Equality, diversity and inclusion
The University and the School are committed to supporting equality and diversity in all aspects of their activity. Everyone has the right to study and work in a supportive and tolerant environment free from discrimination and harassment, regardless of race, religion, disability, ethnicity, or sexual identity or orientation.
All staff operate under the University’s equality, diversity and inclusion policy.
Faith commitment is too often the forgotten aspect of equality and diversity, despite being accorded the same status as gender and disability in every significant statement of human rights. The School has a historic identity as a Christian School of Divinity. Nonetheless, its teaching and community seek to support and encourage persons of all faiths and none on an equal basis. The School encourages faith literacy in all of its activities and advises the University and external organisations on faith literacy issues.
The School offers accessible teaching space in its historic buildings, and, together with the University, aims to support students with disabilities.
The School strives to enable talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds and developing countries to attend through scholarships and hardship funds.
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Would you like to conduct some research, create a resource, or hold an event, for example, that delves into some aspect of equality, diversity and inclusion? You can apply for up to £300 of EDI accessibility funding, and applications from all Divinity students and staff are welcome. Accessibility Fund Further Information
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The attention of the School of Divinity has been drawn to a gap in eligibility for registered childcare support under the Scottish Government schemes. Funded early learning and childcare is normally available in Scotland for children aged 3 or 4 years. There is a national childcare fund to which students funded by the SAAS are eligible to apply. A gap exists for postgraduate research students who are not SAAS-funded and whose children are under the age of 3 years.
The School of Divinity seeks applications for grants towards registered childcare for children less than 3 years of age of postgraduate research students in Divinity. Grants of up to £660 per semester per child were available, subject to demand, on this scheme for semesters 1 and 2 of 2023-2024. Applications for semester 2 of 2023-2024 have since closed. If this scheme continues in 2024-2025 closing dates for applications will be advertised here.
Eligibility:
- You are on a postgraduate research programme in Divinity (PhD, MPhil or MSt(Res)). (See below for a note about the eligibility of new students.)
- You have (or will engage) registered childcare for a child under 3 years of age.
- You are not eligible for other funding for childcare (e.g., from the SAAS scheme).
- You are not in receipt of a grant from the University’s Discretionary Fund.
How to apply:
- You should write a personal statement explaining your eligibility and reason for applying. You should indicate the registered childcare provider you use (or intend to use). This should be sent to the School of Divinity’s EDI Officer (divedi@st-andrews.ac.uk) to be considered confidentially by the Head of School, Divinity’s EDI Officer and a member of staff of the School’s EDI Committee.
- Deadline for applications will be advertised here should the scheme continue to be available in 2024-2025.
Conditions:
- A grant is made specifically for the costs of registered childcare provision. Grants will be paid in two instalments in a semester (normally shortly before the start of semester and then in Week 6). Evidence of engagement / payment to a registered childcarer will be required.
- Students who will commence a postgraduate research programme in Divinity in semester 1 (for which the university’s official start date is 27 September 2024) are eligible to apply in advance of matriculation. Any award is subject to matriculation and may be proportionate; calculated in relation to the student’s start date. (In other words, the grant would cover the period from, for example, 27 September 2024 until 19 December 2024; which is the start of the Christmas vacation.)
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Together with the School of Divinity's Equality and Diversity Committee, the Athena SWAN team advances equality and diversity within the School. The team is led by the Equality and Diversity Officer, and includes representatives of different roles and of different career and work-life balance experiences.
The School was granted its Athena SWAN Bronze Award in October 2020.
Athena SWAN started with the Athena Project and the Scientific Women’s Academic Network (SWAN) advancing the representation of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine in higher education. It has been expanded to include arts, humanities, social Sciences, business and law. Athena SWAN covers professional and support staff and also transsexual staff and students. Levels of the award are Bronze, Silver and Gold.
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During March 2023 we held a series of events by which we explored a variety of aspects of equality, diversity and inclusion. Friday 17 March 2023 was a key day in the festival when we were delighted to host Prof. Louise Lawrence (University of Exeter). Prof. Lawrence had recently published Refiguring Universities in an Age of Neoliberalism: Creating Compassionate Campuses (Palgrave Macmillan 2021). Each of the events lasted no longer than 45-50 mins. This was so that you could more easily fit those into your schedule of studies and other commitments. These events were open to anyone in the University.
Wednesday 15 March 2023
- Reflecting on Our Journeys: A Conversation About Our Academic Paths. A Logia event.
Friday 17 March 2023
- Ethnicity/Race and Well-being in the Academy. A conversation between Louise Lawrence and Amos Chewachong.
- The Bible, Disability and Well-being. A presentation by Louise Lawrence and a panel discussion.
- Diversity and Healthcare Rationing. A presentation by Aaron Davis (one of our PhD students) with a response by Louise Lawrence.
Tuesday 21 March 2023
- Teaching and learning from a (transparent) standpoint. A panel of staff and students.
Wednesday 22 March 2023
- Class, Accent and other Regional Biases. A student-led panel.
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A significant report published by Durham University in 2014 identifies gender balance as a key challenge for equality and diversity in theology and religious studies across the UK. The report diagnoses the transition from undergraduate to research postgraduate study as a crucial turning point. The School of Divinity has therefore developed a series of interventions to encourage female students to imagine an academic career within the discipline, as well as to promote the research of successful female academics. Some of these activities are sponsored by Logia, a School-wide women's initiative originally developed by the Logos Institute for Analytic and Exegetical Theology. They include:
- a bespoke School-wide mentoring scheme for undergraduate women
- a regular series of ‘fireside chats’ and workshops with female academics for all students
- the semi-annual Smith Lectures
- University-wide initiatives such as mentoring schemes for early-career and advanced academics.
