Equality surveys: understanding the student and staff experience
Guidance on using equality surveys to understand the staff and student experience
For: Staff involved in planning; equality and diversity practitioners; human resources officers
When: March 2009 – March 2010
Increasingly, higher education institutions (HEIs) are using equality surveys to supplement equality monitoring data and provide a more practical picture of the equality issues facing staff and students. The results of equality surveys will often help HEIs to target and plan their equality and diversity work effectively and monitor progress over time.
ECU has been working with the University of Essex to look at ways of using focus groups and staff surveys to generate more meaningful qualitative data in relation to both staff and students, to supplement the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data set.
Based on the University of Essex's experience, ECU is in the process of drafting a new guidance document for HEIs about the benefits and delivery of equality surveys. This document will discuss, for example, different models for conducting an equality survey within an HEI, as well as different ways to maximise survey response rates.