Report

Rethinking student voice: how can higher education design effective student governance?

This report from UK think tank HEPI argues that many governing boards still fail to make space for student voices in higher education.

A new report from the Higher Education Policy Institute examines how student governors frequently feel marginalised in institutional oversight, and offers actionable reforms to ensure legitimacy, inclusion and real influence.

The report Rethinking Student Voice: How higher education must design effective student governance (HEPI Report 195), written by Darcie Jones, argues that, despite students being central stakeholders in higher education, many governing boards still fail to make space for their voices – structurally, culturally and procedurally. The evidence points to a gap between representation and real influence.

Key findings: Student governors often face invisible barriers: opaque jargon, unwritten practices and exclusive social norms that inhibit meaningful contribution. The development of student governors is often overlooked, including little acknowledgement of their development needs. Student voice in higher education governance has strong potential to develop, with increasing opportunities for inclusion on key committees and for ensuring student insights are shared transparently and have meaningful influence. Higher education governing boards are often demographically narrow and unreflective of the student body, reinforcing students’ sense of outsider status.

However, among these barriers, examples of good practice highlight the positive effects of engaging with student governors. One example shows Hartpury University’s transition from a further education college to a college and a university in 2018 was driven by student governance. This process was inspired by a student governor who, motivated by pride in the institution, wanted to earn a ‘Hartpury degree’ rather than one validated by another institution.