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This information is here as an archive of the week's events in 2023. The week was sponsored by Interfaith St Andrews, the Archdioceses of Edinburgh and St Andrews, and the School of Divinity.
Saturday 11 November 2023, 1 – 4:30 pm
Mela: An event involving Indian entertainment, sweets, and artifactsSunday 12 November 2023, 10 pm – 2 am
Bindi: Bollywood night in St Andrews on Diwali filled with
Music, Dhols, Sparklers, South Asian food, 360 Photo BoothMonday 13 November 2023, 6 pm
Old Psychology Library
What is “Interfaith?” An Introductory LectureTuesday 14 November 2023, 6 pm
Interfaith in the Academy, moderated by Dr. Eric Stoddart
An Academic Panel Discussion on Interfaith Dialogue - Prof. Mario Aguilar, Rev. Katrin Bosse, Dr Liam Sutherland, and Very Reverend Jeremy Canon Bath.Thursday 16 November 2023, 6 pm
Peace, Unity and Dialoguing Together: An Interfaith Conversation Between the Representatives of our Different FaithsFriday 17 November 2023, 6 pm
Inaugural Interfaith Lecture: Recognise the Human Race as One
Given by Mr. Jas Singh -
We are holding a further series of meetings of our LGBTQIA+affirming reading group in 2023-2024.
Resuming in week 1 of semester 2, we continue reading: Queer Christianities : Lived Religion in Transgressive Forms [Electronic book] / Kathleen T. Talvacchia, Mark Larrimore, Michael F. Pettinger.
The reading group meets weekly on Wednesdays, 4-5pm in A302 (Dr Stoddart's office at St Mary's) Enquiries are welcome. For further information, please email divedi@st-andrews.ac.uk.
Previously, we read together Miguel H. Díaz's Queer God de Amor: Disruptive Cartographers: Doing Theology Latinamente (Fordham University Press, 2022). This work, in English, is available as an ebook via the university library. That series followed our successful pilot in the autumn of 2022 when we read together Jarel Robinson-Brown’s, Black, Gay, British, Christian, Queer: The Church and the Famine of Grace (London: SCM, 2021). This is also available as an ebook via the university library.
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Logia is an organisation in the School of Divinity that aims to highlight and to develop women’s excellence. Logia seeks to support women who are considering pursuing postgraduate Divinity education or who are already students or staff at this level.
Logia in St Andrews is led by PhD candidates Melissa J. Barciela Mandala and Tessa Hayshida.
Logia strives to achieves its aims:
- by inviting staff to share their experiences and offer advice to budding scholars (Logia Connect and Fireside Chat series; see our Events page).
- by addressing gender-specific barriers to women’s advancement through interactive workshops (“In This Together Workshop”).
- by creating contexts for women to meet for mutual support both personally and academically (Logia Excel)
- by facilitating mentorships between women MLitt/undergraduate and Ph.D. students (St Mary’s Mentoring Scheme)
- by providing a platform of visibility for women’s stories via ongoing Blog posts.
- by promoting the scholarship of women through our Logia Scholar Database.
- by establishing collaborations with other institutions that share Logia’s vision (“Logia Global Partners“)
- by providing avenues for women students to present research or run personalized workshops (Logia Annual Workshop).
For more information, see the Logia webpage.
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The Mediation Service is available to students, staff and members of the public, experiencing disagreement or conflict, who would prefer a less formal method of discussing University-related disagreements and grievances. The service is also available for groups or teams.
The Mediators are staff members from The University of St Andrews who have undertaken formal mediation training accredited by Scottish Mediation. Several Post Graduate students have also qualified in Mediation. Mediators act impartially and separately from University Schools and Services. They are solely interested in helping those engaged in the service reach a mutually acceptable solution.
Mediation is a confidential, informal, voluntary, self-determined and without prejudice process. If you or someone you know is involved in a disagreement that is in its early stages or has reached an impasse, please contact mediation@st-andrews.ac.uk for an informal chat about how the mediators can help.
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The university has chosen themes for each month to represent the diversity of our community. Here you will find some suggested further readings relevant to studying religion in general and Divinity in particular.
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Each semester, an outstanding female scholar from any sub-discipline of Divinity is invited to St Andrews to deliver the Smith Lecture and to meet informally with female students who might be interested in pursuing an academic career in the discipline.
Our next Smith Lecturer (spring 2024) - to be announced shortly.
More information on the origins of the Smith Lectures and previous contributors (including some audio recordings).
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The following documents outline University advice and training opportunities relevant to equality and diversity.
Online training modules:
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Help us develop our equality, diversity and inclusion agenda by leaving anonymous suggestions on this padlet.
Note: this is not the place to report incidents and please avoid identifying individuals - anyone in the university can view this padlet and what you post.
Report and Support for incidents.
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The School and the University try to promote and safeguard a healthy work-life balance for their staff and students.
The following documents provide information about the relevant practices and policies of both the School of Divinity and the University as a whole:
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We have been inviting student feedback on how we might develop our EDI agenda. On our you said: we did webpage, you will find details of what you (students) said and what we (the School's EDI Committee) have done in response.