1. Mapping institutional perspectives Gary Loke Equality Challenge Unit Jane Berry Higher Education Academy

2. Background and context to agenda =Long-standing recognition of differential achievement across ethnic groups =Broecke and Nicholls (2007) =Ethnicity, Gender and Degree Attainment Project (EGDA) –Confirmed ethnicity still a factor; –No simple answer but unlikely to be reducible to single knowable factors; –Sector response variable.

3. Source: ECU publication ‘Equality in higher education: Statistical report 2010.’

4. Responding to the challenge: HEA/ECU Summit Programme =15 HEIs over 12 months to plan, develop and/or pilot initiatives: –share practice from across the sector designed to address differential degree attainment; –focus on, and progress institutional work to address, an issue(s) relating to the success of BME students; –reflect on progress and outcomes and plan for future activity.

5. Participating HEIs = Northampton. = The Open University. = Portsmouth. = Roehampton. = Teesside. = Westminster. = Univ. of the Arts London. = Aston. = Bedfordshire. = Bradford. = Coventry. = Greenwich. = Hertfordshire. = Leeds Metropolitan. = London Metropolitan.

6. The programmes of work =Work of teams can be characterised as: —highly developmental/iterative; —often informed by existing small-scale research, and/or practice initiatives; —multi-faceted - policy/practice; —multi-dimensional – level of delivery/degree of targeting; —seeking change at both institutional and individual levels.

7. Source: ECU and HEA publication ‘Improving the degree attainment of black and minority ethnic students.’ Institutional activity

8. Continuum of activities to effect change Making CASESecuring COMMITMENT Building STAFF CAPACITY Changing PRACTICE Evaluating IMPACT Embedding CHANGE

9. Challenges (1) =Structural: —Distributed/collegiate structures; —Staffing (ethnicity and profile). =Organisational: —Locus of change/ownership of the agenda; —Leadership. =Cultural: —Resistance to cultural and/or individual change; —Fears of ‘dumbing down’; —Differing constructions of the ‘BME student’.

10. Challenges (2) =Financial: —Pump priming -> sustainability. =Contextual – nature of the agenda: —Prioritisation - getting it ‘on the map’ ; —Understanding and representing complexity; —Sensitivity – communication of issues internally (staff/students) and managing external reputation; — Complexity on designing initiatives.

11. Levers for change =Alignment with mission/policies/strategies. =Institutional infrastructure. =Curriculum frameworks and review processes. =Existing learning/other relevant interventions. =Interest groups, champions, fellows, managers. =Student bodies, officers, alumni networks. =Financial resource – internal/external. =Existing evidence base – often the catalyst.

12. Learning from the programme =Confirms no ‘one-size fits all’ solution. =Institutions still addressing cautiously. =Role for: —networking opportunities; —project funding for evaluation of initiatives; —further research (e.g. NTFS, ESRC). =Importance of: —Opportunity offered by new equality legislation; —Maintaining visibility/transparency of agenda at sector level.

13. Outstanding questions and challenges =Scale of current activity in the sector? =Diversity of target audience/BME students: —Context specific solutions? =Effectiveness of targeted/other interventions? —Relative impact on BME vs. all students? =Sensitivity of agenda (individual/institutional levels). —Causality? —Staff/management buy-in? =Effecting real cultural/structural change.

14. Today is about... =Learning from sector initiatives and research; =Engaging in discussion; =Exploring differentiated challenges across HEIs; =Sustaining momentum of change. Outcome sought: =Embedding social justice in the BME student experience; =Improving degree attainment.

15. Resources =Commentary on HEA/ECU programme: www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/inclusion/ Ethnicity/BMEProgramme_FinalReport =HEI reflective papers: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/ou rwork/inclusion/EthnicitySummit =Synthesis of research on BME students’ participation in HE: improving retention and success: http://tinyurl.com/BME-Synthesis

16. Contact details =Higher Education Academy –Jane Berry, Adviser –Jane.Berry@HEAcademy.ac.ukJane.Berry@HEAcademy.ac.uk =Equality Challenge Unit –Gary Loke, Head of Policy –gary.loke@ecu.ac.ukgary.loke@ecu.ac.uk