Equality, diversity and inclusion

We take pride in providing a warm and welcoming environment and want to ensure that everyone feels comfortable and reaches their full potential with us.

Our aim is to foster an inclusive culture which supports and maintains equal opportunities for people of all ages, ethnicities, disabilities, family structures, genders, nationalities, sexual orientations, races, religious or other beliefs, and socio-economic backgrounds.

EDI committee

The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee includes staff and students, with representatives of academic staff (early career and senior), professional staff, and students from each degree programme. Members, from both abroad and the UK, also reflect the school’s diversity of nationalities and our success in integrating a wide range of backgrounds.

The committee takes the responsibility to oversee the coordination, management, and review of actions required to support EDI policy and procedures, in keeping with the university’s Strategic Equality Plan. It endeavours to promote and enhance EDI across all areas of school activity, including teaching, learning, assessment, research, recruitment, and administration.

The committee follows on from the recommendations of the Racial Equality Working Group, established in 2020.

EDI initiatives, actions and events have included:

• launch of the revised first-year curriculum, with greater genre diversity and decolonising of history and theory modules
• diversity of repertoire and themes of concerts performed by students and professional musicians (e.g., celebrations of Black History Month, Fela Kuti, Sulpitia Cesis, José Garcia and International Women’s Day)
• diversity of ensembles for students
• students' discussion with Afro-American violinist, Randall Goosby, at St David’s Hall, after his concert devoted to black composers
• BBC broadcast of ‘Bhekizizwe’, an operatic monodrama by composer Dr Rob Fokkens and librettist Mikhululi Mabija; tour across Wales with Opera’r Ddraig as part of the University’s Innovation for All scheme
• Raising Deaf Awareness: Signing Music workshop, ‘Music for the Eyes’ as part of the university’s Festival of Social Science and funded by the AHSS Building Research and Scholarship Communities Seedcorn fund
• diversity of musical culture in composition workshops
• diversity of research topic in John Bird series of public lectures
• EDI training session for all staff
• EDI promotion at open days and UCAS days, conveying the school’s work and commitment to EDI to prospective students and providing a range of workshops

Paul Robeson Scholarship

A scholarship that places students at the heart of invigorating music education through EDI.

Drawing upon the school’s strong relationship with the Paul Robeson Wales Trust, the scholarship builds from the example of Robeson –  an African American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who supported the miners of South Wales during their post-war years of hardship –  to promote the life-changing potential of studying and working in music. It aims to develop the legacy of Robeson, as preserved in the Trust, through funding students to give talks, workshops, performances, and compositions.

First-year undergraduates successful in their application then undertake a scholarship for a year and one semester and funded by the Paul Robeson Wales Trust.

Aims of the scholarship:

1. Promote Paul Robeson and the work of the Trust within the School of Music and university.
2. Sustain and develop the commitment of the School to pursuing EDI objectives in its curriculum and public events (e.g., talks, workshops, and concerts).
3. Create a core of ambassador students that can undertake work within the school, in local communities, and partner universities overseas.

Contact

For further details, including application, please email musicoffice@cardiff.ac.uk.

LGBTQ+ community

We are extremely proud of our work around the LGBTQ+ community. In 2022, Cardiff University ranked 7th out of 100 in the Stonewall Equality Index as well as the Stonewall Top Trans Employer.

Cardiff University strives to improve the experience of our LGBTQ+ staff and students, and we have been continually recognised for our efforts. There is a student LGBTQ+ Association, a Cardiff University LGBTQ+ Society (CU Pride) and a very active staff and postgraduate network called ‘Enfys’ (Welsh for ‘Rainbow’).

Accessibility

We work with the University Disability and Dyslexia team to put reasonable adjustments in place for students who may need additional support for their learning. This helps to assist those with a diverse range of needs, from learning disabilities and disabilities requiring additional cognitive support to physical disabilities and sight or hearing loss.

Our teaching spaces and practice facilities are wheelchair accessible (step free), including an extended ramp to the Concert Hall stage area and an evacuation chair on the second floor of the main music building.

Our larger teaching spaces and Concert Hall are also equipped with hearing induction loop systems.