Why do EDI Consultations work?

By sharing views and experiences, UCC staff will help us identify areas for improvement and build on good practice.   Staff feedback from the 2022 and 2024 consultations contributed to significant progress and impact in UCC regarding improving working life, representation, addressing inequality, and contributing to national and international recognition for the university’s excellence in EDI, resulting in reputational and financial gains for the institution as a whole:

• Promotion schemes were revised and implemented.
• Work Life Balance Framework and associated Policies were launched.
• A suite of new family-friendly policies was developed, including Surrogacy, Fertility Treatment, Foster Care, and Early Pregnancy Loss Leave.
• Belonging at UCC: A Strategic Framework for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 2025 – 2028 (2.11), and a new EDI Governance Structure were launched.
• New central data collection system for staff, ESS Diversity Tool was launched on 12 January 2025, facilitating the collection of comprehensive data across nine equality grounds, which will lead to several benefits for staff (see the website for details).
• Race Equality Action Plan, 2026-2028 was launched on 25 February 2026.
• Staff Carers, and Disability and Neurodivergence Networks were launched in 2024-2025.
• In March 2025, UCC was awarded the Silver Institutional Athena Swan Award. The corresponding Silver Action Plan (SAP) 2024-2029 addresses the EDI areas of work identified through previous consultations.
• UCC was named the 2025 EU Gender Equality Champion in Research and Innovation.
• UCC was Highly Commended as the Public Sector Organisation of the Year (2025) by the Irish Centre of Diversity.
• UCC is a finalist in the 2026 Education Awards in the “Diversity, Inclusivity, and Equality” category.
• Results from 2024 aided Athena Swan applicants from 11 Schools in the assessment of their values and culture.

The data collected in 2026 will help in evidencing the efficacy of our interventions and support the development of new ones. The data from the School/Unit-level Athena Swan focus groups will be a vital part of the applicants' data reporting and will help them secure accreditation.