Our members are facing a range of immediate and future challenges, and we are committed to helping you overcome them. By understanding your unique context and the hurdles you face, we collaborate with you to create strategic and educational solutions, both for the short and long term. For this purpose, we’ve established the Small, Specialist and Research Institute (SSRI) Equalities Network.
This network has been created to support those working in EDI in institutions that are not universities. These include Research Institutes (RI), Small and Specialists Institutions (SSI) and College-Based HE providers (CBHE) who are members of Advance HE. Staff with responsibility for equality and inclusion work in RIs, SSIs and CBHEs face similar challenges and this space allows us to create an opportunity to form a larger, mutually supportive network to share practice, collaborate, and develop as a collective group.
The network is convened by a member each year. The first Chair in 23-24 was the Wellcome Sanger Institute and we have announced the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) as the Chair for 24-25.
This is a member-led network that creates an opportunity to form a mutually supportive space to share practice, collaborate and develop as a collective group to maximise the impact of allocated resources.
Register your interest to join the SSRI Equalities Network
SSRI Equalities Network Event 2024
The first in-person event for the new Small, Specialist and Research Institute (SSRI) Equalities Network took place on 26 June. This event will be returning in 2025, register your interest to receive further details.
The day was a great opportunity to collaborate and network. Topics covered included:
- Holistic Approach to EDI
- Diversifying the Board
- Case Studies from SSRI Network Members on good EDI practice within their institutions.
The format for the network is three online sessions throughout the membership year and one in-person event.
Our involvement in the network is key to our core work with students whose average age is 37, who are almost all parents or carers and working whilst they study, and who speak over 80 languages. The network is a space to share and develop ideas, and for mutual support between organisations equally passionate about improving access and participation for all of our students."Matthew Carlise, Dean of Education, Global Banking School
Primary aims:
- To support staff working at any level on EDI matters in SSIs and RIs through the sharing of information and good practice from within the network, the wider Advance HE membership, the higher education and research sectors, and other sectors
- To provide a forum for discussion and problem-solving in relation to EDI issues that are relevant to the whole network as well as those specific to SSI or RI contexts
- To provide additional support to those SSI and RI members who are engaged in or interested in the Athena Swan Charter, the Race Equality Charter or the Race Equality Charter pilot for SSI and RI members
- To share information about government and regulator policy on EDI matters.
Key themes identified by the network to address and explore:
- Embedding organisational culture / strategies around culture change
- How to make the most of limited resource
- Leadership and staff engagement / EDI is everyone’s responsibility not just the EDI Team
- EDI framework and governance
- Metrics & data
Network members
To highlight our network members and their geographical spread, we have included a visual map of the UK showcasing these institutions' locations along with a comprehensive list of network members in the table below:
| Institutions | |
|---|---|
| Arden University | Arts Educational Schools London |
| Arts University Bournemouth | Babraham Institute |
| Bedford College Group | Bishop Burton College |
| Bishop Grosseteste University | Bridgwater and Taunton College |
| British Antarctic Survey | British Geological Survey |
| City of Bristol College | Cliff College |
| Cranfield University | Futureworks Training Ltd |
| Global Banking School | Guildhall School of Music and Drama |
| Institute of Cancer Research | Istituto Marangoni London |
| John Innes Centre | Leeds Arts University |
| Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine | London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art |
| London College of Contemporary Arts | Medics.Academy |
| Middlesbrough College | Moulton College |
| Nelson and Colne College | New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering |
| OMNES Education London School | Pirbright Institute |
| Quadram Institute Bioscience | Ravensbourne University London |
| Rothamsted Research | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |
| Royal Northern College of Music | Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture |
| SKA Observatory | The Alan Turing Institute |
| The City of Liverpool College | The Earlham Institute |
| The Francis Crick Institute | The Institute of Hepatology |
| The James Hutton Institute | The Moredun Institute |
| The Sainsbury Laboratory | The University of Law |
| Nelson College London | UCEN Manchester |
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