Together for equality

Photo: University of Dundee

In 2019, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) agreed a Memorandum of Understanding with the shared aim of advancing equality for college and university students and staff.  

The action plan which accompanied the agreement included investigating persistent inequalities within the sector. This was progressed through the publication of our joint Tackling Persistent Inequalities Together report. The report asked Scotland’s colleges and universities to address persistent inequalities by contributing to a set of National Equality Outcomes (NEOs). These are detailed in full in annex B of the report.  

To help them do so, SFC made a number of commitments including: 

• Developing a set of thematic reviews to inform and direct improvement on the NEOs. 
• Designing leadership sessions to help senior leaders gain a better understanding of the NEOs and how to drive forward progress in their institutions. 
• Holding a national event for sector colleagues to network and share good practice. 

In order to fulfil these commitments and also to inform the future thematic reviews and leadership sessions, SFC held a National Equality Outcomes sectoral event in May this year.  

We were really pleased to receive over 100 registrations for the event. On the day itself we had staff representatives from 15 colleges and 16 universities as well as delegates from students’ unions and associations. There was also representation from organisations such as Colleges Scotland; College Development Network; Universities Scotland; Lead Scotland; and the Quality Assurance Agency. Looking at where staff attending the event were located within their institutions showed us just how widely the responsibility for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is spread. They came from areas that included HR; strategy and planning; student experience; wellbeing; and learning.  

Through a series of prompt questions discussed within groups, attendees were invited to contribute their ideas for future thematic reviews to support the progression of the NEOs. A similar approach helped us gain insights into what colleagues wanted from future leadership development sessions.  

In the afternoon, we had a ‘Good Practice Sharing’ session where we heard three examples of great EDI work within institutions. They included an excellent case study from Edinburgh Napier University on the student voice. North East Scotland College shared some of its work on the College’s gender-affirming care fund, and Glasgow Clyde College presented its achievements in supporting men’s mental health. You can see a video of the presentations on SFC’s YouTube channel. 

As a funding body committed to supporting equality in tertiary education we learned so much from the event. We learned that people across the whole sector found gathering accurate equalities data a real challenge. We learned that there is still much to be done to ensure a consistent level of understanding of the National Equalities Outcomes, something we hope to address through future developing leadership sessions. We also learned that there is, quite rightly, an expectation for SFC and EHRC to give direction at a national level and we are now working to provide further support through developing reporting guidance for the NEOs. 

There was also much to give us hope as we continue to move forwards including lots of evidence that there is a really healthy appetite for sharing good practice. The event also taught us that there is a lot of value in coming together as a single tertiary education sector to solve challenges and accelerate progress. 

Finally, the event has left us with the strong sense that, in Scotland’s universities and colleges, there are dedicated people with a passion for diversity who work incredibly hard to create a safer, more nurturing and more equal experience for students. 

Eilidh Fulton, Senior Policy Officer, Access, Learning & Outcomes, Scottish Funding Council