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Modern Slavery Governance in Universities: Beyond Compliance

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  • Drydakis, Nick

Abstract

This study examines how universities address modern slavery within their governance structures and practices, with reference to the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015. The study develops and applies the Modern Slavery Reflexive Assessment Scale, a sixty-item instrument grounded in the Pluralistic Framework for the Study of Economic Exploitation. Data were collected in 2025 from eighteen UK universities through structured assessments completed by institutional officers. The findings indicate that longer-standing institutional engagement and stronger sustainability performance are consistently associated with higher levels of reflexive practice, suggesting that continuity and embedded governance cultures support movement beyond symbolic compliance. Progress is most evident in policy development, governance arrangements, and sustainability integration. Engagement with intersectional and decolonial perspectives is limited, while survivor-centred practices, participatory monitoring, iterative learning, and systematic impact evaluation remain underdeveloped. The findings also provide the basis for developing the Reflexive Anti-Slavery Governance Model for Higher Education.

Suggested Citation

  • Drydakis, Nick, 2026. "Modern Slavery Governance in Universities: Beyond Compliance," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1784, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1784
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J47 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Coercive Labor Markets
    • J78 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Public Policy (including comparable worth)
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law
    • K38 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Human Rights Law; Gender Law; Animal Rights Law
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • O35 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Social Innovation
    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • Z18 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Public Policy

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