In September 2016, the University of Stirling took a sector-leading role by hosting a Scottish Funding Council (SFC) funded conference to showcase the Impact for Access project as well as to disseminate findings of similar projects from across the sector.
The conference had a gender and widening access theme. Following the publication of the Commission on Widening Access and the SFC Gender Action Plan, this focus was timely and of interest to practitioners and stakeholders across Scotland.
Over 100 people attended the conference. Professor Malcolm MacLeod opened the event, followed by two keynote speakers (Alice Brown, Chair of SFC, and Vonnie Sandlan, President of NUS Scotland). There were 15 workshops in total, over 4 slots. The agenda for the day and examples of workshop presentations can be found at the bottom of this page.
Following the event, a Survey Monkey evaluation form was circulated to attendees, from which we received 23 responses. The results of this evaluation showed that 87% agreed that they had learned new information and developed new skills as a result of attending the conference.
The evaluation form also asked attendees about their experience of workshops. This was to allow the feedback to be shared with workshop hosts, but also to gain an overview of the effectiveness of the sessions. Attendees were asked to rate each workshop that they attended separately, using a scale from ‘Not at all useful’ to ‘Very useful’. No respondents said that any workshops were either ‘Not at all useful’ or ‘Not useful’. This showcases positive engagement with the sessions and good satisfaction.
Free text comments were also highly positive, with attendees commenting on the organisation of the conference, professional workshops and keynote speakers.
‘So you want to be in the professions?’ Workshop
Tackling Gender Imbalance Workshop
Who Cares? Scotland – Corporate Parenting and You Workshop
Influencers and Role Models Workshop
Studying With Conviction Workshop
Embedding Equality & Diversity in the Curriculum Workshop
This Ayrshire Girl Can Workshop
