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Evaluating the impact of Disability Equality Schemes in England

20 Jan 2011

Invitation to disabled staff to take part in a discussion on 8 February

The University of Manchester is participating in a research project commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) looking at disability equality in higher education. The aim of the project is to help HEIs to implement disability equality holistically, to encourage and enable disabled staff to be recruited and to progress in their careers. As part of the project, researchers at the Learning and Skills Network (LSN) would like to facilitate a focus group with disabled staff to find out about your experiences in higher education.

If you consider yourself to be disabled (i.e. you have a long term impairment that has a significant impact on your life) we would like to invite you to take part in a group discussion which is to be held on Tuesday 8 February. The focus group will last for approximately 60 - 90 minutes and refreshments will be provided.

Your participation will be completely anonymous; no one at this institution will know that you have attended the group as it will be organised by LSN researchers. Your comments will be anonymised and used in a way that does not identify you.

The discussion on the day will focus on:

  • Why you chose to work at The University of Manchester what you consider to be the barriers and enablers to working in higher education;
  • What you think could be improved;
  • Disclosure of disability status: the barriers to disclosure and any benefits of disclosure;
  • What you think works well.

Your comments will be used to inform a bespoke report for The University of Manchester as well as influencing guidance which will be drafted and disseminated across the whole higher education sector.

To participate in the focus group or to find out more, please contact:

If you would prefer to contribute to the research project via email or by individual interview, then please also get in touch with LSN and they will do their best to arrange that, depending on timings during the day. Also, if you have any access requirements then please let LSN know and they will ensure that the arrangements for the session are adapted to include all participants. 

We hope that you take this opportunity to give your opinions and views on what you think we do well, and what you think could be improved. The guidance that the research will inform is a real vehicle for change and it is important that a wide range of people are able to contribute.

 

Elaine Shillcock
Head of the DSO