Recruiting from under-represented groups

SDG 10.4Recruiting from under-represented groups

UPES takes planned action to bring in students, staff and faculty from groups that are under-represented in higher education.

Students

• Talented students from remote areas. Project Abhilasha brings meritorious students from marginalised parts of Uttarakhand to campus for a month-long residential coaching camp for engineering entrance exams, and Project Protsaahan funds the full degree of meritorious students from the Purkal Youth Development Society. Source: Project Abhilasha, Purpose: UPES social initiatives.

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Each of these schemes is a planned action to bring in students from groups that are under-represented in higher education: women through Shakti and merit scholarships reserved for girls, students from low-income families through Jyoti and Protsaahan, young people from Uttarakhand's remote areas through the domicile reservation and Project Abhilasha, and students with disabilities through accessible admissions under the Policy on Inclusion of Students with Disability. On the staff side, UPES's Principles of Engagement commit it to equal-opportunity hiring, and the Shakti leadership programme develops women employees for senior roles.

Staff and faculty

• Equal treatment at work. UPES's Principles of Engagement make it an equal opportunity employer: hiring, promotion, transfers, pay, benefits and training are decided without regard to gender, caste, religion, age, marital status, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability. Source: UPES Principles of Engagement, Code of Conduct, clause 3.3.7.

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• Women leaders. The Shakti leadership programme selects women employees for nine months of training in adaptive skills, emotional intelligence, business communication and team management, to prepare them for leadership roles. The programme runs over five modules, and successive cohorts, including Shakti 4, have completed it. Source: UPES SDG 8 report.

  

  

• Hiring on merit, for a diverse workforce. UPES's Recruitment and Selection policy commits the university to equal opportunity and to attracting a diverse workforce with a wide range of abilities, experience and skills. Hiring is based only on merit and is not influenced by an applicant's gender, caste, religion, age, marital status, nationality, ancestry, ethnicity, geographical origin, sexual orientation or disability, and anyone found discriminating in hiring faces disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. Source: UPES Principles of Engagement, Recruitment and Selection, clause 3.1, page 26.

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• Equal opportunity to develop. Once hired, every employee has the same access to training and development: UPES commits to deciding on learning and development without any discrimination on grounds of race, gender, disability, age, marital status, sexual orientation or religion. Source: UPES Principles of Engagement, Learning and Development, clause 3.1, page 75.

This section covers the indicator on planned actions to recruit students, staff and faculty from under-represented groups.