Towards race equality
Race Equality Charter survey findings
Explore the findings from the York St John University 2024 Race Equality Charter Survey.
At York St John University, we want to ensure true equality of experience for all our Black, Asian and minority ethnic students and staff.
We hold a Race Equality Charter (REC) bronze award for our work to address the challenges facing the global majority. The REC survey forms part of our requirements as REC Bronze Award holders. Read more about all the actions we are taking on our Towards race equality page.
The REC survey was completed in November and December 2024 by 31% of staff and 8% of students.
AdvanceHE redesigned the REC survey in 2023 resulting in a different format from our initial survey in 2022. To enable reasonable comparison, questions from the 2024 survey were aggregated by theme to allow us to benchmark against past results.
Since our first REC survey in 2022, overall satisfaction across all three themes has increased for both staff and students, by 38.8 percentage points and 32.5 percentage points respectively.
Students
There was modest improvement in the response rate, which increased from 7% in 2022 to 8% in 2024.
Four questions in the student survey remain the same as in 2022. This allows some comparison below:
| Question | Satisfaction 2024 | Satisfaction 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| In the last 12 months, have you experienced or witnessed a situation at York St John University where you have felt uncomfortable because of race or ethnicity? | 89.9% | 85% |
| The ethnic/racial diversity of York St John University impacts on my sense of belonging and desire to stay | 83.4% | 29% |
| How comfortable are you approaching tutors with questions or queries about the course? | 94.9% | 89% |
| Considering your current progress in the course, your future academic aspirations (including potential postgraduate study and a potential career in academia), and your understanding of graduate employment opportunities, how confident are you in your academic future? | 94.1% | 60% |
| Average | 90.5% | 65.8% |
Overall this demonstrates a significant improvement. However, it is concerning that there is a small rise and a high score for question 11, regarding negative experiences at York St John. These are not fully reflected in student complaints or reports to our Report and Support platform but may relate to behaviours which did not result in formal reports.
- Students feel respected by lecturers, supervisors, other staff and other students
- Most students feel connected to YSJ staff
- Most students haven't experienced or witnessed race-related incidents
- Most students feel they are being treated equally
- Students feel comfortable approaching their tutors
Questions relating to Speaking Up and Communicating, and Culture Climate in a racial context, received satisfaction scores require further actions:
- Promote student code of conduct, Student Charter and York St John values.
- Increase awareness of the code of conduct.
- Promote Report and Support more widely.
- Increase visibility of leadership, including Executive Board, Senior Leadership Team, and programme leads.
- Ensure inclusive teaching practices expressed in the York St John pedagogy and Inclusive Education Framework are fully implemented.
- Enhance communication about race equality work.
- Organise more culturally diverse events through Students' Union and Events team.
- Promote available services more, such as the Student Hub.
- These recommendations aim to enhance race equality, improve communication, and foster a more inclusive environment at York St John.
Staff
There was a decline in response rate: 31% of staff responded compared to 44.7% in 2022.
Questions are mapped to the 2022 survey through 5 benchmark groups.
| Benchmark | Satisfaction 2022 | Satisfaction 2024 | Benchmarking difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benchmark 1 | 55.6% | 86.8% | 31.3 |
| Benchmark 2 | 85.3% | 72.9% | -12.4 |
| Benchmark 3 | 84.8% | 86.2% | 1.4 |
| Benchmark 4 | 75.7% | 89.1% | 13.4 |
| Benchmark 5 | 75.4% | 80.5% | 5.1 |
| Total | 38.8 |
Total improvement is substantial at 38.8 percentage points.
The largest rise reflects questions related to staff feeling connected, respected, being treated equally, and the impact of ethnic or racial diversity on a sense of belonging and desire to stay. This is an area to celebrate.
Although the 2022 and 2024 questions differed, we have inferred a decline in satisfaction in response to the question ‘In the last 12 months, have you experienced or witnessed a situation at York St John where you have felt uncomfortable because of race or ethnicity'. This is a cause for concern.
