Dr Stephanie McKendry has over 18 years’ experience in various teaching, learning and research roles in higher education. Since 2014, she has led the Widening Access Team at the University of Strathclyde, with responsibility for increasing opportunities and removing barriers to study and success for those from widening access backgrounds. From 2019 onwards, she has led the Access, Equality and Inclusion Service at the University, bringing together widening access and equality and diversity policy and activity. She has supported the Scottish Commissioner for Fair Access as Researcher/Implementation Advisor through a part-time secondment to the Scottish Government since 2016, leading on the development of the Scottish Framework for Fair Access. She has been a member of two National Expert Think Tanks on fair admissions, sits on the Universities Scotland Admissions Working Group, the Scottish Funding Council’s Persistent Inequalities Data Group and the Scottish Government’s Access Delivery Group. Stephanie is an editor of the Journal for Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning and an Executive Member of the Forum for Access and Continuing Education. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Her research interests span widening participation; under-representation and the intersection between access and equality; and the experience of young adult carers and students from looked after/care backgrounds. Most recently, she led the award winning TransEDU research project exploring the experiences of trans and gender diverse applicants, students and staff in Scotland’s colleges and universities.