We are inviting members of staff who work in higher education and self-identify as being disabled, neurodivergent and/or living with a long-term health condition and/or chronic illness to take part in a National Disability Staff Survey of your experiences of working in higher education. This survey is relevant to all those with disabilities working in academic, research, technical support, and professional services roles within higher education institutions in the UK, including postgraduate students working in the sector.

Our aim is to ensure all voices are represented, and we appreciate your support in circulating this information to colleagues and relevant higher education networks.  

The data collected from this survey will support the development of RIDE HIGHER* (Realising the Inclusion of Disabled Employees in Higher Education) a new framework to share best practice across the sector and drive our journey towards greater equity for disabled colleagues.

*RIDE HIGHER is a core initiative of NADSN (the National Association of Disabled Staff Networks). The aim of NADSN’s RIDE HIGHER is to ensure that disabled staff in higher education are seen, valued and can thrive. Further information on RIDEHIGHER can be found on YouTube. If you would like to find out more about RIDEHIGHER and join our mailing list, please contact Melanie Best at melanie.best@wlv.ac.uk.

Participation in this survey is voluntary and anonymous, and there will be no referencing of individual universities in the reporting of the results of this survey.

Ethical consent has been approved by Cardiff University to enable us to undertake this work with you. We have followed the University’s Policy on the Ethical Conduct of Research involving Human Participants, Human Material or Human Data (University of Wolverhampton).

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Professor Carol Evans, RIDEHIGHER’s strategic research lead for this initiative: evansc101@cardiff.ac.uk

Access to the survey can be obtained via the following link where further participant and consent information is available. The pilot survey will open on 27 November and close on 31 January 2025.

Complete the Survey

QR Code for https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/cardiff/disability-inclusion-in-higher-education

Dr Melanie Best (pronouns she/her)

University of Wolverhampton

Senior Lecturer Sport

HR EDI Disability Advisor

Co-chair Disabled Staff Network

Chair of RIDE HIGHER (NADSN)

Accessibility Toolbar