Closing ethnicity awarding gaps 2024

These are past events

They are unavailable to book

Overview

Degree outcomes are impacted due to inequalities that are experienced holistically throughout a student's university experience and more needs to be done to tackle this. Our annual conference on closing ethnicity awarding gaps will return in-person in London to address the progress made over recent years, providing key lessons and case studies with practical insights that you can take back to your institution.

Join us for this year’s conference on Tuesday 23 April 2024, either in London or online, to outline the current state of the sector and reflect on long-term aims and solutions both inside and outside the classroom.

Take a look at what last year's attendees had to say:

"A very insightful conference -��I've left with a number of ideas for potential steps that could be taken to narrow and eliminate awarding gaps at my own institution, most involving greater interaction with students."
"This was a well organised event packed with information delivered by a speakers with a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise."
"Thank you for the inspiring conference, I have come away with new ideas, having energy to take action, and new insights around the data of the HE sector's awarding gaps."

You will also be able to��access the recordings of the plenary sessions��after the event.

If you are unable to join in person, you can register for��access to a livestream��of the plenary sessions (breakout sessions will not be streamed).��

If you have any questions about this or any other of our events, please contact us at��[email protected]��or +44 (0) 20 7419 5459.

You can cancel your��booking��up to one month before the event and receive a refund. If this applies to you, please contact us at the email or phone number above.

If you want to stay up to date with our events, news and publications,��you can sign up for our newsletters here.��

Agenda

9:30

10:00

Registration and refreshments

10:00

11:20

Opening Plenaries

10:00

10:10

Welcome and opening remarks

Professor Zainab Khan, Pro Vice-Chancellor Academic Transformation, London Southbank University��

10:10

10:40

Strong leadership: In conversation with...

Professor Charles Egbu, Vice-Chancellor, Leeds Trinity University

Providing strong leadership is essential to tackling the ethnicity awarding gap. We will discuss the role of leadership in closing the gap, and how can we get buy in from senior leaders.

10:40

11:20

Culture change: Using the Race Equality Charter

Anne Mwangi, Head of Race Equality Charter, Advance HE��
Kaushika Patel, Director for Decolonising DMU and Deputy Dean, De Montfort University��
Professor Dawn Edge,��Professor of Mental Health and Inclusivity and Academic Lead for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion on ‘race’, religion, and belief, University of Manchester

In this session we will discuss the importance of��institution-wide anti-racist work and how the Race Equality Charter can develop this, including hearing from both Silver Award institutions about their approach.��

11:20

11:40

Refreshment Break

11:40

12:25

Breakout sessions

Choose one to attend

Not available on livestream

11:40

12:25

Student co-production

Dr Pin Shen Teh, Senior Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University with students���Ჹ�Բ��⾱�� and Omar Aya
Hardeep Basra, Academic Development Consultant & Associate Professor, De Montfort University
Chair:��Harriet Jones, Political Affairs Manager, Universities ��ϲʿ��

This session will focus on how to genuinely collaborate with students and provide opportunities for them to have open and meaningful conversations about race, racism and awarding gaps.

11:40

12:25

Diversifying the academic pipeline

Dr Natalie Cozier, Breaking Barriers to Black Academia, University of Bristol
Professor Uma Kambhampati, Head of the School of Economics, University of Reading
Chair: Naomi Abayasekara, Policy Adviser, Universities ��ϲʿ��

Students of colour continue to face barriers in the academic pipeline, this session will focus on the actions universities can take to address these barriers and create a strategy for the long term.

11:40

12:25

Addressing learning gaps at the University of Greenwich: using coaching techniques to provide individualised and adaptive support

Sharon Perera, Head of Academic and Digital Skills, University of Greenwich
Julie Mundair, Academic Skills Tutor and Lecturer, University of Greenwich
Debby Hsieh, Business Development Lead, Studiosity

The University of Greenwich, like many HEIs, is preparing its APP submission for 2025-2030. While APP targets are yet to be finalised, there is an emphasis on student transition into HE, supporting students from minority ethnic groups and those with alternative qualifications to A Levels. In 2023, the Academic and Digital Skills team developed a project with an individualised approach, nurturing students as they transition into Higher Education. The Nurture Project is a collaboration involving personal tutoring and mainstream student support, moving away from a prescriptive support programme to an adaptive method of learning development.

