Photo credit: Bruno Figueiredo on Unsplash
By Adesewa Adebisi, Amara Anyogu, Nick Freestone, Gillian Knight, Aranee Manoharan, James McEvoy, Prachi Stafford (on behalf of The Bioscience Awarding Gap (BAG) Network Steering Group)
The awarding gap, previously referred to as the attainment gap, is often defined as the difference between how many students of one demographic group get a 'good degree' (a First or 2:1) compared with those of another group. This is mainly discussed in relation to the ethnicity awarding gap, which has been found across the HE sector, but awarding gaps can also affect other groups, such as mature students and students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The factors that can impact awarding gaps are diverse, and can be positively and negatively influenced by some of the institutional environments detailed below.
Transition to HE and belonging
With the increasingly diverse student population entering HE, it is important to create a university environment where all students feel able to access, engage with, and contribute to their learning and development. However, students affected by awarding gaps have been shown to be at a disadvantage as soon as they enter HE. Although it is usually accepted that contemporary students come from diverse backgrounds, the impact of their societal, economic, and cultural capital on their learning is often underestimated. To compound this, once enrolled, many students can feel they do not belong and do not see themselves reflected in the faculty or curriculum. Students can also be affected by unconscious bias, microaggressions and, in the worst cases, overt prejudice.
Teaching and assessment
Awarding gaps can be reflections of students' classroom experience and their associated assessment results. Teaching that allows students to play an active role in their learning helps to form an inclusive community, while clear assessment instructions and marking criteria make assessments accessible to students from different cultural backgrounds. Student/academic co-creation of activities and materials is a powerful way of including students in their education which allows them to see themselves represented in their curriculum.
Mentors and role models
The impact of mentorship on addressing awarding gaps is an area of HE focus, with visible role models and support networks known to improve student retention and success. In a recent study, final-year peer mentors addressed an awarding gap in first year STEM students and built fruitful peer networks of mentors and mentees. In another example, the progression rate of first year students with low tariff HE entry qualifications improved when mentored by second year students.
UUK and NUS recommendations
The UUK and NUS recommends five steps to help close the ethnicity awarding gap: strong university leadership, conversations about race and racism, supporting racially diverse and inclusive environments, obtaining and analysing data, and understanding what works. To achieve this it is important that institutions analyze their own data, since different universities attract students with different demographics.
Don't know where to start?
- Commit to building an inclusive learning environment: Student-centred approaches that foster a sense of belonging for learners are at the core of eliminating awarding gaps. Resources including the Inclusive Curriculum Framework and Self-Evaluation Tools provide prompts for reflection and examples of good practice.
- Evaluate how awarding gaps exist in your local context: Collate and analyse quantitative and qualitative data. This will help identify which groups of students are impacted and help explain why these awarding gaps exist.
Biographies
The Bioscience Awarding Gap (BAG) Network is an advisory group to the Heads of University Biosciences (HUBS). The group promotes the communication, discussion and adoption of practices that are shown to reduce demographic awarding gaps in the biosciences through an online library of resources and organising regular network events.
Meet the team:
Adesewa Adebisi, University of Manchester (@sewa_adebisi)
Adesewa Adebisi served as the 2019/20 Education Officer and Trustee of the Huddersfield Students' Union, where she was actively involved in liaising with the University and external bodies on education matters, teaching quality and student experience. Adesewa has a strong interest in cancer immunology and is a current PhD candidate at The University of Manchester. Adesewa is passionate about addressing the attainment gap in Higher Education and has worked on various projects with the National Union of Students to tackle this.
Dr Amara Anyogu, University of West London (@intentionalacad)
Amara is a widening access educator passionate about building spaces that support inclusive and impactful learning experiences in Higher education. Drawing on her experiences of accessing HE as a mature learner with 'non-traditional' qualifications, her teaching is focused on supporting students in developing the academic and employability skills required to successfully transition into HE and achieve their academic and career goals. Amara is fascinated by microorganisms and her research centres on their interactions in food as producers, spoilers, and agents of disease. Amara is a Senior Lecturer at the University of West London and a Fellow of Advance HE.
Dr Nick Freestone, Kingston University (@nfreestone1)
Dr Nick Freestone is an Associate Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology and Course Director for undergraduate Pharmaceutical Science degree courses at Kingston University. He researches both calcium handling in isolated cardiac myocytes and the nature of learning itself at university via pedagogic research. As a pedagogical researcher, he has run national workshops on teaching and learning for AdvanceHE and HUBS and has recently been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by AdvanceHE. Nick is a Senior Fellow of the HEA, a Fellow of the RSB and was UK Education Theme Lead for the Physiological Society. He is the holder of the UK HEA Bioscience Teacher of the Year Award 2014/15 and is now Chair of the judging panel for this award.
Professor Gillian Knight, Royal Holloway University of London
Gillian is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and a member of the RSB Head of Biosciences (HUBS) Executive. She was awarded Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2019 and became a National Teaching Fellow in 2021, in recognition of her commitment to inclusive STEM education. She is the Director of Education at Royal Holloway and is currently leading on developing the institution's new Access and Participation plan.
Aranee Manoharan, King's College London (@AraneeM)
Aranee Manoharan is a Senior Fellow of the HEA specialising in inclusive curriculum design to prepare students with knowledge, skills, and experience to achieve their aspirations. A keen advocate of equity, inclusion, and social mobility, Aranee is an Athena SWAN panelist, and having contributed to the Race Equality Charter (REC) for a number of years, is now a member of Advance HE's REC Governance Committee. She also serves as a Board Director for AGCAS, leading the organisation's social mobility, widening participation and regional inequality portfolio.
Dr James McEvoy, Royal Holloway University of London (@mcevjp)
Dr James McEvoy is a Professor (Teaching Focused) at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he is the Head of the Department of Biological Science and researches various things, including antibiotic resistance in bacterial biofilms. In his pedagogical work he is particularly interested in the way that active and group-learning teaching methods can help to reduce demographic attainment gaps. James has won several institutional teaching awards and is a Senior Fellow of the HEA.
Dr Prachi Stafford, Sheffield Hallam University (@dodoscientist)
Dr Prachi Stafford is a Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences in the Department of Biosciences and Chemistry at Sheffield Hallam University. Her research focusses on host-pathogen interactions with an emphasis on how oral pathogens may contribute to systemic diseases. Prachi is also the Departmental Equality/Diversity & Inclusivity lead and has a keen interest in promoting student engagement. She is looking at inclusive curriculum as a means to increase engagement and address the 'Degree Awarding Gap'. Prachi is a Fellow of the HEA.
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