About the School of Government

Our Mission

The School of Government is a diverse and inclusive community committed to education and research that makes a difference to our city, region, country, and the world. Proud to be part of the UK’s first civic university, and committed to the values of a democratic society, we believe the study of governance and politics helps us better understand the most pressing local and global challenges, and contribute to finding solutions. We aim to equip all our students to participate in this effort in their future careers.

People and Culture

The School of Government is committed to fostering an inclusive environment that celebrates diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. We consciously evaluate all our decisions and actions against this end.

We commit to making everybody associated with the School feel part of our community, irrespective of their role, their background, or their type of engagement. This includes our students, our staff, our alumni, the wider community, and our external partners. It is key to working effectively with, learning from, and supporting one another.The presence of different backgrounds, viewpoints, and approaches, in the context of an environment of mutual respect, is a key driver of innovation and success. We strive to become more diverse with respect to gender and gender identity, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, and disability, as well as all other protected characteristics and the intersection of these characteristics.

Research

As one of the UK’s largest schools of its kind, situated within a Russell Group university, our research spans the broad areas of politics, development, international relations, and public policy and its management. Our world-leading researchers study today’s global challenges around democracy and representation, security (broadly defined), the politics of development, complexity in public-policy-making, and social justice and equality. We believe in the importance of collaboration and communication across areas and disciplines, within and beyond the school, and seek to foster this as a central value of our research community.

We pride ourselves on producing research that is relevant, world-leading and helps address the challenges of our time – local, national, and global. We are enthusiastic about working with others, from within the academy, government, business, and civil society. We believe that collaboration and diversity are at the heart of world-leading research.We encourage our students at all levels to become engaged with our research. Our faculty are lifelong learners, as well as researchers and teachers, and are eager to learn from everyone in our research community. Making connections between our research and our teaching is central to our mission, and helps our students develop their own skills.

Education

Our students are central to our community and encouraged to take part in all its activities. Through programmes that reflect the depth and range of our research expertise, we aim to equip our students with the skills they need to flourish as contributing members of society, especially the ability to think clearly and critically. We also support each other, to make sure the rigours of an excellent education are carefully balanced with the needs of wider wellbeing.Our academic staff are constantly innovating and developing new approaches to deliver the best and most relevant educational experience to our students. We view education as a collaborative exercise, predicated on a two-way relationship with students to ensure our curriculum is timely, relevant, and innovative. We use our extensive network of partner universities and employers to offer our students possibilities for time abroad and work experience during their studies that will equip them to succeed in the job market. We encourage civic engagement and social responsibility with the aim to making a difference to the local and global community.

Our approach to education is to encourage empathy, development of interpersonal skills, and an appreciation for the value of engaging with those who have different backgrounds and viewpoints. We are proud to teach students from across the world, from all different backgrounds, and believe that the best education is one that takes place in a diverse environment. We support our students in developing as adaptive, engaged, and socially responsible people who aspire to make a difference.