Religion and belief in higher education: researching the experiences of staff and students
Investigating inclusion and participation in higher education of staff and students with different religions and beliefs
For: Human resources; trade unions; students' unions; student welfare and student services officers; access and involvement teams; governors and management; equality and diversity teams; estates departments; staff responsible for procurement; staff involved in research and teaching; national religion and belief organisations (including student organisations)
When: January 2010 – January 2011
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.
A leaflet outlining details of the project, including its aims, methods and research questions can be downloaded here:
The research team
ECU is delighted to announce that a research team from the University of Derby has been appointed to undertake the research.
The project will be academically directed by the university's Society, Religion and Belief Research Group. It will be implemented by the International Centre for Guidance Studies, an applied research and development centre at the University of Derby with a wealth of experience in a broad range of disciplines in support of lifelong learning.
The project team is led by Professor Paul Weller who has researched and published extensively on subjects relating to religion and belief, equality and human rights issues and religious discrimination. This includes current Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded work on religion and discrimination and work in 2001 for the Home Office on the same subject.
Expertise in researching higher education will be provided by Dr Tristram Hooley and staff from the International Centre for Guidance Studies.
Project website
The University of Derby team have developed a project website including information on the project and its progress. This will host the on-line staff and student surveys when they go live in the 2010/11 academic year.
A link to the website will appear here when it becomes available.