CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
A major advance in the promotion of diversity and inclusion in the workplace took place this year in the form of a new centre of excellence dedicated to this area
Access to academic expertise at Dublin City University
We will connect industry partners to experts here in DCU who have worked with some of the biggest and best in Irish industry to promote a new set of values in the workplace
Last June Dublin City University (DCU) became the first university in Ireland to provide direct access to academic expertise on the broad aspects of diversity and inclusion in the workplace with the launch of its Centre of Excellence for Diversity and Inclusion.
With Indeed.com and Laya Healthcare as official founding members so far, the centre will create a formal engagement vehicle for industry partners to access DCU’s academic expertise for specific projects. Three other industry partners are likely to be confirmed soon.
The Number 1 jobs website in the world, Indeed.com has over 200 million unique visitors every month. It strives to put jobseekers first, giving them free access to search for jobs, post CVs and research companies.
Indeed.com is funding and leading on a project related to ‘self identification’ in the workplace in collaboration with the centre of excellence. The research involved will investigate best practice in terms of encouraging disclosure of information relating to neuro diversity and disability.
“The purpose of encouraging such disclosures is to facilitate reasonable accommodation for potential employees by employers and to ensure all staff are supported within the workplace,” says Sandra Healy, director of the new centre.
Laya Healthcare’s research project is focused on positive mental health in the workplace. Other projects in the pipeline will look at cultural diversity and diversity and inclusion in practice in care services.
Healy has worked for more than 20 years in leadership positions in some of the biggest firms in Ireland and the UK and is passionate about the treatment of people in the workplace. She championed diversity and inclusion practices in Irish industry for ten years before coming to DCU in December 2016.
One of Healy’s priorities in leading the new centre is to make diversity and inclusion a central tool in helping employers to retain staff in the current ‘war for talent’. She believes that issues around diversity and inclusion are no longer abstract concepts; instead they are now part of everyday life in the workplace for employers and employees.
“You can’t get firms to change until they’re ready. Now is the time though, because so much depends on staff retention,” she says. “The brightest and the best regard work as part of their ‘social environment’. Unless issues such as gender diversity and inclusion are given the attention they deserve, valued employees will simply move on to a better workplace.”
Prof Brian MacCraith, president of DCU, said the new centre of excellence would serve as “one-stop-shop, providing invaluable thought leadership and international best practice in the diversity and inclusion arena”. “Critically, this resource will be accessible and affordable, building on the principles of integrity, research excellence and shared learning,” he said.
Healy adds: “We will connect industry partners to experts here in DCU who have worked with some of the biggest and best in Irish industry to promote a new set of values in the workplace. In addition, we will make sure they are aware of the realities in terms of the different challenges facing each organisation.”
Coinciding with the June event, the DCU centre of excellence signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bussola Institute. Together they are embarking on a joint research project on tolerance, diversity and inclusion.
Set up in Brussels in 2017, the Bussola Institute’s mission is to generate and share knowledge that will foster a better
understanding of – and seek solutions to – the issues that affect policy making in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the EU.
“It is envisioned that this collaborative partnership will not only develop world-class research, but will also promote innovative thinking and actions in the areas of tolerance, diversity and inclusion – particularly as they impact on fostering and enhancing relations between countries in the GCC and EU,” says Healy.
A celebrated champion of diversity and inclusion in the Arab world, Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, received an honorary doctorate of philosophy from DCU at the centre’s launch. Dr Amal made history in 2015 when she was elected speaker of the Federal National Council (the United Arab Emirates parliament) – the first woman in the Arab world to hold such office.
“Challenges sometimes define who we are. The greater those challenges, the greater the achievements,” she said at her conferring. “The opening of this centre is a huge step forward, especially in an academic arena. Being available as a role model in this way and setting an example for others to follow is so important.”