Across our three partner universities, we all face the same core challenge of keeping Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) work deeply grounded in real human experiences rather than procedural paperwork. By looking closely at the University of Sheffield’s recent staff network initiatives, we can explore how embedding grassroots staff voices directly into institutional governance creates a more authentic, inclusive culture. This case study serves as a springboard for partners to reflect on our own structures, share best practices, and consider how we can collectively champion staff networks to drive meaningful change.

The challenge

While Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work matters deeply to staff, it risks losing its human touch when it becomes too procedural.

It’s easy for real people to get lost in the paperwork of new plans and policies. The University of Sheffield is avoiding this by keeping the focus on real people, starting with the voices in their staff networks.

Whether you’re an academic balancing caring responsibilities, a postdoc from an underrepresented background, or a professional services colleague who has never quite seen themselves reflected in university culture, there could be staff networks at your institution that exist for you.

About the networks

All staff groups and communities at Sheffield are run by staff, for staff. Their primary purpose is to foster supportive relationships around specific communities, some organised around protected characteristics, others around shared interests, professional skills, or academic identities.

What unites all of them is a shared role in creating an inclusive, supportive culture. Rather than being add-on initiatives for staff, they are embedded in the governance structure for  EDI work. In total, the University of Sheffield has 1,881 members across its EDI networks alone. Here are just some of the networks that are open to colleagues

• Women’s Network
• Parents Network
• LGBTQIA+ Network
• Disability Staff Network
• Staff Race Equality Network
• Carers Network
• Religion and Belief Network
• International Staff Network
• Cancer Support Group
• TechNet
• Emotionally Demanding Research Network
• Lunchtime Yarns
• No Kidding Peer Support Group
• PRISMs Network
• Project Managers Network

How the networks feed into EDI work

EDI networks at the University of Sheffield do more than provide a community. 

Network chairs meet monthly to share insights, pool knowledge, flag concerns, and feed directly into policy design and implementation. They advocate for their members at the EDI Delivery Group level and directly inform decision-making.

Senior stakeholders, including University Executive Board colleagues, meet with network representatives to discuss issues that matter most to staff. This structured listening and engagement shapes how the university operates.

In addition to their input into the institutional EDI work, they also create opportunities for colleagues to come together and connect. Recent examples of this work include a collaborative event series on coercive control, a staff Iftar event, a celebration of cultural diversity on campus and the Staff Networks Day exhibition. These events would not be possible without engagement from the networks.

“In our inclusion work, it is easy to feel like work is becoming a box-ticking exercise with multiple overlapping plans, never quite sure if we are truly making a difference to our community,” says Fran Carr, EDI Manager at the University of Sheffield.

That is why Staff Networks are an indispensable asset to our institution. They protect us from complacency.

“Our networks provide the honest feedback, trust, and community insights that make my role as EDI Manager possible. Our annual Staff Networks Day celebration is one of my favourite events. Hearing directly from the networks about the difference we can and do make together is so inspiring and drives us to do more. From little wins to big changes – true engagement doesn’t need to reach everyone at once to be successful; it just needs to matter deeply to the people it touches. Our networks do exactly that. They remind us that culture change is a team effort, and they keep us accountable to the community we serve”, she adds.

National Staff Networks Day 2026

On 13 May 2026, the University marked National Staff Networks Day by bringing together networks from across the organisation for a full day of exhibitions, workshops, and conversations. With 19 in-person stalls, 17 virtual exhibits, and six workshops spanning panel discussions, meditation sessions, and practical accessibility topics, the event was the largest of its kind held at Sheffield.

The impact was immediate and tangible. The Women’s Network alone gained ten new sign-ups on the day. Across the exhibition floor, colleagues from People Development, Sport Sheffield, Wellbeing, and Security joined network communities to talk and build connections.

The morning launch session set the tone. Rather than hearing about aspirations for the future, attendees heard directly from network chairs about concrete, specific changes that had already been put into place and the impact these changes were having.

What staff networks could mean for you

Postgraduate researchers and postdocs can find community and professional connection beyond their department or discipline.

Academics can contribute to policy conversations that affect colleagues across the university outside of their own faculty.

Professional services staff can see their interests represented at the highest levels of institutional decision-making.

Everyone benefits from a culture shaped by real staff voices, not assumptions about what inclusion should look like.

The bigger picture

Culture change happens through sustained engagement between an institution and its people. Sheffield’s staff networks are one of the most effective mechanisms for this engagement, creating a feedback loop between lived experience and institutional action that keeps EDI work grounded in reality.

As Fran Carr put it after this year’s event, true engagement doesn’t need to reach everyone at once to be successful. It just needs to matter deeply to the people it touches. By that measure, staff networks are able to do something extraordinary.

Find out more about joining a staff network or getting involved with EDI work at the University of Sheffield via the staff intranet. Colleagues outside Sheffield, who would like to hear more about the approach can contact Fran directly on f.carr@sheffield.ac.uk to find out more.