Goal 10 - Reduced Inequalities

Reduced inequalities within and among nations

Research

Lancaster University researchers from the Work Foundation and the Centre for Organisational Health and Wellbeing at Lancaster University have found that workers managing a health condition or disability are less likely to have access to flexible working options, which could be essential in supporting them to enter and succeed at work. The research calls for employers to offer more flexibility at work - especially for low-income employees.

Northern inequalities

Lancaster University researchers have contributed to a major report which highlights that closing the health gap between the North and the rest of England could put an extra £18.4 billion into the economy per year. The report showed that people living in the North are twice as likely to lose their job following a spell of ill-health compared with those in the rest of England.

Teaching

Social Work

Reducing inequalities is a theme that is embedded into many Lancaster degrees. For example, our Social Work degree has a module on Contemporary Social Problems that looks at how contemporary social problems reflect and reproduce economic and social inequalities and how those inequalities are constructed through different welfare ideologies and approaches.

Campus life

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

Lancaster University’s commitment to create an environment where everyone can thrive and fulfil their potential is demonstrated by initiatives linked with recognising and supporting protected characteristics including age, disability, gender identity, race, religion and sex and sexual orientation in alignment with the Equality Act 2010. There are several EDI–related networks and associations at Lancaster University for staff and students to connect, share best practice and network.

Lancaster Success Programme (LSP)

The University offers a programme of activities to enable students from widening participation backgrounds to thrive during their studies and successfully progress into graduate employment or postgraduate study. The LSP is designed to support students from backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented at university, who may not always be aware of the breadth of support and opportunities available to them.

Mentoring

As part of the University’s work towards the Race Equality Charter, senior staff have partnered with students from racially minoritised backgrounds as part of a reciprocal mentoring programme, sharing insights, perspectives and understanding to help to highlight and tackle inequalities.