The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has published a race equality action plan which aims to address racism and increase representation of minority staff and students.
The plan was developed by staff and students in RCSI with advice from Pavee Point, a charity which represents the travelling community. It incorporated several of the recommendations from the HEA Report on Race Equality such as the establishment of the Speak Out tool, a online system for staff and students to report discrimination, racism or harassment.
The plan also stated that RCSI’s healthcare curriculum will be reviewed to provide more representation of people of colour in teaching materials. It will produce images of how illnesses can present differently in patients with different skin tones and it will increase the diversity of the simulated patients that healthcare students train with.
Students and international experts on race equality will speak about the importance of ensuring race equality in higher education at a virtual event to mark the publication of the plan.
This month RCSI also recognised 53 students completion of their International Citizenship Programme which encourages students to develop the skills required to work in multicultural healthcare settings by working in community-based projects around the world.
In a press statement, Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris said: “As educators of future healthcare professionals, it is fitting that RCSI is showing such leadership by underlining its commitment to race equality through this action plan. I want to commend the students and staff at RCSI who have developed this plan, providing a roadmap which other institutions might follow.”
Vice-Chancellor of RCSI Prof Cathal Kelly added: “Over the past year, we in higher education have been challenged to examine if we are doing enough to progress race equality and to speak out against racism in all its forms. This plan allows us to reaffirm our rejection of racism as fundamentally wrong and totally inconsistent with RCSI’s mission and values.”
“We take great pride in the diversity of our student community at RCSI and so it is right that we should be taking very meaningful and practical steps to ensure this diversity is celebrated and protected. And as a healthcare university, we have to examine our own teaching methods and academic practice to ensure it is reflective of the diverse range of patients that our students and staff will encounter to provide a truly international curriculum”, he said.
Chair of the RCSI Race Equality Forum Emeka Okereke added: “Working to promote race equality and to address discrimination, including micro-aggressions and unconscious bias, is a key priority for the university. By making sure that our future healthcare leaders are culturally competent, socially conscious and have a sense of civic responsibility, we hope to contribute to a more inclusive and fair society. Endorsement and support of the Race Equality Action Plan by our Council further highlights the importance that RCSI places on ensuring that a culture of race equality is embedded across everything that we do.”
The publication of this plan comes after a survey by the Higher Education Authority released last month found that higher education staff from minority ethnic groups earned less and had less secure contracts. This newspaper reported that the survey’s findings showed that less than 50 per cent of respondents from minority ethnic backgrounds were on full-time contracts.
In relation to pay, some 66 per cent of staff from minority ethnic earned less than €66,000 per year compared to just 45 per cent of white Irish and 58 per cent of other white groups. Similarly, just 17 per cent of ethnic minority staff earned over €75,000 compared to 38 per cent of white Irish staff.
