EDI Forum: Mental Health, Trauma, and Inclusion
CL/A/026, Church Lane Building, Campus West, University of York (Map)
Event details
The School’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee are pleased to invite you to our next EDI Forum. In this SBS EDI Forum, we will focus on mental health and trauma from an EDI perspective to mark the upcoming Stress Awareness Month in April. This topic is especially timely given the growing recognition of mental health challenges across society and the workplace, and the need to better understand how trauma shapes experiences of inclusion and participation.
Mental health, particularly where shaped by experiences of trauma, remains underrepresented in EDI policy and practice, despite its significant impact on individuals’ ability to engage fully in the labour market and workplace. It also influences how individuals may be perceived by managers, colleagues, and wider stakeholders. In the context of the ongoing global humanitarian crises, increasing displacement, and the widespread experiences of trauma that follow, there is an urgent need to bring these issues more centrally into EDI conversations.
The event provides a safe space for discussions and reflections on mental health and trauma with staff and students. Through this forum, we aim to raise awareness, encourage dialogue, and explore how EDI-informed approaches can better support those affected. We warmly welcome contributions from our SBS colleagues to generate discussion, with time for Q&A.
Our presenters are:
- Dr Bob Townley, Academic Lead for Employability and Enterprise & Senior Lecturer in Work, Management and Organisations, who will share thoughts on his research with individuals - within organisations and community groups - over many years which particularly shows the persistence of trauma and its lasting impact on mental health, as well as ways to work with trauma as a route to repair.
- SBS Wellbeing Team, who will talk about the physical and emotional impact of trauma in shaping the body’s response to situations perceived as dangerous, how to manage the response and consider tools that can help to identify where trauma may be having an effect in daily life.
Please kindly note that we will be taking some photos at the event, for marketing purposes. Please let Bob Townley know should you not wish to be included, either via email or at the event itself. Further information about the University’s processes for capturing photography and video can be found here.