From its beginnings as the first non-denominational teacher training college for women, Edge Hill has always embraced diversity and equality. As its governing body, we are very proud of to be part of such a community.
The University has taken many steps to create opportunities for students from underrepresented groups to access, progress in, and achieve successful outcomes from higher education. Our responsibility, as governors, is to champion diversity and inclusion and ensure that everyone in our community feels supported, respected and free from any bias. We do this by
- ensuring that Edge Hill’s governing documents uphold the University’s commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion
- setting and monitoring progress against appropriate targets for the University and the Board of Governors
- modelling an inclusive approach through our Board composition and behaviours
An effective board includes and makes good use of differences in the skills, expertise, background, and other qualities of individual governors. Edge Hill’s Governance & Nominations Committee is charged with monitoring the composition of our governing body and ensuring an appropriate blend of skills and diversity.
All governors are committed to ensuring that our Board and its committees are inclusive, creating an environment which supports the respectful sharing of different views and experiences.
Our governors are encouraged to share the personal attributes which give them an insight into the experiences of underrepresented groups in higher education. For example, our governing body currently includes governors from a range of backgrounds who:
- have differing skillsets and experiences
- have experience of socio-economic hardship
- have one or more disabilities or long-term health conditions
- have experience of being estranged from family
- have experience of caring for others with complex needs
- were the first in their family to attend university
- are part of the LGBTQI+ community
- are from an ethnic minority
- have experience of higher education as a mature student
In our ongoing pursuit of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, we are guided by the Advance HE Board Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit. This helps us do everything we can to further enhance the diversity of our Board through a robust recruitment process, and ensure that all governors feel comfortable contributing their skills and views both in and outside of meetings.
We are actively building and maintaining a team with a variety of backgrounds, skills and views because we know that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.