With an increasing number of students from underrepresented backgrounds in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) at Imperial, it is important that we support all students’ sense of belonging, participation and engagement in learning.
Our staff-student partnership involved turning educational research data into evidence-based resources to promote inclusion, educational aspirations and student success at the university. Using rich interview data (110 interviews with underrepresented students) from the Supporting the Identity Development of Underrepresented Students (SIDUS) Project, we collaboratively produced a student handbook, bookmark and poster campaigns. These materials are attentive to equality, diversity, and inclusion issues such as imposter syndrome, mental health, accommodation, and what to expect in your first week/month/term at Imperial, including reassuring students about their first assessments. We also created a Staff Guide to Distributing and Using SIDUS Materials with suggested activities for staff to use the materials in their teaching and student induction events. We wanted to impact university culture across all departments and year groups, and this guide provided an accessible format for staff to embed the materials into their work.
