Taking the Vice-Chancellor’s Great Debate online

At the start of lockdown our team, like many others, looked at what plans we had and made some quick and often obvious decisions about which engagements we could continue online in some way, and which may need to be paused. One of those engagements was the annual Vice-Chancellor’s Great Debate, due to take place … Continue reading “Taking the Vice-Chancellor’s Great Debate online”

Encouraging gender equality by supporting working fathers

The Equal Parenting Project at the University of Birmingham launched a new Fathers in the Workplace Toolkit in the House of Commons this week. The Toolkit helps organisations to better support working fathers and ultimately foster working environments where mothers and fathers have equal opportunities. Whilst the introduction of Shared Parental Leave in 2015 sought … Continue reading “Encouraging gender equality by supporting working fathers”

Working for the Education Select Committee

Richard Ward, Clerk of the Education Select Committee in the House of Commons, reflects on his role in Parliament. From Birmingham to Westminster I studied Philosophy at Birmingham between 2004 and 2007 and attended a couple of events run by the careers centre during my second and final years, one of which was a practice … Continue reading “Working for the Education Select Committee”

Renewing political speech and speechwriting

In an age of media soundbites and Twitter rants, of public distrust and alternative facts, have we forgotten how to have a constructive political debate? Has it become all too easy to slip into sectarian assertions and trading insults, rather than using evidence and well-reasoned arguments to persuade? In short, does our politics suffer from … Continue reading “Renewing political speech and speechwriting”

The University of Birmingham at the 2019 party conferences

This year we’re delighted to be hosting a fringe event on diversity in business at the Labour and Conservative party conferences. Black and ethnic minority businesses make important contributions to the UK economy, contributing an estimated £25-32 billion per year and helping to regenerate declining sectors and places. These businesses act as catalysts for multinational trading … Continue reading “The University of Birmingham at the 2019 party conferences”

Supporting evidence-based policy making

Welcome to Policy Birmingham, a blog from the Public Affairs team at the University of Birmingham about research impact and topical issues in public policy. It’s hardly controversial to believe that evidence should play an important role in policy making. While political factors will always be important, we all want our policy makers to make … Continue reading “Supporting evidence-based policy making”