Enhancing Student Representation

Abstract

Student representation is an essential way for institutions to gather student feedback and is used to enhance the quality of the course. Too often, there is a perception that student representatives come from a particular background and are not representative enough of their whole cohort, especially those who are ‘hard to reach’. This article looks at how student representation could be enhanced. It explores key themes such as the extent to which student representatives reflect the wider student body and are able to advocate on behalf of all students, and whether there should be a set of behaviours to support more effective representation. The article starts by suggesting that enhancing the effectiveness of student representation will only ever be part of the picture and that, in order to create the optimum environment for student representation, it is necessary to consider also staff engagement in representation activities and the wider effectiveness of the committee structure.