Equality & diversity
The RCA is committed to celebrating diversity, eliminating discrimination and promoting equality of opportunity.
The Royal College of Art is working to create an environment of mutual respect, where inclusion is valued and respected, and where innovation, creativity and diversity can flourish. Positive working relationships – whether between staff and staff, staff and students or students and students – are central to this. Mutual respect is facilitated by the promotion of values of dignity, courtesy and respect, alongside a culture of zero tolerance of bullying and harassment.
The RCA stands firmly against unlawful discrimination in all its forms against staff, students and visitors. The College is committed to fostering a positive culture where all staff, students, and visitors can flourish and where no-one will feel compelled to conceal or play down elements of their identity for fear of being stigmatised. Our staff have the right to work and our students the right to study in an environment which is free from bullying and harassment and gives them the dignity and respect to which they are entitled.
The College is committed to eradicating unlawful discrimination, will promote diversity, inclusion and respect for all and creating an environment where individual differences and contributions are recognised and valued, in our policies and procedures as well as in the way that we communicate and engage with each other.
Our mission
The Royal College of Art aims to achieve international standards of excellence in the postgraduate and pre- /mid-professional education of artists and designers and related practitioners. It aims to achieve these through the quality of its teaching, research and practice and through its relationship with the institutions, industries and technologies associated with the disciplines of art and design.
The College aims to achieve these standards of excellence by:
- Fostering a high level of understanding of the principles and practices of art and design.
- Encouraging individual creativity among staff and students.
- Recruiting students of proven ability and by providing pre-professional and post-experience study opportunities.
- Continuously enhancing appropriate links and collaborations with industries and professional bodies.
- Exploring the innovative applications of technologies and processes to the disciplines of art and design.
- Encouraging awareness of social and environmental developments insofar as they relate to art and design; and through co-operation and partnership with other institutions, locally, nationally and internationally.
Equality statement
The Royal College of Art is committed to creating an environment of mutual respect, where differences are valued and respected and where innovation, creativity and diversity can flourish. Positive working relationships – whether between staff and staff, staff and students or students and students – are central to this. Mutual respect is facilitated by the promotion of values of dignity, courtesy and respect, alongside a culture of zero tolerance of bullying and harassment.
Staff diversity information
The Royal College of Art is committed to creating an environment of mutual respect, where differences are valued and celebrated and where innovation, creativity and diversity can flourish. To achieve this, we must strive to ensure equality of opportunity for all and eliminate discrimination. While steps are already underway, there is much more to be done. This will be led by the Vice-Chancellor and the Senior Management Team, but everyone must play their part. The charts below show representation among staff on gender, ethnicity and sexuality where the information is known and broken down by academic and non-academic staff and seniority (published June 2020). We are committed to transparency and will update this information on an annual basis to monitor and demonstrate progress.
The College prides itself on its ability to recruit the very best researchers and practitioners to join the academic staff, and it remains essential to the unique quality of teaching and research that it continues to attract and retain world-leading academic staff as well as inspirational practising artists and designers and a large number of highly specialised technicians.
