Most institutions have issues to address such as widening participation of students from different groups; ensuring fair degree outcomes; addressing pay gaps; supporting pipelines of diverse teaching and research talent; or connecting with and serving their wider communities. Boards need to be equipped with the range of perspectives and skills to navigate and challenge on these issues.
As HE moves into its post-pandemic reality, ensuring your Board has diverse people and perspectives is even more critical to delivering a sustainable strategy with the trust and confidence of stakeholders."Victoria Holbrook
Assistant Director - Governance
Advance HE
Want to know more about Board Recruitment and Diversity?
The information pack for Board Recruitment and Diversity contains links to all the resources and content available on this page plus more.
Diversity of governors in higher education 2022
The second report into the diversity of HE governors in the UK published by Advance HE reveals insights from our analysis of HESA data looking at the diversity characteristics of governors in UK higher education.
Findings from the Advance HE analysis of this data revealed that:
- The proportion of women on governing bodies increased by just 0.2% to 42.4%, a slowing of the positive trend recorded over the past decade.
- 12.2% of governors were from racially minoritised ethnic groups, very similar to the proportion within UK HE academic staff (12.1%).
- Over half (54.0%) of governors were aged 56 or over, with this being the least diverse age group, though still contributing significantly to the diversity of the governor population as a whole.
The report puts a spotlight on the current diversity of boards, and provides the data to bring to light areas of underrepresentation. This is an important milestone for the sector to understand the data behind board diversity, in order to put in place measures and develop a culture to increase board diversity.
Services for Governing Bodies
We can provide tailored services to universities, private providers or further education colleges offering HE to ensure that Governors and governance professionals have the resources they need to promote good governance in their institutions.
Board Diversity Toolkit
Board Diversity Toolkit launched in November 2021 as an output of the Board Diversity Practice Project, run by the University of Gloucestershire, in collaboration with the international executive search firm Perrett Laver as part of Advance HE's 2020-21 Collaborative Development Fund.
The Toolkit is designed to help member institutions to improve the diversity and inclusivity of their governing bodies, whether as a Secretary, Chair of Governors, Governance and Nominations Committee member, or anyone interested in tackling under-representation and aiming for inclusion at the Board level in the higher education sector.
Advance HE members can access the Toolkit and accompanying resources here.
Board Recruitment and Diversity reports, publications and resources
The following resources have been designed to support the Higher Education Institution's (HEI) understand and development of board recruitment and diversity.
Board Diversity Framework
Following the publication of the Leadership Foundation report ‘Increasing the diversity of senior leaders in higher education: the role of executive search firms’ authored by Professor Simonetta Manfredi in March 2017, we have published a diversity principles framework to support greater diversity in board appointments.
Board Recruitment Framework
In line with the diversity principles framework, Advance HE has launched a board recruitment framework as part of the project. This includes guidelines for preparing job descriptions, person specifications and advert texts for board roles which are inclusive.
Reflecting on the 'Diversity of governors in higher education' report
Simonetta Manfredi, Professor in Equality and Diversity Management and Director of the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice, Oxford Brookes University, reflects on the findings of the 'Diversity of governors in higher education report'.
More resources, reports and publications
You will find links to more resources, reports and publications in our information pack on board recruitment and diversity in higher education.
Board Vacancies Portal
In order for the higher education sector to attract more diverse candidates to sit on governing boards there needs to be an increase in the accessibility and transparency of vacancies. Advance HE and Committee of University Chairs (CUC), in collaboration with Association of Heads of University Administration and the 30% club, are pleased to announce the launch of a central repository for board vacancies in higher education via CUC’s website. The portal will provide aspiring board members with a central online repository of board level vacancies in the higher education sector.
30% Club
The 30% Club supports diversity in its very broadest sense. The club believes that only those organisations that foster truly inclusive cultures - cultures that embrace women who look, act and, importantly, THINK differently - can reach their full potential to positively impact their people, their markets and their communities.
Advance HE supports the 30% Club’s HE Working Group on gender diversity. University membership of the 30% Club is free and should be registered by the Vice Chancellor or equivalent.
Board Apprentice
Board Apprentice seeks to place appropriate individuals as board apprentices on boards for 1 year to gain first hand experience, through observation, of the workings and dynamics on boards. They have been used successfully by a range of institutions to diversify the skills and characteristics of the governing body.
