The School of Chemistry’s Head of Student Experience, Dr Jean O’Donoghue, has shared her experiences of supporting chemistry students as part of the launch of the new book entitled “Inclusive and Accessible Chemistry for Further and Higher Education” published by the Royal Society of Chemistry this week. Led and edited by Dr Jane Essex (University of Strathclyde) this important work brings together chemistry education specialists, student support staff and those with lived experiences to share their perspectives on developments and opportunities to make chemistry inclusive for disabled students.Jean, along with her co-author (Dr Kirsty Ross – University of St Andrews), shared her experiences of supporting neurodivergent students and together Jean and Kirsty created a chapter with lots of practical advice for neurodivergent students, their lecturers and supervisors.Jean, who is also a member of the RSC Inclusion and Diversity Committee, spoke at the event about her reasons for contributing to this important work, commenting; RSC Inclusive and Accessible Chemistry for Further and Higher Education book cover In my role at the School of Chemistry, I have learned a huge amount about the different ways that students can be supported to thrive at university. With neurodivergence, there are fewer hard and fast “rules” to follow about how best to support and so when my colleague Kirsty approached me about the opportunity to contribute to this book – it felt like a really valuable way to gather what we had learned into some practical tips on things that others could try. Dr Jean O'Donoghue Head of Student Experience, School of Chemistry Commenting on her hopes for what this book could mean for inclusion in chemistry, and science more widely, Jean said; RSC Inclusive and Accessible Chemistry for Further and Higher Education contributing authors By its very existence, I hope this book helps our students, prospective students and their supporters to see that there are allies and role models for them at university. I hope it can provide a reference for those in our sector who want to do more – but perhaps don’t know where to start. This book exemplifies that chemistry, science and university doesn’t have to only “look” or “be” one way. The diversity of approaches, to access diverse talent gives the lie to the idea that higher education must be a certain way. It’s time to go past our old measures of excellence and look at how we can really see and tap into the potential of every student. Dr Jean O'Donoghue Head of Student Experience, School of Chemistry Find out more information about the DOI book Inclusive and Accessible Chemistry for Further and Higher Education published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Tags Equality and Diversity Research Teaching Publication date 27 Mar, 2026
