Race Equality Charter

The Race Equality Charter (REC) is an important national charter mark aimed at improving the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students in higher education in the United Kingdom.

The REC framework enables universities to identify and critically reflect on the institutional barriers faced by minority ethnic staff and students. The charter acts as an avenue for the University to raise the profile of race equality and maintain dialogue about what race equality looks like in practice at St Andrews.

By better understanding and addressing the experience of minority ethnic staff and students at St Andrews, we will be able to make meaningful and lasting interventions in areas such as staff recruitment, representation, pay gaps and progression; student admissions, representation and attainment; discrimination, bullying and harassment; and curriculum reform.

The Race Equality Charter scheme is run by Advance HE.

The Race Equality Charter Monitoring and Action Implementation Team (REC MAIT) is responsible for implementing and monitoring the Race Equality Charter action plan and assessing the impact of actions.

REC MAIT is chaired by Dr Akira O’Connor.

REC MAIT is a monitoring and delivery group which reports, through the chair, into the University Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee.

The group will produce interim reports during the award period which reviews progress against the previous year and sets out plan for the next year of delivery.

REC MAIT will proactively promote the Race Equality Charter work to achieve greater awareness of race equality activity across the University and support sharing of good practice.

Our Bronze action plan is focused on six priority areas identified in our application:

• Strengthen race equality leadership by building robust governance structures for race equality work at St Andrews and facilitate black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) people stepping into senior leadership positions.
• Enhance inclusion and support by strengthening positive culture in the University and local community.
• Challenge inappropriate behaviours by acknowledging that BAME people face racism and bias throughout society, and strengthen and build confidence in tools which challenge societal inequity.
• Reform staff recruitment and career development by adopting positive action in our internal processes and better understanding and valuing the work BAME staff undertake to improve their career progression prospects.
• Extend support for students to ensure that BAME students are not disadvantaged in their access to, or attainment at, St Andrews.
• Proliferate anti-racist pedagogy by embedding inclusive and antiracist teaching practices across the institution as a core component of our teaching at St Andrews.

The Race Equality Charter survey for students and staff was conducted in 2023 to help us to understand experiences of studying and working at the University of St Andrews. We used the responses to inform the University's application for a Race Equality Charter Bronze Award (awarded in 2024), and to guide institutional action on race equality.

The survey highlighted both progress and persistent challenges in race equality at St Andrews. A report has been compiled which gives a comprehensive analysis of the survey responses, going beyond the focused aspects included in the Race Equality Charter Bronze Award application.

The report, together with the accompanying anonymised aggregated data, are provided to give visibility to race equality activity across the University and support wider use of the findings.

• Race Equality Charter survey report (PDF)
• Race Equality Charter aggregated data (Excel)

There are a number of things you can do to support the St Andrews Race Equality Charter work:

• Support the Race Equality Charter action plan – Read the plan, raise awareness and consider how you, your School, professional services unit, society or network can help support delivery of these actions.

• Engage with the Diversity Calendar – Explore the Learn and Do section of the Diversity Calendar, contribute a reflection piece or share details on relevant projects, events, or initiatives.

• Promote EDI events – If you're organising an event or activity related to race equality, email edicomms@st-andrews.ac.uk to support visibility and opportunities for our community to come together.

To give feedback on the application or proposed action, or if you have suggestions for race equality activities, please contact recchair@st-andrews.ac.uk.

You can download the University’s Bronze application and current action plan, which outline our priorities and approach to advancing race equality at St Andrews.

• Race Equality Charter Bronze application (PDF)
• Race Equality Charter action plan 2024–2029 (PDF)