Prioritising equity in higher education: the impact of individual identities

To explore the impact of individual identities on university staff experiences during the pandemic and to see how we might use the experiences to create more equitable working environments, we surveyed 118 colleagues at Edinburgh Napier University. The result was our recent article “‘I have struggled’: how individual identities impacted staff working experiences in higher education during COVID-19”.

This qualitative case study relied on open and closed questions that enabled participants to talk about their experiences at the university during Covid-19, specifically in relation to their protected characteristics, such as race, gender and age.

Four broad categories emerged, with both positive and negative experiences, offering key lessons we can use to create better working practices for the future:

• Community
• Well-being
• Self-efficacy
• Support.

Community

The disruption caused by the pandemic resulted in staff feeling isolated, despite efforts made to enhance the student experience. Staff were affected by the loss of community regardless of their personal identities and missed informal face-to-face interactions the most, according to our study’s findings. Interestingly, our findings differed from other studies and showed that online groups and networks can help people feel more connected when they’re teaching remotely. However, we found that these online networks tend to exist beyond any single institution, and that the staff who use them most effectively have been building connections with others online for many years.

Well-being

Staff members experienced both positive and negative effects on their physical and mental health, our survey showed. Examples were less stress from a reduced commute and more stress from increased caring responsibilities. Individual life contexts played a significant role in the impact of Covid-19 on staff well-being, and experiences were not equal, our study highlighted. The pandemic blurred work and home boundaries, causing longer working hours for many staff members.

Our data suggest that one-size-fits-all approaches to supporting staff well-being are unlikely to be effective, as staff have diverse needs and preferences. Given the resources that institutions are now committing to well-being support and training, this is an important lesson when considering the effectiveness of programmes including work with individual staff members, one-on-one coaching or the creation of mentoring networks to provide regular check-ins with staff to monitor their well-being and signpost support.

Self-efficacy

If autonomy is the feeling of being in control of one’s own life and destiny, then self-efficacy is the belief in one’s ability to achieve professional or personal goals or tasks. The pandemic’s rapid shift to digital delivery led to a surge in workload for most staff as they adapted to online teaching. Participants’ capacity to cope with these demands and whether self-efficacy improved or declined largely depended on their personal resources, the support they received, and the other personal obstacles that accompanied the rise in workload.

Support

There was a very unequal distribution of support among staff, depending on their personal identities, resources and challenges. Positive experiences revolved around increased empathy between colleagues in relation to personal identities and experiences. For example, participants reported reduced feelings of inequality and heightened awareness of gender identities while working from home.

Negative experiences centred around a lack of consistency, or fair treatment, especially with regards to line managers or supervisors. The pandemic’s impact on working patterns exposed how the support available to staff depended on the attitudes of their supervisory team and how they viewed an individual’s personal circumstances. The need to create more transparent and centrally communicated processes, especially with regards to effective and fair management practices, was highlighted by our study.

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Recommendations to improve equity

We would like to offer four robust recommendations to universities to spur discussion and action towards a more equitable work environment:

1. Avoid generic programmes of support that attempt to cater for all, but which end up being suitable for none. One of the best ways to implement this is to gather feedback directly from staff members, and then use this to design targeted support programmes that address the specific needs of different groups.

2. Convert individual empathies into effective policies. One example of how institutions can do this is by establishing a equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) task force or committee that includes representatives from different departments, faculties and groups within the institution. This task force can work to identify areas of the institution where improvements are needed in terms of EDI policies and practices and develop recommendations for addressing these issues.

3. Prioritise staff well-being with flexibility and autonomy. Institutions can do this by offering flexible work arrangements, such as remote work, flexible scheduling, and job-sharing. This empowers staff members to balance work and personal responsibilities, reducing stress and increasing job satisfaction.

4. Learn from external networks to better develop a sense of community. This can be done by partnering with external networks, such as educational institutions, professional associations or interest groups. By sharing resources and knowledge, institutions can foster innovation, build connections and develop a stronger sense of community.

It’s time to acknowledge the profound impact the personal struggles and challenges faced by staff in higher education during the pandemic have had on the sector. We must seize this moment to create a more equitable and inclusive work environment for everyone, regardless of their personal circumstances.

Sam Illingworth is associate professor in the department of learning and teaching enhancement at Edinburgh Napier University; Jamie Zike is a public health intelligence analyst at NHS Lothian. They were previously a research fellow at Edinburgh Napier University, when they undertook this study.

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