Equality Data

Equality Data >

The Glasgow School of Art is committed to the promotion of equality and diversity as part of our strategic plan. The School uses the following statistical data to monitor that the aims of the school are being met within both the student and staff populations.

Student Statistical Analysis

The current data evidences that GSA continues to increase the number of students from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups, however the number of UK domiciled students from BME groups is relatively low. The School has identified an equality outcome to address this.

The School maintains a high proportion of disabled students. UCAS acceptances continue to be proportionate with UCAS applications across the protected characteristics: this suggests that there is no undue bias in admissions. GSA also maintains a sexual identity profile in line with theUKaverage. These trends align with the institutional aims of GSA. An area that may cause concern in the future is the increasing sexual identity imbalance in UCAS applications. However, this is affecting all Higher Education Institutions and is not specific to GSA and its programmes.

A detailed examination of the data indicates some fluctuation, however provided this is not sustained over time it is not a cause for concern. There are also some groups with low populations and volatility must be expected. With this in mind, there is a consistency to the results which corresponds with the expectations and demographics of GSA.

Degree Attainment Gap

A key performance indicator identified by the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) is the degree attainment gap which looks at the percentage difference between key groups of students who achieve a first and second class upper degree (e.g. % of females with a first or 2:1 less the % of males with a first or 2:1). The higher the percentage, the more concerning it is.

Therefore, the overall GSA Degree Attainment Gap is: -

Ethnicity (UK Domiciled)

2011-12	7.7%
2010-11	25.3%
Scotland 2010-11	12.7%

Disability

2011-12	-3.3%
2010-11	-2.6%
Scotland 2010-11	2.6%

Sexual Identity

2011-12	2.5%
2010-11	9.0%
Scotland 2010-11	5.6%

As you can see, the Ethnicity (UK Domiciled) and Sexual Identity gaps have reduced in 2011-12 and Disability continues to run at a negative result which is very encouraging. However, the low population ofUKdomiciled BME students at GSA will consistently produce a volatile result for the Ethnicity (UK Domiciled) attainment gap measure.

Staff Statistical Analysis

Staff statistical information is collected biennially and relate to sexual identity, ethnicity, disability and age. Within the past three years the School has collated data relating to sexual orientation and religion/belief.

The past few years has seen a gradual increase in the female staff members over males, however 2011/12 percentage has increased to 50% women and 49% men shifting back towards the national average of 53.7%.

The number of staff disclosing a disability has increased overall in the last three years to around 5.4%. Disclosure of disability by staff at GSA remains higher than the national average. Typically around 3% of staff members in universities disclose disability status (Equality Challenge Unit, 2011).

In terms of age, an even spread can be observed across the School, with no particular age category dominating.

The percentage of BME staff has not changed significantly over the past three years. In 2011/12 only 2.2% of GSA staff were from BME groups, which is more than the national average of 1.6%, and significantly higher than the Scottish average of 0.2%.

Overall staff equality statistics have not been subject to significant fluctuation since 2003. The overall shift in gender split and the relatively high disability disclosure rate remain encouraging.

Data:

Student Sexual Orientation 2012-2013