Assoc. prof. dr. Petra Videmšek is responsible for the professional management of the new Office for Equality and Inclusion (PEV) at the University of Ljubljana. Her area of expertise focuses on involving services users to develop social work education, as well as on the empowerment and advocacy of people with mental illness and intellectual disabilities. We reached out to find out:
The office’s top priorities
The fundamental aim of the Equality and Inclusion Office (PEV) is to contribute to the development of a general culture of inclusion, tolerance and integration in an open academic community.
This includes providing information on the principles of equality and legal foundations that ensure equal opportunities and dignity; to point out violations; and to systematically ensure integration in the academic community.
To this end, the office is linked to the work of the Student Ombudsman Service, the Student Affairs Committee, the Psychosocial Counselling Services and the activities of the Equality Plan Implementation Working Group.
What expertise are you bringing to the table?
My knowledge of social work is certainly very useful, because in social work we have developed the concepts of participation, empowerment and, above all, the concept of co-creation. My work is based on theories developed by people who have experienced exclusion themselves. The slogan “Nothing about us without us” is a guideline for the work of the office. We do not want to plan from the top down, but from the bottom up. We start from the needs and plan further activities around these needs. I believe this is the most effective way of providing support, based on partnership and dialogue.
Of course, my knowledge of social work alone is not enough, an interdisciplinary approach is needed to ensure inclusion. Teamwork and an interdisciplinary approach are essential to developing an inclusive and compassionate community.
In IDEA-net’s first webinar, three university cases – from the project’s Compendium of 50+ IDEA practices* – were invited to provide further perspective on the road ahead. The geographical diversity of the speakers reflects, in part, the continental reach of universities which have contributed to the Compendium. Here are some of the reflections from our speakers:
Driving forces for bold IDEA practices
Pr Renato Cymbalista from the University of São Paulo underscored how affirmative action policies are controversial by nature. Today, approximately 50% of enrolled students at USP are admitted through such policies. He notes however, how integral such actions are to the university’s reparation mission. Backing from other progressive universities and country-wide support for reparation have been major drivers for such IDEA practices.
Collaborating for scaling-up IDEA
Pr Frank Tuitt highlighted the commitment of University of Connecticut and the state of Connecticut to address racism as a public health crisis. The Centre for Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) is one of the flagpship initiatives of UCONN. The TRHT initiative is made possible by the American Association for Colleges and Universities and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, with UCONN being one of 78 collaboratory institutions in the United States.
Creating more opportunities for unity
Ms Pelin Deniz from Middle East Technical University emphasised the importance of students taking more active roles in the delivery of universities’ IDEA practices. She refers to her experience having studied clinical physcology at METU and is now fulfilling this role at the disability support office of her alma mater. More interaction between IDEA units is necessary as she noted the effect of support staff having too little time to collectively process their experiences in implementing and developing IDEA practices.
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*To browse the database of IDEA offices, services, programmes, and leadership roles, visit: https://idea-net.eu/idea-net-cases/
