About

As Head of Widening Participation at the University my key roles are to develop long-term strategic widening participation collaborations and partnerships within Derby City, Derbyshire and beyond; and to provide direction, support and leadership to a team of widening participation professionals.

The aim of my work is to support young people, especially vulnerable learners and those from groups under-represented in higher education, to realise their ambitions through engaging in progressive, sustained outreach programmes which fire their imaginations, builds their confidence and builds their academic skills. All outreach programmes are planned and evaluated using a framework of theories of change, logic models and mixed methods evaluation to ensure they are impactful and meaningful to those who participate.

I have over 20 years experience of widening access, widening participation and social justice work, building a robust portfolio of programmes which have been identified as sector leading and nationally recognised as best practice. 

I sit on a number of external groups and committees, including the Derby City Secondary Strategy Group, the South Derbyshire Skills and Employment Group, the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Collaborative Outreach Partnership Steering Group and the Higher Horizons Governance Group. I am also Vice-Chair of Governors at a local secondary school.

I am the University's corporate member for the East Midlands Widening Participation Research and Evaluation Partnership and NEON (the National Education Opportunities Network), I also sit on the University's Access and Participation Steering Group and Civic Community Committee and I am a member of the Student Experience Senior Management Team, working with colleagues to influence work across the whole student lifecycle. 

Teaching responsibilities

I, along with my team, deliver lessons and activities to young people from Year 5 to Year 13, covering a wide range of subjects focused on university life, academic skill building and confidence building.  

Professional interests

My professional interests include:

• Social justice and equality of opportunity
• Widening access/widening participation
• Education policy and its impact on practice
• Career mapping
• Co-creation and collaborative working with young people

Research interests

My research interests are:

• Progression of learners
• Careers mapping
• Impact of outreach programmes on vulnerable or under-represented young people
• Social justice
• Capital theory

Qualifications

• Master of Arts in Guidance Practice
• BA (Hons) in Sociology with Business Psychology

Recent conferences

2025 

NEON Supporting Widening Access and Success Through Effective Partnerships Conference, November 2025, Key address: The University of Derby and Chatsworth House Trust collaborative partnership  

NEON Summer Symposium, June 2025, Conference paper: Rise High: A collaborative careers and skills programme for young people in low progression areas in rural Derbyshire 

2024 

Forum for Access and Continuing Education (FACE) Annual Conference, June 2024, Conference paper: Rise High: A collaborative careers and skills programme for young people in low progression areas in rural Derbyshire 

NEON Widening Access and Equality of Opportunity Conference, April 2024, Key address: University of Derby: Access and Participation Wave 1 provider 

2022  

NEON Summer Symposium, June 2022, Conference paper: Progress to Success: A Framework for Working with Schools to Support Attainment, Achievement and Progression​ 

Forum for Access and Continuing Education (FACE) Annual Conference, June 2022, Conference paper: Progress to Success: A Framework for Working with Schools to Support Attainment, Achievement and Progression 

Institute for Government and Public Policy Widening Participation Conference, April 2022, Key address: Progress to Success: A Framework for Working with Schools to Support Attainment, Achievement and Progression 

2021

NERUPI Annual Convention, September 2021 Conference paper: Derby Scholars: A Collaborative Approach to Address Oxbridge Progression

NEON Summer Symposium, July 2021 Conference paper: Derby Scholars: A Collaborative Approach to Address Oxbridge Progression

Institute for Government and Public Policy Widening Participation Conference, May 2021, Key address: Improving Access and Student Success by Addressing Inequity and Creating Opportunity

In the media

2025 Awards

• UK and Ireland Green Gown Creating Impact Award Finalist for the Science in the City Programme 
• NEON Contribution to Widening Access Award Winner for Krisha Bainham 
• NEON Widening Access Partnership Award Winner for the University of Derby and Chatsworth House Trust collaborative partnership 

Recent publications

2026

Bainham, K. (forthcoming, 2026). Rise High: An investigation of a pilot careers and skills development programme for young people in rural and semi-rural areas in Derbyshire. 

2024

Robertson, N. & Bainham, K. (2024). Think, Reflect, Succeed: Analysis of the University of Derby’s approach to effective attainment-raising outreach with secondary-age learners in Raven, N. (ed.) Co-constructing Education For All. Peterborough: FACE: Forum for Access and Continuing Education, pp. 115-126. 

2019

Bainham, K. (2019) The impacts and benefits of employing a progressive and sustained approach to outreach programmes for universities: a case study – the progress to success framework in Broadhead, S., Butcher, J., Hill, M., McKendry, S., Raven, N., Renton, R., Sanderson, B., Ward, T. and Williams, S. W. (eds.). ‘Transformative Higher Education – Access, Inclusion & Lifelong Learning’. London: FACE: Forum for Access and Continuing Education, pp. 193-213.