Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
At SMU, we strive to embrace diversity in its multiplicity. By thoughtfully combining ground-up initiatives with robust governance, we continuously seek to promote an inclusive community, where all individuals, regardless of who they are, can pursue excellence on their own terms. Through close consultation with students and employees, we have developed a range of policies, processes and facilities to promote equitable and inclusive practices on our campus.
Belonging
SMU is a place for study, work and belonging. Through various programmes and initiatives, we are nurturing an inclusive culture, where our employees and students feel valued for who they are and excited about who they can become and what they can achieve with us.
Through university-wide social activities intentionally curated by Office of Student Life and University Social Club, our students and employees get to interact with each other, form meaningful connections and bring vibrance to the campus.
At SMU, we embrace belonging, not just for our employees and students but for everyone on our campus. We set up the Rest Nest, a dedicated resting facility for our outsourced in-house workers who conscientiously and tirelessly operate behind the scenes to maintain the standards of our campus spaces and facilities. With the Rest Nest Planner, our employees can contribute food and beverage refreshments to this space.
Enabling Equity
As diverse as it can get, the society around us also contains many biases perpetuated through perceived social and cultural norms, media narratives and everyday behaviours. We acknowledge that these biases, be it unconscious or implicit, can hinder our progress in advocating for an inclusive study and work environment. That's why we are committed to addressing them and creating a level playing field, where our students and employees are treated and supported fairly and adequately.
With the support from the Gender Equity Taskforce consisting of employee volunteers, we have reviewed and enhanced several policies and practicies to further advance gender equity among our faculty members. These measures include tenure-clock and contract extension as well as reasonable workload adjustment for faculty with newborns.
To empower our people managers to champion equity, we have developed robust training programmes on fair recruitment, interview and performance management processses. We also encourage all employees with supervisory responsibilities to adopt recommended practices in our gender equity guideline.
Through frequently conducted surveys and focus taskforces, we continuously enhance our support policies and initiatives for working parents and caregivers to make them more accessible and equitable, so that every employee can thrive both at work and at home.
- Maternity Leave, Paternity Leave, Shared Parental Leave
- Child Adoption Leave
- Childcare/Child Sick Leave
- Eldercare Leave
- Mother’s Rooms at each campus building
- Discounted rates from selected childcare facilities
As an inclusive education provider, SMU offers a wide range of financial schemes to enable equitable access to quality university education so that all our students can become inspiring and impactful leaders of the future, regardless of their starting lines. More than 100 bursaries and study awards are available for students from financially disadvantaged households or facing financial hardships. Some of the schemes that are available include:
- SMU Access. A first of its kind in Singapore, SMU Access guarantees a financial aid package equal to the full tuition fees for all eligible, financially disadvantaged Singaporean students, and is bond-free.
- Realstar International Study Award. Available to full-time SMU undergraduates with demonstrated financial needs from Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Accessibility
SMU is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities are able to fully engage with campus life by removing physical barriers, technological limitations and social stigmas, and empowering them to fulfill their potential at the University.
Our Student Accessibility Support (SAS) team provides advice and support for students with disabilities. Applicants can submit an official request for disability support through SMU's student portal. The SAS team also collaborates closely with SMU Purple, a student club, to actively drive disability awareness and promote inclusivity for persons with disabilities at SMU. To support differently abled employees, we are establishing a reasonable adjustment framework and policy, and partnering with SG Enable to identify suitable career opportunities within SMU.
What you can do
- Take the time to learn about the different cultures, ehtnicities, religions and backgrounds represented by your classmates or colleagues, celebrate their festivities with them, and take an interest in their lived experiences.
- Publicly acknowledge the contributions of your classmates and colleagues, especially those from disadvantaged groups.
- Learn more about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) through courses offered by SMU Academy, such as "Beyond Barriers: Embracing the Power of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and Belonging" and "Empathy at Work: Building an Empathic Organisational Culture".
- Learn how organisations can redesign work to be truly inclusive with The Inclusive Organizing Playbook, by Associate Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship Kenneth Goh and Assistant Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship Daniel Mack, or how we can curb divisive ethnic politics for a strong multicultural society with the book Bonding, bridging, & bypassing: Understanding ethnic politics in diverse societies, by Associate Professor of Political Science Colm Fox.