UKCGE and The 1752 Group Partner to Tackle Sexual Misconduct in Higher Education
From August 2025, all higher education institutions in England will be required by the regulator, the Office for Students, to comply with a set of conditions around tackling harassment and sexual misconduct.
The 1752 Group, a research and campaigning organisation addressing sexual misconduct in higher education, is partnering with the UK Council for Graduate Education — supported by funding from the Enhancing Research Culture fund at the University of York — to produce a toolkit for higher education institutions setting out what these requirements mean for postgraduate researchers and supervisors.
Addressing sexual misconduct and harassment experienced by postgraduate researchers requires a different approach to provisions in this area for students at other levels. For example, postgraduate researchers are more likely than other students to be subjected to sexual misconduct from academic staff, but there are also very high risks in terms of career consequences for reporting such harassment or misconduct.
Dr Anna Bull, a co-director of The 1752 Group and Senior Lecturer at the University of York, said “We are very pleased to be partnering with the UK Council for Graduate Education to help make sure that PGRs are included in HEIs’ work to implement the new condition of registration, and that this work takes a research-informed approach. We know that many PGRs are sadly targeted for harassment and sexual misconduct, and it has very deep personal, health, and career consequences. This toolkit will help HEIs to do the essential work to help make higher education a safer and more equal place for PGRs.”
Professor Doug Cleaver, Chair of UKCGE’s Board of Trustees, added: “This is really important work, and we are fully committed to working alongside The 1752 Group to both develop this resource and disseminate it broadly. This toolkit will be an essential reference point for anyone in a leadership role in research student education, as well as setting clear expectations for staff and students in order to help prevent harassment and sexual misconduct.”
The toolkit will be published in spring 2025 and will draw on research and existing good practice to set out what needs to be in place for PGRs and PGR supervision to meet the new condition. To be kept updated about this work, please sign up to one of the mailing lists below.