Blog Post 3: Race 

BAME awarding gap 

According to the UAL Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual report 2021/22, The Attainment Gap for 2021/22, also known as The Awarding Gap, showed that “the gap between the highest attainment (White students) and the lowest attainment (Other students) was 19ppt, this decreased slightly from the previous year where it was 24ppt (between the same two groups.”(UAL, 2023). A report from NUS/UUK (OFS, 2021) “recommends that there is a need for executive teams across all universities to acknowledge how race is ‘at the heart of the BAME attainment gap within universities’. 

What systems do we have in place to try and tackle the awarding gap? 

Currently at UAL, there is anti-racism training, EDI foundation, and breaking bias training. These methods were criticised by Professor Arif Ahmed in this video, a senior lecturer in Philosophy at Cambridge University and the Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom of the Office for Students. He takes the view that these training systems involve the “pushing of a particular ideological lie, for instance about white fragility or how we’re all racists.” He goes on to say that “Universities of any institution should be neutral on any matters on which there’s controversy.” (Ahmed in Orr, 2022) In my opinion, Ahmed’s view on training used for combating racism in HE seems ignorant to the forms of racism that are clearly indicated through the awarding gap. His reference to ‘white fragility’ and ‘how we’re all racists’ feels like a provocatively reductionist take on a clear example of injustice.

Whilst institutions can take a publicly neutral standpoint on controversial topics,  “in teaching a course, instructors make a range of judgments: what course material to teach, whether or not to link course material to social practices and how to position students in relation to the world around them. Through these decisions, faculty members communicate to students what material is worth learning, its relationship to public concerns and the student’s connection to the world beyond themselves. Faculty members do not choose to ‘opt into’ these concerns. All teaching informs what students see as important, and how they understand themselves as part of the social fabric, with various obligations and commitments” (Simpson, Giwa and St Denis, 2021).This supports the notion that complete neutrality isn’t possible when we all hold our own biases. Rather than disregard them, it is important to look deeper and discover how bias is formed and how they may impact systems of oppression in society and institutions, such as universities. 

In the same video, Ahmed describes the training as a waste of money and suggests that there is plenty of evidence to demonstrate that “It really doesn’t work”(Ahmed in Orr, 2022). However, this is not constructive, and a blanket statement like that does not lead to development or improvement. In a National Institute of Health seminar on ‘Is Implicit Bias Training Effective’, Dr Bernard says that “research suggests that certain implicit bias training approaches may help change individual beliefs and actions. However, other evidence shows that many factors shape whether and how implicit bias training programs are effective.”  (Bernard in NIH, 2021) Bernard suggests that if they “are a one-time event and not part of a broader institutional strategy, do not convey messages that participants are receptive to, or teach only the concept of bias rather than also target behaviours to change,” (Bernard in NIH, 2021) that they may fail to reduce bias and inspire institutional change.

Alongside the anti-racism e-learning module, UAL launched two other components of a 3-part anti-racism development programme in February 2023, an interactive workshop and a canvas resource page as part of its approach to creating a ‘broader institutional strategy’.  However, whilst the e-learning module is a compulsory obligation, there is currently no refresher period, which means the training risks acting as a one time event. I’m not aware of how often the interactive workshops run and at the time of writing, only two are available to book. Staff will often be completing the e-learning module alongside other training, such as fire safety and GDPR, which may negate the potential impact the anti-racism training could have. I feel that creating a specific window of time to complete this training, with that period having a particular focus on anti-racism, would allow the incentive of the training to have its own space, raise awareness, and foster opportunity for staff to have open discussions. 

Although Awarding Gaps are due to a variety of factors, as outlined in the report commissioned by the HEFCE (Babar in OFS, 2021), not just the effectiveness of training courses focussed on social justice, I believe they can serve a valuable purpose when not completed in isolation. I’m personally keen to take part in the anti-racism interactive workshops at UAL but feel for the strategy to have greater overall effect on staff, there needs to be more encouragement to engage with all 3 parts of the anti-racism development programme in tandem, to increase the effectiveness of the learning experience.  

References: 

Babar, M. A, Office for Students (2021) Conversations about Race. Available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-providers/equality-of-opportunity/effective-practice/conversations-about-race/ (Accessed: 20/06/2024).

Joyce, E, University of the Arts London (2024)An update on our anti-racism development programme. Available at: https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/News/244117/an-update-on-our-anti-racism-development-programme(Accessed: 19/06/2024).

National Institutes of Health (US), Office of the Director (OD), Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity (COSWD). (2021) Is Implicit Bias Training Effective? Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK603840/# (Accessed: 19/06/2024).

Orr, J. (2022) Revealed: The charity turning UK universities woke. The Telegraph [Online]. Youtube. 5 August. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRM6vOPTjuU (Accessed: 19/06/2024).

Simpson, J.S, Giwa, S and St Denis, V. (2021) In times of racial injustice, university education should not be ‘neutral’. Available at: https://world.edu/in-times-of-racial-injustice-university-education-should-not-be-neutral/ (Accessed: 19/06/2024).

University of the Arts London (2023) UAL Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual report 2022/2023. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/432141/SPCB23435-EDI-report-2022-23.pdf (Accessed: 20/06/2024).