Equality, diversity and your future career

At The University of Manchester, a commitment to equality and diversity is at the heart of everything we do. We know that a postcode, a challenging school background, your experience as a first-generation university student or as a member of an underrepresented community should not define your employability chances.  

Here you will find information about: 

  • The support the Careers Service offers to help enhance and develop your employability and personal skills
  • Events, workshops, and opportunities available through the Careers Service
  • Opportunities from employers to help you overcome barriers, achieve your full potential and give you fair access to graduate roles
  • Inform you about your rights to equality

We are here to support you through career planning, career decision making and job searching. Regardless of your background, diversity is one of our key values as a world class University. Find specific information and advice that is most relevant to you in our dedicated pages:

Careers Service Support

We offer a number of schemes and projects that aim to enhance and develop your employability and personal skills, whilst also raising awareness of the variety of different careers opportunities. Discover the support available including our Work Experience Bursary and Student Experience Internships.

If you need further information or advice relating to equality and diversity, you can book a careers guidance appointment on CareerConnect with a Careers Consultant.

How can I find positive employers?

Many employers take a proactive approach to recruiting a diverse workforce and actively monitor applications for that purpose. They go beyond formal requirements to build a diverse workplace. How can you find them?

  • Use the organisation's website to look for their equal opportunities policy and employee support networks that may already exist
  • Some employers and professional bodies run insight events or work experience schemes aimed at under-represented groups in the sector
  • Many employers show their support for recruiting diverse staff through particular initiatives such as the Disability Confident employer scheme, Stonewall Top 100 Employers List, the Race Equality Charter and the Athena Swan Charter. These show that an organisation has met a benchmark to demonstrate their commitment to a diverse workforce. 

Equal opportunities monitoring forms

When you apply for a job, you may be asked to complete an equal opportunities monitoring form, which is separate to the rest of your application. Do not worry about completing this form as it is not seen by those directly involved in the recruitment process and will not have an impact on the rest of your application.

Information you provide will only be used once recruitment has finished, and only to see who has applied to certain jobs and how diverse the applicant pool was. Data can then be used to make appropriate changes to the recruitment process to try to ensure more applications from underrepresented groups are received in the future.

Your rights

The Equality Act 2010 protects jobseekers and employees from discrimination on the basis of certain protected characteristics such as age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

We provide advice and support on equality and diversity issues, including finding employers, disclosing your disability, asking for reasonable adjustments at work and understanding your rights.

If you would like to discuss your concerns regarding your disability or health condition, book an appointment now on CareerConnect.

Don’t forget we are here to help you throughout your time at University and for two years after you graduate.