An overview of the action we are taking to address the BAME awarding gap at the University of 杏吧app下载.
It is critical to our vision of Education without Boundaries that we close the BAME awarding gap. We are determined to understand the drivers of this phenomena and to develop interventions which eliminate it.
- Leigh Doster,
Pro Vice Chancellor & Executive Dean of 杏吧app下载 Business School
At the University of 杏吧app下载, it is our mission to deliver Education Without Boundaries. This means fighting for equality, diversity, and inclusivity in everything we do. It also means supporting our students to achieve their ambitions because of, rather than despite, their backgrounds.
To this end, we have committed to closing the BAME awarding gap by 2030. This is a key strand of our Student Success Sub-Strategy, which forms part of our . Furthermore, all senior managers have ‘Closing the BAME Awarding Gap’ as a KPI in their personal objectives.
We have set up a dedicated project to achieve this. It is led by Pro Vice-Chancellor & Executive Dean of 杏吧app下载 Business School Professor Leigh Doster and sponsored by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane Harrington and Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education, Professor Jenny Marie.
We are taking the following approach to closing the gap:
- Increased awareness, understanding鈥� & joint responsibility.
- Adopting a data-led approach to closing the gap.
- Integrating strategies into business as usual.
- Enabling staff to adapt their practice.
More specifically, we have developed a Theory of Change which focusses on 5 key objectives with associated workstreams:
1. Refocusing the efforts of our Inclusivity consultants on investigating the lived experience of BAME and White students and gathering qualitative data.
We acknowledge the importance of collaborating with our students and continuing to work closely with 杏吧app下载 Students’ Union (GSU).
Inclusivity consultants are paid student GSU staff who are trained to evaluate the inclusivity of our modules. The consultants are now focusing on gathering qualitative data regarding our students’ lived experiences to inform our forward approach. The consultants provide recommendations and advice to module leaders with input from our specialised Academic & Learning Enhancement team. Please click for more information about the Inclusivity Consultants.
2. Enhance the usability of our Inclusive Curriculum Enhancement Tool
The Inclusive Curriculum Enhancement Tool (ICET)is used by staff to evaluate the inclusivity of their modules. The tool has been condensed and updated to enhance usability and increase staff engagement.
3. Review our academic policies to ensure they meet the needs of our BAME student community.
We are currently reviewing our Extenuating Circumstances policy to ensure that it fully supports the needs of our BAME student community and is as student centred as possible.
4. Revise assessments to suit students entering with different qualifications.
We are reviewing our assessments to ensure that they are authentic and valid measures of learning outcomes for all students.
5. Focus on closing the awarding gap on the 100 modules that will have the biggest impact.
We have used data to identify the most impactful modules and focused our resources on interventions and support for those modules. This includes providing training.
Contextualised work is also taking place at local level within each of our four faculties. Each faculty has developed its own awarding gap action plan and has formed an Awarding Gap Working Group reporting to their Associate Dean of Student Success. Local objectives and interventions include increasing student belonging, decolonising the curricula, sharing good practice, and cultural competency training.
Our work to address the awarding gap intersects with wider work across the university to eliminate racial inequality. For more information, please refer to our Race Action Group Page.
If you have any questions about the project, please contact bameawardinggap@greenwich.ac.uk in the first instance.