Careers
Source: https://www.bath.ac.uk/guides/equality-diversity-and-your-career/ Parent: https://www.bath.ac.uk/guides/careers-support-for-international-students/
Equality, diversity and your career
We have information and support available on common equality and diversity issues you may face when career planning and job searching.
Careers can offer additional support regarding equality and diversity issues
Equality, diversity and inclusion
At the University of Bath we value, promote and celebrate inclusion. We challenge discrimination and put equality, diversity and belonging at the heart of everything we do. We’re proud of our growing, diverse student population and will support your development and career decision-making through a wide range of initiatives.
We strive to enable equal access to a wide range of graduate jobs for talented students regardless of background, race, age, disability or sexual orientation.
We recognise that your background is an important part of who you are. But we understand that you may have concerns. For example, holding non-traditional qualifications or being a mature student considering a career change, you will have difficulty entering a new profession. You may be concerned about disclosing a long-term illness, disability or sexuality to recruiters, or want to find out how to make sure you have the best chance to show your abilities and be treated fairly.
The information on these pages is to help you:
- feel more confident and empower you to present your background to employers with confidence
- inform you about your rights to equality
- give you further information about events, projects and support that we offer to enhance your employability and personal skills
Other pages in this section
These pages have advice and resource for specific groups.
Equality and your rights
The Equality Act 2010 protects jobseekers and employees from discrimination on the basis of certain characteristics, such as age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
The Equality Act 2010 defines a disability as ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal daily activities’.
It is unlawful for employers to discriminate any person covered by the protected characteristics listed above.
This includes discrimination in:
- application forms and interviews
- psychometric tests
- job offers, including terms of employment and pay
- promotion, transfer and training opportunities
- work-related benefits such as access to recreation or refreshment facilities
- dismissal or redundancy
- discipline and grievances
Careers support
We acknowledge that these characteristics may still cause students and graduates some concern when career planning and job searching. Careers can provide information and advice on common equality and diversity issues you may face, including understanding your rights, marketing yourself, disclosure and targeting employers.
You can discuss any equality and diversity issues related to your career planning in depth with a Careers Consultant during a Careers Drop-in. Careers Drop-ins are always confidential and can take place in a private space on request.
We also offer additional support for disabled students. Find out more.
Opportunities
We advertise opportunities on MyFuture specifically for students and graduates from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds. You can limit your search for these by choosing equality and diversity as the type of opportunity in MyFuture.
Equality and diversity Careers blogs
You may also find it helpful to look at the advice on our blog, Careers Perspectives – search using keywords such as disability or gender. Here you will find some great advice, hints and tips on many equality and diversity issues. We also have some alumni case studies talking about their career journeys.
Other careers resources
There are a variety of resources on MyFuture. Go to the resources tab and filter by topic from the menu on the right-hand side.
Access to specific Careers events, networking and mentoring opportunities
Look out for our themed weeks run by the Careers. You will find specific careers events/workshops organised in Black History Month, LGBT+ Awareness Days and more. We also work with Alumni and other departments to offer events that may interest you. Previous events have included a BME networking event with opportunities for mentoring.
For further information on this, see the specific groups pages at the top of this page.
Diversity-friendly employers and other support organisations
There are many organisations committed to being an inclusive workforce. You can find some of the key ones here:
Members of the Employment Network for Equality & Inclusion
This lists over 300 employers who are committed to equality and diversity in their organisations.
Go to Employment Network for Equality & Inclusion
Inclusive Companies
Inclusive Companies is a cross-industry network harnessing best practices and innovation to drive inclusion for all. They also list the top 50 most inclusive employers.
Bright Network
This year the University has partnered with Bright Network to support our students and in particular those from diverse backgrounds. Bright Network works with many top inclusive employers and offers advice events and workshops to support our students. You can register with them and look out for events on campus and virtual webinars that run throughout the year.
Many employers demonstrate their commitment to having a diverse workforce in a number of ways:
- Look out for a company's equal opportunities policy and for any employee support networks that may exist.
- Some employers run insight events or work experience schemes aimed at under-represented groups in the professions.
- Look for network groups within the organisation for LGBT+ staff, Disabled or Autistic staff for example.
- Some companies may have a diversity champion such as Stonewall.
- Check out if the company has a commitment to mentoring programmes.
- There are many charities and foundations that offer support with your employability and support into graduate jobs. To find out which ones may be useful to you, check out our advice and resources for specific groups above.
Access to internships, bursaries and discretionary awards
We recognise that in order to achieve your career aims you may sometimes need a helping hand to participate in a specific opportunity abroad, or perhaps take up an unpaid placement. Below are current bursaries and awards available with information on eligibility and how to apply:
- Discretionary Internship Bursary
- Placement Bursary
- Alumni Fund Placement Grant
- The Bath Bursary
- The Claverton Scholarship Programme
You can also find out more by speaking to Student Money Advice.
Wider university support
Careers works with other departments to ensure you have the best student experience and are well supported in developing your employability. You will sometimes see that events are delivered jointly with other departments.
Two areas we work closely with are Student Support and The Skills Centre.
The University's Student Support Centre is available to support and advise prospective and existing students with disabilities and specific learning difficulties. Current students can log queries by emailing disabilityadvice@bath.ac.uk. Alternatively, you can phone 01225 383838, or go into the Student Support Centre in 4 West, open Mon-Fri 9.30am-4.30pm.
Further information is on the Disability Service site.
The University's Therapeutic services & Mental Health and Wellbeing Service teams offer face-to-face and specialist support to current students.
The Skills Centre provide pre-sessional, academic, mathematics, and language skills support and enhancement both for your studies and future employment. Find out more about the Skills Centre.
Staff supporting disabled students
If you are a member of staff you can access the MyPlus Toolkit for supporting disabled students