University of Leicester Institute for Inclusivity in Higher Education

The University of Leicester Institute for Inclusivity in Higher Education (ULIIHE) was established to be a lead centre for research informed best-inclusion practice and for measurable change at the University of Leicester, across the sector in the UK and globally.

It was established in recognition and response to the reality that social, structural and systemic inequalities manifest within the higher education sector and impact unevenly on all of our stakeholders across all 9 protected characteristics.

The institute was also founded in response to the race awarding gap at the University of Leicester. The awarding gap represents one of the sector’s and our university’s most pressing and urgent education related issue. Nationally in 2020, the aggregate White student award-outcomes were 10% higher than the aggregate non-White student population and significantly wider for domicile Black African, Black Caribbean and South Asian Pakistani heritage students (Advance HE 2021).

This situation maintains even when students of colour possess the same prior qualifications as White students in UK HEIs (Mahmud and Gagnon, 2020). At the University of Leicester, the aggregate difference in award outcomes were similarly 10% in 2020. 

Inequalities exist between other historically excluded groups (such as, mature learners, women and so on), but by focusing on the Black awarding gap the intersectional nature of these student groups means that some other prominent issues will also be addressed. 

To achieve this, ULIIHE adopts a multi-level approach that is focused at the course, college and university level. 

For more information email uliihe@le.ac.uk.