Exploring Superdiversity through a large scale cross-university project on degree attainment supporting institutional change

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Exploring Superdiversity through a large scale
cross-university project on degree attainment
supporting institutional change

• Christine Rose
• Director of Student Affairs
• Elena Moreno
• Careers Coordinator, Office of Student Affairs

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What is superdiversity? - Complexity,
transience, differentiation
A notion intended to underline a level and
kind of complexity surpassing anything the
country has previously experienced. Such a
condition is distinguished by a dynamic multiplay
of variables among an increased number of new,
small and scattered, multiple-origin,
transnationally connected socio-economically
differentiated and legally stratified immigrants
who have arrived over the last decade. S.
Vertovec, 2006, Working Paper No. 25, Centre on
Migration, Policy Society, University of
Oxford.
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Context Superdiversity

• Student Body
• Home students (on campus) 20,565
• International Students (on campus) 4,501
• Home BME students nearly half
• International students Indian, Pakistani,
• Bangladeshi, Nigerian, Mauritian
• 2007/2008 HEIDI (HESA) data showed a BME
• figure nationally of 16
• London hosts nearly half (46) of Englands
• BME population

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HOW HAS THE PROJECT SUPPORTED INSTUTIONAL CHANGE?

• Mixed professional teams
• Project coordination
• Raising the profile up the institutional agenda
• Curriculum development
• Catalytic work the Single Equality
  Scheme/Equality Impact Assessment
• Establishing a resource base of knowledge and
  enquiry into particular BME groups
• A new model of intervention for student support
• The future A focus on curriculum development

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Mixed Professional Team Vehicle for Creativity

• PROS
• Differing disciplinary perspectives
• Sharing with those who have applied approach
• Volunteered sharing enthusiasm and commitment
  in start up mode
• Engagement with wider university perspectives
• Developmental team/HEA inputs
• Sharing/resolving contentious issues
• CONS
• Wide variations in outcomes
• Possibility of overstretching, diluting impact
• Perceived by others as champions
• Time to meet and carry out activities
• A number of significant but important objectives
  need to be met
• Stronger as a team than as individuals in
  confronting contentious issues

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A LARGE SCALE CROSS UNIVERSITY PROJECT
Research/Enquiry Clarification of Data (Planning
Stats) Student Survey Literature
Reviews Materials for Tutors

• Curriculum Development Classroom Practice
• School of Science
• School of Humanities Social Sciences
• School of Education

Cross University Project Team Project
Coordinator, Academics, central professional
services, educational development staff

• Communication, Development Dissemination
• Core project Team
• HEA/ECU sponsorship
• Educational Development
• Committee Structure

• Policy/Audit
• Single Equality Scheme
• Equality Impact Assessment
• Programme Review Validation
• Assessment

Student Support Office of Student
Affairs Welfare Student Support Guidance
Employability The Accelerated Programme
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Role of Coordinator Integration of the project
strands

• Facilitative not managerial head of an Academic
  Support Department
• Negotiation horizontally and laterally
• Local arrangements because of devolved nature of
  Office of Student Affairs
• Commitment to a holistic approach
• Chairing, time management
• Objective/output setting
• Team based with clear allocation of responsibility

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Raising Profile up the Institutional Agenda

• Corporate responsibility seeking funding
• Project leader a member of the senior team and
  Executive
• Tapping into relevant sections of key corporate
  policies/Governor responsibilities
• Linked into successes of a previous funded cross
  university project
• Focus on compliance issues of Single Equality
  Scheme and Equality Impact Assessments
• Ensuring it is raised as an item on key
  university committees

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Curriculum Development

• There is general agreement about the efficacy of
  telling BME
• students early on about differential degree
  attainment
• whilst being explicit about raising expectations
  and
• improving skills.
• SCHOOL OF SCIENCE PROGRAMME BASED BSc
  PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE
• Significant numbers of BME students
• Through programme review focus on enhancing the
  experience of students
• A focus on discussion of ethnicity and cultural
  difference through the tutor
• system
• Key leaders of industry, including BME role
  models, gave motivational talks
• Good student feedback
• Effectiveness judged on success rates of BME
  students compared to previous years and compared
  to other programmes

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• School of Humanities and Social Sciences BA
  Sociology
• 30 BME students on the programme
• Through Programme Review focus on curriculum,
  teaching styles
• and pedagogy
• Curriculum focus on issues of ethnicity and
  global politics. Also
• use of texts written by BME academics
• Embedding of approaches to employability and
  study skills
• Provision of course readers to ensure good access
  to texts
• Greater focus on pedagogy and teaching practice
  involving peer
• review and increased use of personal tutoring
• Seen as a three year strategy to enhance the
  student experience
• over three years

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INCLUSIVE PEDAGOGYSchool of Education

