Positive Action Trainees celebrate one year at LJMU

Pictured: Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mark Power (centre), Tina Purkis, Executive Director of HR and the EDI team with the Positive Action Trainees and their managers.

The trainees from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds joined the university last September and have been working across a variety of departments over the past year as part of their traineeships. 

LJMU First Cohort of Positive Action Trainees

As the first cohort to take part, the Positive Action Programme aims to be an effective measure that LJMU and other organisations can take, to address the under representation of Black and Minority Ethnic people in the workplace. 

Each trainee took part in a competitive application process and were assigned a department and manager/mentor to help with their training over the two-year programme. 

During the celebration, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mark Power, thanked the trainees for their hard work over the past year: 

“This was a really important first step which has paid off spectacularly.” 

“We now plan to extend the programme further not just in our own institution but to influence organisations across the city.” 

He also thanked staff and the EDI team for making the programme such a success: 

“I would like to thank managers and service areas for giving up their time to invest in the development of the trainees and I’m proud that LJMU took this step to invest in this programme, to diversify our workforce and reflect the diversity of our city.” 

A great experience for the trainees

Each student also addressed those in attendance, to give their thoughts on what they had learnt over the past year and how important the traineeship has been. The trainees also took the opportunity to present a token of appreciation to Professor Mark Power, thanking the university for having set up this programme.

Maureen Ouso, Trainee Faculty Administrator in Business and Law, said: 

“I have worked in many places but the environment at LJMU is invigorating. Working here has been a great experience and I speak on behalf of all the trainees when I say we are truly grateful for the opportunity.  

“We are not the same people we were a year ago, we have grown. I’m more confident now, I’m someone different.” 

Due to the success of the Positive Action Trainee programme, LJMU will replicate the process and begin recruiting for a second cohort of trainees from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities in November this year, to begin their training in January 2023. 

LJMU plans to run the Positive Action Trainee Programme in the next academic year

The University is now appealing for departments across the university, who feel there is under representation in their area, and who can support a trainee from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background, to contact the EDI team and complete a short application, for a trainee to be considered to join their department. 

LJMU staff can contact equality@ljmu.ac.uk to find out more and complete the application by 12 noon on 5 September2022.