Drawing on the University of Bath’s experience of creating a new Department of Life Sciences, Professor Sarah Bailey explains how universities can foster belonging, sustain inclusive practices and build stronger communities through periods of significant change.

Departmental restructuring is usually discussed in terms of strategy, finances and organisational efficiency. Far less attention is given to its impact on culture, belonging and inclusion. Yet these are often where the greatest challenges lie.  

Across UK higher education, departments are merging, schools are being reorganised and institutions are adapting to financial pressures, changing student expectations and new ways of working. While structural change may be necessary, it inevitably reshapes how staff and students experience their academic community. 

Our experience over the past four years has reinforced one important lesson: culture cannot simply be merged alongside organisational charts. It must be rebuilt. 

In 2022, two established academic departments at the University of Bath  

came together to form a new Department of Life Sciences. The merger followed staff consultation, strategic workshops and external review, with a shared vision developed collaboratively across both departments. 

However, combining two departments involved far more than creating a new leadership structure. Different histories, identities, working practices and cultures had to come together while staff were also returning to campus following the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The pandemic’s lasting impact 

The Covid-19 pandemic was more than a temporary disruption to higher education. Its effects continue to shape how universities teach, conduct research, support students and engage with society. 

The legacy of Covid-19 shaped this transition to a single Department of Life Sciences in significant ways. Staff surveys highlighted ongoing concerns about workload, wellbeing, career progression and work-life balance, particularly among early career researchers and colleagues with caring responsibilities. Many students in the Department experienced the impact on education firsthand. Some saw their university education impacted, while many graduating this year had their GCSEs and A-levels significantly disrupted by the pandemic. 

For staff, the introduction of hybrid working practices has brought lasting benefits, including greater accessibility and more flexible scheduling. However, it has also reduced the informal interactions that help build relationships. In Culture Surveys, many colleagues described feeling ‘disconnected’ or ‘disengaged’ from the wider department, interacting mainly with their immediate research or teaching groups. These experiences highlight that organisational culture depends on everyday opportunities for connection as much as formal structures. 

Belonging requires intention 

One of our clearest lessons has been that belonging does not happen automatically after a merger. Our department is now one of the largest in the University, spread across five buildings on the Bath campus and, through our expanding pharmacy programme, two cities. Geography alone creates barriers to building a shared identity. 

Survey data suggests that feelings of belonging are improving, but there is still considerable progress to make. This reflects a wider challenge across higher education: creating inclusive cultures requires continuous investment rather than one-off initiatives. Belonging is not simply about being present within a department. It is about feeling recognised, valued and connected to its shared purpose. 

Small actions matter 

While institutional change can feel overwhelming, some of the most successful initiatives have been relatively simple. Weekly coffee mornings in different buildings encourage colleagues from different areas to meet informally. Monthly social events bring together academic staff, professional services colleagues and postgraduate researchers. Away days, creative workshops and cross-department activities have provided opportunities for conversations that rarely happen during everyday working life. 

One particularly successful initiative was a departmental pottery workshop funded to help build research culture. By stepping away from normal academic roles, colleagues built new relationships across disciplines and career stages. 

We have also introduced a “coffee buddy” scheme, pairing colleagues from the two original departments to encourage informal conversations and strengthen new professional networks. These activities may appear modest, but they help create the trust and relationships that underpin inclusive cultures. 

Embedding inclusion through leadership 

Restructuring often brings changes in leadership, governance and committee membership. While this creates opportunities for innovation, it can also disrupt continuity. Like many departments, we experienced changes in several leadership roles during and after the merger. This created challenges in maintaining momentum around equality initiatives and preserving institutional knowledge. 

One lesson has been that equality, diversity and inclusion cannot depend on a small number of committed individuals. Sustainable and sustained progress requires collective ownership across leadership teams and the wider department. A new divisional structure introduced in 2025 aims to strengthen communication, improve line management and create smaller communities within a large department. By bringing decision-making and pastoral support closer to staff, the structure is intended to foster stronger relationships and a greater sense of belonging. 

Using evidence to drive change 

Restructuring also provides an opportunity to examine whether organisational systems are equitable. We have adopted a data-informed approach, reviewing recruitment, promotion, workload allocation, grant success, teaching evaluations and committee membership through an equality lens. 

This evidence has led to practical changes, including establishing a workload working group, introducing annual workload reviews, strengthening reporting pathways for bullying and harassment, providing training for line managers and assigning pastoral supervisors to all postgraduate researchers. Data alone cannot build an inclusive culture, but it enables departments to identify where action is needed and measure whether change is making a difference. 

Looking forward 

Creating an inclusive department is an ongoing process. As we celebrate the news that our departmental Athena Swan Silver award submission was successful, we continue to take actions and refresh our efforts in community building.  

Early career colleagues have secured Research Culture funding, matched by departmental investment, to transform an underused space into a shared environment for collaboration, informal meetings and social interaction. We are refreshing our gardening and walking clubs – weather permitting! These initiatives recognise that culture is shaped through everyday experiences as much as institutional strategy. 

As universities continue to navigate restructuring and financial uncertainty, equality, diversity and inclusion should not be viewed as work that follows organisational change. It should be recognised as one of the conditions that enables change to succeed. 

Ultimately, restructuring is about far more than creating new organisational structures. It is about creating environments where people feel connected, supported and able to contribute fully. If universities want restructuring to deliver lasting success, investing in culture and inclusion is not optional – it is essential. 

Professor Sarah Bailey is EDI Co-Lead in the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Bath.