Towards bridging the belongingness, progression and attainment gap for our BAME students

Abstract

The ethnic based differential degree outcome and lower rates of BAME student retention are an education inequities that has received substantive attention and inquiry (Connor et. al, 2004; Buckley-Irvine, 2017). Although these works offer some explanations to why these gaps occur, these findings have generated minimal impact on the continuing national outcomes picture. This indicates that there is still a strong need to better understand and bridge the gap between strategic intention and intervention, and how this learning is embedded within learning and teaching environments. This is especially important within the current HE climate where the Teaching Excellence Framework considers student satisfaction, continuation and employment outcomes; all of which are metrics that can be negatively affected by differential HE experiences and outcomes.