Aisha Benachour has been appointed as the new Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), for the School of Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering (AACME).

Aisha is also the School Student Support Team Manager, a very complementary role to the Director of EDI, having regular involvement with almost all school staff and students. Aisha said “I am excited about the School’s ambition to become a more equal and diverse academic environment. Through volunteering, study and my own experience, I have a broad perspective on the challenges many of us face, be it through discrimination or social mobility, and I hope my understanding of under-representation within universities will help us take realistic steps to becoming a more inclusive environment.”

Aisha will be the School’s first Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), which is a new role within the School Management Team (SMT).  As part of the role Aisha will take the Chair of the School EDI Committee, which will look after implementation of EDI action plans, alongside the action plan associated with the School’s recent Athena SWAN submission.

During preparation of the School’s Athena SWAN Bronze Award application, it was identified that a Director of EDI would make a valuable contribution to the School, by acting as a champion to drive forward EDI action plans and to work with the Dean and other members of the SMT to improve EDI culture.

The School’s Athena Swan Bronze submission was made in May and news of the outcome which should be received around October time.