Disability disclosure – beyond reasonable adjustments Stephanie Millar Senior Policy Adviser

What do we know about disabled staff in HEIs? What do we know about disabled staff in colleges? What are we doing with this information??

Why is this important? The Scottish specific duties are designed to help public authorities demonstrate how they are meeting their responsibilities under the PSED. The specific duties require colleges to: report on progress towards mainstreaming the equality duty, including a breakdown of employee information and how this is used to inform progress. publish equality outcomes and report progress. publish gender pay gap information. publish statements on equal pay in relation to disability, gender and race. equality impact assess and review policies and practices.

Statistical summary Overall, 3.3% of staff working in higher education in Scotland declared as disabled in 2014/15. For all disabled staff, a long-standing illness or health condition was the most commonly disclosed impairment. 18.8% of academic and 17.9% of professional and support disabled staff declared a specific learning impairment, and around one in ten a physical impairment or mobility issue. Disclosure rates were higher among full-time staff on open-ended/permanent contracts compared with fixed-term contracts.

Statistical summary Proportion of staff declaring as disabled was higher among those in lower contract levels. Proportion of academics earning £50,000 or more was higher among non-disabled staff than disabled staff. Overall mean pay gap among non-disabled and disabled staff was 6.9%, and the median pay gap 3.9%. Wider for academics. Varied by nation.

= Disclosure rates are increasing. = But they’re lower than societal averages.

Intersectionality - Age

Intersectionality - race We have more detail within the stats reports breaking this down to UK and non-UK which show UK BME staff are more likely to disclose than non-UK BME staff.

Intersectionality - gender

Colleges? No national, standard college staff data. Individual college data only, but (mostly) published. Mainly use census data for comparison. SFC will publish first staff data on 30 March: High level summary data. Disability, gender and race. A quick analysis of last time’s mainstreaming reports suggested that 9 didn’t publish staff disability data.

Supporting workforce diversity: progressing staff equality in colleges Three year SFC funded project. To establish a quantitative and qualitative baseline of equality for college staff in terms of recruitment, retention and progression, and support colleges to achieve improvement for any issues identified. Three strands of work: Data monitoring, collection and use. Staff experience. Progression opportunities – disability, gender and race.

Data collection HR systems audit 17 colleges, 9 interviews. All colleges collected data on disability. A number of interviewees reported that disability was one of the data fields that was most often returned incomplete. Variety in how question is asked.

Disability monitoring questions Format Number of colleges Do you have a disability? Yes No Prefer not to say 3 Do you consider yourself to be a disabled person? Prefer not to say (including list of disabilities or impairments) 2 Do you consider yourself to have a disability? If so, please describe. If none, please state ‘None’. Open text box 1 Are you considered to be disabled under the provisions of the 2010 Equality Act? Prefer not to disclose

Staff experience survey Recruitment, development and retention focus. Across all protected characteristics. Detailed monitoring questions. Analysis will focus on: Disability, gender, race. Gender + race. Gender + disability. Race + disability.

Could you please provide details of which equality information you are not disclosing and why? Disclosure questions How confident do you feel about disclosing equality information about yourself to your college? Is anything stopping you from declaring your equality information for equality monitoring purposes at your college? Could you please provide details of which equality information you are not disclosing and why? Are you aware of college policies informed by equality monitoring? If you have any suggestions on what your college could do to address your concerns about disclosing equality information, please do so here.

Action research project Positive action measure to improve progression outcomes of staff, disability, gender or race. One college is focussing on disability.

Disability questions Do you have an impairment, health condition, or learning difference that has a substantial and long term impact on your day to day life? Please tick all that apply. Deafness or partial hearing loss. Blindness or partial sight loss not corrected by glasses. Learning difficulty (for example, Down’s Syndrome). Specific learning difficulty (for example, dyslexia). Developmental disorder (for example, Autistic Spectrum Disorder or Asperger’s Syndrome). Physical impairment or mobility difficulty. Mental health condition. Long-term illness, disease or health condition. Other condition (please specify).

Specific duties reporting In April, all colleges and HEIs must publish: Mainstreaming report, including a breakdown of employee information and how this is used to inform progress. Equality outcomes and report progress on last outcomes. Gender pay gap information. Statements on equal pay in relation to disability, gender and race.

Outcome agreements Current SFC OA guidance includes: … improve our understanding of college staff, … and request that colleges identify areas of under-representation and demonstrate measures that they are taking to address this. Work to improve data, and collection of information for all protected characteristics will provide an evidence base for action to advance equality and diversity. Promote a culture that supports disclosure of protected characteristics by students and staff.

What can you do? Work with your institution to increase disclosure. Read your institution’s equality outcomes, mainstreaming reports pay gap and occupational segregation reports. Talk to your institution’s equality manager.