Postgraduate Researcher Library Experiences at the University of Leeds: Inclusion, Accessibility and Intersectionality

This report has been produced as part of the work by the 2024-25 PGR Diversity Steering Committee, a group of 9 PGRs from various academic and personal backgrounds, all of whom identify as being part of marginalised populations. This group is appointed by the PGR Diversity team to undertake project work that focuses on enhancing the university experience for under-represented PGRs.

It was decided by the group that the 2024-25 project work would focus on the PGR experience in the university libraries. This was influenced by the lived experiences of members of the committee surrounding their perceived lack of inclusion in the libraries, based on factors such as disability and neurodiversity, academic background, and cultural differences.

The decision was made to focus partially on the experiences of disabled and neurodivergent PGRs, in order to build on the previous year’s work which focused on how neurodivergent PGRs experienced support and wellbeing (which culminated in the report, ‘Building Bridges: Educating and Supporting Neurodiverse PGRs in Higher Education’). This area has been identified by both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 committees, as well as the PGR Diversity team, as being underrepresented in academic research.