Equity in higher education

Find out how to ensure that all students and staff within higher education have an equal opportunity to succeed, regardless of individual challenges or varied educational backgrounds. Equity is about ensuring university support and policies enable everyone to flourish, taking into account the wide range of differing needs across a campus community, as these resources explain.

By kiera.obrien, 24 October, 2025

How to widen participation? Make it personal

A mentor helps a student over a laptop
Despite admissions numbers soaring, students from low-income backgrounds are still missing out on the best graduate jobs. Here’s how personalised one-to-one coaching can dismantle the invisible barriers to career success
Reading time
3minutes
By Eliza.Compton, 18 October, 2025

Compassion cuts through polarisation

Group meditation session
Compassion, not empathy, is the emotion that will cut through group polarisation and motivate constructive intergroup dialogue in higher education. Training in mindfulness-based compassion meditation can be scaled at a relatively low barrier to entry
Reading time
4minutes
By kiera.obrien, 15 September, 2025

What I learned about South Asian women when we built a space for them

Two female students study together
Instead of building broad-spectrum equity programmes and hoping for the best, what about a more tailored approach? Sobia Razzaq explains how a careers programme tailored to final-year students from South Asian backgrounds helped them find confidence and community
Reading time
5minutes
By Eliza.Compton, 12 September, 2025

Navigating conflicting DEI needs for the benefit of all

Symbol for gender-neutral toilet
Equity, diversity and inclusion work is complicated when one group’s rights to dignity and privacy challenge another’s sense of comfort and security. Here, Cynthia Williams offers strategies to address these tensions
Equity in higher education