Our Values

Respect

Respecting our research students, partners and stakeholders, we show consideration for the contributions they make across the arts and humanities in Scotland and beyond in an open, transparent and inclusive environment. Celebrating our similarity and diversity, we respect and recognise people from every socio-economic background, race or minoritised ethnic background, disability and neurodiversity, ethnicity, gender (including non-binary, transgender and intersex), age, sexual orientation, religion or beliefs, marital/civil partnership status. We also recognise people’s rights during pregnancy, maternity and paternity, as well as those with caring responsibilities.

Inclusivity

We support practices which benefit our arts and humanities academic landscape and all those connected with it, engendering a stronger sense of belonging within SGSAH. We consider that people, whilst similar in many ways, differ in visible and non-visible ways including (but not exclusively) based on gender, age, race or minoritised ethnic background, sexual orientation, physical ability, mental capacity, religion and belief, education, economic status, personality, communication style and approaches to work. We believe that understanding, valuing and effectively harnessing differences can result in greater participation, benefits and success at an individual, team, organisational and wider societal level. Recognising and appreciating our cultural differences strengthens us and leads to greater human unity, and we act in solidarity in order to do so.

Partnership

We work collectively for the benefit of our doctoral researchers and our partners. We recognise and will respond to the complex interplay of internal and external stakeholders’ individual and collective interests that will inform our thinking and help us provide the best possible opportunities for all our doctoral researchers. Our partners will demonstrate an equal commitment to our values by means of published principles, strategies and outcomes.

Creativity

We appreciate and value passion and initiative and are willing to take risks and learn from our mistakes. We recognize the challenge and diversity of human motivations and creativity and we actively seek new ways to give our doctoral researchers space to think and answer questions, as well as connect. We make use of the unique and extensive resources we have in Scotland in order to support the very best doctoral training for our students.