UoS study highlights need for greater action to widen access to higher education
The report looks at the factors that both facilitates and acts as a barrier to students from ethnic minorities accessing university
A new report published by the University of Suffolk has found that more action is needed from higher education institutions to remove the perceived barriers to further learning.
Authored by research associate Katie Tyrell and Lanai Collis-Phillips, the paper titled 'University, is it for me? Access to Higher Education: Perspectives of Black, Asian and Eastern European Young People' looks at the experiences and ambitions of 37 young people, including university students.
We caught up with Ms Tyrell following the paper's publication: "The aim of the project was to try and understand what the perceptions were of university.
"Was it perceived as somewhere where they could go? Did they feel safe and comfortable going to university? And what was influencing those perceptions as well", she said.
They highlighted four particular themes from their study. The first looks at the wider socio-economic and cultural context which these students belong to. Ms Tyrell says, " We found that actually this context in which young people were growing up had a huge influence on their perceptions of higher education.
"A lot of the young people that we spoke with, particularly the kind of 13 to 17 year olds, had experienced some form of racism and discrimination in an educational context in their community.
"So we had some students who said, 'Look, I've experienced this in school and what means that university setting is going to be any different?"
They also found that students belonging to ethnic minorities, particularly from lower socio-economic backgrounds were not being given information relevant to their circumstances. "A lot of them (interviewees) were interested in the financial implications of university.
"It can be quite daunting in that respect. So thinking about what information is actually being received by young people and how we can actually make that more applicable to what they need to know before they come to university, is important."
She goes on to add that a perceived lack of diversity in Suffolk has contributed to young people wanting to move outside the county for further education. " There was a lot of conversation around students wanting to move to London, to Birmingham or go up north.
"I think that reflects what they are suggesting about their experiences within school settings in the county. It was the desire to be amongst people who were from a similar cultural background."
They also suggest that universities focus not just on admitting more people from ethnic minority backgrounds but also work to keep them in higher education. Ms Tyrell says, " We do have a lot of students from black, Asian and different ethnic backgrounds coming to university now but there are statistics suggesting there is a bit of discrepancy in terms of retaining these students. That's something I think that all universities across the UK really need to focus on.
"They need to have support in place to be able to be successful in their studies, and we need to have structural processes in place to make sure that there aren't any barriers for those individuals so they can stay and they can continue and they can progress into society with high-skilled work opportunities."
A YouGov poll published last week found that in people belonging to communities that come under the umbrella term BAME (Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic), half said it does not represent them well. Only a third of the population surveyed found that it was accurate or helpful.
The study echoes these sentiments. Ms Tyrell says, "The term BAME suggests that all these individuals are part of a homogeneous group and they're all the same, but we all know that's completely untrue. In some ways it's being used as a easy way to label people for statistics, especially within higher education sector, and I think it's really important that we do move away from that.
"As universities progress towards that, it will help them think about how we can target interventions and how different students from different cultural groups might fare in terms of what would help them to to stay in university."
So what must universities do to ensure they facilitate access as well as retention of students from ethnic minority backgrounds?
The researchers have already made their recommendations to the University of Suffolk.
Measures include ensuring active participation and outreach by the University in the local community, using a data driven approach to identify the demographics of the local population and how best to appeal to those groups that are least represented amongst students and specialised anti-racism and unconscious bias training and recruitment strategies.
Ms Tyrell says," Universities need to build relationships with with organizations in the community with young people themselves and with students themselves to understand what can be done at an institutional level and to really tap into their knowledge, experience, perceptions and ideas as well.
"Universities are in a unique position where they can help tackle racism and discrimination in communities. They can work with schools to address things like that, and make young people aware that university can be a place for them if they want to go."