Foster allyship to support marginalised groups in higher education

Discussions about race can be difficult for global majority colleagues like us in predominantly white departments. We are passionate about creating an inclusive space which recognises the benefits of diversity, but this is easier said than done. 

Our 50-strong department exists to advance our institution’s widening participation and social mobility agenda. We have a track record of success, but our staffing profile is not representative of our student body, particularly from a racial perspective. We felt this could hinder the effectiveness of our work, particularly when trying to close race-related awarding gaps, and negatively affect the experience of colleagues, particularly those from racialised backgrounds. We wanted to do something about it on a departmental level.

We established a departmental EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion) working group in 2023. It explores ways to uplift and support global majority colleagues and improve knowledge and comfort around discussing race. The group was initiated by senior departmental management but has been led by and is representative of colleagues of all levels, which is pivotal to its success. Honesty and open conversations around different experiences have become central to our approach

As an evidence-based department, we started by creating a theory of change. This enabled us to break down the objective of the working group into three pillars:

• Interpersonal empowerment
• Systemic empowerment
• Individual empowerment. 

This translates to consideration of our staff, our systems and our behaviours. Our theory of change was crucial in giving the work direction and establishing the steps we needed to take to achieve sustainable change. So far, we have primarily focused on staff behaviours by creating safe spaces to allow colleagues to get comfortable talking about race. In these spaces, mistakes are addressed in an educational rather than critical manner. 

We are already seeing positive impacts; we have had increased engagement in EDI initiatives and seen colleagues taking personal responsibility for improving their knowledge, resulting in more open and honest conversations about race across the department. Colleagues have also had cross-departmental conversations that have sparked ideas around the topic, and there is an increased sense of confidence and safety when asking clarifying questions. Next academic year, we will undertake a quantitative evaluation to establish the extent of the behaviour change. 

• What next for EDI? Protecting equality of opportunity in HE
• For EDI efforts to be sustainable, universities must evolve their language and practice
• Tackling bias and microaggressions in higher education

Creating a culture for sustainable, meaningful change

To help build a culture of allyship in your department, you could:

1. Establish a local EDI committee: ensure all levels of seniority in your department are represented within it. This approach worked well for us, with frequent meetings generating manageable actions. It enabled us to maintain momentum on conversations about race.
2. Take opportunities to engage the whole department: use meetings that may already take place or create a physical space where this can happen. This can help establish EDI as a core component of your department’s values.
3. Require EDI development goals: give all colleagues a professional development goal linked to EDI. For example, this could be “Explore material to expand my awareness of race in the higher education context and share with others in the department”.
4. Evaluate: frequently provide opportunities for anonymous feedback and create a theory of change.
5. Invest in learning resources: purchase books, subscribe to journals and encourage staff to share their experiences of engaging with these resources through online spaces, such as a Microsoft Teams site.
6. Ensure you are aligned with your central EDI and corporate strategy: it is important to understand this and take action you know will work for your department. 

Considerations to take as you deliver departmental change

1. Collect feedback to gain an awareness of the baseline levels of understanding in your department. Once you know this, you can offer resources to bridge the gap. These could be web links to explore and definitions, for example. Clearly communicate the level that workshops and conversations will be tailored to encourage those at the right level to attend.
2. Consider your own representation in the room and the impact conversations could have on global majority colleagues. You can do this by providing clear communications about the session in advance, ensuring you create a safe space and offering well-being support to colleagues.
3. Be comfortable with silence. Engagement takes time. Spaces to share are powerful, but it can be difficult to get the desired engagement from a variety of voices across the department. Slower engagement doesn’t mean your approach is not effective; this isn’t about quick wins. 

Our EDI working group has grown since its inception, developing into a vibrant, collaborative environment for colleagues from all roles and backgrounds. The changes it has brought about have shown us that it is possible to enact department-wide changes and create a culture of allyship in which all colleagues feel supported. 

Reuel Blair is the EDI project implementation lead at Birmingham City University; Tizzy Gill is the operations and stakeholder engagement coordinator at Nottingham Trent University.