University of Cambridge Boosts Accessibility with Unibuddy

Showcase diversity

Underserved populations have many barriers to higher education, and there is no single—or simple—solution to this problem.

We believe that showcasing your diverse student population and fostering mentoring relationships between peers can contribute to your diversity initiatives.

Prospective students from low-SES backgrounds are less likely to have access to information about college.

Brown, M. G., Wohn, D. Y., & Ellison, N. (2016)

Without a map, college access and the online practices of youth from low-income communities. What’s it like transitioning from a small town to New York?

Mentor programs are shown to reduce attrition and increase performance for at-risk students and students of color.

Krueger, C. (2016). Stories from the front lines of student success: The implementation and progress of near peer mentoring programs in Alaska and Idaho. Hughes, C., Welsh, M., Mayer, A., Bolay, J., & Southard, K. (2009). An innovative university-based mentoring program: Affecting college students’ attitudes and engagement.

1 in 5 students never feel represented in student advertising.

Student Hut, “Where are the students we see?” 2019 study

Unibuddy at Cambridge University

Unibuddy can be used to facilitate mentoring relationships. It is safe, secure and gives you the benefit of insights that can improve your DEI strategy and marketing.

Homerton College at Cambridge University implemented Unibuddy to showcase their diversity. Schools Liaison Officer Fergus Powell explains how and why it works:

“We work hard to be a place where students from all different backgrounds can be comfortable living and studying here. We want the best students from all over. The outreach work we do is about trying to spread that message.

Students are more likely to want to apply if they know that there will be other students from their background here. There are students from a wide range of backgrounds at Cambridge University but because of historical reasons and messaging, people can assume Cambridge is a homogeneous place with not much diversity.

There are things we can do to improve diversity further, but there are a lot of students with different backgrounds here that we should showcase, so students can see that there are other students like them. Unibuddy allows us to showcase that in a very obvious way.”