Religion and belief in higher education: researching the experiences of staff and students

The aim of this project is to develop an evidence base and understanding of the experiences of staff and students with a religion and belief.

The project will investigate whether staff and students of different religions and beliefs perceive that they can participate fully in higher education. This will include exploration of:

• Staff and students' perceptions of the inclusiveness of higher education
• Staff and students' perceptions of how higher education institutions accommodate different religious observances in their policies and practices
• Issues of discrimination and harassment

The project will look to provide evidence of the extent that any issues exist across the higher education sector, providing higher education institutions with national evidence to support exploration at a local level. To further support institutions the project will look to identify potential issues in gathering evidence of participation and potential discrimination and harassment within institutions.

The research will lead to a report summarising the findings. It is anticipated that any findings will lead to future work investigating and developing effective practice to support full participation for all staff and students, conducted by higher education institutions, students' unions, national and student religion and belief groups and national equality and diversity organisations, including ECU.

 
Tender for research

The tender for research is now open. Full details can be found on the tender homepage:

• Invitation to tender: Religion and belief in higher education: researching the experiences of staff and students