• Engagement with inclusive pedagogy and practice
  must of necessity recognise the ideological
  implications of policies that seek to redress the
  multiple disadvantages that are deeply implicated
  in a colonial history and ongoing internal
  colonial history that, we as academics, are
  reluctant to acknowledge.
• Identified pedagogical questions in relation to
  BME students and degree attainment.
• In-school forum for BME students focussing on
  race, diversity and inclusivity
• Making explicit assumptions about a defecit model
  of BME students
• Creation of good practice case studies of
  inclusive pedagogy
• Masking/clouding patterns of racism at a number
  of levels
• Create a culture for staff to move beyond the
  individual/personal to a critical and political
  understanding of exploring BME students
  experiences

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Resource Base of Knowledge

• Clarifying data
• Student survey
• Literature reviews
• Tutor guidance materials
• Qualitative research
• Case Studies Students from an African background
• a) High Achieving British Ghanian PhD Student
• b) High Achieving British Student with Sierra
  Leone as country of origin Masters Student
• c) Nigerian International Status Postgraduate
  Student

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Acceleration Programme Feedback and statistics
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Ratio of Male to Female participants
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Breakdown of Ethnicity
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Breakdown of Religion
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Year of study
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Course of study
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Ratio of students working part-time
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Initial rating of skills
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Initial rating of skills
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Feedback
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Below the graph shows the individuals self
ranking before and after the programme
Journey travelled to date
Student no.1
Areas you would like to be addressed in
subsequent seminars How to broaden an essay
question, how to broaden areas of research Key
barriers you feel are preventing you from
progressing further Revision, essay preparation
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Below the graph shows the individuals self
ranking before and after the programme
Journey travelled to date
Student no.2
Areas you would like to be addressed in
subsequent seminars Have more sessions and
closer together, lost motivation in between and
having extra classes would have kept me motivated
to continue. Actual essay writing, the body and
structure and exam preparation. Key barriers you
feel are preventing you from progressing further
Lack of confidence.
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Below the graph shows the individuals self
ranking before and after the programme
Journey travelled to date
Areas you would like to be addressed in
subsequent seminars Structuring essays to
achieve a high mark, employability and exam
revision. Have meeting regular and closer
together Key barriers you feel are preventing you
from progressing further I have improved my
reading and managing time but I have not improved
my essays. Essays structuring, and self
confidence .
Student no.3
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What you found least useful
What you found most useful

• Breaks over a long period of time (sessions
  should occur regularly)

• Planning and prioritising my goals
• Hearing other peoples issues
• Academic Writing
• Essay writing structures
• Communication Skills
• Finding an achievable goal
• Identifying personal problems
• Time management

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WHAT NEXT?

• BME Students and Graduate Degree Attainment The
  Project Next Year
• Further analysis of recent data on degree results
• 3 Schools will broaden out their curriculum
  development to other programmes and departments
• 1 new school (Computing and Mathematical
  Sciences) to become involved
• Qualitative research of high achieving BME
  students
• Tutorial guidance materials provided
• Single Equality Scheme launched (December 2010)
• Six equality impact assessments undertaken, more
  next year

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• GREENWICH GRADUATE INITIATIVE
• A Mechanism for Curriculum Reform.
• Intended to maximise the achievement of students
  through providing a distinctive approach to
  learning and teaching ? achievement of graduate
  attributes links Schools, Learning and Quality
  Unit, OSA and an expanded Educational Development
  Unit
• Three key skill sets
• Creativity and enterprise
• Scholarship and autonomy
• Cross cultural and international awareness give
  students the
• aptitude to deal with differences and
  contradictions in a diverse and
• complex works. They will be able to
• function effectively in groups whose members are
  from diverse
• backgrounds
• Be aware of the consequences of acting in an
  unsustainable
• manner which extends beyond their own national
  community
• Have insight into how their actions and the
  actions of others are
• subject to cultural and environmental influences

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BME Degree Attainment Project Team

• Project Leader Christine Rose rc06_at_gre.ac.uk
• Office of Student Affairs
• Kirsteen Coupar K.Coupar_at_gre.ac.uk
• Tricia Duffield P.M.A.Duffield_at_gre.ac.uk
• Eleanor Kehoe E.Kehoe_at_gre.ac.uk
• Elena Moreno E.Moreno_at_gre.ac.uk
• Robert Sookhan sr07_at_gre.ac.uk
• Lynn Thirkettle L.Thirkettle_at_gre.ac.uk
• Educational Development
• Rita Headington R.Headington_at_gre.ac.uk
• Simon Walker S.Walker_at_gre.ac.uk
• School of Education
• Caroline Ukoumunne C.N.I.Ukoumunne_at_gre.ac.uk
• Mark Webb M.Webb_at_gre.ac.uk
• School of Humanities Social Sciences
• Linnell Secomb L.Secomb_at_gre.ac.uk
• School of Science
• Solomon Habtemariam S.Habtemariam_at_gre.ac.uk
• Lucie Pollard L.V.Pollard_at_gre.ac.uk