Race & Ethnicity Champion
Professor Abigail Woods
Pro Vice Chancellor and Head of College of Arts
"As a member of the University of Lincoln’s Senior Leadership Team, I am acutely aware of my responsibility to lead in raising awareness of these inequalities and taking steps to overcome them"
"As a historian of science, I am acutely aware of how western science and settler colonialism have operated to construct racial categories and hierarchies, whose legacies are still felt in today’s race-based inequalities. As Head of the College of Arts, I see the effects of this in who enters the arts and what type of work they produce, resulting in a sector that fails to properly represent ethnic minority creatives and experiences.
For reasons of social justice, and because diverse communities breed creativity and productivity, we need to develop a university environment which is more attractive to and supportive of ethnic minority staff and student. There are many opportunities to do this – through our hiring and student recruitment practices, decolonising our curriculum and pedagogy, addressing degree awarding gaps, attending to issues of intersectionality, supporting career development, creating an environment in which race is openly acknowledged and discussed, and celebrating ethnic minority voices, cultures and achievements".
