Religion and belief in higher education: the experiences of staff and students
11 July 2011
The final report of the 'Religion and Belief in Higher Education: The Experiences of Staff and Students' is now available. The final report was launched at an event in London July 11 2011.
The report was written by Professor Paul Weller of the Society, Religion and Belief Research Group, University of Derby, and Dr Tristram Hooley and Nicki Moore of iCeGS, University of Derby.
The report focuses on four themes:
Participation and access:
- Data collection and consultation
- Teaching and learning
- Dietary matters
- Alcohol
Religious observance
- Prayer, worship, meditation and celebration
- religious dress and symbols
Discrimination and harassment
- Level of discrimination and harassment
- Types of discrimination and harassment
- Institutional responses
Good relations
- Interaction between members of religion or belief groups
- Tensions between different protected characteristics
- Freedom of speech.
Key findings for the higher education sector as a whole are:
- There is only patchy collection of religion and belief monitoring data across the HE sector. However the overwhelming majority of respondents would be prepared to disclose this information.
- Having a religion or belief has an impact on the staff and student experience of higher education. This impact was felt around course content, dietary requirements and the place of alcohol.
- Most participants felt able to observe their religion or belief whilst studying or working in higher education. However a number of issues were raised around timetabling, institutional endorsement of religion or belief, access to space for worship and religious dress.
- The overwhelming majority of staff and students indicated that they had not been discriminated against or harassed on the grounds of religion or belief. However, in the minority of cases where discrimination or harassment was present it could have a major impact.
- Many institutions actively worked to promote good relations between different religion or belief groups. Chaplaincies played a particularly important role in this process.
- There can be challenges in balancing freedom of speech and expression with the drive for good relations. Most respondents felt that their institutions managed this appropriately and that freedom of speech was respected.
Further supporting material is available from the project website.
