Welcome to the GuildHE EDI and Anti-Racism microsite
GuildHE and its members pride ourselves on our work to drive cultural, social and economic development throughout the UK. Our values are modeled on being ethical, inclusive and creative. Social justice is a key pillar of our values and a core part of our strategy and drives how we work.
Higher education is transformative for individuals, beneficial to industry, local communities and wider society but the sector’s progress on tackling racial inequalities has been slow. The Black Lives Matter Campaign has highlighted just how much further we need to go as a society to address inequalities, and acknowledge that racism is still a significant social issue in all parts of the world, including in the UK.
It is no longer acceptable for equality and diversity work to be confined only to discussions around HR and access and participation. For meaningful and lasting change to happen we must all take responsibility for being proactive in identifying barriers and prejudices and take action to create a more inclusive education environment. Many of our members have made progress already, working in collaboration with schools and our local communities, but there is always more that can be done. We are acutely aware that many of the locations of our member institutions, and the industries they serve also have systemic barriers to equality. We want our approach to have a direct and positive impact on these communities and encourage swifter and more impactful action from other stakeholders. To create a fair society we need to ensure that everyone is doing their part to challenge and change systemic barriers, including in schools and employers.
GuildHE has developed an EDI and Anti-Racism Programme for members that supports a more conscious and impactful approach to improving equality in UK HE, and provides resources, discussion groups and activity sharing across our diverse institutions.
As part of this programme we are committed to continually reviewing our own internal processes and structures to ensure that we continue to live up to our values and are continually learning how we can be allies to make sustained change happen.
By approaching this work through the lens of allyship we are consciously realigning equality and diversity work to be more action focused, wide reaching and more impactful. We will be mindful of the complexities of the systemic barriers in regards to intersectionality and use evidence and historical context to lead our work together with members of our higher education communities and beyond.
Anti-Racism Programme overview 2020
The following document provides you with an overview of our programme of activity thus far.
GuildHE Research will be participating in the funding competition by OfS and Research England to improve access and participation for black, Asian and ethnic minority students to PGR study. In partnership with eight of GuildHE Research members, we aim to achieve a step change in access to research study. We will work with key external partners with expertise in creating the conditions for meaningful engagement with communities through understanding lived experience, allyship and coaching. We have engaged with black, Asian and ethnic minority students to inform our strategy and activities and continue to involve them in our planning and execution.
During our own research we have read many amazing books, websites, research papers and listened to blogs/vlogs. Here is a short compilation of resources we have found useful and inspiring.
On 15 July GuildHE hosted its first Anti-Racism Symposium which highlighted work that has taken place in member institutions and the sector in 2021. Here is a compilation of those videos and presentations.
On the 10th October 2023 GuildHE hosted an in-person EDI symposium which brought together case studies and keynotes form across the membership and wider sector. You can watch and download the presentations from many of the sessions.