘not to prioritise’ Liberty Protection Safeguards preparations

Government tells sector ‘not to prioritise’ Liberty Protection Safeguards preparations

The government has told councils and other sector bodies “not to prioritise” implementing the replacement for the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards with the previously slated October 2020 go-live date now an impossibility. The government is yet to say when the Liberty Protection Safeguards’ implementation may be delayed until but said it would provide “further updates as soon as possible”. The government said last year that its “intention” was for the LPS to come into force in October of this year. But to make that happen, it would have to consult on a code of practice and regulations detailing how the system would work in detail. Such a consultation would take at least 12 weeks, after which the government would have…
Dr Neil Thompson
July 21, 2020