Building an Inclusive University: Strategy and Sustainable Cultural Change

Prof Alex Hughes (She/Her)

Prof Dibyesh Anand (He/Him)
UK Higher Education and EDI

• Laws, Processes, Practices, Cultures

• Policy landscape
• Political landscape
• SDGs and tackling inequities
• A sector-wide approach
UoW, EDI and SDGs
Designing an Inclusive EDI Strategy: Policies,
processes and cultures
see https://www.westminster.ac.uk/about-us/our-university/equality-diversity-and-inclusion
Values and
Strategic Aims
• Champion and Ensure
Equality – Being
Responsible
• Cherish, Celebrate, and
enhance Diversity –
Being Progressive
• Nurture and Promote
Inclusion – Being
Compassionate
Enablers and
Indicators of
Success
• Partnership model
• Annual Action Plan
• Role of EDI committee, senior
and middle managers, PDRs,
School Leads, Graduate School,
PS Departments, UWSU, student
bodies, everyone
 EDI Action Plan

School and department checklists

Next Steps QHT support

Challenging Prejudices, Celebrating Diversity

Focus on translating rhetoric into practice

Value of incrementalism as well as disruption in
strategy making and implementation
 • High level commitment and action
• Value of cultural change
THANK YOU! • Intersectional approach to EDI and SDGs
• Goal of transforming lived experience
• The challenge is how to make change toward
inclusive university continuous & sustainable?
• Mutual learning and sharing
• Risk taking and initiatives
• Leaderships
• Team!!!