Scholars, activists and practitioners met at Queen Mary, University of London on 30 March 2011 under the auspices of the PEDEC Research Network for the second PEDEC workshop to discuss the implications of the current economic downturn for the promotion of equality and diversity. The title of the workshop was Advancing Fair Representation in Public and Private Institutions in the Economic Downturn. Participants from a range of disciplines and areas of practice engaged with a number of key issues, including the use of quotas and positive action to widen participation in political life and on the boards of companies as well as the role of informal working arrangements such as unpaid internships in securing access to professional jobs.
The Queen Mary PEDEC research network, funded by the AHRC, is run by Professor Lizzie Barmes and Professor Kate Malleson together with colleagues from Geography and the Centre for Research on Equality and Diversity in the School of Business and Management. It seeks to bring together scholars, practitioners and activists from the UK, Europe and the US through a series of workshops to explore the implications of the economic downturn, and coming cuts in public spending, for maintaining and progressing equality and diversity standards and for including marginalized groups in economic recovery.
More information on the Network and the workshops, including a podcast of the first and second workshops can be found on the website www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/pedec.