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.
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)
It would be really useful if the link to the survey was included also, as a QR code means i can’t now complete this on a computer
Thank-you for the feedback LJ. The link to the survey can be found above the image of the QR code – https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/cardiff/disability-inclusion-in-higher-education
Personally, I have aspergers. I particuarly hate telephones. The voice is not entirely human and there’s no face. Very uncomfortable technology. Not having a mobile, means I cannot use a QR-code and that your survey is not accessible to me.
Thank-you for the feedback Tony. The link to the survey can be found above the image of the QR code – https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/cardiff/disability-inclusion-in-higher-education