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Questions and Resources

Questions and resources to help Governors and governance professionals ensure that their organisation is championing and embedding EDI.

Compliance

  • How frequently does the governing body or one of its committees discuss EDI, and review the institution’s policies and practice?
  • Does the governing body or its committees regularly receive reports providing assurance that the institution is meeting its legal and regulatory requirements for EDI?

Process and assurance

  • Has the institution established key performance indicators (KPIs), including reference to clear benchmarks and detailed targets, for EDI?
  • Has the institution taken effective action to support and integrate international students within its communities?
  • Does the institution regularly survey different student and staff groups to gain feedback on its EDI policies and practices, and take action where responses suggest the need for change?

Reflecting on the diversity of the governing body

  • How diverse is the governing body in respect of gender, ethnicity, culture, disabilities, sexual orientation and age?
  • How are new members of the governing body recruited? Is recruitment simply based on contacting known individuals or is there a genuine attempt to draw from a wider pool of talent?
  • Has the governing body adopted a policy and targets relating to its diversity? Does it regularly review its policy and assess whether targets are being met?
  • Does the governing body collect equality monitoring information about its members to understand its composition concerning protected characteristics?

Resources

Board Diversification

The Board Diversification Project, commissioned by HEFCE, HEFCW and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, is designed to support greater diversity within higher education boards and those applying for board roles, whether in higher education or outside of the sector. The project brings together a series of related, practical initiatives to support the sector to increase diversity within higher education boards.

Two frameworks, the Board Diversity Framework and the Board Recruitment Framework have been created to help Governors ensure that they meet the need for sector leaders to be more proactive in establishing and promoting diversity on boards. 

Board Diversification

Find out more about governance and EDI.

Governance and EDI