This interactive workshop will focus on how the University has used data (including Studiosity data) plus other projects to shape their service using coaching techniques to encourage learning and develop independence. Challenges and successes of the project will be highlighted alongside the opportunity for delegates to share top tips and best practice.

12:25

13:10

Lunch and networking

13:10

13:55

Breakout sessions

Choose one to attend

Not available on livestream

13:10

13:55

Gathering and understanding data

Dr Annie Hughes,��Head of Learning and Teaching Enhancement Centre, Kingston University London
�䲹�ٲ��Բ��𾱰��,��Evaluation, Research and Data Manager,��Aimhigher West Midlands
Dr Ruth Stoker,��Director of Strategic Teaching and Learning and��Dr Jarek Bryk,��University Teaching Fellow and Data Analyst,��University of Huddersfield
Chair: Naomi Abayasekara, Policy Adviser, Universities ��ϲʿ��

For many universities gathering data and understanding its complexities continues to be a challenge. In this session we will hear about innovative approaches to collect more holistic data and to present their findings in an impactful way to inform next steps.

13:10

13:55

Having effective conversations about race

Chair: Dr Wayne Mitchell,��Associate Provost for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion,��Imperial College London
Dr Patrice Seuwou,��Associate Professor in Learning and Teaching,��University of Northampton��
Gavin Mensah-Coker, Senior Lecturer and��Lase Salu, Student Research Assistant, University of Sussex

We must create the spaces to have conversations about race and racism to enable us to provide solutions to the ethnicity awarding gap. We will hear case studies where these spaces have been created, as well as practical advice from our speakers to ensure these conversations are safe and productive.

13:55

14:20

Refreshment break

14:20

16:00

Closing Plenaries

14:20

14:25

Welcome back

Professor Zainab Khan, Pro Vice-Chancellor Academic Transformation, London South Bank University

14:25

15:10

Effective evaluation: what works?

Dr Omar Khan, Chief Executive, Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO)
Roshana Wickremasinghe, Head of Student Success, University of Southampton
Dr Julian Crockford, Associate Director, SEER

How can we ensure evaluation is built into the initiatives to improve the ethnicity awarding gap? In this interactive session we will explore what effective evaluation looks like, including TASO’s recent Theories of Change work.

15:10

15:55

Examples of best practice

Professor Udy��Archibong MBE,��Pro Vice Chancellor (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion),��University of Bradford
Dr Geoff Paul, Assistant Director (Academic), University of Sunderland

Since Covid many institutions have seen their awarding gaps widen or in stasis. This session will explore impactful initiatives and discuss how the sector can share best practice.

15:55

16:00

Closing remarks

Professor Zainab Khan, Pro Vice-Chancellor Academic Transformation, London South Bank University��

16:00

17:00

Networking Reception

Who should attend?

This event is recommended for everyone who works on or is interested in issues surrounding diversity, inclusion and Black, Asian and ethnic minority��student attainment in higher education. Possible titles are suggested below, but we encourage anyone interested in the issue to attend:

Pro-Vice Chancellors Education or Student Experience
Heads of Schools/Faculties/Departments
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer
Students' Union Officer
Director/Head/Officer of:
- Student Experience
- Student Engagement
- Fair Access��
- Widening Participation
- Planning and Strategy��
- Student Services
- Student Support and Wellbeing
- Teaching and Learning
- Partnerships
- Recruitment and Outreach
- Equality and Diversity

Sponsorship

We have a range of sponsorship opportunities��available at our events.��Please contact Magda Graszka, Senior Events Manager, for more information:

[email protected]

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