- Most staff feel respected by other staff, managers, and students
- Most colleagues haven't witnessed or experienced race-related incidents
- Positive feedback on recruitment practices and HR practices
- Most colleagues feel they are treated equally by the York St John community
- Higher satisfaction rates across all benchmarked questions in 2024 compared to 2022
- Overall satisfaction increased by 31.3%
- Similar results to 2022 for Benchmark 3
- Colleagues think York St John has fair and transparent recruitment practices
- Increase in satisfaction with line manager discussions on personal and professional development
- 12% more colleagues witnessed or experienced race-related incidents compared to 2022 (although 2022 and 2024 questions were slightly different)
- Enhance targeted communication about race equality work.
- Showcase recruitment practices and work on reducing the awarding gap.
- Promote academic integrity and organise roadshows.
- Increase general awareness through REC branding, Campus Culture Project, and Challenging Conversation Cafe.
- Align more work with the University-wide communications schedule.
- Organise more culturally diverse events through BAME staff network and Events team.
- Promote Report and Support system and other reporting mechanisms to both staff and students.
- Continue Race Equity and Bystander Training.
- Reaffirm PDR guidance and continue positive recruitment practices.
- Update inclusive language guidance on use of BAME terminology.
- Review management training and explore how to support & engage managers more widely
Terminology
As part of our commitment to use inclusive language, respondents were asked for views on current use of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) terminology.
Both staff and students expressed a preference to be led by the individual in question by asking what their preferred term might be. Of those who answered this question, there was a general consensus that the following terms could be used:
| Students | |
|---|---|
| Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) | 29 |
| People of colour | 26 |
| Global majority | 9 |
| Ethnic minority | 15 |
| Staff | |
|---|---|
| Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) | 72 |
| People of colour | 17 |
| Global majority | 16 |
This outcome was followed up with the Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) Staff network and the University's Inclusive language guidance will be updated to support this choice of 'University-recommended' terms:
- Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME)
- People of colour
- Global majority
Survey questions
The survey questions were provided by AdvanceHE, who redesigned the REC survey in 2023 resulting in a different format from our initial survey in 2022.
Questions were categorised across 3 themes:
- Sense of Belonging
- Speaking Up and Communicating
- Culture Climate in a racial context
The 12 mandatory questions are as follows:
| Number | Theme | Question |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sense of Belonging | How much respect do you feel people at York St John University show you? (for example, staff, lecturers, supervisors, fellow students) |
| 2 | Sense of Belonging | How connected do you feel to colleagues/staff at York St John University? |
| 3 | Speaking Up and Communicating | How comfortable would you feel calling out a person showing racist behaviours at York St John University? (e.g., challenging as and when someone makes an inappropriate or racist joke, discriminates another person because of their race, etc.) |
| 4 | Speaking Up and Communicating | How confident do you feel that leaders/tutors at York St John University will call out racially inappropriate behaviours? |
| 5 | Speaking Up and Communicating | How comfortable do you feel discussing race-related topics with colleagues/students within your department/your course? |
| 6 | Speaking Up and Communicating | How confident are you that colleagues/students at York St John University can have an open and honest conversation with each other about race? |
| 7 | Culture Climate in a racial context | How much do you understand about what York St John University is doing to tackle racial inequality impacting people who work and study here? |
| 8 | Culture Climate in a racial context | How often do you feel you get the opportunity to learn about people from different races, ethnicities and cultures while working/studying here? |
| 9 | Culture Climate in a racial context | How well do you think festivals and traditions from different cultures are acknowledged at York St John University? |
| 10 | Culture Climate in a racial context | Do you believe that social events/activities organised by York St John University are welcoming to everyone irrespective of race or ethnicity? |
| 11 | Culture Climate in a racial context | In the last 12 months, have you experienced or witnessed a situation at York St John University where you have felt uncomfortable because of race or ethnicity? |
| 12 | Culture Climate in a racial context | We would like to hear your thoughts on the institution's commitment to advancing race equality in higher education. Specifically, what do you think York St John University is doing well and/or what needs improving? |
